UFC president Dana White sent an official bout offer to Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The move came after the two fighters verbally agreed to take part in a charity exhibition match in McGregor’s hometown of Dublin, Ireland on Dec. 12. 

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• White and McGregor had been at odds lately after the latter released screenshots of their private conversations from February. McGregor meant to show the world that he’s been wanting to take a fight against UFC veteran Diego Sanchez, only to be denied by the UFC executive. 
• McGregor and Poirier suddenly began talking on social media and ended up agreeing to fight in an exhibition match. McGregor offered to donate “half a mill” to Poirier’s charity, The Good Fight Foundation. An official poster for the said event was also released. 
• On Wednesday, White told Barstool Sports that he extended an official UFC fight offer to both McGregor and Poirier, and is waiting for both men to respond. Not long after White’s interview, Poirier tweeted words “I accept.”
• McGregor and Poirier already fought in 2014 as featherweights. The Irishman won via first-round TKO.

Former UFC fighter Dan Hardy took issue with Israel Adesanya’s post-fight celebration at UFC 253 on Saturday. Hardy described Adesanya’s antics as “crass” behavior that is "not good for the sport."

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• Adesanya successfully defended the UFC middleweight title by stopping challenger Paulo Costa via TKO in the second round. After the fight, he mimicked having sexual intercourse with Costa, which went viral. 
• Costa was also offended by what “The Last Stylebender” did to him. He now wants to exact his revenge in a rematch. 
• Adesanya never addressed the issue at hand but continued to mock Costa after his win. The two men blatantly showed their dislike towards each other during the build-up, turning their fight into a grudge match. 

MMA veteran Paul Daley was forced out of his Bellator 245 headline fight in Milan, Italy. “Semtex” was scheduled to fight Derek Anderson, but failed to make the weight. 

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• The 37-year-old Daley came over the 171-pound limit by 1.6 pounds. He ended up being stretchered out of the venue and onto the nearest hospital. 
• As he later explained in an Instagram video, Daley experienced “severe cramps” on his hip and abdomen. He was calling for help but claims it took “15, 20 minutes” before people heeded his pleas. After a brief dialogue, he requested the fight cancellation, an ambulance, and IV treatment. 
• Daley, who had a brief three-fight stint in the UFC, last fought in Oct. 2019 against Saad Awad. He won via second-round TKO.

Khabib Nurmagomedov rejected the UFC’s offer to be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter reality show opposite Conor McGregor, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz. 

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• According to Abdelaziz, UFC president Dana White extended the offer to both Nurmagomedov and Gaethje, who are fighting for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 254. Both fighters are managed by Abdelaziz. 
• Nurmagomedov supposedly rejected the idea, while calling McGregor “human trash.” Abdelaziz also put the Khabib-McGregor rematch to bed, declaring it “dead.” 
• McGregor and Nurmagomedov first fought in 2018 at UFC 229, with the latter winning via fourth-round submission. A post-fight brawl also ensued between the two teams. The event, however, remains to be the most lucrative in UFC history, averaging 2.4 million PPV buys. 

Paul Felder wants to be Michael Chandler’s first UFC opponent. Chandler, a three-time Bellator lightweight champion, signed with the UFC two weeks ago.

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• Both men are currently in Yas Island in Abu Dhabi for the UFC’s “Fight Island” events. Felder is doing commentary duties while Chandler is serving as a replacement fighter for UFC 254’s headliners Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. 
• Knowing that they’re both in the same place, Felder is excited about the lingering “what if” in the situation. He even sent a personal message to Dana White, asking for the Chandler fight, but has yet to receive a response. 
• The number seven-ranked Felder last competed against number four-ranked Dan Hooker in February. He lost via split decision, snapping a two-fight win streak.

Oddsmakers show starkly different betting odds for the hypothetical fight between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya. There’s been some bad blood brewing between both fighters, despite the difference in their weight class. 

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• Betonline.ag had Jones as a slim -150 favorite over Adesanya, the +130 underdog. Bovada, however, had Jones as the bigger -375 favorite over Adesanya, the +285 underdog.
• Jones is the former UFC light heavyweight (205 pounds) champion. He relinquished that title in August to move up to heavyweight. Adesanya, on the other hand, is the current middleweight champion (185 pounds). 
• Despite the disparity in weight, the two men have been jawing at each other over the past year. After his UFC 253 win over the weekend, Adesanya once again directed his attention at Jones, whom he vows to inflict hurt on. 

Carlos Condit is calling for a rematch against fan-favorite Nick Diaz. The two men first fought in 2012, with Condit winning via unanimous decision to become the interim welterweight champion. 

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• The 36-year-old Condit feels the Diaz rematch remains “intriguing” to him and “a lot of fans,” especially with the slightly controversial result of their first fight. 
• Condit is looking to snap a five-fight losing streak when he fights fellow veteran Court McGee on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. His last taste of victory happened in 2015. 
• The 37-year-old Diaz, on the other hand, has not fought since 2015. But over the last few weeks, he’s been back in the gym preparing for a possible return in “early 2021.”

UFC Hall-of-Famer Matt Serra slams controversial trainer Joshua Fabia in a face-to-face encounter. Fabia is the lone mentor of UFC veteran Diego Sanchez and the founder of the School of Self-Awareness. 

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• The said encounter happened last week in Abu Dhabi. Fabia was getting ready to corner Sanchez at UFC 253, which took place on Saturday. He approached Serra who was having breakfast with fellow former UFC fighter Din Thomas. 
• Fabia was apparently taken aback that Serra didn’t know of him, and he was asking for a bit of recognition. Serra clapped back, reiterating his ignorance about who Fabia was. As the conversation went on, he was becoming visibly irritated. Thomas secretly recorded the entire exchange on video, which has since gone viral. 
• Fabia drew notoriety for his unorthodox training methods. Part of his practice is to chase fighters with a sharp knife inside a locked cage. For him, it’s a technique that develops fighter awareness in the middle of combat. 

Retired fighter and analyst Chael Sonnen named former champions Tyron Woodley and Chris Weidman as “the two hardest matchups” for Israel Adesanya. 

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• For Sonnen, the wrestling acumen of both Woodley and Weidman will be a problem for Adesanya to deal with. He did, however, concede to the fact that neither man will get their chance any time soon. 
• Adesanya, the reigning UFC middleweight champion, holds an undefeated record of 20-0. His last fight took place on Saturday at UFC 253, where he dominated Paulo Costa en route to a second-round TKO stoppage. 
• Woodley, who currently competes in a weight class below Adesanya at welterweight, is on a three-fight losing streak and hasn’t won since 2018. Weidman, on the other hand, is 2-2 in his last four fights and hasn’t had a dominant win since 2017. 
• Weidman, however, believes Adesanya is a “tailor-made” matchup for him. As far as his gameplan goes, he intends to “ragdoll” the champ on the mat. 

Quick Hits

• Newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion challenged retired Daniel Cormier to a fight. The 41-year-old Cormier, however, turned it down, ending their brief “internet war.”
• Top-ten UFC flyweight Rogerio Bontorin lost both of his grandparents to COVID-19. Cases of the virus in his home country of Brazil continue to rise, with 4.8 million infections and more than 143,000 deaths.
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