'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier recently went to bat for Ronda Rousey after the former Olympian judoka came under fire for some comments she made. Rousey claimed she suffered from concussions and had CTE heading into the Holly Holm fight at UFC 193. Elsewhere, Islam Makhachev shared some tidbits about his fight plan for his title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June.
Catch up on all the latest news in the combat sports world with Sportskeeda's Midnight Roundup.
Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier defends Ronda Rousey's CTE comments
Daniel Cormier recently shared his thoughts on Ronda Rousey catching public heat for her comments about suffering from CTE and concussions before losing to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015.
Rousey blamed her maiden MMA loss on a slip-and-drop accident at home and claimed she wasn't cognitively healthy going into the bout. 'Rowdy' notably lost the women's bantamweight championship despite being favored to beat Holm. 'The Preacher's Daughter' secured a second-round knockout victory.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Cormier defended Rousey against fans who slammed her for making excuses. 'DC' said:
"She's [Ronda] always one people wanted to critique even if it was unjust. So when she lost to Holly it was almost like the world celebrated... I don't know how she couldn't have had those issues [concussions] because I understand how difficult it is to do the sport [judo] that she did Olympic level."
Cormier continued:
"I don't disagree with her as much as most might because all she is doing is telling her truth. And she is writing a book and when writing that book and promoting it, somebody probably looked in that book and found something where she spoke about concussions and then it becomes something more."
Catch Daniel Cormier's comments below (37:45):
Islam Makhachev details his plan to finish Dustin Poirier at UFC 302
Islam Makhachev recently shared his thoughts on fighting Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June. The lightweight champion is confident of another dominant victory and shared his prediction for how the fight will play out.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Makhachev was asked for his take on the Poirier fight and for his predictions. The Dagestan-born grappling phenom replied:
"We will start and I will try to take him down. He will try to get me in a guillotine [choke]. I will defend the guillotine. I will give him a couple punches. He will give his back. Then I will finish."
Ryan Garcia fires warning shots at KSI after YouTuber calls him "an absolute tw*t"
Ryan Garcia and KSI recently took shots at each other on social media. Their latest war of words was seemingly triggered by the Englishman claiming he'd love to knock out Garcia in a potential fight. He also referred to 'Kingry' as a "tw*t" and slammed him for missing weight before the Devin Haney fight.
Garcia didn't take kindly to the YouTuber's comments and fired back via an explicitly worded tweet. Reacting to a clip of KSI, he promised to demolish the SIDEMEN star in a fight and wrote:
"I will beat the living dog sh*t outta you. You will never ever be the same if we fought. Keep your mouth quiet."
Daniel Cormier explains why Michael Chandler won't deploy his wrestling skills against Conor McGregor
Daniel Cormier recently broke down the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight and shared his thoughts on how 'Iron' could plan his strategy. The former two-division UFC champion opined that Chandler won't use wrestling and explained that he's experienced fatigue in his previous fights.
During an episode of the Good Guy/ Bad Guy show, Cormier discussed the highly anticipated fight with co-host Chael Sonnen and recalled how Chandler gassed out during his fight against Dustin Poirier due to excessive wrestling in the opening round. He said:
"[Chandler] will not [wrestle] and you know why? For years, we've been saying, 'Michael Chandler needs to use his wrestling', and then he did it against Dustin Poirier, and he got tired, and then Dustin submitted him... And because of that, he will never go back to that well. He knows that fighting in the stand up fight, you get less fatigued."
Colby Covington lauds Sean O'Malley for staying true to himself as the UFC bantamweight champion
Colby Covington recently revealed that he doesn't have any friends in the UFC but holds a special spot for bantamweight king Sean O'Malley. Covington heaped praise on O'Malley for being himself and for performing at the highest level consistently.
In an interview on The Rush podcast, Covington explained why he respected O'Malley more than most fighters in the UFC and said:
"[Sean] is not afraid to dye his hair and care what people think of him. He puts his hair pink, he doesn't give a sh*t... He goes out there and he shows them who he is. He's an all-time great... I think he's got great style and he brings something unique to the business that a lot of these fighters don't do."
