MMA News Roundup: Ryan Garcia Handed Unexpected U-Turn by Strickland; O’Malley Takes a Shot at Conor McGregor?, Dana White’s Desperate UFC 299 Move to Counter Ngannou

The MMA world has experienced a whirlwind of events in the ͏past ͏24 hours, creating a buzz within the community. ͏For those who may ͏have missed out due to a busy schedule, we’ve condensed͏ ͏the key updates into bite-si͏zed portions. Stay in the loop ͏with our daily recap of the lates͏t ha͏ppen͏ings in the sport. Let’s dive right in.

We will start with a new development regarding Sean Strickland’s apology to Ryan Garcia. Then we will shift our focus to Sean O’Malley’s comparison with Conor McGregor. Finally, we will sum up the daily news compilation with Dana White’s UFC 299 move to counter Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua’s boxing event.

Sean Strickland checks on Ryan Garcia’s mental health

Ryan Garcia is gearing up to face Devin Haney on April 20th. But is he really ready to fight again? The fighting community was worried sick after they witnessed Garcia’s disturbing Instagram post, which indicated that he might have died. The Instagram post had ominous stuff indicating Satan. It raised an alarming question about mental health among professional boxers.

Sean Strickland has taken the initiative to check on Garcia. The former middleweight champion took to his social media space to add a video where he said “Sorry man I feel better now.. demons are gone. Hope you feel better lmao!!!!!!!!!.”

He further added, “Yo, Garcia bro I just got that training. I tried to kill all my friends, the teammates are gone, I feel better. Bro, I hope you feel better man. But hey we can still fight to death. I hope you feel better.” Sean Strickland and Ryan Garcia had some beef when ‘Tarzan’ beat up ‘Sneako’ but seems like it has since ended. Let us move forward to another character who is beefing up with Ryan Garica! Sean O’Malley.

Sean O’Malley’s honest comparison with Conor McGregor

Sean O’Malley is set to return to the octagon to defend his belt this weekend against Marlon Vera. The highly anticipated match will be O’Malley’s first title defense after he defeated Aljamain Sterling with a Conor McGregor-like punch back in UFC 292. The MMA community has been comparing O’Malley with McGregor since then and now ‘Suga’ seems to have come forward to talk about the comparison.

While having a conversation with Patrick Bet-David on his podcast, O’Malley said “I don’t necessarily love my odds, but just boxing, speed kills pretty quick. I think I have better skills. I can stand southpaw, orthodox, and have a very good defense. Very good offense, both. I think I have the best striking in MMA hands down. Conor was at his prime when he knocked out José Aldo, me moving up to 145. I would still be a bit lighter, but I’m taller and faster. I think it would be a very competitive fight back in the day when he was 145.”

Sean O’Malley has been wanting to move up to face Ilia Topuria in a champ-champ match and for that, he has been looking at his chances, and seems like his comparison with Conor McGregor was his call. Nonetheless, O’Malley moving up to featherweight will take some time. For now, let us shift our focus to Dana White and UFC 299.

Read More: UFC News: Sean O’Malley Gives Verdict on Ryan Garcia’s MMA Challenge

Did Dana White attempt to jeopardize the Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua hype?

UFC 299 is set to clash with Francis Ngannou vs Anthony Joshua‘s boxing match this weekend. The hype for this match is an absolute banger between the fight fans. The weekend is set to be a treat for the fight fans. However, let me give you another perspective of the behind-the-scenes of the UFC. According to Benoit Saint-Denis’s manager, Guillaume Peltier, Dana White might have decided on the Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint-Denis matchup because of the Ngannou vs. Joshua fight announcement.

While having a conversation with the media, Peltier said, “So what happened — I think, according to me, I have no confirmation, I’m talking to you with an open heart — things accelerated due to Ngannou. I think UFC wanted to counter-attack [news of Ngannou vs. Joshua] and make this news flop a little bit in France.”

He further added “To me, I think they said to themselves, ‘We have Cyril Gane or Benoit Saint-Denis, and we have to react immediately to Ngannou’s announcement to ensure it goes by the wayside and no one talks about it,’” he continued. “And I don’t know if you agree with me, but in the end we talked very little about the Ngannou fight, finally, with the announcement of Benoit Saint-Denis [vs. Dustin Poirier]. The counter-attack succeeded.”

Peltier explained that the UFC admin had initially turned down the Poirier matchup. The UFC admin stated that ‘God Of War’ should fight Beneil Dariush first. However, after Ngannou’s move, everything changed. What’s your opinion on UFC 299?

Read More: ’Disturbed” Ryan Garcia Gets an Apology From Sean Strickland on His Mental Health Comments