It’s that time again when we compile the biggest stories from the MMA world in a new edition of the daily roundup. To kick this one off, we’ll start with a special tribute Joe Rogan paid to one of the pioneers of mixed martial arts who played a vital role in the sport going mainstream and attracting viewers in the 1990s.

Thereafter, we’ll turn our attention toward some confusion regarding the UFC’s decision to revert to the use of old gloves. Finally, we’ll end this roundup edition with Michael Chandler, who shared his take on Donald Trump potentially attending UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.

Joe Rogan pays tribute to Royce Gracie

Mixed martial arts today comprise of a multi-billion dollar market globally and even the equipment market’s hit the billion-dollar mark. However, the situation looked grim during the early days of this sport. Then Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Royce Gracie stepped in to change MMA forever.

He had a significant impact on the sport that he revolutionized after popularizing grappling and fighting on the ground. Longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, a staunch advocate of MMA, has always spoken highly of Gracie and recently shared a post reminiscing about the day when UFC 1 took place and was headlined by Gracie himself.

“The day that changed Martial Arts forever. November 12, 1993,” said Joe Rogan’s Instagram post. The 57-year-old may have never called one of Royce Gracie’s UFC fights, but he’s had the chance to have a chat with the Brazilian on his podcast and has even trained BJJ with one of Gracie’s half-brothers, Rickson Gracie.

Now, let’s move over to the next news involving UFC’s fighting gloves.

Old UFC gloves making a return despite NYSAC registering the new ones

The whole reason why the UFC had to design new gloves was to try to reduce the instances of eye pokes inside the Octagon. However, it seems like those new gloves, which were introduced at UFC 302, won’t be used in the upcoming UFC 309 pay-per-view. According to famed combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, “UFC has informed the fighters competing on Saturday’s 309 card in NYC that they will be using the old gloves not the new ones introduced back in June, per multiple sources. Specific reason unclear at the moment.” However, Combat Sports regulatory lawyer Erik Magraken claims that the New York State Athletic Commission has already given the green signal on the new gloves.

Erik Magraken claims that the NYSAC has “approved” the new gloves for the Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic headliner, creating confusion as to why Dana White and Co. chose to go back to the old ones. Well, there could be a good few reasons for it, starting with fans questioning the reduction in the number of knockouts and technical knockouts in the fight since the new gloves’ introduction in June. We’ll have to further wait for the story to develop, so in the meantime, let’s check out the final story of this roundup edition.

Michael Chandler is excited about fighting Charles Oliveira in Donald Trump’s presence

After the Conor McGregor fight fell off, Michael Chandler decided to move on and got paired with Charles Oliveira for a second time. With a chance to avenge his UFC 262 loss, ‘Iron’ recently spoke about fighting in Madison Square Garden, which he believes is a very special venue. But do you know what he thinks will make his fight against Oliveira even more special? Well, Chandler claims that it is the opportunity to fight in front of the president-elect, Donald Trump, who’s been a constant presence in some of UFC’s big-time PPVs.

“Madison Square Garden with the stars and stripes draped over me, Donald Trump in attendance. It doesn’t get any better than that,” Michael Chandler told ‘ESPN MMA’. But is the president-elect really going to be able to attend UFC 309? Well, middleweight prospect Bo Nickal claims to have had a conversation with Trump, who confirmed that he will indeed be there in New York unless some presidential duties pop up.

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