Even before the much-awaited season of TUF 31 started airing, controversies seemed to have already taken the show by storm. And not surprisingly, it is former double champ Conor McGregor who seems to be the cause. McGregor, who is supposed to be a coach opposite Michael Chandler in this year’s edition of the reality show, has reportedly snubbed a few fighters from the original lineup. Apparently, the Irishman did that to give his own fighters an opportunity in the show. Naturally, many fighters and fans did not take this news well. Among them were UFC’s Terrance McKinney and Gilbert Burns.

Burns particularly seems to have taken issue with the Irishman’s behavior. The Brazilian even claimed that one of his friends and training partners too was cut from the show due to the Irishman.

Gilbert Burns and Terrence McKinney react to rumors of Conor McGregor snubbing fighters for TUF

After news started circulating that McGregor had removed some fighters from the house, Gilbert Burns expressed his disappointment by tweeting about how his friend Loik Radzhabov was one of the fighters to be removed. The Brazilian sent out a couple of tweets that clearly displayed his anger towards the former double champ. 

Considering that many of the fighters were planning to make a statement with an appearance in this season of TUF, Burns‘s anger is quite justifiable. But unlike him, there were also a handful of fighters who clearly seemed to understand McGregor‘s sentiments. One such fighter was McKinney, who stated that he might have done the same thing too.

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This sequence of events has clearly raised a lot of questions regarding this year’s season. But despite the news around it doing multiple rounds, McGregor seemed to have denied any such actions on his part in a tweet.

McGregor denies getting his own fighters added to the roster

The Irishman in a now-deleted tweet had completely denied snubbing any fighters in the house. His deleted tweet, which was a response to middleweight Chris Curtis, read: “not true. I only know 1 guy on this show and he put himself forward for it. And he is now, after today, set to fight the No. 1 seed! I didn’t ask nor request nothing! And I certainly didn’t have people removed. I’m just tryna get back in the mix myself so f*ck off.”

This angle from McGregor’s side just seems to have added to the confusion. Ultimately, as long as there is no official update from the promotion or at least a statement from one of the removed fighters, fans can only speculate as of now.

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Do you think ‘The Notorious’ did his set of fighters into the TUF house? If yes, what do you feel about his actions? Let us know in the comment section.

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