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UFC 302 might just be suffering a very specific curse.

Earlier this week, Islam Makhachev’s fight week photos caused a panic amongst the fanbase, as there’s a mysterious hole on his shin bone. Conor McGregor immediately diagnosed the wound as staph, attacking the entire Dagestan crew for failing to wash themselves and their mats. Makhachev denied the accusations, but it hasn’t stopped concern from rising ahead of his title defense against Dustin Poirier, which is scheduled as the UFC 302 main event.

Now, there’s additional worry surrounding the co-main event. Once again, fight week photos have circulated, and this time eagle-eyed fight fans noticed something wonky about Paulo Costa’s left foot. There’s a visible wound, and another fan online spotted previous footage of Costa wrapping up the wound with a covering.

Reactions online were mixed. Some believe it’s a staph infection, while others like UFC Middleweight contender Chris Curtis argued “That’s a mat burn.” Here’s a sample of the reactions from X:

Bratha, whole card have staph

That thing is huge man

So he aint calf kicking which was an advantage to beating Sean.

Paulo is incapable of staph. Secret juice kill all staph.

Staff infections boutta 10-7 this whole card

Looks more like leprosy

Bro they don’t sanitize the gyms?

There are a lot of reasons for concern here. Primarily, Paulo Costa was forced to withdraw from his planned bout versus Khamzat Chimaev after multiple staph-related complications, including a gaping hole in his elbow. Staph has a tricky habit of recurring, and if Costa’s training environment resulted in an infection once, another case is certainly possible.

Not long ago, fans speculated about Benoit Saint Denis’ forehead and were later proven correct. Saint Denis’ conditioning was obviously affected, which didn’t help his chances against Dustin Poirier, who knocked him flat in the second round.

Hopefully, Costa and Makhachev are entering their UFC 302 matches in better shape.

Insomnia

This clip made me so nostalgic.

Martial arts are so beautiful.

Positive update for Mackenzie Dern fans: she’s back training with Jason Parillo!

Islam Makhachev goes to war with modern day slang.

Speaking of a confounded Lightweight kingpin, Daniel Cormier also threw off Makhachev …

Alonzo Menifield is looking for a quick return after a fast knockout loss at the hands of Carlos Ulberg. Murzakanov is dangerous though!

Shavkat Rakhmonov doesn’t sound very interested in squaring off with Joaquin Buckley.

Aljamain Sterling shaved his beard!

Staph, staph, and more staph! The unfortunate reality of wrestling on mats all the time.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Niko Price vs. Alex Morono 2 is going to be a banger, no two ways about it.

I’ve never claimed to be a boxing expert, so this is a genuine question: why did this happen?

A cartoon level left hook counter KO:

Random Land

Interesting ways to get better (at interesting sports)!

Midnight Music: A cover I had never heard before.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The ongoing lawsuit from a former WWE employee regarding allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault has been paused as the Department of Justice opens its own investigation into disgraced WWE founder Vince McMahon, WWE, and ex-WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.

In a sealed filing on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District Of New York presented information to the Federal court about a probe into McMahon, WWE, and Laurinaitis.

“In addition to counsel already of record, please enter my appearance as counsel for the United States of America, Sarah Mortazavi, Assistant United States Attorney,” Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote in a note filed to Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer added to the case docket.

As a result, Janel Grant, the ex-WWE employee who filed the explosive lawsuit against her former employers, agreed to pause her case as the Department of Justice opens its own probe.

“Ms. Grant has consented to a request by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to stay her case against Mr. McMahon, WWE and Mr. Laurinaitis, pursuant to a pending non-public investigation,” Grant’s attorney Ann Callis said in a statement sent to MMA Fighting on Thursday. “We will cooperate with all appropriate next steps.”

The lawsuit filed by Grant in January detailed allegations of horrific abuses, which included sexual assault, sex trafficking, and exploitation that she claims she suffered while working for McMahon at WWE. Grant detailed numerous alleged altercations in her lawsuit, including a claim that McMahon and Laurinaitis pulled her into a conference room at the WWE offices and sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit also alleged that McMahon shared sexually explicit photos and videos of her with other WWE employees, as well as “a world-famous athlete and former UFC heavyweight champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract.”

McMahon, who resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings after the lawsuit went public, has denied all wrongdoing.

In the months since the lawsuit was filed, McMahon has slowly continued to sell off chunks of his stock in TKO, which is the merged company between UFC and WWE.

TKO has distanced itself from McMahon, with company president Mark Shapiro stating there has been no contact with the former WWE executive as he continued selling his stock.

“We’re not having any discussion with him,” Shapiro said in March. “He’s given us no point of view on his motive, or his plans to sell or not sell, or if he does, how much. So, we’re going to wait around and find out just like you.”

The sealed filing from the Department of Justice proves the importance of this investigation, especially with Grant’s lawsuit being paused as a result.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District Of New York has yet to make a public statement regarding the probe into McMahon and WWE.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

When former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier enters the octagon for the UFC 302 main event on Saturday, it will be the third time he’s fought for undisputed UFC gold.  “The Diamond” takes on champion Islam Makhachev and is a heavy underdog.  

Makhachev (25-1) suffered his only career loss in October 2015.  He enters his third title defense riding a 13-fight winning streak.  Poirier (30-8, 1 NC) is coming off a knockout win over Benoit Saint Denis and believes he can do that same to Makhachev.    

“I can definitely win this fight,” Poirier said during the UFC 302 Media Day.  “If I touch his chin, he’ll go down.  He’ll find that out on Saturday.  Maybe that’s something he doesn’t need to believe.  Maybe he needs to be positive and confident walking into this, which he should be, but if you don’t think I have a chance to win you’re lying to yourself.”  

“Over the years, if there’s anything I’ve learned fighting is like the media, my opponents, their camps, the critics don’t matter.  It’s in my hands,” Poirier continued.  “I’m the only guy who has the opportunity to make this happen, or whatever decisions I make under those lights on Saturday, I’m the guy in the driver’s seat.  All these other guys talking are passengers, or in the backseat.  I steer where this goes.”

The UFC 302 title fight could be Poirier’s last octagon performance the 35-year old has stated leading up to the event.  

“It could be (my last fight). It could be. I haven’t made like an official decision yet, but it could be,” he said in an interview with Fight Bananas. “I’ve said this over and over again. I still have a lot of tread on the tired. I can beat these guys. I can beat these young guys. I just did it. I still feel good. My body feels good, but it’s just like how much do I want to give to this sport because you don’t ride for free.”  

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier dialed up the heat for UFC 302.

Ahead of their lightweight title showdown, Makhachev and Poirier traded barbs at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference. However, it wasn’t until their post-presser staredown that things really got chippy, as the reigning UFC lightweight champion and Poirier engaged in fiery back-and-forth before ultimately being pulled apart by security.

Hear Makhachev and Poirier’s heated conversation in full below.

“I’m going to knock you out on Saturday,” Poirier said after some initial confusion about Makhachev’s comments.

“How?” replied the UFC lightweight champ.

“Sleep,” said Poirier. “I’m going to sleep stop you.”

“You’re going to be diving for my legs, praying,” Poirier continued. “You’re going to be diving for my legs. You’re going to be laying and praying, that’s what you’re going to be doing.”

“Go to sleep, motherf*cker,” Poirier added.

“Don’t say motherf*cker to me,” Makhachev said, turning back angrily.

“Go to sleep, motherf*cker,” Poirier repeated.

“Don’t say motherf*cker,” Makhachev repeated.

The two then engaged in a tense exchange before being separated.

“I have respect for you, brother. But don’t get in my face like that,” Poirier said. “We’re going to fight.”

UFC 302 takes place June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Makhachev, 32, seeks to tie the UFC’s all-time record for consecutive lightweight title defenses with his third defense of the belt.

Poirier, 35, vies for undisputed UFC gold for the third — and perhaps final — time of his career after previously falling short against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira.

Watch the complete UFC 302 pre-fight press conference and faceoffs below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ryan Garcia may indeed have a case of tainted supplements.

In a statement sent to MMA Fighting on Thursday, Garcia’s legal team announced that samples of two supplements declared for the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) ahead Garcia’s bout against Devin Haney have “returned positive for ostarine contamination.” Such a development would help support Garcia’s claims that he is a victim of tainted supplements following the biggest win of his professional boxing career.

Garcia’s team included lab results of the two supplements in question from the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), one which of was detected in the range of “70-2200 picograms [of ostarine] per gram powder,” and the other at “approximately 660-830 picograms per gram powder.”

The complete statement from Garcia’s team can be read below.

The test results from samples of two supplements declared by Ryan Garcia on VADA Doping Control Forms, signed on April 19th and 20th, have returned positive for Ostarine contamination. This confirms what we have consistently maintained: Ryan was a victim of supplement contamination and has never intentionally used any banned or performance-enhancing substances. Any claims to the contrary, questioning Ryan’s integrity as a clean fighter, are unequivocally false and defamatory.

Throughout his career, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to numerous tests, all of which have returned negative results, underscoring his commitment to fair and clean competition. Additionally, multiple negative tests leading up to his fight against Haney further affirm his clean record. The ultra-low levels of Ostarine detected in his samples, in the billionth of a gram range, along with his clean hair sample proves contamination rather than intentional ingestion. The recent test results reiterate this.

Garcia, 25, tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in two VADA drug tests in relation to his April 20 bout against Haney, failing a pre-fight urine test on April 19 as well as a post-fight urine test on April 20.

Ostarine is a banned selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that has been linked to many tainted supplement cases in combat sports in the past.

Garcia defeated Haney in a shockingly one-sided bout, knocking down the former WBC champ three times en route to a decision win. He has maintained his innocence since news first broke of the positive drug screenings in early May.

Haney’s team continues to seek to have the result of the bout overturned, pushing for the first loss of Haney’s pro career to instead be reversed into a disqualification victory.

Garcia’s team on Thursday announced a press conference for early June “to provide more insight and answer questions.” The boxer could be subject to a fine as well as a suspension, and his victory could be overturned unless Garcia is deemed innocent of any wrongdoing.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Ahead of Saturday’s UFC 302 pay-per-view event, the main event and co-main event fighters participated in the pre-fight press conference.  

UFC 302 takes place at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Saturday and is headlined by a lightweight title bout between Islam Makhachev and former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier. In the co-main event, former middleweight titleholder Sean Strickland takes on former title challenger Paulo Costa.

UFC 302 Press Conference Face-Off: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier  

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos