MMA News Roundup: Jake Paul accuses Dana White of trying to sabotage his fight, top-ranked flyweight requests release from UFC, Georges St-Pierre confident about fighters' union
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 accusing Dana White of attempting to sabotage his fight with Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre weighing in on a potential fighters' association in the future, and more.
#3. Dana White has been sending Jake Paul "cease and desist" letters
Jake Paul claims that Dana White is trying to sabotage his fight with Anderson Silva on October 29.
As the biggest fight of the YouTuber-turned-boxer's career edges closer, Paul said in a sit-down with Ariel Helwani that White has been sending him letters for using footage of Silva's UFC fights in promo videos for their match.
This has led Paul to believe that the White has a vendetta against him:
"It's the shark at the top who, if he doesn't like you, he'll do anything he can to try and stop you... This guy Dana and the UFC were sending me cease and desist letters this whole entire week to take down YouTube videos where we had highlights of Anderson in the UFC in the video, which is all over the internet, right? But their lawyers send us a cease and desist. He's doing anything he can to try and mess us up on this fight week and it's clear that he has some sort of vendetta against me and maybe you [Anderson Silva] as well."
Watch the video below:
Paul has been firing shots at White for a long time now by making statements regarding what he believes to be the UFC's inadequate fighter pay and lack of healthcare for its athletes.
Paul has also joked that Dana White apparently told MMA media to not ask him any questions about Jake Paul or any of his fights.
#2. Askar Askarov requests release from the UFC
No.4-ranked UFC flyweight Askar Askarov has requested his release from the promotion in the light of his poor health.
The fighter announced on Instagram today that after having to withdraw from two fights, he decided to ask his employers to let him go, to which he received a "positive response" and support from the company.
The message, originally written in Russian and translated to English (via Google Translate), reads:
"Assalamualaikum, due to my return being delayed due to medical reasons and being my last fight under my contract, I asked UFC to release me. To which, I received a positive response. First, let's put our health in order, and then we will see what and how."
The post includes a picture of a pair of UFC gloves, one on top of the other, implying that he's hanging them up for the time being.
See the post below:
Askarov's post received support from Khabib Nurmagomedov and several other Dagestani fighters in the comments section.
#1. Georges St-Pierre weighs in on Jake Paul's fighters' union bet
Jake Paul and Anderson Silva recently agreed to a friendly bet ahead of their boxing match. Paul offered the terms that if he loses, he'll fight Silva in an MMA or kickboxing match, but if he wins, Silva will have to join him in forming a fighters' association.
Georges St-Pierre, who is co-hosting the event and mediated in the weigh-ins, gave his opinion on the idea of unionization in MMA. The legend said that it is only a matter of time before it happens in the sport:
"It will happen sooner or later. It happened in boxing, it happened in baseball, basketball, hockey, football and every other sport. It will happen in MMA, it's just a question of time and it needs to be done with the right people."
Watch his comments below: