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Ilia Topuria is riding high on his newfound UFC success at the moment, but he has already planned his retirement from the sport. Elsewhere, a referee crossed all lines inside the cage and is now at the risk of losing his career.
Sportskeeda MMA's News Roundup presents to you the most exciting tidbits from the world of combat sports.
Ilia Topuria intends to retire from UFC young
When most MMA stalwarts fall from grace at age 35, Ilia Topuria plans to bypass the misfortune by retiring early and possibly at his peak, as Khabib Nurmagomedov did.
He reportedly intends to quit the sport with grace at the young age of 30-32, according to MMA X account Pelunaton. He reportedly said so during his recent appearance on El Partidazo de COPE, a Spanish talk show.
The translation to English states:
"Ilia Topuria once again reiterates that [he] intends to retire young, between 30-32 years old."
At 27 years of age, Ilia Topuria is already 15-0 undefeated, and the newly-crowned UFC featherweight champion.
MMA referee to possibly have license revoked
MMA referee Jon Munz violated several regulations while officiating a Real Deal Championship fight in Hot Springs, Arkansas. During a middleweight clash between Robert Gidron and Chauncey Foxworth at RDC 10, the former grabbed the cage in Round 2 to avoid being taken down.
Munz first interjected verbally, as was expected of him, but then proceeded to shove Gordon violently.
The fighter later accused the referee of grabbing him by the throat and pushing, which led to a heated altercation between the two. Munz was spotted pushing Gidron in the chest again, sparking a strike in repercussion from the fighter. Officials had to enter the cage and separate them eventually.
The incident quickly went viral in the local MMA scene, after which MMA Junkie obtained the video and further details on it.
According to MMA Junkie, Gidron said:
"I didn’t mean to grab the cage. You can see in the video - when I went to grab the cage, as soon as I grabbed the cage and stood up, as he’s running toward me, I’m throwing my hands up. That tells you I already did wrong. I messed up. Most refs when they grab you, they say, ‘Stop, stop, stop.' He ran and put his forearm in my throat."
However, he acknowledged his part in the matter and said he believes he could've done better. Gidron added that the referee threatened to "throw" the fighter out of the event.
Uncannily, the fight continued with a different referee and restarted straight from Round 3 without allowing the previous round to finish. Gidron lost it via unanimous decision.
According to local news outlet KATV, Munz's license has been temporarily suspended and a hearing for further investigation is set for March 5. He was asked to take anger management and referee refresher courses if he ever wanted to reapply, but his application could very much be denied.
Read the full report here.
Ryan Garcia reveals new girlfriend
Ryan Garcia recently revealed on Instagram that he is dating social media influencer Mikaela Testa. He added that he was training her to fight and called for a Misfits Boxing fight with a purse of $500,000. He also put a percentage of the PPV revenue on the table.
In a separate Instagram story, Garcia said that they were not "super serious" but she was his "boo". This revelation comes a couple of months after he divorced his ex-wife Andrea Celina right after she gave birth to their second child.
Internet personalities Mike Majlak and Bradley Martyn were among the ones to react to the news of Garcia dating Testa.
Read the reactions here.
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