MMA News Roundup: UFC middleweight compares fighters to "p*rn stars", Conor McGregor claims Artem Lobov gave up Proper 12 money, Islam Makhachev accused of doing steroids since childhood
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 UFC middleweight drawing a wild parallel between fighters and adult entertainers, Conor McGregor's latest statement on the Artem Lobov issue, and more.
#3. "Us vs. pornstars, what's the difference?" - Sean Strickland on how UFC sees fighters
A Sean Strickland media appearance would be incomplete without polarizing and controversial statements from the UFC middleweight.
During the pre-fight media scrum for this weekend's UFC Vegas 66, Sean Strickland compared fighters to cattle, adult entertainers, and sex workers, among other things.
Strickland was asked to weigh in on the backlash against Dana White after the UFC president's seemingly insensitive reaction to the judging of Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon and Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev fights. Strickland opined that the fighting business is such that it does not allow people to genuinely care about each other.
"If I'm the CEO of the UFC, and I'm like, 'What big scary motherf**ers can we pick to fight each other.' And afterwards, I'm like, 'I hope you're having a good Christmas. I hope life is good.' No! We're f**king cattle dude. Us vs. pornstars, what's the difference?"
He went on to call himself a "prostitute" after this, implying his insignificance in the sport as compared to someone of LeBron James' caliber.
Catch Strickland's comments below:
"I'm not going to look in the mirror and think I'm LeBron James. I'm not. I'm a f*cking prostitute."
Sean Strickland says he has no disillusion about what he is as a UFC fighter.
#UFCVegas66 | Full video: bit.ly/3USpFdq https://t.co/kO2vtoYKcx
#2. Artem Lobov swore on his kid to not ask for Proper 12 money, says Conor McGregor
The friendship between former SBG teammates Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor recently turned bitter. Lobov sued McGregor, demanding a share of the revenue from Proper No.12 Irish Whiskey sales, claiming that the business was his brainchild.
According to a December 12 article by Irish Independent, McGregor's solicitors filed an affidavit with the Commercial Court claiming Lobov had given up his stake in the company. He "swore on his child's life" to not take "a cent out of the whiskey deal," the article said.
Conor McGregor shared a snippet of the article on Twitter today and chided Lobov for going back on his word.
"Swearing on your child’s life is ludicrous pal. Actually Revolting. 'Keeps me warm on the coldest of nights' hahaha f***sake lad wtf happened you man? P*ss off and leave me alone how bout that lad? F***in turn coat prick"
Check out the tweet below:
Swearing on your child’s life is ludicrous pal. Actually Revolting. “Keeps me warm on the coldest of nights” hahaha fucksake lad wtf happened you man?
Piss off and leave me alone how bout that lad? Fuckin turn coat prick. https://t.co/0dOj6twiTu
McGregor and his business partners sold their majority stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey to Proximo Spirits in a $600 million deal that made the Irishman the richest athlete of 2021.
#1. Islam Makhachev has been taking steroids since he was 10: Bobby Green
Islam Makhachev once failed a drug test before his 2016 fight with Drew Dober. He tested positive for meldonium or mildronate, the same steroid that got Maria Sharapova and several other Russian athletes temporarily banned from their sport.
Speaking to the reporters at UFC Vegas 66 media scrum, Makhachev's former opponent Bobby Green claimed that the Dagestani has been taking PEDs since he was 10 years of age. Referring to the Russian doping scandal of 2015, Green said:
"He was saying that when he first came over, his school that trained him in Russia, they just gave him vitamins. They've been doing this since.... who knows when Imagine if you gave someone steroids from the age of ten, twelve, thirteen.... How strong would you be? He was really strong [and] it makes sense now... imagine if I could do that? "
Watch Green's comments below:
Bobby Green sounds off on Islam Makhachev. 😳
"Imagine if you gave someone steroids from the age of 10?"
#UFCVegas66 | Full video: bit.ly/3UUYzSR https://t.co/1VtbGcJUay
Green just served a six-month USADA suspension for testing positive for DHEA in an out-of-competition test in May 2022.