UFC stars slam Olympics over Imane Khelif controversy, Conor McGregor narrowly escapes jail time: MMA News Roundup
After the controversial 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, UFC stars gang up on the Paris Games again, this time over a gender eligibility issue. Elsewhere, Conor McGregor gets slapped with a driving ban.
Here are your day's top combat sports updates, presented by Sportskeeda MMA.
Israel Adesanya and other UFC stars slam Imane Khelif for Paris Olympics participation
Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting are two boxers allowed to compete in the women's category at the 2024 Paris Olympics after being previously suspended.
Khelif was barred from the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year hours before she was to compete for a gold medal. Yu-ting was stripped of her bronze medal for the same. Both boxers failed IBA's gender eligibility test that does not allow athletes with XY chromosomes to compete in the women's category.
After stripping the IBA of its right to govern international amateur boxing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took over the matter and permitted the inclusion of athletes with gender diversity and DSDs (Differences in Sexual Development). Khelif and Yu-ting were allowed to compete under the new administration.
After Khelif's latest Olympic match against Italy's Angela Carini that ended in her win around the 46-second mark, some UFC fighters and professionals spoke up against the matter.
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya said on his Instagram story:
"Men should not fight women. A biological man should not be boxing against a biological woman. Life is one big cartoon, but this one ain't funny. People > politics."
Marlon Vera wrote:
"F*ck that man that fought a woman in the Olympics. Mentally insane whoever thinks that's ok."
MMA influencer and UFC media personality Nina-Marie Daniele also spoke on the matter, slamming the Olympic committee for allowing such a "DISGUSTING" thing.
Algerian authorities, however, have dismissed the matter as "baseless propaganda."
Conor McGregor narrowly escapes jail
In 2022, Conor McGregor was arrested and had his vehicle seized for speeding and running a red light, nearly causing a collision in Dublin, Ireland.
On Wednesday, he managed to escape prison time for the same by accepting a five-month suspended sentence on the condition that he pay a €5,000 fine and keep peace for two years. The UFC star also received a two-year driving ban.
Irish Mirror reported that Judge David McHugh at Blanchardstown District Court said:
"This is an appalling series of breaches of the road traffic rules and an appalling episode of dangerous driving."
However, he also found that the suspended sentence was the appropriate and just way to settle the matter.
Elon Musk wants to fight, AGAIN
Elon Musk accepted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's challenge to fight with an initial two-word post on X, followed by a second one predicting how it would go.
After winning the controversial presidential election earlier this week, Maduro ripped into Musk for suggesting that the race was an alleged farce. During a national public address, he called Musk out for a televised fight:
"Elon Musk, you are desperate. You went off the rails. Control yourself, or you will fail just like these right-wing-led all-American politicians... You want to fight? Let’s have it, Elon Musk. Let’s go at it, wherever you want, as we say in Caracas in the neighborhoods."
Musk responded with:
"I accept."
He followed it up with:
"He will chicken out."
He posted the following later as well.