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Dana White recently addressed the penalty handed to Diego Lopes by the NSAC for jumping the cage after his UFC 300 victory and promised to cover it for the fighter. Elsewhere, veteran sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith recently sounded off on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match and slammed the YouTuber for agreeing to take on a 57-year-old opponent.
Check out all the latest news and developments in the mixed martial arts world with Sportskeeda's Midnight Roundup.
Dana White vows to cover Diego Lopes' NSAC fine for UFC 300 cage-hopping error
Diego Lopes defeated Sodiq Yusuff via an impressive 90-second knockout at the milestone UFC 300 event last month. In the immediate aftermath of his win, Lopes jumped the cage and interacted with Dana White for a bit. His actions landed him in trouble with the NSAC, and they fined the Brazilian $5000 out of his purse.
While Lopes won a reported $100,000 for his first-round knockout, it appears the UFC CEO is going to cover his fine for him. During an interview with MMA Junkie, executive director Jeff Mullen revealed:
"After [Lopes] won, he jumped up and gestured toward Dana White, like, ‘Can I come over? Can I come over?'. And White gestured like, ‘Come over.’ Then, I immediately stood up and took a step over that way and White said, ‘I will pay his fine. I will pay his fine.’ Then our inspectors came around and proceeded to [assist] as I was trying to get him back in the cage also. Our inspectors came around and escorted him back in the cage.”
ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith slams Jake Paul for accepting Mike Tyson fight
Stephen A. Smith recently sounded off on Jake Paul for going up against 57-year-old Mike Tyson in a boxing match. Smith opined that Paul's desire to be taken seriously as a boxer could never be fulfilled if he continued fighting opponents who were at a severe age disadvantage.
The Paul-Tyson fight was recently confirmed as a professional bout and will be contested over eight two-minute rounds. In an episode of First Take, Smith shared his thoughts and said:
"I'm saddened by it. I'm disgusted by it. I don't like it one bit...When are you going to get in the ring with a modern day reputable fighter with a big name, who isn't 20 plus years removed from retirement?...[Paul] keeps telling us how serious he's taking this and how bad he wants it...If it's about you wanting to elevate your level, you gotta get in the ring with somebody of your ilk, your age, your size."
Tatiana Suarez confident of beating Zhang Weili in a potential title fight
Tatiana Suarez is confident she can get the better of UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili in a potential fight. Suarez recently broke down Weili's win over Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 and claimed she could beat the Chinese native.
In an MMA Junkie interview, Suarez explained how her grappling would be the key to beating Weili and broke down Weili's wrestling skills against Xiaonan. She said:
"I think prior to that matchup, I knew. Like I kind of know how I would do... I knew she would win in the grappling department just because Yan [Xiaonan] is just not good at all on the ground... So just seeing that, it just shows me that I think that I could impose my will against her. My grappling is very, very good. So I think I'd do well just like I've always known."
Catch Tatiana Suarez's comments below (5:09):
Ilia Topuria believes he'll replace Cristiano Ronaldo as the richest athlete by 2025
Ilia Topuria has been on a roll, and he isn't planning on stopping anytime soon. The UFC featherweight king recently expressed his desire to become the highest-paid athlete in the world by 2025 and surpass global sports superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Topuria is coming off an incredible knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, which crowned him the new 145-pound champion. After his victory, the Georgian-Spanish fighter was widely lauded for his performance by several high-profile entities and was even given a special welcome by the Spanish Prime Minister.
During an interview with Webpositer, the UFC featherweight king laid out his future financial goals and stated:
"Look, I can tell you that I have no doubt that in 2025, I will be the highest paid athlete in the world, I’ll be there. I’d be surprised if I didn’t do it and I have no doubt, really.”
Conor McGregor sounds off at British PM Rishi Sunak for his recent comments on asylum seekers
UFC megastar Conor McGregor recently criticized Rishi Sunak for his lack of interest in making a deal with the Irish government regarding asylum seekers. As things stand, Sunak is said to be concerned about the increase in migrants from Northern Ireland.
The UK will begin its special deportation program in July to discourage migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats from France. The refuge seekers will be relocated to Rwanda, where the UK leadership struck a deal. However, Sunak seemingly isn't interested in a similar deal with Ireland. He said:
"We’re not. I’m not interested in that. We’re not going to accept returns from the EU via Ireland when the EU doesn’t accept returns back to France, where illegal migrants are coming from. Of course, we’re not gonna do that." [H/T BBC.com]
Reacting to Sunak's comments, the former two-division UFC champion took to social media and slammed the UK leadership. Encouraging his countrymen to stand and defend their land, he stated:
"We have human worms in positions of power. It is closing in on time to activate officially. We have long been ready. In fact, we are born for this. Let's go, Ireland!
Check out Conor McGregor's now-deleted tweet below:
