As August 26 fast approaches, everyone has begun talking about the biggest fight of the year and what to expect when Conor McGregor laces up boxing gloves to take on all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. Opinions range from giving McGregor a chance to pull off the upset to suggesting that giving McGregor such a chance is “an incredible disrespect to boxing.” Most seem to believe that Mayweather will remain undefeated, notching his fiftieth professional win with his usual, defensively-minded style.

Well, go ahead and count Chuck Liddell among them. The UFC Hall of Famer recently told TMZ that he expects the fight will be boring but he hopes Mayweather will try and make it more exciting than his most recent bouts. Once the premiere knockout artist in MMA, Liddell says that if Mayweather wants to make a statement in this fight, he needs to go after McGregor and look for an early finish of the boxing neophyte.

“I don’t think it’s gonna be that exciting of a fight. I don’t think Floyd will come after him. Floyd will fight his fight the way he does and normally that makes for a boring fight. I’d love to see him go after [Conor]. If he wants to make a statement, he’s got to knock him out early.”

Which is not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Though known as a defensive genius, Mayweather has occasionally opted for a more aggressive, exchanging style as he did against Miguel Cotto in their 2012 fight. With Mayweather likely retiring for good after this bout, it’s possible he wants to go out with a bang. His father and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said recently that they were working on some “new things” for this fight and a more aggressive, finish oriented style could be one of them.

But of course, the more aggressive Mayweather gets, the more opportunity that gives McGregor to author the upset of the century. And since Mayweather doesn’t make any more money for stopping McGregor, ultimately Liddell says Floyd will be content cashing his check and retiring with a remarkable 50-0 record.

“If Floyd comes after him, [Conor] has a shot to do it but I don’t think Floyd will come after him. Floyd will be happy just making the money and running around.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr. boxes Conor McGregor in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 26.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Hall of Fame. Joe Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba, Urijah Faber, and Maurice Smith were inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Media tour. Mayweather vs. McGregor media tour kicks off next week in Los Angeles.

MSG. Georges St-Pierre issued a formal challenge to Michael Bisping for November.

Beef. Marc Diakiese and Drakkar Klose got into a heated argument backstage at TUF 25 Finale weigh-ins.

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VIDEO STEW

Embedded 3.

Yoel talking about sweets that he clearly hasn’t eaten in 20 years.

Nunes is confident.

Fabricio talking about his orange juice comments about Overeem.

TTTHS on JBJ’s release from the phantom zone.

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LISTEN UP

The Naked Truth. The boys break down UFC 213 and TUF 25 Finale.

Fights Gone By. Jack Slack previews the key fights from UFC 213.

UFC Unfiltered. Amanda Nunes joins ahead of her title defense at UFC 213.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Congrats.

Peep the shoe choice...

Forever enemies.

This is impossibly stupid by the UFC. Are they determined to suck the fun and individuality out of everything? Hard to make stars if you won’t let people do anything other than the same old thing. They should be commended for trying to do something to generate interest in themselves.

Bobby “The Reaper” Knuckles.

The beef.

Almost as bad as Diaz-McGregor.

Never change, Felony.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Gilbert Melendez (22-6) vs. Jeremy Stephens (25-14); UFC 215, Sept. 9.

Antonina Shevchenko (1-0) vs. Kerry Hughes (3-2); Phoenix Fighting Championship, Sept. 22.

Mauricio Rua (25-10) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (20-10); UFC Fight Night 117, Sept. 23.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2007: Anderson Silva knocked out Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 to retain his middleweight title. Also that evening, Sean Sherk won a unanimous decision over Hermes Franca to retain his lightweight title but both Sherk and Franca failed drug tests and Sherk was later stripped of the title. Oh, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira made his UFC debut, winning a decision over Heath Herring.

2012: Anderson Silva stopped Chael Sonnen in their rematch at UFC 148 to retain his middleweight title. This event also featured the last fight for UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin who won a decision over Tito Ortiz. Ortiz was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier that day and this would be his final UFC fight as well, though Ortiz would come out of retirement to compete in Bellator.

2016: Eddie Alvarez became the UFC lightweight champion by knocking out Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 90.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I have said for ages and maintain that the UFC succeed in spite of themselves. Not letting Theodorou and Hill show some personality is asinine. This type of thing is why they can’t market Mighty Mouse, because they think “BLOOD FEUD, LOUD NOISES” is the only viable way to promote a person. You know who is a big portion of the fight watching audience? Nerds. I’m a nerd. A lot of you are nerds. And nerds would love a Black Panther shout out or Breaking Bad poster. Hill coming out as Sagat was awesome and people liked it. When MVP caught a Pokemon after caving in Cyborg’s skull, that went viral. It is truly astonishing that they can’t figure this out. Uniforms are boring enough. Let the fighters do something.

And with all that being said, they succeed because of things like this weekend. The best fight weekend of the year so far is finally here with arguably the most exciting fighter in MMA fighting in the UFC tonight. For my money, the only person who can credibly argue to be more exciting is Conor (like him or hate him, his fights are incredible violence). It should be a good weekend. I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I intend to. Take it easy y’all and Conor bless.

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