The Calm Before The (S—t) Storm

Well, it seems kind of silly to be sharing this after everything that happened in the last 24 hours, but isn’t it nice to look back and think what could have been?

Then bus-breaking Conor McGregor came along and turned the UFC 223 pay-per-view (PPV) fight card upside down, followed by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) deciding that Max Holloway was unfit to compete in his main event title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

But prior to that? It was business as usual (via YouTube):

On Episode 4 of UFC 223 Embedded, lightweight title contender Khabib Nurmagomedov and his opponent, featherweight champion Max Holloway, stay on track with their training during fight week. Former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk starts her day with breakfast and Spongebob, and strawweight champion Rose Namajunas brings her dog to a photo shoot. Lightweight Michael Chiesa keeps his competitive juices flowing playing video games in his room. Then the stars of the event’s two championship bouts attend the official press conference and open workouts, where Nurmagomedov and Holloway entertain with spirited trash talk. UFC 223 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the two championship bouts at UFC 223: Khabib vs. Holloway on Saturday, April 7 on Pay-Per-View.

For episodes one, two, and three click here, here, and here. It will be a miracle if we manage to get across the finish line without anymore hijinks.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 223 fight card on fight night (click here), starting with the Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.

For much more on this weekend’s UFC 223 PPV card click here.