AKA gym’s head coach compared Jon Jones with a legendary cyclist, while Sean Strickland refused to fight Robert Whittaker, and Sean O’Malley declared that he would take advantage of his opponent’s injury. That’s what roared through the fighting community in the last 24 hours. Wait, you missed it all due to your busy schedule? Don’t worry, because EssentiallySports has come up with yet another episode of MMA Roundup, where we highlight the latest buzz in the MMA realm.

First up, we’ll see the comparison that Javier Mendez made between Jon Jones and Lance Armstrong. Next up, it’s all about Strickland’s refusal to fight Robert Whittaker after ‘The Reaper’s manager claimed that the middleweight #3 would fight for the belt against ‘Tarzan’. Finally, we’ll stop at Sean O’Malley’s plan for UFC 306. So, without any further ado, let’s dive right in!

AKA head coach compares Jon Jones with Lance Armstrong

The UFC head honcho, Dana White, has often argued that Jones should have been the one at the top of the pound-for-pound list. However, Javier Mendez was of a different opinion. He didn’t deny Jones of his legacy, but comparing him with Armstrong wasn’t something that the fighting community ever thought of.

Weighing in on Armstrong’s achievements, Mendez said, “Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France how many times? And basically he got all those titles taken away from him because of one thing: doping. And even though it was many years later that they caught him, he lost all his Tour de France (titles). Well, it’s been a fact, it’s been proven Jon Jones has been caught doping. So, I’m sorry, I think that disqualifies him just based on that alone.”

Mendez pointed out Jones’ troubles with the doping agencies. But talking about White’s adamant views about the HW champ being the P4P #1, the coach wasn’t on the same page. It would have been a different case had Jones been an active fighter. He continued, “His abilities? Yeah, I can see that, 100 percent. I mean, the guy is one of the greatest of all time, for sure. But for me, I value the greatest of all time based on what they do outside, not just what they do inside.”

Now, let’s shift our focus to the second story. Let’s see why Sean Strickland refused to take on a fight against Robert Whittaker.

Sean Strickland doesn’t want to fight Robert Whittaker

Whittaker’s manager, Titus Day, appeared in an interview with ‘Submission Radio’. He claimed that if Whittaker won his bout against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308, he would get a shot at the middleweight championship title. However, the UFC might slide in a bout between Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis before Whittaker gets his title shot. And if things go as planned, ‘The Reaper’ might just land against ‘Tarzan’ for the championship belt. 

However, there was a time when Strickland refused to fight the New Zealander. Day recalled the events following UFC Riyadh and said, “Straight after the last fight in Riyadh, they said to us straight away ‘Does Rob want to fight’ like literally on the day. They said, ‘Does Rob want to fight Sean in Perth?’ and we said straight away, ‘Absolutely’…. Apparently, he said no so that was it.”

The matchup between Strickland and Whittaker might just materialize if the MMA Gods will it. But that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s jump on to the final story of today’s roundup and see what Sean O’Malley has planned for UFC 306.

Sean O’Malley promises to take advantage of Merab Dvalishvili’s injury at UFC 306

A few weeks before UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili released a picture of a cut above his eye on social media. He received the injury while training and as per many, he gave a target to O’Malley. ‘Suga’ is one of the most accurate strikers in the UFC and with target painted on his opponent’s head, he wouldn’t back down from taking advantage.

In a conversation with Kevin Iole, ‘Suga’ claimed, “I am a 100% going to open up that cut whether it’s healed or not… I don’t know how much it can heal, I’ve never really had any bad cuts so I’m not sure. But I’m gonna be, you know, that’s the left side of his face, this right hand doesn’t miss. So yeah, It just adds I think, I’ll probably accidentally hit his nose before I hit that cut. The nose just kind of takes up like 85% of his face. So I’m gonna try and get around his nose to get to that cut.”

The UFC CEO had also expressed his concerns regarding O’Malley’s marksmanship taking advantage of Dvalishvili’s cut. He even lashed out at ‘The Machine’ for revealing his injury before the fight. Now, all the fight fans need to do is wait and watch how the fight proceeds.

As we come to the end of the roundup, drop down to the comments below and let us know what you think of the noise in the MMA realm. Do you side with Mendez in his belief that Jon Jones is not worthy of being the P4P #1 fighter? Who do you think would win if Strickland and Whittaker happened to face each other? And will Dvalishvili be able to prevent getting his cut opened up by ‘Suga’?