Midnight Roundup! Islam Makhachev predicts UFC 302, Thiago Alves announces retirement, and more
Islam Makhachev opened up on how he believes UFC 302 will go for him. Elsewhere, Thiago Alves announced his retirement from combat sports after a disappointing loss to Mike Perry.
Find out more about today's top updates with Sportskeeda MMA's Midnight Roundup.
Islam Makhachev predicts "easy fight" for UFC 302
Islam Makhachev believes that he's a bad stylistic matchup for Dustin Poirier and it would be "easy" for him to beat 'The Diamond' next month.
The Dagestani gave his opponent due props as a "warrior" and a legend of the sport but also shed light on his weakness:
"His problem is his style. Just one problem this guy has. His weak point is wrestling and grappling. I have the key for the easy fight. ... I defend my neck, I'm ready for your guillotine."
Watch Islam Makhachev's comments below from 0:30:
Thiago Alves announces retirement
Thiago Alves no longer wants to fight after losing to Mike Perry in just 60 seconds.
At the post-fight press conference after KnuckleMania IV, Alves said that he has been toying with the idea of retirement for a while now and would like to officially announce it:
"I’m going back to retirement... I took this fight on [an] eight-week notice, and I lost my mother on April 5. So I’ve been through a lot, and I put my family through a lot already."
Catch Thiago Alves' comments below from 0:10:
Khabib Nurmagomedov sends a message to Islam Makhachev before UFC 302
Khabib Nurmagomedov has sent a brief but heartfelt message to Islam Makhachev ahead of the upcoming title fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
Nurmagomedov, who previously defeated 'The Diamond' during his lightweight reign, is presumably helping his protege to train for the fight despite retirement from MMA coaching. He wrote on Instagram:
"33 days before the fight. Let's go my brother @islam_makhachev"
Matheus Nicolau issues statement after loss to Alex Perez
Matheus Nicolau lost a main event battle to Alex Perez on Saturday at UFC Vegas 91 via knockout but is not losing heart over it.
Reacting to the defeat, Nicolau wrote on Instagram:
"Last night I failed I fell. What a bitter taste it has!!"
Breaking down the fight, he added:
"Felt good in the fight, following the strategy we created for a five-round fight. End of the first round I was finding my opponent's time, watching his shots and starting to connect mine.
"Round two started off more active putting more punches and feeling the fight was going where we wanted until I got caught and fell. ... I accept what happened with an open heart and move on. We lost the battle, but the war goes on!"
Jorge Masvidal reveals how much he got paid to fight Kamaru Usman on short notice
Jorge Masvidal recently opened up on his short-notice fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 on VladTV. He revealed that he struck a $5 million deal with the promotion to step in on six days' notice:
"If I hadn't struck that deal with the UFC - we ended up selling right under 1.3 million pay-per-views - I wouldn't have got nowhere near $5 million... I would've just felt like I got taken advantage of."
Watch Jorge Masvidal's comments below from 5:00: