Darren Till thinks Conor McGregor is done fighting, we get word on when PFL fighters will show up in the USADA athlete test history database, and Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis / KSI vs. Tommy Fury has a press conference that turned out to be a fiasco. It’s your Sunday MMA Quick Hits for August 27, 2023!
PFL athletes will show in USADA athlete test history ahead of 2024 season
PFL fighters don’t show in the USADA athlete test history at the moment, but that should change by the time the 2024 season rolls around.
Multiple sources confirmed to Cageside Press recently that while the Professional Fighters League had brought in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ahead of the 2023 Playoffs, testing appeared to be limited at best. Additionally, no PFL athletes appeared in USADA’s Athlete Test History, an online, searchable database that shows how many times an athlete has been tested, and when.
That won’t be the case too much longer. USADA officials confirmed to Cageside Press this past week that “As the overall program is brand new and currently being built and rolled out, like our other programs, we will be posting testing numbers once the functionality is finalized likely at the beginning of next season.”
As the program ramps up, PFL athletes will be subject to out-of-competition testing, blood testing, urinalysis, and all elements of the drug testing regimene that fight fans will no doubt be familiar with due to the UFC also employing the anti-doping body.
UAE Warriors 43: Arabia sees double champ crowned
Welterweight Wisem Hammami has become the first ever UAE Warriors Africa & Arabia champion care of a first round TKO finish in a rematch with Badreddine Diani on Friday at UFC Warriors 43: Arabia. Hammami picked up the win in pair’s first meeting last year, and replicated that feat to improve to 8-1 as a pro the second time around. His only loss came to Brian Hooi, a Dutch striker who has competed for Bellator and KSW.
Darren Till thinks Conor McGregor is done fighting
Darren Till, now a former UFC fighter, believes Irish superstar Conor McGregor is done fighting.
Till espoused this belief while speaking to U.K. outlet SportsLens.
“Conor’s never coming back, in my opinion,” Till told the outlet (h/t MMA Fighting). “Conor’s struggling to let go. He doesn’t want to let it go. But it’s time to let go. He’s older, he doesn’t train like he used to. He’s got the money and his beautiful kids, and the only problem is that he just does not want to let it go. There’s going to come a day where he realizes he’s fighting with himself and has to let go.
“Every recording on Twitter he’s just drunk as f*** and I’m just crying my eyes out laughing at him. It will take him a while, but he’ll find his peace. My opinion of Conor is you have to respect what he’s done, but it’s time to let go. He’s struggling to let go.”
McGregor is widely believed to be facing fellow The Ultimate Fighter 31 coach Michael Chandler next, with a date as soon as December possible. If not, UFC President Dana White has suggested early 2024 as the landing date for the fight.
Worst Press Conference Ever?
There are bad press conferences. Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz (any of them) weren’t great. Recent UFC pressers have been dull and featured too many fans asking asinine questions in the hopes of going viral. Then there was whatever this Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis fiasco was. Prime bottles thrown, a Danis-shaped cake, John Fury flipping a table… all this for a fight that probably won’t even happen, and won’t be any good if it does happen.
It was also promoting KSI vs. Tommy Fury, another fight that probably doesn’t need to happen. How will this be different, or better, than Fury vs. Jake Paul?
We make it a rule not to drag fighters here — they’re the pros, after all — and to stick to constructive criticism. But does anyone want this fight? Logan Paul, barely a boxer and now better known as a WWE wrestler, versus Dillon Danis, best known for his BJJ, in a boxing match? Perhaps. More likely, probably not.
