MMA News Roundup – Dana White Chimes In on Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev Injuries; Jamahal Hill Gives Health Update After UFC 303 Cancellation; UFC Antitrust Lawsuit Gets a Setback

The UFC supremo’s first reaction to Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev‘s withdrawal, Jamahal Hill’s confession after injury, and bad news for the UFC in the anti-trust lawsuit. In today’s MMA roundup, we are going deeper into the withdrawal news and bad news for Dana White and the entire promotion by the lawyers. Let’s get into it.

The journey will start with Dana White, who gave his first comment on the unfortunate withdrawal of Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev. Then we will shift our focus to another withdrawal news by Jamahal Hill and finally our roundup will conclude at the justice department, which seems to be giving some bad signs for the promotion. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

Dana White’s casual reaction to UFC 303 and UFC Saudi Arabia sabotage

The horrors of last year seem to be worrying͏ UFC supremo Dana White, as June, which was supposed to be a star-studded month for the pr͏omotion, turned ͏into a disaster after ͏both ͏U͏FC 303 and UFC Saudi Arabia’͏s m͏ain even͏ts were sab͏otaged. Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev had to walk out of their fights against Michael Chandler and Robert Whittaker respectively, citing serious injuries. White, who was mum about the incident, recently spoke about it when he was having an interview with The Sports Business Journal.

While talking about Chimaev, White said, “It’s been interesting because we had to switch the Saudi main event, which is next weekend, you know what I mean? It’s f****** days away, so for us to put in this guy [Ikram Aliskerov] who is 15-1, he’s Muslim and his only loss is to Khamzat Chimaev, and everyone in the division said no to fighting him except Robert Whittaker (is a good result). … I’m very happy (with the quality of the replacement fights).”

When talking about McGregor, he said, “It’s the business, man. This is the way it goes. And from here on, I’m not going to talk about it until when he’s healed, and he’s right. Then we’ll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out.” The last-minute saves seem to have helped White have a little sigh of relief. However, McGregor and Chimaev were not the only fighters who withdrew from the clash.

Jamahal Hill gives an update about his health

Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev were not the only fighters who pulled out of their clash. Jamahal Hill was another fighter who withdrew from his clash against Carlos Ulberg, citing health issues. The former light heavyweight champion just came back to action after a year of layoff because of an ACL injury, but seems like destiny wants him to stay away from the Octagon for an extended period. ‘Sweet Dreams’ shared an Instagram post where he showed two test tubs with some fluid in them.

“2 tears in my meniscus, sprained my ACL a Baker Cyst that leaked fluid in the back of my knee and a infusion in some joints!!! There were actually 3 of these. This is only making me hungrier. Be back soon!!!,” wrote Jamahal Hill. Interestingly, Hill was supposed to clash against Khalil Rountree Jr. but ‘The War Horse’ had to withdraw because of substance usage and now Hill had to withdraw because of his injury.

Ulberg will now be facing Anthony Smith at UFC 303. Well, you might think that things are looking settled for the promotion, but wait, it’s not that easy going for the UFC in June.

The UFC might be in problem for the anti-trust lawsuit

The settlement clause between the UFC and the lawyers representing over 1200 former and current fighters under the promotion seems to have faced a roadblock and this might be a piece of bad news for the promotion. Th͏͏e UF͏C h͏as re͏portedly settled tw͏o class act͏ion la͏wsuits accusing it of k͏eeping fighter w͏ages a͏rtificially low through͏ monopolistic practices. The settlement, aro͏und $͏3͏35 ͏million͏, ͏was s͏ignificantl͏y less͏ tha͏n ͏the potent͏i͏al $1.6͏ bi͏llio͏n the UFC might have faced if the cases w͏e͏nt to ͏trial͏.

This͏ agreement helpe͏d the U͏FC a͏v͏oid fu͏rther le͏ga͏l ͏complication͏s a͏nd su͏bstantial financial risk. When everything was working a bit too well for the promotion, things might be starting to work in the favor of the opposite party as in a last-minute delay, the Las Vegas Federal Court judge overseeing the case declined to sign the documents stating that the amount the promotion is willing to pay is considerably lower than what is being demanded by the other party.

The roadblock has come at a time when the promotion is already facing a gigantic problem of maintaining its sabotaged fights. Regardless, June has been one of the worst months for the promotion and it might get worse with the news. What’s your take on the entire fiasco? State your thoughts in the comments below.