UFC 294 took place on Saturday from Abu Dhabi with the top two fights having last minute replacements. Granted, the two new fights looked better on paper.
But, it was clear that Islam Makachev’s KO of Alexander Volkanovski and Khamzat Chimaev’s win over Kamaru Usman showed that last minute replacements may not prove to be the best matchups. You could excuse Volkanovski’s loss to a certain extent since he is still the Featherweight Champion. And maybe, if he had a full training camp he could have put on a better show. Also, Usman moving up to middleweight to fight Chimaev may not have been the best first fight for the ex-welterweight champ.
For Makachev and Chimaev, their future looks bright going into 2024. Certainly, Chimaev could be campaigning for a title shot against Sean Strickland.
The Legal Submission this time around takes a look at the severed relationship between USADA and the UFC. It all started with a tweet by Travis Tygart as he struck first with an announcement that 2023 would be the last year of its relationship with the UFC and inferred it had to do something with Conor McGregor’s return to drug testing. UFC shot back with a legal threat at USADA and announced that it had a new partner in antidoping in 2024.