Can we interest you in some new and exciting stories from the world of MMA? Well, we have the right kind of compilation for you with another edition of the daily roundup. Today, we will kick off the news with Conor McGregor as he gears up to return at UFC 303. The Irishman has apparently raised some eyebrows as fans found him partying in a club with his fiancee, Dee Devlin, and video clips of it have spread like wildfire on social media platforms.
Then, we will shift our focus to former champion Charles Oliveira, who weighed in on the UFC 302 headliner between two of his former rivals, Dustin Poirier, and the reigning 155-pound title holder, Islam Makhachev. Finally, the roundup ends with the news about the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who is set to face Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. A fellow heavyweight contender claimed to have never seen that fight coming, revealing that he was surprised by Dana White‘s decision.
Conor McGregor partying ahead of his UFC 303 return
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‘The Notorious’ just won’t stay away from the headlines. At a critical point in his career, when he’s making his first return in almost three years, fans would expect Conor McGregor to be training and removing any rustiness that he might have. But would you believe it? The Irish megastar doesn’t seem to be sweating too much about the clash against Michael Chandler. McGregor was recently seen at a club with his fiancee, Dee Devlin, dancing and holding bottles of alcohol. This comes after McGregor publicly stated in an interview that he was off his alcohol brands during fight camps.
Conor McGregor has, once again, has his name included in yet another controversial action, and there is no doubt that Michael Chandler is paying close attention. ‘Iron’ has been waiting for the moment to get his hands on the UFC’s biggest star for over a year and he doesn’t want this opportunity to go to waste. If we take a look at his Instagram handle, that’s exactly what Chandler’s been doing. Now, things are even more interesting because it’s just adding to the buildup of the UFC 303 headliner.
Charles Oliveira picks Islam Makhachev over Dustin Poirier
‘Do Bronxs’ squandered his chance at a rematch against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. Some people even speculated that he may not have wanted to fight the reigning champion again. Nevertheless, like others, Charles Oliveira gave his two cents on the upcoming UFC 302 headliner and picked Makhachev to retain his title against Dustin Poirier in Newark, New Jersey.
“Every striker that faces Islam is going to be the same thing, [Makhachev] will take you down and have bigger chances at winning,” the Brazilian finisher stated during a recent interview with MMA Fighting. Charles Oliveira has beaten Dustin Poirier in the past and his experiences with the Lafayette native may have made him pick Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé. Regardless, we will have to wait till this weekend to find out how the fight ends.
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UFC heavyweight star surprised by Dana White’s interim title decision
Jailton Almeida was on a roll in the UFC, winning one fight after the other before veteran Curtis Blaydes stepped in to put an end to his winning streak at UFC 299. Despite that, the Brazilian was totally certain that he had done enough to secure a title shot against Tom Aspinall. Well, that’s not exactly how Dana White saw it as he gave Blaydes that opportunity and Almedia is kicking himself for losing in his last outing.
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“Surprised and sad [by Aspinall vs. Blaydes],” said Jailton Almeida. “I definitely felt this was my opportunity to fight against Aspinall. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth… I knew I missed my chance,” the heavyweight fighter added as per MMA reporter, Mike Bohn. What will be next for Almeida? We don’t know for sure, but he could get a title shot soon, and maybe a couple more wins might do it.