MMA News Roundup: Veteran UFC referee blamed for bad stoppage, Dana White has career advice for Jake Paul, Valentina Shevchenko accuses Amanda Nunes in uncharacteristic tweet
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 the latest issue, we talk about a veteran UFC referee getting called out for a seemingly early stoppage, Dana White offering candid advice to Jake Paul, and more.
#3. "That's definitely an early stoppage" - Francis Ngannou
When one spends as many years refereeing in the UFC as Dan Miragliotta has, one gets accused once in a while of an early stoppage. On the one hand, it can be discounted as human error, but on the other hand, it could make or break a fighter's career.
Coming off a loss against Tai Tuivasa that slightly fazed his ever-humorous nature, Derrick Lewis suffered yet another knockout defeat at UFC 277 on Saturday, that too in front of his home crowd.
You don’t stop that in Texas
Lewis' opponent Sergei Pavlovich caught him flush with a left hook less than a minute into the fight that rocked 'The Black Beast' and stumbled him to the floor.
Miragliotta intervened while Lewis was seemingly attempting to stand back up on his feet and immediately protested the stoppage.
Derrick Lewis please stop fighting in Texas https://t.co/9Bwe22yXFm
Not only was Lewis himself visibly upset at the decision, the same sentiment was shared by many other fighters and fans. Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier, Jamahal Hill, Al Iaquinta, and Kevin Lee were among the many who thought it was a bad stoppage by Miragliotta.
That's definitely an early stoppage
Read all their tweets as well as fan reactions to the stoppage here.
#2. "Jake Paul probably needs to get some different people around him" - UFC president Dana White
During the UFC 277 broadcast, Jake Paul confirmed that his August 6 fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. had fallen through. Rahman Jr.'s inability to cut down to agreed upon weight was given as the reason behind the decision.
First Tommy Fumbled and now Hasim Rahman Crumbled. These boxers are the most difficult people to work with and continually lack professionalism and confidence to fight me.
I apologize to all of the of the other fighters on the card, our partners, our team and the fans. twitter.com/mostvpromotion…
During the post-event press conference, White was asked to comment on the matter. For once, the UFC head honcho did not fire shots at 'The Problem Child', but took the opportunity to jibe at Nakisa Bidarian.
While at it, White advised Paul to surround himself with better company.
"Just because you were an accountant here doesn’t mean you know what the f*ck goes on here and doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company. I think Jake Paul needs to get some different people around him. If he’s going to stay in the sport, he needs to be with guys that actually really know how to put on fights."
Bidarian, a former UFC Chief Financial Officer, is an adviser to Paul and runs his Most Valuable Promotions.
White has long maintained the stance that what they do at the UFC is very difficult to replicate, especially when it comes to finances, logistics, and other aspects of the fight business. He was not ready to believe the reason that was given for the cancelation, and theorized that they had possibly sold less than $1 million in tickets.
#1. Could Valentina Shevchenko be showing her mean streak?
Contrary to the likes of Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, Valentina Shevchenko usually never bothers tweeting after events. She has always maintained a cold and neutral stance when it comes to her former or potential opponents, and has never quite fueled a rivalry as such.
It is safe to say that her strategy has served her well thus far.
However, she showed a hint of another side when she accused Amanda Nunes of stealing her stand-up game to regain her bantamweight belt from Julianna Pena.
🏻 #UFC277Looks like Amanda decide to fully copy my stand up game 🤔
Great fight both ladies! 💪🏻 #UFC277
Whether Nunes ripped it from Shevchenko or not, the bloodbath battle she had with Pena left them both viscerally bruised. Nunes appeared at the press conference on crutches, while Pena was taken to the hospital immediately afterwards and will be undergoing plastic surgery on her face.
The trilogy with Amanda Nunes is the only fight that 'Bullet' has repeatedly pitched for in the media, having suffered two decision losses to the two-division champ. Hence, the uncharacteristic tweet could be a hint that she will be pushing for a third fight even more now that 'The Lioness' has reclaimed her throne.