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Multiple UFC 310 changes are now officially confirmed with a week remaining before the event. Elsewhere Conor McGregor was removed from the future plans of Proper No. 12 Whiskey, the brand he founded and helped build.
Here are today's top combat sports updates, presented by Sportskeeda MMA.
Several UFC 310 changes confirmed, including one about Nick Diaz
Multiple changes in the UFC 310 lineup that were rumored in the past few weeks were confirmed by the promotion on Wednesday.
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Heavyweight Martin Buday, who was set to face two-time DWCS standout Rizvan Kuniev in the prelims, has been removed and the fight is altogether canceled. It is not yet revealed why Buday was pulled from the card. Elsewhere, Tallison Teixeira, scheduled to fight Lukasz Brzeski, was also removed from the lineup. Kennedy Nzechukwu is now set to face Brzeski instead.
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The UFC also confirmed the report that Nick Diaz was out of his return fight against Vicente Luque. The welterweight will now face Dwayne Johnson's favorite fighter, Themba Gorimbo.
Conor McGregor is no longer the face of Proper No. 12 Whiskey
Proper No. 12 Whiskey will no longer put Conor McGregor's name or image on their products, the company revealed in a statement.
Proximo Spirits, who purchased the Irish whiskey company from McGregor and his partners in 2021, continued to use the UFC star as part of their branding. However, now things will change after McGregor was found liable for assault in a civil case in which he was accused of rape by a Dublin woman, Nikita Hand.
The company told the Irish Independent on Tuesday:
"Since 2021, Proximo Spirits has been the 100pc owner of Proper No 12 Irish Whiskey. Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand."
This comes after thousands of stores across Ireland, led by Tesco, boycotted Proper No. 12 Whiskey following the verdict. Names like Costcutter, EUROSPAR, and Supervalu followed suit. His character was dropped from the Hitman video game series as well.
Kai Asakura addresses getting a title shot on debut
Former RIZIN star Kai Asakura is fighting Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight belt on his debut. It has raised questions among many whether the title shot is truly deserved.
Addressing the doubt among fans, Asakura told the UFC, grinning:
"I'm going to go in there and display what I can do, and I want them to have those same claims after the fight is over."
As for his opponent, Asakura believes Pantoja is "great at everything, but he's not special at anything."
"What makes him better than anyone else is his heart — he’s got great heart, and that’s what makes him a great champion. But I don’t see him representing any problems for me anywhere. He’s someone I don’t think I’ll have any problem dealing with."
The two clash in the main event of UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
