LAS VEGAS – Megan Olivi will be back on broadcast duty at UFC 258.

A longtime UFC backstage reporter and analyst, Olivi spoke to members of the media Friday following the official UFC 258 weigh-ins and faceoffs.

Olivi discussed the main event between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) and challenger Gilbert Burns (19-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), as well as the co-main event between flyweights Maycee Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Alexa Grasso (12-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC). She also discussed her sleeper fights to look out for Saturday and elaborated on a number of different UFC projects she’s been working on.

Check out Olivi’s full news conference in the video above.

UFC 258 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-258-video-megan-olivi-breakdown-upcoming-projects

Gina Carano has a supporter in UFC president Dana White.

Carano was fired from her starring role in “The Mandalorian” earlier this week after she shared a social media post in which she compared Republicans living in the current American political climate to Jews during the Holocaust.

That created a firestorm on social media and eventually led to Lucasfilm dismissing Carano from “The Mandalorian,” the popular Disney+ show in the “Star Wars” franchise on which she had a recurring key role as Cara Dune for the first two seasons.

On Friday, White voiced his support for Carano when asked about the situation after the UFC 258 weigh-ins and also took a shot at an ESPN personality with whom he’s long feuded.

“Leave Gina alone,” White said. “Listen, we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. For everybody to go in on her – I love how Ariel Helwani made it all about him. It was all about him. Such a douche.”

On Friday, Carano announced she has signed on for a producing and starring role in a new movie project backed by conservative website The Daily Wire. In a statement, she said she’s “sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob.”

In 2011, White released Miguel Torres from the UFC after the then-bantamweight contender tweeted a rape joke deemed offensive by the promotion. White, however, has become more lenient about his fighters’ conduct through the years, and his support of Carano falls in line with that approach.

Last year, Colby Covington made racially charged statements about rival Tyron Woodley and the Black Lives Matter movement, inciting outrage from several Black UFC fighters who condemned Covington for being racist. White, a staunch supporter and good friend of former President Donald Trump, took no action against Covington.

“These guys all have their own causes, things – all their own beliefs,” White said at the time. “We don’t muzzle anybody here. We let everybody speak their mind.”

White and Carano, 38, have some history between them. In November 2018, the women’s MMA pioneer opened up about how White ruined negotiations for a potential fight with Ronda Rousey in the UFC.

Carano last fought in August 2009, when she lost to Cris Cyborg for the inaugural Strikeforce women’s featherweight title in what was the first major MMA event headlined by a women’s bout. The TKO loss remains Carano’s only professional defeat.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/dana-white-supports-gina-carano-mandalorian-firing-social-media-controversy

The UFC returns Saturday night with its second pay-per-view of the year, UFC 258, where the UFC welterweight title will be on the line.

UFC 258 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

In the main event, UFC 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) defends his belt for a third time against former teammate Gilbert Burns (19-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC). And in the co-headliner, Maycee Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) returns after a year-long layoff due to a knee injury to take on rising flyweight contender Alexa Grasso (12-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

The fifth episode of “Embedded” follows all the big stars who will compete at UFC 258. Here’s the UFC’s description from YouTube:

Kelvin Gastelum trains with a longtime coach. Ian Heinisch reflects on lessons learned through struggles. Gilbert Burns attends virtual media day; Gastelum gets sidetracked. Champ Kamaru Usman reacts to seeing himself get emotional on screen.

Missed an episode? We’ve got you covered:

• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 1: Gilbert Burns feels ‘like a million bucks’ ahead of title shot
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 2: Kelvin Gastelum’s big sendoff
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded’ No. 3: Kamaru Usman compares path to Rashad Evans
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 4: Maycee Barber’s kitchen workout

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-258-embedded-5-kamaru-usman-gets-emotional-journey

Nate Diaz appears to be displeased that his callouts of Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira have fallen on deaf ears.

Diaz (20-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) recently spoke out and mentioned the names he’s interested in fighting this year. Oliveira, who was one of his choices, said thanks but no thanks. Now Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 NC UFC) appears to be headed into a trilogy match with Conor McGregor this summer.

This doesn’t seem to have sit well with Diaz. Friday, he ripped into Poirier, McGregor and UFC president Dana White in one fell swoop (via Instagram):

A post shared by Nate Diaz (@natediaz209)

Don’t forget who started this G sh*t
The real uncrowned King
No rematches ever given.
Dustin you do what your told by your daddy’s u lil b*tch 👊🏼

Diaz was scheduled to fight Poirier once at UFC 230 in November 2018. The matchup never materialized, but after Poirier knocked out McGregor in their rematch at UFC 257 last month, Diaz came calling.

Poirier said Diaz was one of the few fights in the game that interested him after beating McGregor, but instead all signs to him running it back with the Irishman for a deciding rubber match.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-news-nate-diaz-reacts-dustin-poirier-conor-mcgregor-trilogy-fight-dana-white-twitter

Though nothing has yet been officially determined with the bout, UFC president Dana White on Friday confirmed that Bobby Green collapsed backstage following the UFC 258 weigh-in.

Green is supposed to face Jim Miller on the UFC 258 main card on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Miller easily made weight early in the two-hour UFC 258 weigh-in window, but Green was the final fighter to the scale with 15 minutes left. He made weight, but then did not appear for the UFC 258 face-offs when the main card fighters started taking the stage.

Following the face-offs, White stuck around to answer questions from reporters in his typical UFC pay-per-view post-weigh-in scrum, where he confirmed that Green had collapsed. He did not, however, provide an update on the fight’s status, as Green was still being treated.

“Bobby Green just collapsed back there. Doctors are looking at him. They’re trying to rehydrate him right now,” White said.

He believed that it was most likely the weight cut that caused Green to collapse, but didn’t want to speak out of turn without checking with the medical team first.

“Gotta be (the weight cut), but don’t quote me on that.”

TRENDING Gina Carano fired from The Mandalorian for social media posts

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/bobby-green-collapses-backstage-at-ufc-258-weigh-ins