Stipe Miocic addresses UFC heavyweight division hold up, Ryan Garcia to enter rehab, Jiri Prochazka to drop down to middleweight: MMA News Roundup
Stipe Miocic responds to UFC heavyweight division hold up accusations, Ryan Garcia announces he's heading to rehab and Jiri Prochazka could be set to move down to middleweight.
Find out more details in today's (July 6) Sportskeeda daily news roundup.
#1 Stipe Miocic addresses accusations he is holding up the UFC heavyweight division
Stipe Miocic recently sat down with MMA journalist Shakiel Mahjouri and addressed the accusations that him waiting for his bout against Jon Jones is "holding up" the heavyweight division.
Miocic was due to face Jones at UFC 295 last year, however, 'Bones' withdrew from the bout due to injury. Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich then stepped in in their stead, which saw Aspinall become crowned the interim heavyweight champ.
As Aspinall now awaits to fight somebody for the undisputed crown, Miocic shared his thoughts on the British champ and the landscape of the heavyweight division. 'The Silencer' said:
I get it. I mean, I'd feel the same way, I'm not taking anything away from him [Aspinall]. The UFC can do what they want. It is what it is. There's only one guy I want to fight and that's Jon Jones but at the same time, the UFC can pick who they want to fight. Everyone knows that there were a couple of times when I was ready to fight him [Aspinall] but they gave it to another guy...I’m not holding up any division like everyone says."
Catch Miocic's comments here:
#2 Ryan Garcia announces he is heading to rehab
Ryan Garcia has announced that he has made the decision to seek help and enter rehab after months of controversial behavior.
'KingRy' has made headlines over recent months following an erratic change in his demeanor as he prepared to face Devin Haney earlier this year. He has since gone on multiple tirades on social media, appeared drunk/high on drugs at media events as well as later testing positive for banned substances following his win over Haney.
Garcia's actions have even led to his father publicly speaking out and pleading for his son to seek help for alcohol addiction.
The 25-year-old has since appeared to confirm he is on his way to treatment after leaving a comment on one of his own Instagram posts. In the comment, the boxing star wrote that he would be checking into rehab:
#3 Jiri Prochazka could be set to move to down to middleweight following UFC 303 loss
Jiri Prochazka appears to be considering moving down a division, following his second knockout loss at the hands of Alex Pereira at UFC 303.
Prochazka's head coach, Martin Karaivanov, recently spoke out about his fighter's future to the Czech-based news site TNCZ. During the interview, Karaivanov stated that dropping down to middleweight could spell a new beginning for Prochazka's career. He said:
"[Jiri Prochazka] might consider moving to another weight class... It will not be just my decision but the team's decision. Middleweight would give meaning as a new restart. And then [potentially return] back to light heavyweight."