MMA News Roundup: Dana White accused of 'dirty politics' after UFC 282, Jake Paul reveals major updates on fighters' union, Paddy Pimblett warned about Ilia Topuria
Welcome to today's edition of Sportskeeda's daily MMA News Roundup, where we present the biggest UFC updates and other stories from the world of mixed martial arts.
In today's issue, we talk about Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov lambasting Dana White for controversial decisions, Jake Paul revealing three major updates on his fighters' union endeavor, and more.
#3. "Save your league's reputation" - Ramzan Kadyrov to Dana White after UFC 282
The split draw decision that many believe 'robbed' Magomed Ankalaev of the light heavyweight championship earned quite a lot of criticism from MMA fans and fighters. Even Ankalaev's opponent Jan Blachowicz believed the Dagestani fighter had done enough to win the belt, but the judges scoring the fight evidently did not.
The decision also did not sit well with Ramzan Kadyrov, the dictator of Chechnya, who shares a close relationship with several UFC fighters, including Khamzat Chimaev.
Kadyrov blasted Dana White in a post on his personal Telegram channel and accused the UFC of playing politics and refereeing "dirty."
"Dana White, what happened to you? You were a normal, principled man, and today you took the championship belt out of the ring without handing it to the clear winner. Or has politics entered the UFC ring and requires you to referee dirty? It's a sport, Dana. Be honest... Admit your mistake, give the belt to the real winner, and apologize for this show. Save your league's reputation," Kadyrov wrote.
The post was shared by journalist Karim Zidan over Twitter.
Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov called out UFC President Dana White following the split draw in the UFC 282 main event.
The result saw Kadyrov’s fighter (Ankalaev) denied a UFC title, which the dictator ironically blamed on “politics” before demanding UFC change the result https://t.co/zN3LMvXgI7
White further added fuel to the discontent among fans by announcing the next light heavyweight title fight immediately after the pay-per-view ended. Despite Ankalaev's performance, it is Jamahal Hill who will get to fight for the title next against Glover Teixeira.
#2. Jake Paul inches a step closer to launching United Fighters Association
Jake Paul has been talking about the creation of a fighters' union for a while now. He made a bet with Anderson Silva ahead of their fight that saw 'The Spider' agree to be a part of Paul's union if he lost the fight.
It seems like the YouTuber-turned-boxer is really going ahead with this endeavor. He even opened a logo design race on social media a few days back and announced a $5K reward for the winner.
In latest tweet, Paul provided three major updates on the process of creating the union, which has been named the United Fighters Association. 'The Problem Child' revealed that they are collaborating with a law firm that specializes in labor and employment law.
He also stated that they are working on identifying the fighters who could lead the union and have zeroed down on three finalists for the logo design competition.
Take a look at his tweet below:
UFA (United Fighters Association) update:
1) Working with a law firm that specializes in labor & employment law.
2) Identifying key current & previous fighters to lead the interim board.
3) Logo design narrowed down to 3 finalists.
It’s time for fighters to come together. twitter.com/jakepaul/statu…
#1. Paddy Pimblett is not ready for Ilia Topuria, says John McCarthy
Paddy Pimblett was awarded a controversial unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 on Saturday night. Many fighters and MMA pros have spoken up against the scoring and hailed Gordon as the true winner of the fight.
Many experts have also opined that Gordon exposed the flaws in Pimblett's game and proved 'The Baddy' to be less invincible than he claimed.
Veteran referee and MMA analyst 'Big' John McCarthy weighed in on the matter on his weekly Weighing In podcast, co-hosted by Josh Thomson. Given that Pimblett and UFC featherweight Ilia Topuria have been feuding for a while, McCarthy predicted how a fight between the two would go:
"He [Gordon] is a good guy, personally like him, but he's not at the top of the food chain. There's a lot of guys above him - man, they're licking their chops waiting for you... There's a guy at 145 [Topuria] that you got into it with at the media day, that man will f**king murk you. He will make you look like you are right now, a fairly average fighter that has fans. They put you in a co-main. You're not ready for the co-main son, not yet."
Watch the video below:
Topuria and Pimblett got into a scuffle at UFC 282 pre-event press conference, where they nearly came to blows.