MMA News Round-Up: Laura Sanko Creates UFC History, Conor McGregor Accused of Ducking Jorge Masvidal Fight, Tyron Woodley To Make Kickboxing Debut

The MMA world maintained its fast-paced nature in the last few hours as well. A number of noticeable incidents took place across the MMA world in the past day. From snubbing accusations to planning new ventures, this edition of the MMA news roundup has the most noted incidents of the day covered for you. The noted UFC and ESPN analyst, Laura Sanko, was all set to add a prestigious feather to her cap. Recently, Sanko was chosen as the UFC’s color commentator and was awaiting her table debut. Further, the ‘BMF’ of the UFC, Jorge Masvidal fired at the Irish UFC star, Conor McGregor once more. He accused ‘Mystic Mac’ of snubbing his offer of fighting him. Additionally, former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley expressed his desire to go for kickboxing as his next venture.

Laura Sanko is all set to retrace the footprints of Kathy Long

The UFC recently announced at a press conference that the noted UFC analyst, Laura Sanko, will also be seen as a play-by-play commentator. Sanko’s first-ever commentary table debut has been scheduled for UFC Fight Night 218, at the UFC Apex in Vegas. The ‘UFC and ESPN analyst’ expressed her delight at this news. As reported by ‘Yahoo! Sports’, she stated, “Taking the next step to join the UFC commentary team has been a goal of mine since I began my broadcast career”.

She also displayed her humility as she mentioned, “It is an honor to walk in the footprint of Kathy Long, 30 years after her appearance on UFC 1”. Sanko has been with the UFC since 2016 and had also worked as a backstage reporter prior to her fame as an analyst. Many believe that she will excel in her new role as well.

Jorge Masvidal bashed Conor McGregor after getting snubbed by him

The ‘BMF’ of the UFC, Jorge Masvidal, hopes for a victory in his upcoming UFC 287 bout. But he still hasn’t given up hope of fighting Conor McGregor. Masvidal appeared on a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s podcast, ‘The MMA Hour’, and talked about how McGregor never responded to his offer of a fight.

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He stated, “I want Conor but Conor doesn’t want me. It su***, you know. He just doesn’t want it. Every time the UFC’s brought it up, he has shut it down. I don’t know why.”

However, there have been plenty of rumors that McGregor might be returning as a Welterweight in 2023. If it happens, then Masvidal will definitely take a step closer to his much-awaited self-matchup against McGregor.

Tyron Woodley expressed his desire to turn a kickboxer

The noted former UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has vocalized his wish to venture into the sport of kickboxing. ‘The Chosen One’ also appeared on Helwani’s podcast and vented out his desire to turn a kickboxer. Woodley talked about his superb kicking skills stating, “Every time I kick somebody they hit the ground. I kick hard, so why wouldn’t I think about that?”.

It’s pertinent to note that Woodley suffered two straight losses against the noted YouTuber boxer, Jake Paul. It was understandable that Woodley didn’t want to keep one of his best weapons, his kicking, entirely out of the game and hence opted for kickboxing.

Some more MMA news

• The UFC has reported matched up Max Holloway vs Arnold Allen for a Featherweight clash at UFC Fight Night scheduled for April 15.
• Leon Edwards has agreed to provide a title shot at his UFC Welterweight championship to Jorge Masvidal. But Leon wants Masvidal to be victorious at UFC 287 first.

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