MMA News Roundup: Jake Paul to fight in MMA, Ariel Helwani shreds UFC president Dana White for slap incident, Artem Lobov suffers setback in Conor McGregor case
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 Jake Paul finally coming into MMA, Ariel Helwani's monolog about Dana White slapping his wife, and more.
#3. Jake Paul signs with PFL and calls out Nate Diaz
Jake Paul has finally done it; he has signed up for his MMA debut.
After months of being taunted by combat sports experts and enthusiasts for never being in a "real fight," Jake Paul has signed with the PFL.
In a video uploaded on PFL's social media, Jake Paul confirmed the news. He further revealed that he'd offered Nate Diaz a two-fight deal - one boxing match and another in PFL's cage.
Watch the video below:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League @jakepaul https://t.co/pgMDUprK6S
The PFL has emerged as a rival promotion to the UFC in recent years, especially after signing multiple athletes who were cut from Dana White's organization. Its pay structure is quite beneficial for the fighters, even though questions have been raised about whether it can keep the company in business.
Jake Paul has signed a multi-year contract with the PFL to compete in a new PPV-based division called "Super Fight." Paul and his partner Nakisa Bidarian, the former chief financial office of the UFC, are among the founders of the new division. Thus, they now own equity shares in the PFL, as per the first report by the New York Times.
Paul's official role will be 'Head of Fighter Advocacy', which means he will work where he works best - on social media.
#2. "What are your kids going to say about you?" - Ariel Helwani to UFC chief Dana White
Dana White slapped his wife on New Year's Eve in a night club altercation, which has divided the mixed martial arts world into two halves. While a section of fans defended his actions and certain media outlets remained quiet, others tried to hold the UFC president accountable.
Ariel Helwani, who is known for not pulling punches when it comes to Dana White, slammed the UFC chief in a 30-minute video.
White previously brought up Helwani's family after banning him from the promotion's event when he broke the news of Brock Lesnar's return. Helwani gave White a taste of his own medicine in his monolog:
"What are your kids gonna say about you? What are your kids gonna say about your legacy? About the way you treat fighters? About the way you treat people? About your business practices? What are your kids gonna say about that video? What are your kids gonna say about the kind of person that you are? What are your kids gonna say about you? Ask yourself that f**king question."
Watch Helwani's full video below:
#1. Artem Lobov fails to obtain an injunction against Conor McGregor
Artem Lobov recently broke a decades-old friendship with UFC star Conor McGregor by suing the Irishman over the stakes of the Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey brand. According to Lobov, the company was his brainchild and McGregor had failed to honor a handshake deal of giving him 5% of the sales proceeds.
McGregor resorted to his usual trash-talking self over the animosity. In one of his Twitter rants, he even called Lobov 'a rat'. Lobov took things personally and filed for an injunction against McGregor for defamatory comments. However, his argument did not hold up in court.
Justice Garrett Simons of the Irish High Court ruled it out, declaring that the tweet in question was not 'clearly defamatory'.
#WATCH Artem Lobov has failed in his bid to obtain an injunction against Conor McGregor to prevent him from calling him a 'rat' or similar on social media after claiming it was defamatory
@nicole_gernon reports ⤵️
#VMNews https://t.co/BFW41S7FFr
At one point during their ongoing feud, former champ-champ McGregor challenged Lobov to a fight at SBG Concorde to settle their dispute.