MMA News Roundup: Fighter pulls out of UFC event due to freak injury, Khabib Nurmagomedov talks about son for the first time, Francis Ngannou's contract rumors
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 a fighter pulling out of UFC Vegas 66 after falling down the stairs, an MMA journalist's recent claims about Francis Ngannou's contract, and more.
#3. Deron Winn out of UFC Vegas 66 due to freak injury
Deron Winn was supposed to fight Julian Marquez at the UFC Apex this weekend on the promotion's last card of the year. With only a couple of days remaining before the event, an unfortunate injury forced Winn to pull out of the event.
While training at the UFC Performance Institute, Winn fainted and fell down the stairs, leading to a mild concussion.
Winn took to Instagram to explain the situation and give an update on his health. He confirmed that the majority of the tests done after he was rushed to the hospital came back normal. However, he was pulled from the fight due to the concussion he suffered. He apologized to his opponent and said he was devastated by the circumstances.
Read his statement below:
He later put out another tweet about how he was "dealing with death" over and over in his life. He lost to Phil Hawes in a disappointing manner via second-round TKO in his last outing.
#2. Khabib Nurmagomedov is already coaching his 5-year-old son
Khabib Nurmagomedov is a very private person when it comes to his personal life. In all the years he has been a combat sports superstar, fans have not heard him say much about his wife or kids.
However, he recently spoke about his son for the first during an in-cage interview with Red Corner MMA at Eagle FC 51. 'The Eagle' revealed that his five-year-old is already training at the gym and had started at the age of three and a half, which is even earlier than Nurmagomedov himself did.
When asked if he has plans to get a wrestling coach for his son, Nurmagomedov said:
"You have a better candidate than me? I'll be coaching him."
Watch Nurmagomedov's comments [translated to English from Russian] below:
🏽
Khabib Jr is gonna be a force. Already started training at 3.5yo, even earlier than his father ✊🏽🔥
vc @RedCorner_MMA https://t.co/yOsFnNc9v2
#1. Francis Ngannou's contract may already be over, says MMA journalist
MMA journalist John Nash believes Francis Ngannou's contract may have already come to an end, leaving him a free agent.
The heavyweight champion has long been in a stand-off with the promotion regarding his contract and fighter pay in general. He and his manager have slightly hinted in interviews that his contract could be over by the end of this year, which is before Ngannou will be ready to return to the octagon after knee surgery.
After going through the structure of some average Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts and listening to Ngannou's statements, Nash came to the conclusion that Ngannou may already be out of the promotion.
Nash pointed out that section 4.3.2 of an average UFC contract states that no agreement is extended beyond the date of five years since signing the document. Nash calculated that Nagnnou had signed a five-year deal with the promotion in early December 2017 ahead of his first title shot against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018. According to the rules, his contract should already be over.
Nash put forward his argument in the following Twitter thread:
I)
I think Ngannou might already be a free agent. A quick thread. (i'll be using excerpts from other UFC contracts, all of which have the same text)
1/ Ngannou has says he's a free agent in December, that would be based on the effective date of his contract... https://t.co/OT5j4tO5NZ
II)
2/ The effective date is the date on the signature page. Based on all the interviews where Ngannou has mentioned being a free agent it sounds like the signed date was sometime in early December 2018. https://t.co/NuRRKIPHbV
III)
3/ the effective date (the date when it is signed) is the date the contract starts (commences) https://t.co/RgtajqFdsf
IV)
4/ A new provision put in every contract I've seen post 2017 states "the Agreement will not be extended pursuant to this Section 4 beyond the date which is five (5) years after the Effective Date of this Agreement." https://t.co/fpKEEc1QAc
V)
5/ 5 years after the date it was signed would be sometime in early December. I have said in the past that I thought the contract would end in January, but that's based on a faulty read of another contract, not the current standard. So Francis very well could be a free agent now.
VI)
6/ also the UFC contracts no longer includes an exclusive negotiating period (they still have a 12 month matching period.) So as soon as Ngannou's effective date has passed - which it might already have - he's free to talk to anyone.
He further explained the situation to MMA on SiriusXM:
"All that suggests to me, under the terms that we know of the new versions of the UFC contracts...that his contract actually terminated in early part of December."
John Nash (@heynottheface) explains to
@jimmysmithmma why Francis Ngannou may already be a free agent https://t.co/UxlNLqjIKl