Michael Chandler adds a name to his list of priorities. But is it a fighter, or something cooking on the personal front? Don’t’ know the answer? Well, that means you haven’t been able to catch up with all the news lighting up the realm of MMA and combat sports. Fret not; EssentiallySports is back again with yet another episode of MMA News Roundup.
First, we will find out the mystery name on Michael Chandler’s list. Then we will move on to Chris Curtis, who just exposed some Russian spies in his training camp! Speaking of exposure, even Jiri Prochazka followed the trend and revealed the insecurities Jamahal Hill has ahead of UFC 311. In the end, we will find out why Alexander Volkanovski decided to snub Khabib Nurmagomedov. So, without further ado, let’s dive deep and find out all the details.
Michael Chandler announces new addition to the family
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Michael Chandler and his wife, Brie Willet, have decided to give their children, Hap and Ace Chandler, the best gift this Christmas. So, what is the gift? Well, the two brothers will now have a baby sister to play with! Announcing the good news on his Instagram, ‘Iron’ and his wife announced that they are expecting a baby girl and her due date is expected to be March 2025.
Sharing a picture of their gender reveal ceremony, they wrote in the caption, “Hap & Ace are very excited about their baby sister—coming March 2025 🩷 We are thankful for her little life and grateful to our sweet gestational carrier who has blessed us with such a selfless gift by bringing our daughter into this world. Wishing you a Merry Christmas & a blessed 2025!”
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It is worth noting that just a few weeks ago at UFC 309, Michael Chandler suffered his fourth loss in his last five professional fights when he lost a unanimous decision at the hands of Charles Oliveira on November 16. So this amazing news of a baby girl would’ve surely lifted his spirits and motivated him for a comeback win in his next fight.
Chris Curtis lashes out at Russian spies in his gym
Two contenders for the top 15 middleweight spot will face off on the first card of 2025. Chris Curtis is all geared up to face Roman Kopylov on the UFC Vegas 101 Main Card. Curtis, 37, dropped out of the middleweight rankings after falling by a split decision to Brendan Allen at the UFC Vegas 90 headliner. ‘Action Man’ boasts a record of 2–3–1 in his last six fights, so now he wishes to be all prepared for his upcoming fight. However, Kopylov, who returned to winning ways with a split decision over Cesar Almeida at UFC 302, has other plans. The Russian, who is 5–3 in the UFC, has apparently sent spies to Chris Curtis’ camp, according to the American fighter.
Chris Curtis had accused Roman Kopylov of sending two Russian spies into his #UFC311 training camp 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/SlS4VpQKAi
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) December 25, 2024
Taking to his Instagram, ‘Action Man’ uploaded a story where he narrated the whole story. “Couple weeks ago, 2 Russians show up looking to be part of the team. After 2 weeks they vanish as soon as Kopylov comes to town and are now training together. S***bag move Kopylov.” This is a major allegation made by the fighter, so it would be interesting to see how the Russian reacts to it.
Jiri Prochazka exposes Jamahal Hill’s insecurities
It looks like Jiri Prochazka is determined to get back on the winning track in impressive fashion. After announcing that he would go one-on-one against Jamahal Hill in January, the Czech has now started responding to the provocations of the American. For the unaware, Jamahal Hill has been making headlines for a while now by criticizing Alex Pereira while also taking a few jibes at Jiri Prochazka for his loss against ‘Poatan.’
Responding to the trash-talking, Jiri Prochazka told MMA Fighting that by his constant verbal jibes, Jamahal Hill is only exposing his own mindset. “So that’s why I don’t care about these trash talks, because do you know how the true confident man, a real man, [looks] like? He don’t know. He don’t need to say some sh*t about others, to speak about his strong sides and about the weaknesses in his opponent, because he’s self-confident too much to not do that.”
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‘The Czech Samurai’ added, “I don’t care what he’s saying because it’s not just primarily about me; it just shows what is in his head.” It is worth noting that Jamahal Hill is favored in the bookmakers odds ahead of UFC 311. Hill, who is coming off a knockout by Alex Pereira at UFC 303, is listed as a slight favorite with a -125 for his fight with former champion Jiri Prochazka, who is positioned as an underdog at +105. So now, Prochazka would surely want to prove his mettle against the man who has been running his mouth against him.
Alexander Volkanovski snubs Khabib Nurmagomedov of the UFC top 5 greats list
Alexander Volkanovski is still looking for a spot in UFC’s 2025 PPV plans. With the Dana White-led promotion’s plans to have a PPV in Sydney, ‘Volk’ too wishes to mark his return to the Octagon on Australian soil. But ahead of UFC 312, he still has plenty of time on his hands. As a result, he organized a Q&A session with his fans on his YouTube channel to answer all the questions they had in mind. One interesting query that one fan had was to find out who are the top 5 UFC champions the promotion has ever had. While Alexander Volkanovski did mention the expected names such as Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, it was interesting to see that he snubbed Khabib Nurmagomedov off the list.
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Answering the question, he said, “So, Demetrius Johnson, Jon Jones… Yeah, Georges St-Pierre has to be there too. We’re running out of room now. So, Demetrius Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre… I’m going to throw Anderson Silva in there. And finally, Israel Adesanya. When it comes to striking, I honestly think he’s the greatest striker the UFC has ever seen. Am I missing someone? There are so many great champions, but that’s it. I said five.”
Well, that is quite an interesting list, about which fans will surely have some strong opinions. What do you think? Do you agree with Volkanovski’s top five? Let us know in the comments.