Afraid you’re missing out on the latest happenings in the MMA world? Worry not as we are back with another edition, where we will summarise the latest happenings of the combat sports world. We will be starting our journey with a piece of news from welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, who appears to have a problem with former middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

Then we will move on to the featherweight division, where things are starting to heat up as current champion, Ilia Topuria appears to be training alongside former boxing champ. After that, we will conclude our roundup with a piece of crucial news about the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker matchup. So let’s get started.

Belal Muhammad believes Sean Strickland doesn’t deserve the middleweight title shot

The middleweight division is probably one of the most active divisions for this year as back-to-back title fights as well as comebacks have kept the division busy. UFC 305 witnessed Dricus Du Plessis win his maiden title defense, beating Israel Adesanya, who was making a comeback after nearly a year on the sidelines. As the belt is still with Du Plessis now, it appears that Sean Strickland is next in line for it. How? Well, UFC CEO Dana White, in one of his conversations with the media, announced that Strickland will be getting the next title shot.

So, it’s quite clear that the next title defense will be marked by Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland. However, Belal Muhammad is of the opinion that ‘Tarzan’ doesn’t deserve it. The welterweight champ responded to a question made by a fan which stated, “What do Robert Whittaker, Nassourdine Imavov & Caio Borralho all have in common? They all deserve a title-shot more than Sean Strickland? ” ‘Remember The Name’ responded to this question with “No Lies Detected.”

Strickland and Muhammad are not on the best of terms. The outspoken middleweight has taken more than one shot at Muhammad over the years and the pair seems to have some bad blood between them. So the response was not altogether surprising.

Sean Strickland is yet to respond to Muhammad. While we let this one brew, let’s take a look at the featherweight division, where Ilia Topuria has shared a montage of his training.

Ilia Topuria trains alongside Santiago Martinez

The UFC fandom is counting down the days to see the clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. The featherweight champion defeated Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to become the featherweight champion of the world. Months have passed since then and Topuria is all set to defend his title against Max Holloway at UFC 308. The odds are in favor of Holloway for now due to his epic performance against Justin Gaethje.

However, his recent training footage might act as a caution to Holloway. Why? Well, that’s because Topuria is training alongside former boxing champion, Sergio Martinez. The Alicante-based fighter is training with Martinez by having a technical sparring session with low intensity.

In the clip, we see the pair practicing body shots, with Topuria targeting his partner’s liver. Is this a sign of what to expect at UFC 308? Holloway is known for his endurance – both cardiovascular and chin. So don’t be surprised if you see Topuria investing in body shots early to wear down the Hawaiian.

Well, will this training help, Topuria to oust the BMF champ? Only time will tell but for now, let us move forward to a piece of crucial news about another big UFC 308 fight.

Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker in jeopardy?

Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker are set to clash at the UFC 308 co-main event, or at least that’s what we were told. Well, a recent update by the promotion appears to have confused the fans about the fight taking place. The promotion made an X post where they changed the co-main event to Alexan͏der Volk͏o͏v vs. Ciryl G͏a͏ne, from Ch͏imaev vs. W͏hittak͏er.

The fight card listed on the UFC website also shows Gane vs. Volkov as the second last bout of the night, right under Topuria vs. Holloway. As per White’s August announcement, the UFC 308 co-main event was Chimaev vs. Whittaker set for 5 rounds.

Is the fight off? Is it in jeopardy? No one knows. But this has certainly caught the attention of the community. Chimaev is notorious for pulling out of bouts due to his health issues. Is the UFC preparing for all contingencies? Removing him from the co-main event spot is a likely excuse to remove him from the event posters as well. One fan commented the same under a post about this news from ‘MMA Uncensored’s Instagram handle

However, in an act of damage control, UFC quickly made another X post sharing a photo of Chimaev and Whittaker with a caption that said, “The Matchup we’ve all been waiting for.” Well, the fight is happening as of right now but fans are on their toes. What’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.