The other day it became known that Khabib Nurmagomedov, former UFC lightweight champion, attended the Champions League semifinal match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Khabib, who has long been known as a fan of the Spanish grand, called the bout historic. Later in the comments under Nurmagomedov's post was his friend, former UFC champion in two weight categories Daniel Cormier. He sided with the German team, saying Bayern were better than Real Madrid.
"Give us credit when we deserve it. We were better yesterday. We are better," Cormier wrote on social networks.
Recall, after the end of the fighting career Daniel Cormier works as a commentator and analyst for the UFC.
Famous American boxer Ryan Garcia commented on the news that traces of the banned drug ostarine were found in his doping sample, which was taken ahead of his fight with Devin Haney.
"Everybody knows I don't cheat. Why didn't they tell me about it sooner if they took a sample before the fight? Why did they let me get in the ring and win if I'm a cheater? This is another attack by certain people on me. I've never taken steroids in my life. I don't even know where to get them," said Garcia in a video published in social networks.
Recall, the fight between Garcia and Haney took place on April 21, ending with a victory of Ryan by decision of the majority of judges.
Ukrainian UFC fighter Igor Losing explained why he agreed to fight Michel Pereira on May 4, knowing he had a fight with Shara Bullet announced for June 22.
"My manager called and said: "Igor, how are you doing? We have an offer: you, Michel Pereira, main card, May 4, Rio de Janeiro. What do you say?" I replied, "You know, it's a very interesting fight, but after all, I have a fight with Shara Bullet." The manager said: "Don't think about it, give me an opinion on the fight in Rio." I said it's a good offer and we need to ask Pereira. And the manager says: we don't need to ask because he has no choice because he's close to the top 15. And I said: okay, let's go, I'm ready. Buy me tickets to Rio de Janeiro. Will the fight with Shara happen? That's a premature question. We'll think about it after the Pereira fight. We'll see how I feel. Now I don't know what will happen in the octagon. After the fight I'm ready to answer this question.
Authoritative American trainer Robert Garcia believes that Dmitry Bivol will defeat Artur Beterbiev in a fight for the title of absolute world champion in the flyweight division.
Peter Yan, former UFC flyweight champion, has confirmed his willingness to fight former promotion title challenger Marlon Vera in November.
"Do I want to fight Marlon Vera? Yes, I'll be ready for November. Of course I'm going to do it. I'll take him to a mixed martial arts school. You saw how Song Yadong showed his best boxing, but it didn't go according to plan. Things won't go according to plan for Vera either. One hundred percent. October and November is a great time to make this fight, "- said Yae.
Recall, earlier Marlon Vera offered Yae to fight in November in New York, and Peter agreed to this proposal.
UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall shared his expectations for the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, scheduled for May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
"I've sparred a lot with Tyson. This guy is a giant and when he starts applying pressure, it takes a lot of power to stop him. It will be very hard for Usik to do that for 12 rounds.
It would be foolish of me to bet against Fury. I'm a big Usik fan, but Tyson is my buddy, so I have to favor him. If Tyson forces Usik to back down - I'd say he wins by knockout in the later rounds. Round 10, 11, 12 - somewhere in that neighborhood," Bloody Elbow quoted Aspinall as saying.
UFC featherweight champion Aleixandre Pantoja made comments on his upcoming fight with Steve Erceg.
"In my division, even a top-10 fighter can give a tough fight to the champion, so Erceg can win the belt, but I'm preparing to prevent that.
I don't want to be a lazy champion. This will be my third title fight in the last year. I train a lot and I'm tired, so after this fight 100% I'll take a vacation. But I can't wait to fight this guy, he's young, huge and strong. He has wrestling and boxing - it's perfect for me," - quotes Pantoja MMA Junkie.
Recall that the Brazilian and the Australian will fight in the main event of the show UFC 301, which will be held on the night of May 4 in Rio de Janeiro.
Doping samples of the popular American boxer Ryan Garcia, taken on the day of his fight against WBC bantamweight champion Devin Haney, compatriot, tested positive for ostarine. This is informed by authoritative journalist Dan Rafael.
In addition, the tests of the 25-year-old boxer found traces of the use of another banned substance - 19-nortestosterone. However, this result has not yet been confirmed pending further laboratory analysis.
The fighter himself denies violating anti-doping rules: "Why would I voluntarily take a doping test if I was taking something? Is there any point to it?", - wrote Ryan in X.
Recall that on April 20, Garcia sensationally defeated Haney by majority decision of the judges. At the same time, the fighter did not seize the championship title, as he failed to make weight before the fight.
Former dominant UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed why he decided to resume his mixed martial arts career.
UFC featherweight champion Elijah Topuria said he would like to make the first defense of his title against Brian Ortega, ranked as the division's third best fighter.
"I would fight Brian Ortega, who was much closer to beating Volkanovski than Holloway was in three fights. Ortega is always a risk to get hit and fight. He won his last fight and has some good wins under his belt. Would I want to come out against him? Sure, because right now it seems like: "Who if not him?" - Topuria stated in El Podcast de Webpositer.
Recall that Topuria won the belt in February at UFC 298 by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski.
