MMA News Roundup: UFC reveals date for Abu Dhabi return, USADA releases statement on Conor McGregor's status, Joe Rogan on Vladimir Putin
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 the Conor McGregor-USADA controversy, Joe Rogan's opinions on Vladimir Putin, and more.
#3. UFC returning to Abu Dhabi in 2023
The UFC confirmed on Thursday that it's heading back to Abu Dhabi later this year.
UFC 294 will take place on October 21 at Yas Island's Etihad Arena, as per the latest social media post on the promotion's account.
It's official - we're headed back to Abu Dhabi in October for #UFC294!!
🎟 Register your interest: UFC.ac/AbuDhabi
@VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi https://t.co/8WWqhPlaLh
The last time the venue saw a pay-per-view card was in October 2022. In the main event, Charles Oliveira failed to regain the lightweight crown against Islam Makhachev, who got somewhat of a home crowd welcome in Abu Dhabi.
UFC 280 was attended by over 13,000 fans and the event proved to be a financial success.
No official fights have been announced for the card yet. Fans suspect that it could be headlined by a rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
#2. USADA clarifies stance on Conor McGregor's testing pool status
Much was discussed a few weeks ago about Conor McGregor's withdrawal from the USADA testing pool. It was speculated that the Irishman had pulled himself out to be able to take medication for his broken leg. Despite his return fight being touted for the end of the summer, the Irishman is yet to rejoin the pool.
McGregor confirmed his current status on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour show yesterday. USADA previously said that any athlete who withdraws has to spend six months in the pool before competing again. But exceptions are allowed at the discretion of the UFC, in which case two clean tests would suffice.
McGregor hinted that he was not informed of the six-month period rule and was only told about the two clean tests needed:
"I'm not rushing nothing. There's hurdles and what not, but we're in contact, we're in constant communication, and there's an interview scheduled and a meeting happens and then it will be official, but the six month thing - what they had said was it's two clean tests and off I go, so that's why I assume it won't be too long."
Conor McGregor talks USADA.
#TheMMAHour https://t.co/LhLgVsvmqU
However, USADA later claimed in a statement that it does not have a meeting set up with McGregor and had received no notice of him coming out of retirement.
The organization also added that the six months rule is a "fair way to ensure an athlete does not use the retirement status to gain an unfair advantage." The statement ended with the confirmation that McGregor will be expected to spend six months in the testing pool.
It was shared by TSN journalist Aaron Bronsteter on Twitter. Read the full statement here.
#1. Will Joe Rogan consider an invitation from Vladimir Putin?
Joe Rogan seems to be a very open-minded person, but even he draws the line at entertaining Vladimir Putin.
On the latest episode of his podcast, Rogan's friend, fellow comedian and JRE guest Bert Kreischer asked him if he would accept an invitation to visit Putin in Russia.
Rogan turned the idea down quite bluntly and went on an extended rant that ended with calling the Russian president 'evil':
"Nay! Why would you do that... That's a different kind of human... [What would I do, do I tell him] 'Hey, forget about all those people you killed that were your political opponents. Let's be cool now.' Just be a different person now. A totally different human with a totally different background that wasn't in the KGB, that isn't a dictator."
Watch the video below: