MMA News Roundup – Islam Makhachev Awarded Anti Doping Jacket Amid Injury Rumors; Conor McGregor Blasts Dustin Poirier Before UFC 302; Sean Strickland Trashes Dana White’s Fighter Pay Issue

Interested in the developments that happened in the MMA world in these past 24 hours? Well, worry not, as we are back with another MMA news roundup, which will only take mere minutes to read. We will start with important news concerning Islam Makhachev as the lightweight champion seems to have added another gem to his prosperous career.

Then we will shift our focus towards the former dual weight champion, Conor McGregor as the comeback fighter seems to have blasted Dustin Poirier in his new outing and finally, we will conclude with Sean Strickland who appears to have attacked Dana White again on fighters’ payment issues. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

Islam Makhachev gets the 50-drug tests jacket from Jeff Novitzky

Islam Makhachev is about to fight against Dustin Poirier this weekend to defend his belt. However, even before this clash, the lightweight champion seems to have added another feather to his cap. What is it you ask? Well, the UFC’s senior vice president of anti-doping compliance, Jeff Novitzky has come forward to appreciate Islam Makhachev’s clean record.

While addressing the media, Novitzky said, “Islam[Makhachev] has never made a mistake. He’s always been a clean athlete and to pair that with the dominance in this sport is really special. You don’t see this in any other sport where you bring up somebody who’s been as dominant as him and also provide a body of evidence to show that he’s done it the right way with what he’s born with and a lot of hard work. So, Islam, congratulations. We’re very proud of you and proud to give you a 50-time jacket.” 

Before giving Islam Makhachev the jacket, Novitzky clarified that the one time when Makhachev was held guilty of taking a banned substance back in 2016 was the fault of USADA and not him. Well, while Makhachev got the jacket from the UFC, Dustin Poirier got roasted by Conor McGregor for his new shorts.

Conor McGregor attacks Dustin Poirier for his new shorts

Dustin Poirier is about to clash with Islam Makhachev for his third chance at the lightweight gold. However, this time Poirier would be donning a new style of shorts. The former interim lightweight belt holder will be wearing floral shorts for his clash just like Max Holloway at UFC 300. During a press conference, Poirier said, “If Brendan gets purple shorts, I gotta get floral. First things first…”

Well, his decision to wear the floral shorts seems to be not sitting well with Conor McGregor. The former dual-weight champion took a jibe at the lightweight contender as he wrote, “Perfect for a bloodied up p**sy” on his social media. But why was McGregor enraged? Well, maybe because the promotion answered Poirier’s call before him.

The ‘Notorious’ is not at all happy that the promotion is ignoring his demands as McGregor wants to wear U.S. Dollar bill shorts on his clash against Michael Chandler, but the promotion has yet to add any response to this demand. Well, Dana White may or may not agree with what McGregor is demanding, but one thing is for sure; the ghost of fighters’ payment will not leave the UFC supremo. Why, you ask? Well, Sean Strickland is the latest fighter who seems to have come forward to talk about the fighter’s pay issue.

Sean Strickland calls out Dana White on fighter’s pay

There’s an issue that seems to͏ be ͏h͏a͏un͏ti͏ng Dana White wherever h͏e goes and that is fi͏ghter ͏͏pay.͏ The UFC supremo ͏has ͏been ͏͏repeatedly ͏bombarded by the ͏MMA commu͏nity about t͏he less pay. He even had͏ to face an͏ antitrust͏͏ laws͏uit o͏ver͏ it͏, but it seems that t͏͏he UFC head honcho is͏ not p͏lannin͏g͏ t͏o͏ do any͏thing ͏about it͏. Sean Strickland is the latest addition to the list of fighters who have called out Dana White for the same.

While having a conversation with Daniel Cormier, Strickland said, “The UFC doesn’t do the right things… it doesn’t do the right things with most of their rosters … the guys that run the UFC what they’re making to what guys (fighters) gets paid, its f**king shit dude, the UFC does not do the f**king right thing and unless you hold them at f**king you know gunpoint, they ain’t going to do it.” 

What are your thoughts about the pay issues in the UFC? State your opinion in the comments below.