UFC Saudi Arabia loses another fight, Conor McGregor's team tackles 'rehab' rumors, Joe Rogan calls Olympics "scam": MMA News Roundup
UFC Saudi Arabia lost another matchup to complications with only two days remaining before the event. Meanwhile, Conor McGregor's representatives addressed rumors of the Irishman being in rehab.
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Shara Magomedov's opponent out of UFC Saudi Arabia
On Wednesday, Dana White announced that Sharabutdin 'Bullet' Magomedov, or Shara Magomedov as he's more popularly known, will no longer face Joilton Lutterbach at Saturday's UFC Saudi Arabia. Antonio Trocoli will replace Lutterbach on three days' notice.
Following White's announcement, Lutterbach revealed on Instagram that the anti-doping commission canceled his fight after "a substance" was found in his urine sample. No further details on the matter are available during this writing.
Trocoli was originally scheduled to fight Ikram Aliskerov at this past Saturday's Fight Night event but was pulled from it when the latter stepped up to face Robert Whittaker in Khamzat Chimaev's stead. Trocoli has spent two years on the roster and is only about to make his UFC debut on Saturday after multiple canceled bouts.
Conor McGregor's team addresses "rehab" claims
Chael Sonnen recently claimed on ESPN's Good Guy Bad Guy co-featuring Daniel Cormier that Conor McGregor was in "rehab" recovering from substance abuse. However, Conor McGregor's representative Karen Kessler quickly squashed such rumors in a statement to TMZ.
The outlet reported that Kessler denied that the UFC star was in rehab. In the statement, Kessler said:
"The fight was canceled after an injury he sustained during training. He is looking forward to a new date."
After Kessler's comments, Sonnen did a U-turn on his previous statement and claimed he did not know if the Irishman was in rehab. He added that he wouldn't judge McGregor if that was the case and would be "very proud" of him for doing the brave thing.
Joe Rogan says the Olympic Games are a "scam"
In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcaster-UFC commentator leveled huge allegations against the Olympic Games. Speaking with JRE guest and Enhanced Games co-founder Dr. Aron D'Souza, Rogan said:
"The Olympics is kind of a scam because it generates billions of dollars in revenue, and the people that are there to perform make almost none of that."
Dr. D'Souza agreed with Rogan and said:
"[The International Olympic Committee] may get some money in sponsorship from their national Olympic committee, but ultimately, the billions of dollars come into the Olympics, and none of that goes to the athletes. It gets wasted building stadiums, it gets wasted paying officials."
Catch Joe Rogan and Dr. Aron D'Souza's comments below (1:15):