UFC 295 referee accused of early stoppage, Tom Aspinall shares shock injury, Usman Nurmagomedov fails drug test: MMA News Roundup

Tom Aspinall apparently fought at UFC 295 with a pretty serious injury and still won. His win over Sergei Pavlovich was a decisive stoppage, but the same seemingly cannot be said about another finish on the card.

Enjoy your daily dose of MMA news with Sportskeeda's News Roundup.

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#3 Referee Marc Goddard receives backlash for Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka stoppage

Within a little over 700 days since his UFC debut, Alex Pereira made the difficult task of becoming a two-division champion look easy.

In the UFC 295 main event, 'Poatan' finished Prochazka with a second-round TKO to be crowned as the new light heavyweight champion. The card, stacked with back-to-back knockouts, took place on Saturday, November 11, at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The star-studded affair had former POTUS Donald Trump, Kid Rock, and Tucker Carlson in the audience, among others.

However, many thought that the fight was stopped too early by the officiating referee, Marc Goddard.

A large section of the MMA community, including other UFC fighters, lashed out at Goddard for having a "quick trigger" of late. Merab Dvalishvili called it "bulls**t", while Henry Cejudo thought the two fighters should have been allowed to grapple for a while. Among others who felt the same way are Dominick Cruz, Lando Vannata, and renowned MMA coach Eric Nicksick.

Read the comments here.

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#2 Tom Aspinall details a painful injury that plagued his UFC 295 training camp

Tom Aspinall silenced his fans at UFC 295 by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at the 1:09-minute mark of the first round. The fact that it was a short-notice fight for Aspinall further adds to the magnitude of the feat. He stepped up to face the Russian after the originally scheduled bout between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic got canceled due to an injury sustained by 'Bones'.

In an interview with UFC analyst Laura Sanko after the event, Aspinall revealed that the limited time he had to prepare for the fight was made even worse by an unfortunate injury. The Brit said he pulled his back and had not been training for around ten days leading into the fight.

"I pulled my back and didn't really train at all. I injured it on the first week after I found out about the fight [with Pavlovich]. I haven't been able to train for the last week and a half," he stated.

In answer to when he found out he could compete again, Aspinall said, "Today." He added that there were VISA issues as well. All things considered, it was indeed a wonder. He not only managed to compete at UFC 295 but also clinched the interim heavyweight belt.

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#1 Usman Nurmagomedov releases statement after failed drug test

Usman Nurmagomedov has been handed a six-month suspension due to a failed drug test. It has also led to his recent win at Bellator 300 over Brent Primus being overturned to a 'no contest' and him being excluded from the Lightweight Grand Prix. According to Ariel Helwani, he has been fined $50,000 as well. However, he has not been stripped of his belt yet.

The drug test failure was later confirmed by CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster.

It hasn't been disclosed what substance Nurmagomedov has been flagged for, but the Dagestani has taken accountability for the situation. In an Instagram post, he wrote:

"The results of my test revealed a prohibited substance that entered my body through medications, prescribed to me by a doctor. A few months before my fight, I was undergoing treatment, but unfortunately, I did not notify the athletic commission in advance."

Take a look at the post below: