Robert Whittaker's next UFC fight, "nail in the coffin" for Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey's struggle with loss, and more: MMA Rumor Roundup

Robert Whittaker mused about who he should fight next in the UFC this past week. Meanwhile, Chael Sonnen theorized on what could be the final nail in the coffin of Conor McGregor's UFC career.

Here are this week's top combat sports rumors and reports by Sportskeeda MMA.

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Robert Whittaker predicts his next UFC fight

Robert Whittaker believes his next fight in the UFC should be against Sean Strickland. Both fighters have been top middleweight contenders for a long time but have never fought each other.

With both of them coming off losses, Whittaker to Khamzat Chimaev and Strickland to Dricus du Plessis, now might be a good time to make that fight, said 'The Reaper' in a chat with On Paper with Anthony Smith:

"I think [Sean] Strickland makes a good argument to have because I feel like we've both been in that top sort of pond for a while circling each other. I feel like, for whatever reason, we haven't been matched up, but we've both been in proximity for a while, and it's most likely the fight to make."

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Conor McGregor vs. Dan Hooker/Justin Gaethje

Chael Sonnen thinks that the UFC booking Michael Chandler to fight Paddy Pimblett next officially brought an end to the career of Conor McGregor. If the Irishman does return to the UFC, Dan Hooker or Justin Gaethje would be excellent potential opponents, said the veteran. But the one opponent that Sonnen likes the most for 'The Notorious' is Paddy Pimblett.

The former UFC fighter said on his YouTube:

"The conspiracy theorists are having a lot of fun because who you could ever put Conor [McGregor] against?... Gaethje-Conor works all day long. Dan Hooker vs. Conor is maybe the best idea - it works all day long... What's disappointing about it is... it stops us from having the one we really could make the most money with, which is Paddy 'The Baddy' vs. Conor McGregor."

However, Chandler and Pimblett being booked changed the scenario.

"The announcement of Chandler vs. Paddy 'The Baddy' was effectively the nail in the coffin of the career of Conor McGregor, and now all of a sudden that has changed.''

Listen to Chael Sonnen's comments below (3:00):

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Liz Carmouche weighs in on Ronda Rousey's MMA departure

It is an open secret in the MMA community that Ronda Rousey took her losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes pretty hard, so much so that she left the sport and never turned back. She opened up about feeling attacked by the media and suffering from mental health issues in the years that followed.

Liz Carmouche, whom 'Rowdy' fought on her UFC debut, believes the reason behind this goes way back to the days of her training judo with her mother. She said on Dark Side of the Cage:

"Her family probably also had that in her head where bronze isn't gold. Third best isn't best. Everything she has achieved, the greatness she has achieved - it wasn't good enough."

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Five fighters said no to Justin Gaethje for UFC 313

After Rafael Fiziev was announced as Dan Hooker's replacement for the UFC 313 co-main event, Justin Gaethje took to X to claim that five other lightweights had turned down the fight for myriad of reasons. 'The Highlight' claimed Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, and Renato Moicano said no.

Tsarukyan responded that he had wanted the fight to be at catchweight, to which the UFC did not agree. Poirier claimed he never got the call after reaching out himself.

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Boxers "sold their souls" to Turki Alalshikh

Turki Alalshikh has undoubtedly transformed the boxing scene in the last few years. From hosting star-studded cards to currently negotiating a $10 million boxing league contract with the UFC owners, TKO Group Holdings, Saudi Arabia is going above and beyond to carve their niche in the sport.

However, Gervonta Davis, one of the biggest stars in boxing, is not sold. He told reporters ahead of his fight against Lamont Roach Jr.:

"It’s like people selling themselves, like even in the picture where everybody was in the room, that s*it looked like some devil sh*t... That sh*t like some devil sh*t like they sold their souls."

In response, Alalshikh claimed that 'Tank's' disdain comes from his fellow boxers making a lot more money than him.

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Daniel Dubois faked his illness

After Daniel Dubois pulled out of their fight days before the event due to an unspecified illness, Joseph Parker expressed his suspicions about the legitimacy of his reasons. He said on The Ariel Helwani Show:

"It feels weird because [Daniel Dubois] was at the public workout and then, just like that, he got real ill, and there was no real statement. There's no real proof or doctors. There's nothing. It feels a bit weird... They're talking about Dubois and [Oleksandr] Usyk having a fight, so, there's a possibility that he could be - they are trying to line that fight up."

Dubois was replaced by Martin Bakole on short notice, who lost the fight via knockout.