UFC News – Conor McGregor’s coach gives promising return update
Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh has revealed the former UFC lightweight champion is ‘training very hard’ ahead of his return to the mixed martial arts world.
“John Kavanagh was there with Will Fleury and John was saying to me, ‘It might look like Conor’s all into his bling and showing (off) his card and getting his cars deported and having to go to New York for his court case’,” Davies said during an appearance on the Off The Ball podcast when discussing Bellator’s recent show in Italy.
“He’s got that, of course, late next week. So once that’s happened we’ll know when he’s back.
“But what John said and this is very significant and you’ve seen this in the photographs of Conor and the Instagrams he puts out, he’s in great shape.
“John Kavanagh said, ‘He’s in SBG every single day he’s in Dublin. He is training very hard. He hasn’t given up the ghost yet.’”
He added: “He’s not become any less popular, and he only needs to fight to fight again to get the fight fans back on his side. Don’t write him off coming back. This is what John Kavanagh said to me, ‘(Don’t write him off) fighting Khabib in his first fight back.’”
UFC News – Anderson Silva exonerated of intentionally taking synthetic steroid
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been cleared of intentionally taking the synthetic steroid discovered in his system before his proposed bout with Kelvin Gastelum by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who have handed the Brazilian a retroactive one-year ban.
Silva, 43, will be eligible to return to action on November 10.
A delighted Silva said: “I am vindicated. The past nine months have been extremely difficult.
“I felt like my career and everything I had worked so hard for was dying and my future was hanging in the balance.
“I knew in my heart that I had done nothing wrong and fully cooperated with USADA during their inquiry to prove it.
“Today I have a renewed energy. My legacy is restored. I can focus on getting back into the ring and the next chapter of my life after fighting.”
UFC News – Paulo Costa slams doping allegation
Rising UFC middleweight Paulo Costa has slammed accusations of him taking performance-enhancing drugs from surfing legend Kelly Slater.
“Kelly Slater talked too much, said stupid things,” ‘The Eraser’ told MMA Fighting.
“He doesn’t understand how the anti-doping system works in the UFC, he doesn’t know how USADA works, doesn’t understand the USADA policy of testing any fighter at any moment anywhere in the world, blood and urine.
”We do random tests all the time, so if someone says a UFC fighter is fighting on the juice, to me that someone is completely ignorant about MMA, UFC, antidoping and USADA.”
Costa, who registered his 12th victory on the bounce earlier this month, isn’t fazed by people questioning his physique, adding: “It does bother me because people talk without knowing.
“They judge me because I have a good physique, an excellent condition, and think I got this by cheating instead of hard work, diet, effort and sacrifice.
“I keep working really hard, so it bothers me because they diminish my work and effort. But I know where my results come from, so my conscience is clear.”