MMA News Roundup: Dana White Confirms 3 Big Fights in Huge Update, Conor McGregor Receives a Message From Chandler, Manel Kape Accused by Matheus Nicolau

As we stepped into the year 2024, it was no wonder that the MMA community would be abuzz with brand-new headlines. But amidst all the thrills, there were other happenings taking place that might have slipped under the radar for some fans. That’s precisely why we’re here with our MMA news roundup, making sure you stay in the loop and don’t miss out on any noteworthy incidents from the last 24 hours.

We will start with Dana White announcing a few more main events fights for future UFC events. Then we will shift our focus to Michael Chandler vowing to end Conor McGregor‘s career. Finally, we will sum up the news compilation, with Manel Kape, who addressed the accusations laid on him after missing weight for UFC Vegas 84.

Dana White announces more fights

The UFC CEO posted yet another video on his social media handles, announcing three more main events fights for some of the upcoming events. Dana White announced Tai Tuivasa vs Marcin Tybura fight, which was originally scheduled for UFC 298, will now headline the March 13th UFC event at the Apex. In addition to that, the 56-year-old also announced the return of Rose Namajunas. The former two-time champion will take on Amanda Ribas in the main on March 23rd.

Furthermore, Dana White also announced a welterweight bout between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque, which will headline the UFC event on March 30th at Atlantic City, New Jersey. The UFC CEO also confirmed that Cody Garbrandt will take on bantamweight newcomer Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300.

Manel Kape responds to accusations following UFC Vegas 84 mishap

UFC Vegas 84 suffered a blow after the co-main event was called off. Manel Kape, who arrived a little late to the weigh-ins, weighed 3.5 lbs more than the weight limit, leading to the cancelation of his fight against Matheus Nicolau, who lashed out on ‘Starboy’ on social media. The Brazilian fighter accused Kape of intentionally sabotaging the fight to gain an upper hand and weighing in way over the weight limit.

“He showed up for weigh-ins with 30 minutes left… He [Kape] showed up weighing 3.5 pounds overweight, knowing if he showed up 0.5 pounds overweight the fight would automatically be suspended by the athletic commission. So he tried to gain an undue advantage by manipulating the system,” wrote Matheus Nicolau in a post on Instagram (via Google Translate). It quickly drew the attention of Manel Kape as he seemed to accept some aspects of Nicolau’s statement.

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Manel Kape responded by claiming that he was late to the weigh-ins because he spent too much time in the sauna. He was trying to cut as much weight as possible, but couldn’t. So Kape agreed with the fact that he wasn’t as diligent as he should have been. However, ‘Starboy’ did not try to make a move to cheat. That aspect he disagreed with. “No Matheus, I delayed because I stayed in the sauna the most to try to lose weight, but it worked out. You are right about everything except this. Congratulations on your professionalism,” Kape stated. It remains to be seen what lies ahead for both fighters after the recent blow.

Michael Chandler wants to get rid of Conor McGregor

The 5th-ranked lightweight fighter recently posted a video on his YouTube channel, where he talked about Conor McGregor’s announcement about their fight. Michael Chandler confirmed that the fight would take place in UFC 302 and he will be the Irishman’s opponent. However, he wasn’t sure if McGregor was telling the truth about the fight being a 185-pound bout. Nevertheless, Chandler seems to be on a mission. He wants to finish the career of Conor McGregor.

‘Iron’ predicted that he would finish the former double-champion under two rounds when they lock horns on June 29th. “It’s going to be a big card. It’s going to be fun and I finish Conor within the first two rounds and after that, pretty much end his career,” Michael Chandler stated. We will have to wait till June to arrive and find out how things pan out for both fighters.

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