Midnight Roundup! Conor McGregor OUT OF UFC 303, "violently ill" Khamzat Chimaev replaced, and more
The UFC had plenty of surprises for fight fans today. The promotion announced that the highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight won't be taking place at UFC 303 on June 29.
Shortly before dropping that bombshell, Dana White revealed that Khamzat Chimaev was out of his UFC Saudi Arabia fight against Robert Whittaker due to being severely ill.
Catch up on all the latest news in the mixed martial arts world with Sportskeeda MMA's Midnight Roundup.
Dana White confirms Conor McGregor's UFC 303 exit due to injury
UFC CEO Dana White recently announced a host of changes to the UFC 303 card. The event is scheduled to go down on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
White confirmed that Conor McGregor wouldn't be fighting Michael Chandler in the event's headliner and revealed that Jamahal Hill was also forced out of his co-main event fight against Carlos Ulberg due to injury.
McGregor reportedly suffered an injury earlier this month and couldn't recover in time for his grand comeback fight. As a result, the promotion booked an exciting light heavyweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka as the new main event.
In the co-main event, featherweight star Brian Ortega would go up against the mercurial Diego Lopes, with Carlos Ulberg being booked against Anthony Smith. According to Ariel Helwani, McGregor suffered the injury shortly before the pre-fight presser in Dublin was canceled without reason.
Khamzat Chimaev out of Robert Whittaker fight at UFC Saudi Arabia due to being "violently ill"
As today's second bombshell, Khamzat Chimaev has pulled out of his middleweight fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia due to being severely ill. Dana White announced the news via social media and announced that Whittaker will now face Ikram Aliskerov on June 22.
White took to Instagram to announce Chimaev's withdrawal and to drive home just how unwell the Chechen-born grappling phenom was. In a piece-to-camera, he stated:
"A little news here. Unfortunately, Khamzat Chimaev is out of the fight next weekend in Saudi Arabia. Violently, and I mean, violently ill. So, he's going back home, and hopefully, he gets well soon. The replacement, Ikram Aliskerov."
UFC star Chase Hooper welcomes new-born daughter with wife Anna Hooper
UFC lightweight Chase Hooper recently announced that his family was one member bigger. 'The Dream' took to social media to reveal that his wife had given birth to their first child, a daughter named Ellie Hooper.
In a recent Instagram post, the 24-year-old UFC star revealed that his wife, Anna Hooper, had given birth naturally and without any medications. He wrote in the caption:
"At 1:16 am on Tuesday we got to welcome our daughter into the world. Being there to support my wife while she delivered our baby was an intense experience, especially considering that I usually get to be the one in the middle of the chaos rather than the support system hoping that everything turns out okay. She delivered a 9lbs. 6oz baby without any medication, which took a lot of courage, and I’ll forever have respect for that."
Dillon Danis re-ignites feud with Paige VanZant on social media using doctored DMs
It's no secret that there's no love lost between Dillon Danis and Paige VanZant. The two MMA personalities have been trading shots on social media for quite some time, and Danis recently took the beef further by posting screenshots of some doctored DMs allegedly from the former UFC star.
Danis uploaded screenshots of an alleged direct message from '12 Gauge' in a recent X post and made the photoshopped texts look like she wanted to collaborate with him to film some adult content for OnlyF*ns. He wrote in the caption:
"Gonna be a hard no from me, wtf."
Despite fight fans being aware of Danis' reputation as a troll, many thought this was a low blow even by his standards and slammed his actions.
Jon Jones roasts Tom Aspinall's fight highlights, dismisses hype behind Englishman
Jon Jones isn't impressed with Tom Aspinall's fighting skills and recently made it clear that the Englishman would pose no threat to him in the cage. 'Bones' has notably exchanged unsavory words with Aspinall on social media over the past few weeks over accusations of ducking the interim heavyweight champion.
In a recent X post, Jones posted some footage of Aspinall's ill-fated fight against Curtis Blaydes in July 2022. The reigning UFC heavyweight champion claimed Aspinall was getting "touched up" even before his knee injury and wrote:
"It's not about the injury, it's about your boy getting touched up. Even the moment his knee popped [out] he was getting punched in the face. I'm just calling what I see... [I want to see Aspinall] stay around for a while [and] start breaking records. That's when you get my full attention. I've seen this story too many times."