MMA News Roundup – Joe Rogan Gets Emotional After Dustin Poirier Loss; Donald Trump Finally Meets Khabib Nurmagomedov; Dana White Downplays Islam Makhachev’s P4P Status for Jon Jones

Did you miss out on the biggest headlines during one of MMA’s biggest weekends? Well, here is the latest edition of the daily roundup to help you stay abreast with the latest happenings in our favorite sport. We will start our UFC 302 edition of the roundup with longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The 56-year-old appeared to get emotional after Dustin Poirier lost the chance to become undisputed lightweight king in his third attempt.

Thereafter, our focus will shift towards Khabib Nurmagomedov, who made his return to Islam Makhachev‘s corner at UFC 302 in New Jersey. Guess what? He happened to bump into the former US president, Donald Trump. Finally, we will sum up this roundup edition with the news of Dana White, who dismissed Makhachev’s pound-for-pound king status (even after his UFC 302 victory) and hailed heavyweight champion Jon Jones to be the real top dog in MMA. Let’s dive in!

Dustin Poirier’s loss almost made Joe Rogan tear up

UFC Lightweight stalwart, legend, and showman Dustin Poirier could not achieve the fairytale ending he desired. He gave everything he had to finish his story, excellently fending off multiple takedown attempts from Islam Makhachev, but succumbed to a D’arce choke in the final round. But following the fight, when Joe Rogan walked up to Poirier for a few words, the former interim lightweight champion heavily hinted that a retirement could be coming soon.

“I don’t know, I got a little girl I love and I gotta see. I think this could be it, honestly, Joe,” Dustin Poirier told Joe Rogan. Having heard that from ‘The Diamond’, Joe Rogan went on to thank the 35-year-old for all the things he’s accomplished and the memories he’s given the fans, while also having the chance to call his fights. Rogan looked like he could have gotten a little teary-eyed, but the consummate professional handled himself well. “Let’s see where his heart is. This might be it,” Joe Rogan stated later.

It was his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov’s presence that made a lot of difference for Makhachev in the grueling five-round title fight. The former champion was seen screaming at his teammate for not sticking to his game plan. But the most consequential interaction ‘The Eagle’ had last night was perhaps outside the Octagon.

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald Trump get acquainted at UFC 302

Donald Trump made his return to attending UFC events once again. It seemed like the crowd missed him as they roared as soon as he entered the arena alongside Dana White. Even light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira caught up with the former US president and took a few snaps with him backstage. However, in another surprising scene, Trump also briefly conversed with ‘The Eagle’ Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As the camera captured it, Donald Trump and Khabib Nurmagomedov were all smiles as they shook hands for an extended duration of time. The former president finally got to meet ‘The Eagle’ about whom he had shared words of praise on multiple occasions. As per Khabib’s manager, the former POTUS revealed Khabib was his favorite fighter of all time. But that was not all. As per footage on social media, and a recent admission by Javier Mendez, the Russian asked Trump if there was anything he could do about the situation in Palestine.

Dana White snubbed Islam Makhachev for Jon Jones as the P4P king

Islam Makhachev, before becoming the champion at UFC 280, said time and time again that being a champion was not the only accomplishment he was looking for. He wanted to go down the same route as Khabib and become the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. He achieved that status after his UFC 294 demolition of Alexander Volkanovski and proved his status as the P4P king once again in an amazing finish to his fight at UFC 302. But would you believe it? Dana White still thinks Jon Jones is the best P4P fighter.

However, that did not seem to bother Islam Makhachev as he shared his thoughts about it during the post-fight pressers, claiming that he’s entitled to his own opinion. However, he did respond to the UFC CEO by claiming that UFC 302 would have been a bust if not for him because the fights lacked proper action.

What do you think? Is Dana White right or is Islam Makhachev right in this situation? Drop your comments below.