Midnight Roundup! Jon Jones' UFC 300 claim, Alex Pereira's insane breakup story, fan jumps Sean Strickland, and more
The UFC 297 press conference went down last night, where Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis were surprisingly respectful to one another throughout. At one point they even shook hands on putting up a great performance for the fans. Elsewhere, Alex Pereira, who also attended the press conference, dropped a bombshell revelation about his recently broken-up relationship.
Here are the most exciting bits of news updates from the world of MMA, brought to the tip of your finger by Sportskeeda's Midnight Roundup.
Jon Jones was offered UFC 300
While UFC 300 has been called underwhelming by fans, except for the recently announced BMF title fight, the marquee card almost featured Jon Jones if not for his injury.
'Bones' tweeted that he was offered to fight at the event by the promotion but had to turn it down since he wasn't ready yet. However, his relationship with UFC is "better now than it's ever been," he stated.
As for the injury, Jones said it was "progressing in an amazing way" despite being more painful than his initial injury, the pectoral tear.
Alex Pereira says ex-girlfriend was married!
In a recent interview with Full Send MMA's Shawny Mack, Alex Pereira disclosed that his ex-girlfriend, Merle Christine, was married when they were dating, as per the translations provided by the outlet.
While this is a pretty serious allegation, some of the fans were wary of believing 'Poatan' and theorized that he was pranking his fans. Others, however, were in shock to hear the news.
Christine previously said in a statement that their breakup was mutual and respectful.
Fan jumps on stage during UFC 297 press conference
A fan jumped on the stage and tried to reach Sean Strickland - his intentions unknown - during the UFC 297 press conference last night.
The incident took place as Strickland was attempting to squash his beef with Dricus du Plessis and get him to agree to try and "kill each other". The fan was tackled by security and removed from the stage by force.
Joe Pyfer proves he punched harder than Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou, due to his size and reputation, is by default believed to be one of the hardest punchers ever in the history of combat sports. He backs it up well with his punching record too, registering a strike power of 129,161 units on the PowerKube machine.
However, Joe Pyfer allegedly broke Ngannou's record, according to what teammate Sean Brady told Joe Rogan on the JRE podcast. Appearing on the show this week, Pyfer provided video proof of him achieving the feat.
Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis meet again in fighter hotel
Usually beef between fighters heightens as the fight draws near. But with Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis, the opposite seems to be happening.
The two already embraced and shook hands once at the hotel lobby and followed it up with a second shake of hands at the UFC 297 press conference. A newly emerged clip shows them having a friendly conversation yet again. This time Strickland reminds du Plessis to call him a slur the next time they see each other, or else no one would pay to watch them fight.
Nina-Marie Daniele shows off bruises given by Sean Strickland
Nina-Marie Daniele sparred with Sean Strickland in a friendly session a few days ago, in which the UFC star taught her some fighting moves, including leg kick checks. The session left Daniele with a number of bruises all over her legs, which she showed off in a recent video.
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Midnight Trash-Talk!
Watch Sean Strickland get an already loud Toronto crowd chant "F*ck Colby" in the middle of the UFC 297 press conference: