Conor McGregor slams "abysmal" champion, Ariana Grande promotes UFC 308, Dmitry Bivol to file protest scorecard: MMA News Roundup
Conor McGregor took to X to hurl some select trash-talking at a current UFC champion. Elsewhere, Dmitry Bivol is looking to protest the outcome of the Artur Beterbiev fight.
The following are today's top combat sports news updates, which were brought to you by Sportskeeda MMA.
Conor McGregor rips into Belal Muhammad on X
Conor McGregor recently expressed frustration on social media about the cancellation of his return fight against Michael Chandler, scheduled to take place at UFC 303 on June 29, 2024.
The fight got scrapped after McGregor broke his toe, further delaying the Irishman's return.
Since then, Chandler has moved on with a booked fight against Charles Oliveira and McGregor himself has teased a Feb. 1, 2025, return versus Dan Hooker. Taking to X a few hours after said reveal, McGregor blasted Belal Muhammad over the latter's UFC resume:
"I'd love to crush my left hook into Belal's temple and take down the triple crown. I'd do it easily and fast. I'd cave his skull heavy! The hurdles I face getting back to the octagon are just harrowing. I'm so sad over my June 29th fight cancellation."
He continued:
"To think this bum is now a UFC champion with zero knockdowns on his resume whatsoever is so bad. The UFC's most abysmal zero-revenue-generating fighter in modern history."
McGregor has deleted the tweet since. Take a look at the screenshot of the post here.
Ariana Grande promotes UFC 308 on SNL
Music sensation Ariana Grande appeared on Saturday Night Live this week and promoted the upcoming pay-per-view event, UFC 308, in a comedy skit. The video made fun of the brutal nature of the sport, taking jabs at concussions, Celine Dion, and even the commentators' hairstyle (or lack thereof).
Take a look at the video below:
There were mixed reactions to the promotional clip. Some fans enjoyed the harmless mockery while others were offended by it. One fan said, "That was weird." Another said, "The commentators being bald was funny af it's facts."
Take a look at the comments here.
Dmitry Bivol to challenge the result of the title fight against Artur Beterbiev
Dmitry Bivol's team suspects biased foul play behind losing the undisputed light heavyweight championship match to Artur Beterbiev via a controversial majority decision.
While Bivol gave props to Beterbiev after the defeat, his manager Vadim Kornilov later revealed that they would be challenging the scorecard and demanding an official investigation into the matter. The judges scored the fight 114-114, 115-1131, and 16-112 in Beterbiev's favor. The decision has been called out by several boxers and fans on social media, while some others have come out in agreement.
"We're going to file a protest on Monday. I think the judge has to at least have some kind of responsibility for what he did. It's becoming very destructive to the sport what they're doing."
He continued:
"These [sanctioning bodies] have supervisors, the supervisors are friendly with the judges, they're hugging the promoters, it's beginning to look like a scheme… One of the supervisors was tapping the Top Rank guys and congratulating them before the decision was [announced]. What is that about? What kind of buddy-buddy relationship do they have there? Where is the professionalism of the sport?"
Check out Dmitry Bivol's manager's comments below (10:25):