MMA News Roundup: Joe Rogan concerned about TikTok, massive middleweight bout confirmed for UFC 284, Charles Oliveira was "struggling" to make weight per rumors
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 Joe Rogan being concerned about shocking new TikTok reports, Alexander Volkanovski claiming that one of the UFC 280 headliners almost didn't make weight, and more.
#3. Joe Rogan shows concern about new revelations on TikTok's policy
Joe Rogan has doubled down on his disapproval of the Chinese-backed social media platform TikTok. According to a Forbes report, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, had plans to use the platform to monitor the physical locations of some American citizens:
"The project, assigned to a Beijing-led team, would have involved accessing location data from some U.S. users’ devices without their knowledge or consent," the Forbes report said.
ByteDance's Internal Audit and Risk Control Department was behind the project and their primary purpose was to conduct investigations into potential misconduct committed by the company's employees. However, material obtained by Forbes showed that the team was planning to collect data about U.S. citizens who had no connection with the company and were users of TikTok only.
The news outlet withheld names, nature, and purpose of the planned surveillance to protect sources and referenced individuals. Joe Rogan shared the headlines of the report on his Instagram account and showed concern over the matter. He captioned the post:
"Anyone else think this might be a real f***ing problem?"
Rogan previously stated that using TikTok "ends with China having all your data," while raising questions about the platform's security protocols on his podcast.
#2. Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa set for UFC 284
The UFC announced yesterday that middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa will lock horns at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, next year.
The pay-per-view will mark the promotion's first trip to The Land Down Under in over three years.
Whittaker is currently the top-ranked middleweight, having defeated fellow contender Marvin Vettori in his most recent outing. Paulo Costa will head into UFC 284 on the back of a victory against Luke Rockhold. The winner of this fight will most likely face the middleweight champion in their next fight, which will be decided at UFC 281 where Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira face off.
#1. Alexander Volkanovski hinted that Charles Oliveira was struggling to make weight
Charles Oliveira silenced the critics who were questioning his ability to make weight by tipping the scale at 154.5 lbs on Friday.
He was the first fighter to step on the device after the weigh-ins started and exuded high energy throughout the process. He sprinted to the scales, looked confident while standing on it, and sprinted back after the official weight was announced.
Oliveira's coach Diego Lima posted last night that the team accomplished their mission and was "going to bed," thus confirming that 'do Bronx' had already made weight by Thursday.
However, one comment by Alexander Volkanovski has fueled rumors that Oliveira was struggling to make weight the night before. The featherweight champion revealed that his team was asked about his weight status "pretty late at night" and that "someone was struggling" to make weight.
Volkanovski refused to reveal the name, but said "it might have been obvious who it was." Given the weight-miss debacle that Oliveira underwent in his previous fight which also cost him his belt, one can assume Volkanovski is talking about the Brazilian.
Everyone at the UFC 280 main card weight-ins made weight successfully, except Katlyn Chookagian. She came in at 127.5 pounds for her flyweight bout against Manon Fiorot.
Read the full weigh-ins result here.