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MMA News Round-Up: Wild Theories on Khabib’s Retirement Involving Dana White; Kevin Lee Says Return to UFC Hurts Leverage; Victoria Lee’s Family Gym ‘Permanently Closed’

Published 01/10/2023, 9:23 AM EST

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A few completely new events have already taken place in the world of MMA. As usual, we are also with another edition of the MMA news roundup to keep you updated with the latest MMA world activities. The sudden retirement of the UFC legend, Khabib Nurmagomedov, had created massive talks in the media. Now, one more hypothesis about the reason for ‘The Eagle’s exit from MMA has come up. The retired UFC Welterweight Fighter, Kevin Lee, wanted to diversify the promotions of his fighting. Lee currently has the doors of the UFC open for him. But, was unwilling to make a return stating that it would “hurt his leverage”. After the heartbreaking demise of the promising young MMA talent, Victoria Lee, the Lee family, put locks on their family gym. ‘The Prodigy’ took her last breath on 26 December 2022.

Brendan Schaub’s hypothesis blamed Dana White for the exit of Khabib Nurmagomedov

Recently, former UFC Heavyweight, Brendan Schaub gave out a couple of weird postulations about the untimely exit of Khabib ‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov from the world of MMA. Schaub went against the popular opinion about the reason behind Nurmagomedov’s retirement and blamed the UFC boss, Dana White‘s actions.

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Schaub talked about this issue on an episode of his podcast. He pointed a finger at White as the reason for ‘The Eagle’s exit.

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Schaub stated, “He’s good. But you were saying that MMA is on a decline… I think that factor into it and the time away from his family factored into it. Also being retired and also I would be willing to bet he does not vibe with what Dana did. I bet he’s like ‘I’m out’. Bet he’s like ‘I’m out.’ No comment.”

Schaub also stated a second hypothetical reason behind Nurmagomedov’s abrupt exit. He laid stress on the fact that Nurmagomedov’s fight promotion ‘Eagle FC’ paid their fighters in cryptocurrencies, which has been in controversies for some time now.

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‘Big Brown’ stated, “I’m f*****g done with it. And then also remember Eagle FC was paying guys in like Crypto. Remember that whole Crypto thing… I think there’s all those factors into it. Dana’s stuff he’s like all right ‘I’m out man, I’m out”. There may be varied opinions about whether Schaub’s perception was right.

Kevin Lee was unwilling to return to the UFC to retain his leverage

Kevin Lee is a noted name among fight fans. The American had his last UFC fight against Sean Brady on 10 July 2021 prior to his release. Lee had fought the best fighters in his division before being released by the UFC. But, after a change in his management organization and joining ‘Dominance MMA’, Lee once more had the opportunity to make a UFC return.

But, ‘The Motown Phenom’ wasn’t quite willing to do so. Instead, he planned to venture into other fight promotions. Lee stated, “You can’t look at anybody who’s unsigned from the UFC that has my record, has fought the people that I’ve fought, and has my age and my upside to me, either. So I would almost be hurting my leverage if I was just to straight go back with the UFC right now.”

He also hinted that he was having talks with the PFL in his interview with ESPN.

Victoria Lee’s family locks down United MMA Hawaii gym permanently following her death

The MMA world was sent into deep mourning at the news of Victoria Lee’s untimely demise. She belonged to a legendary family boasting two current MMA world champions. Victoria’s brother, Christian Lee, is arguably the most noted face of ONE Championship currently reigning over the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions. Her sister, Angela Lee is also the current ONE Championship Atomtweight World title holder.

Watch this Story – Khabib Nurmagomedov- thug life moments

The Lee family decided to close their ‘United MMA Hawaii gym’ following Victoria’s untimely passing. Noted combat sports podcast host, ‘Todd Atkins’, took to Twitter and publicized the news, “United MMA Hawaii sent out notices stating “all memberships will be canceled and students will no longer be billed moving forward.” Their IG says the gym is “permanently closed.””

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The broken mental frame of the Lee family which compelled them to take this decision could be well realized by most.

Some more MMA News

  • Tatiana Suarez is set to make a return from her prolonged time-out of 4 years. Suarez has been matched up against Montana De La Rosa in a UFC Fight Night Card scheduled to take place on 25 February 2023.

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  • The UFC has picked Sean Strickland to replace the injured Kelvin Gastelum for the main event of the upcoming UFC Fight Night 67. Strickland will face Nassourdine Imavov at his UFC Fight Night showdown.

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Written by:

Souvik Roy

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Souvik Roy is currently a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. An avid UFC follower, Souvik combined his love for the sport and his passion for words to turn his interest into his Livelihood. A Diploma holder in Electrical Engineering, Souvik has worked as a Freelance Link Builder and Content Writer previously and wrote for various clients and businesses.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen