UFC fighter slaps coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov removed from flight, Hollywood star "ill at ease" on Joe Rogan's show: MMA News Roundup

One UFC fighter hit her coach who was trying to console her after Saturday night's defeat. Elsewhere, Khabib Nurmagomedov was escorted off a flight after a verbal altercation with a flight attendant.

Here are your top combat sports updates for today, by Sportskeeda MMA.

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Female UFC star Viktoriia Dudakova slaps coach after loss

Dana White's Contender Series alum Viktoriia Dudakova slapped her coach inside the cage after losing her second fight in a row at UFC Vegas 101. The Russian suffered a TKO loss to Fatima Kline in the second round, after which she looked visibly distraught.

Dudakova was seen shrugging off one of her coaches who approached to console her and slapped him before stepping away and saying a few unhappy words. The heated moment was caught on camera.

X user @ParamPam1990 translated what Dudakova said, and it seems she was disappointed in the individual:

"You didn't even come over. You just sat there [points somewhere]. That's how little you cared!"

Read the fan comments on the incident here.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov escorted off plane

Khabib Nurmagomedov has a long fight week ahead, with two of his proteges, Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov, competing for the lightweight and bantamweight titles respectively at UFC 311.

However, 'The Eagle' ran into trouble even before he could land in Los Angeles, where the first UFC pay-per-view of 2025 will take place at Intuit Dome despite the raging fires.

A video that surfaced on the internet on Sunday, Jan. 12 shows Nurmagomedov getting into a disagreement with a cabin crew on a flight to L.A. from Las Vegas. The discord allegedly started when the flight attendant asked the fighter if he was willing and able to perform the duties that were requested of any passenger sitting next to the emergency exit.

Nurmagomedov reportedly did not understand her the first couple of times, which led to her asking him to either change seats or get off the plane as the flight attendants were not "comfortable" with him seated in the exit row.

The Dagestani said:

"I know the language [English] and I know how to help people... It’s not fair."

She replied:

"I’m not gonna to do this back and forth. I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane."

After this, the supervisor was called who escorted the former UFC lightweight kingpin off the plane.

It is not yet known how he is planning to reach Los Angeles.

Read the fan reactions to the incident here.

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Mel Gibson's house burns down while the actor films a podcast with Joe Rogan

Mel Gibson told NewsNation on Thursday evening that his Malibu residence burnt to the ground in the Los Angeles fires while he was filming a podcast episode with Joe Rogan. The Academy Award-winning actor appeared on episode #2254 of the UFC commentator's uber-popular show.

When Gibson returned home from the UFC commentator's studio in Austin, Texas, his house was in ashes:

"I was doing the [Joe] Rogan podcast. I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, 'I wonder if my place is still there.' But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there."

Gibson had lived in the $14.5 million mansion for almost 15 years. He shared that he lost many personal belongings, including photographs, clothing, and vehicles, in the incident. However, his chickens somehow survived the flames:

"It was amazing. We checked the chicken coop and they were fine. So we gave them some grain and water and they were happy and laying eggs. They weren’t roast chickens."

Listen to Mel Gibson's statement below: