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The Latest UFC News, Rumours, and Recaps

Well, it’s been a pretty eventful week in the world of MMA, particularly the UFC. 

What with Reddit blackouts, charity soccer games, wholesome McGregor fan interactions, TUF episode 3, and of course, the Miami Heat mascot incident, it certainly hasn’t been a slow news week for fans of the UFC, especially if you’re a Conor fan. 

Here’s a quick look at the latest UFC news, rumours, and recaps for the second week in June. 

Reddit’s MMA community (r/MMA) goes black

MMA fans of Reddit were left disappointed earlier this week when the hugely popular sub-Reddit, r/MMA went dark in protest over wholly unreasonable API (Application Programming Interface) changes. 

As much as 40% of Reddit went dark for 48 hours in protest of these “ridiculous” changes. Recently, Reddit announced that it would be introducing charges to third-party applications, which would in turn affect the costs associated with using the API, which is the code that third-party apps use in order to access content and data, while building new features. 

Fans of r/MMA, which is one of the sub-Reddits affected, will no doubt be worried about the future of the page. r/MMA is one of the most popular pages in the MMA fandom. The page went black indefinitely, despite initial plans for a 48-hour blackout only after a leaked memo from Reddit CEO Steve Huffman showed that he refused to take any accountability for the instability on the site, and simply stated that the protests would “pass”. 

Leon Edwards fails to impress at Soccer Aid

Every summer in the UK, a charity soccer game is held between a team consisting of English celebs and former pro soccer players, and a team of celebs and ex-pros from the ‘rest of the world’. The game is held to raise funds to fight child poverty around the globe. 

MMA fans were pleased to see UFC champion Leon Edwards in goal, although his hands are perhaps best utilized inside the octagon. 

The Jamaican-born brawler has some of the quickest hands in the UFC, but while they’re useful for knocking people out, they’re not as effective at stopping soccer balls kicked by Sex Education actors and ex pros. 

Edwards, who came on in the second half as goalkeeper for the Rest of the World, failed to protect his lines and deal with a mis-hit cross made by star of Sex Education, Asa Butterfield. It should have been an easy save, but then again, Edwards is a fighter, not a goalie. Another blunder put England ahead thanks to Paul Scholes, though Edwards’ blushes were spared as the Rest of the World defeated England 4-2. 

Maybe save the gloves for the octagon, huh, Leon? 

Wholesome Conor

Conor McGregor is a very polarizing figure in the UFC, you either love him or loathe him. On this weeks’ episode of TUF however, he showed his soft side in an interaction with a young fan. 

The fan, Samuel Romero, makes his own action figures and promotes them on social media. Conor saw them and asked to meet the young fan in Vegas. Conor told him how much he loved the figures and how much his kids would love them, and offered to buy some from Samuel. 

To Samuel’s disbelief, Conor pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and gave the fan $1,200 for the figures. More wholesome Conor, please! 

McGregor “knocks out” Miami Heat mascot

While Conor paying a young fan $1,200 for action figures is wholesome, knocking out ‘Bernie’ the beloved mascot of Miami Heat, is not. 

The UFC star was sat front row for the NBA finals between Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets. In a match which saw Denver emerge victorious, the night got worse for Miami as the Irishman showed he still has plenty of punching power, despite being out injured for months, and knocked out their mascot. 

As Conor was promoting a pain relief spray, Bernie the mascot jumped in front of him and began taunting him. The fighting Irishman eventually had enough and unleashed a fierce left hook that floored the mascot. Conor then finished Bernie off with a blow to the face as he lay sprawled on the court. 

While this was obviously a pre-arranged skit, there have been rumours circulating online, stating that Conor’s second punch was too hard and that he had legit knocked out the mascot and sent him to the ER. Take these rumours with a very generous pinch of salt for now.

With McGregor expected to make his comeback later this year in a showdown with rival TUF coach Michael Chandler, it seems he still has plenty left in the tank. 

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