Will Dustin Poirier face Conor McGregor a fourth time? What does Khabib Nurmagomedov’s arrival in New Jersey spell for Islam Makhachev and UFC 302? Is there a new conflict between Dana White and Ariel Helwani? These questions came up in the MMA scene over the last 24 hours. We will look at these in detail in today’s edition of the MMA News Roundup.
We Will start our journey with Dustin Poirier’s opinion on a 4th fight against Conor McGregor. Then we will shift our focus to Khabib Nurmagomedov who seems to be giving some hints about Islam Makhachev’s game plan and then finally we will stop with news about Dana White and Ariel Helwani back and forth. lets get started
Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor – a rivalry that will never be settled?
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Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor have fought each other three times in their career. Both of the lightweight fighters have knocked out each other in their first two outings. However, their last match was a bit discontented. On paper, Poirier won the match by way of knockout but could it be counted as a proper victory? Why, you ask? Well because McGregor broke his shin completely and had to be escorted to the hospital on stretchers. Should they scrap one final time to settle the debate for good?
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McGregor is ready to lock horns against ‘The Diamond’ but it seems like Poirier is done with the former dual-weight champion. While having an up and down with ESPN, Poirier shut down every possibility of him fighting McGregor in the future. “I think that ship has sailed. All I want is the UFC lightweight championship…I don’t feel the need to fight [Conor] again at all. I don’t need that [bad] energy in my life,” said Poirier.
The former interim lightweight champ is going to clash against Islam Makhachev on June 1st and a fight with McGregor seems to be making no sense to him right now. Well, Poirier is planning to go for a knockout against the reigning champ, but what is Makhachev’s plan? Let’s find out.
Khabib Nurmagomedov lays out plans for Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev will be finally facing a ranked lightweight contender for his third title defense. So far, he has defended his belt twice, and that too against former featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. Makhachev’s upcoming matchup is a bit special for the champ as he is not only facing a true lightweight but also someone who fought Khabib Nurmagomedov. This could be the reason why ‘The Eagle’ came back to train Makhachev again in the last week.
While having a conversation with the media on his YouTube handle, Nurmagomedov asserted that Makhachev would employ everything in his approach against Dustin Poirier and this would be monumental for him. “Tomorrow, they will have lighter weights; today, they had slightly heavier weights. Everything changes. Every day, there are different loads and different workouts because this is mixed martial arts. You need to develop everything: wrestling, striking technique, freestyle wrestling, control, endurance, speed. You have to train everything,” said Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Both Makhachev and Poirier have laid out their plans to defeat each other but who will be crowned champion next weekend? Only time will tell. Now that we know what’s cooking for UFC 302, let’s move on to Ariel Helwani who seems to be giving clarity about his relationship with Dana White.
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Will Dana White and Ariel Helwani ever be on the same page again?
You have heard a͏bout͏ fighters be͏efing with each o͏͏ther b͏ut͏ have you ever heard about a beef in which Dana White i͏s personally in͏volv͏ed? Well, guess what͏ the UFC sup͏re͏mo ha͏s been on an act͏͏ive beef w͏ith renow͏n͏ed journali͏st,͏ Ariel H͏elwani ͏f͏or q͏uite͏ some ti͏me now, and it͏ has͏ been such news in͏ t͏he͏ M͏MA community that a͏ ͏fan couldn’t stop himself from asking He͏lwani ͏to prov͏id͏e ͏som͏e clarity about hi͏s troubled relationship with Dana White.
When Helwani was having his usual day at ‘The MMAHour’ a fan asked him whether he and White would ever be in peace. Helwani replied, “All I’ll say is nothing has happened since and I’m not holding my breath. I will just begin to think about that if that’s a real thing. I don’t think it’s a real thing with all due respect to the sentiment, which I appreciate very much,” said Helwani.
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He further added, “I just I’m not very hopeful that some sort of resolution will be happening and it’s not something that I’m praying for or dreaming and thinking about. I just I know who he is and how he deals with any type of conflict and it’s totally cool. It’s totally cool with me.” Well, their relationship seems to be still in the doldrums. Nonetheless, what’s your take on it? State your toughest in the comments below.