Georges St-Pierre wants to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at a catchweight. “GSP,” however, didn’t specify which weight he’d want to compete at. 

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• The 39-year-old St-Pierre made the proposal to “make it fair” with Nurmagomedov. According to him, he’s no longer able to cut weight like how he would when he was actively fighting. 
• St-Pierre mostly competed at 170 pounds (welterweight) throughout the majority of his career, where he held the division title for five straight years. He took one fight at 185 pounds (middleweight) in 2017 and won the championship in that division before announcing his retirement in 2019. 
• While he did compete at 170 pounds a few times in his earlier years as a professional, the 32-year-old Nurmagomedov is a 155-pounder (lightweight) through and through. He is currently the division’s undisputed champion in the UFC. 
• The fight will likely be at 165 pounds, a non-existent weight division in the UFC. If this pushes through and Khabib remains champion, his title won’t be on the line against St-Pierre. 
• St-Pierre vs. Nurmagomedov is described as a “legacy fight” that's meant to determine who the greatest fighter of all-time is. 

Jon Jones admitted he once hid from a drug tester. The former UFC champion made the revelation amidst a lengthy trash talk exchange with Israel Adesanya. 

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• In early 2015, a report surfaced stating that the 33-year-old Jones hid under the cage in his gym when a drug tester showed up unannounced. At the time, “Bones” was a few weeks away from testing positive for cocaine during an out-of-competition test. He was made to enter rehab as a consequence.
• Jones’ former opponent Chael Sonnen corroborated the report, saying coaches at the JacksonWink Academy in Albuquerque were in on the scheme. 
• As Jones himself recently confirmed via Twitter, he was hiding from representatives of the Nevada Athletic Commission, not USADA. According to him, he had “just smoked a blunt” and feared it would lead to a failed drug test. 
• Apart from cocaine, Jones also tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in the past. In 2017, he was found to have Turinabol in his system, forcing the UFC to strip him of his light heavyweight title for the second time. His win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 was also overturned to No Contest.

Tony Ferguson slammed Dustin Poirier for agreeing to a fight with Conor McGregor. Ferguson referred to Poirier as a “sellout” who took a “bribe” from “international terrorist” McGregor. 

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• Ferguson and Poirier were previously booked to fight each other at the co-main event of UFC 254. But after failing to come to terms with the UFC, Poirier withdrew from the pairing.
• Adamant about making the fight happen, Ferguson urged the UFC to “pay the man” in reference to Poirier. In turn, Poirier reportedly turned down a fight against new high-profile signee Michael Chandler to “show the same loyalty” to Ferguson.  
• Early this month, McGregor and Poirier ended up talking on Twitter and agreeing to fight each other for charity in Dublin later in the year. McGregor initially didn’t want any involvement whatsoever from the UFC. 
• McGregor said he accepted the UFC’s offer to fight Poirier, but he wants the bout to happen within 2020. He also promised to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s charity, The Good Fight Foundation. 
• Poirier and McGregor already fought in 2014, which the latter won via TKO inside two minutes.

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is confident he can finish ex-titleholder Chris Weidman in one round. 

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• Talks about the said fight began when analyst Chael Sonnen made a bold claim that Weidman would be a “hard matchup” for Adesanya. Weidman doubled down by saying he would “ragdoll” Adesanya when they fight. 
• Adesanya took no offense to these statements, but did urge Weidman to “get some wins first.” 
• The 36-year-old Weidman rose to fame when he became the man to dethrone former long-time champion Anderson Silva in 2013. But his 2015 loss only opened the floodgates to more defeats. He is now on a 2-5 run in his last seven fights.

Former WWE star and MMA fighter Alberto Del Rio was formally indicted in a sexual assault and kidnapping case. The 43-year-old, whose real name is Jose Alberto Rodriguez Chucuan, is facing a 99-year prison sentence. 

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• The said indictment is in connection to his May arrest in San Antonio, Texas for sexual assault charges. He was detained for a few hours before being released on a $50,000 bond. 
• As an MMA fighter, Chucuan holds a record of 9-6. He last competed in Dec. 2019 against UFC Hall-of-Famer Tito Ortiz. Chucuan lost by first-round submission. 
• Sexual assault allegations aren't new among MMA fighters. Last month, retired UFC star Conor McGregor was embroiled in one while in Corsica, France with his family. McGregor, through his manager, denied the accusation. 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu royalty Rener Gracie tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, he won’t be in the corner of long-time protégé Brian Ortega, who fights “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung this Saturday at UFC Fight Island 6. 

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• Gracie and his wife tested positive for the virus “about a month ago.” They went on a 14-day quarantine and got tested again, and received a negative result. Gracie also took a home test kit sent by the UFC, which gave him a second negative result. 
• Gracie took a third test on Friday in Las Vegas, right before flying out to Abu Dhabi where the fights are held. He tested positive, and was advised not to proceed with his travel plans. 
• As told to him by UFC doctors, residual effects of the virus remain in the body up to three months after infection. He was also warned about the stringent procedures in Abu Dhabi upon his arrival, which requires another 14-day quarantine. 
• As for Ortega, this will be the first time in his ten-year professional career where he won’t have Gracie in his corner.

Rudson Caliocane is preparing for his MMA return after suffering a brainstem hemorrhage in 2019. The 27-year-old former Titan FC bantamweight champion defied all odds, despite condemnations from doctors that he will never fight or walk again. 

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• Caliocane found out about his condition right after his fight in Oct. 2019. After getting rushed to the hospital because he “didn’t feel right,” his doctors found the hemorrhage that left the right side of his body completely paralyzed. 
• Life became a struggle for Caliocane during the first months of recovery. Simple tasks like holding a rok with his right hand were impossible. But he worked through it with physical therapy and encouragement from family and friends. 
• Caliocane admits he “will never be 100 percent again,” and doctors strongly advise him not to cut too much weight anymore. He instead keeps his diet in check to stay in shape around the 135-pound limit. 
• Once he gets the official clearance from doctors, Caliocane will return to the United States in January to pick up from where he left off in his career. Titan FC COO Lex McMahon already promised him a title shot upon his return. 

Poland’s new MMA star Jan Blachowicz believes Jon Jones’ move to heavyweight was done out of fear. According to the newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones is trying to “escape from the legendary Polish power.” 

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• Blachowicz won the vacant 205-pound title formerly held by Jones at UFC 253 by defeating Dominick Reyes via second-round TKO. And even with “Bones” now preparing for his heavyweight run, Blachowicz still sees him as the “best” opponent. 
• For Blachowicz, beating Jones would be the biggest feather in his cap, apart from being champion. He would also want to be the first fighter to deal Jones his first real loss. 
• The only loss on Jones’ record is by disqualification. No other man was able to defeat him in a fight. 
• Despite his plans at heavyweight, Jones already teased a possible return to 205 pounds to “grab his belt real quick.”
• The 33-year-old Jones has been the perennial titleholder at light heavyweight since 2011. He holds three stints as the champion. In August, he decided to drop his belt to move up in weight.  

UFC president Dana White blamed Conor McGregor for the botched attempt to make a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov happen. 

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• According to Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, the UFC called him up to have his client participate in The Ultimate Fighter reality show/tournament against McGregor. Khabib, however, turned it down, declaring the rematch “dead.”
• White recently went on record to confirm Abdelaziz’s claim. According to him, the plan was to have McGregor and Khabib as opposing coaches at TUF, then have the rematch. But White says McGregor’s recent erratic actions, from leaking their DMs to planning a boxing return, turned Nurmagomedov off completely.
• From his end, Nurmagomedov isn’t willing to make the rematch happen, even if the UFC offered him $5 billion. As far as he’s concerned, that saga is finished when he defeated the Irishman via submission during their first fight in October 2018. 
• The first fight between Nurmagomedov and McGregor at UFC 229 is still the most lucrative event in UFC history. It made over 2.4 million PPV buys, which equated to a record-breaking $86.4m revenue for Las Vegas where the fight was held.

Quick Hits:

• This sensational knockout scored by UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley is considered to be the greatest KO in UFC history. It happened on Saturday in Fight Island during the second round of his fight against Impa Kasanganay.
• Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is out of UFC 256 against Amanda Ribas. No specific reason was given, but sources close to the Esparza camp pointed to the Dec. 12 date as the issue.
• As Apple device adoption grows in the enterprise, organizations are looking for ways to seamlessly manage and secure devices while extending the world-class Apple experience users expect.*

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