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A Twitter user pretending to be Ariel Helwani posted a piece of fake news about Conor McGregor's return.
The individual claimed that the Irishman will return at UFC 290 against former champion Charles Oliveira in June next year in Las Vegas at 170lbs. The tweet even included the "Full story coming soon" bit that Helwani and several other journalists use in their official tweets.
Take a look at the tweet below:
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The account uses a profile picture similar to that of Helwani and uses the handle @arielhe1wani. The bio states that the account was created in February 2022.
Even though the account only has 5 followers, several fans were misled by the information because of the verified mark on the account. This seems to be the consequence of Elon Musk's new '$8 a month for blue tick' rule that has allowed thousands of fraudulent accounts to be created just by paying the money.
However, some fans were quick to realize what was happening and called the user out for their actions.
One fan even tagged Ariel Helwani, urging the veteran journalist to report the account.
Genuine news on McGregor's return is yet to be announced. He has been out of action since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. The lightweight division has certainly moved on from him, with almost every contender dismissing his claim to a title shot.
However, fighters like Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira have been consistent in their call-outs of McGregor for obvious reasons - money. The UFC cash cow has indulged them all but has not made any official announcement yet.
This is not the first time an impersonator has taken advantage of the rule and tried to "break news" about massive stars. Other league sports such as NFL and NBA have also fallen victim to the same.
Fans have been fooled before about Conor McGregor by hoax
In a world where the internet exists, fake information is abundant.
A few months ago, fans were left shocked after a bizarre hoax led to Conor McGregor being listed as dead on Google. Search results repeatedly showed that the Irishman had passed away on August 4, 2022, and his Wikipedia page reflected the same.
McGregor's social accounts were bombarded with queries from worried fans who thought he was gone whereas all the while 'The Notorious' was chilling with his family on his yacht.
