UFC legend recalls Sean Strickland vs. Sneako incident, Conor McGregor appeals civil case verdict, Alex Pereira reveals career-worst injury: MMA News Roundup

A UFC legend who witnessed Sean Strickland beat up Sneako, reveals what went down and how. Elsewhere, Conor McGregor has appealed the civil lawsuit that found him guilty of assault against alleged victim Nikita Hand.

Read on to find out more on today's top combat sports updates.

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Forrest Griffin recalls breaking up Sean Strickland and Sneako at UFC PI

UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin, who works as the Vice President of Athlete Development at the Performance Institute, was an eye-witness to Sean Strickland's viral sparring session with Sneako.

Strickland got a massive backlash on social media for unloading ruthlessly on the YouTuber who is untrained and inexperienced in combat sports. Griffin, who was at the PI during the incident, had to step in and separate the two to keep Strickland from dishing out further punishment.

During a recent appearance on the JAXXON Podcast, he opened up on what went down and the repercussions it had:

"I'm training with like some cool people and I hear like a noise cuz I'm like maybe 30 foot away from the octagon, and I hear like all these people like saying 'Stop!' I look up and sure enough, Sean Strickland's just beating the sh*t out this kid... and that's why I ran, I was like, I'm the one that works here. I should do something, so I run in there and stop him."

Griffin disclosed that the management called him later on and asked for a ban to be put in place against bringing filming crew inside the facility.

"I got some phone calls that night too. Like, ‘Forrest, what are you doing?’ Alright, we’ll lock it down. No video. You can video your sparring to watch back later, but there’s no need to bring a camera crew."

Check out Forrest Griffin's comments below:

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Conor McGregor appeals civil case verdict against Nikita Hand

Conor McGregor was found guilty of assault in the civil lawsuit filed by Nikita Hand in an Irish court last November. The 12-day trial ended with McGregor being asked to pay approximately $250,000 as well as cover Hand's legal fees as compensation for the December 2018 incident of alleged rape.

According to the BBC, the UFC star filed an appeal of the jury's decision last Friday.

Following the guilty verdict, McGregor was dropped as the face of the Proper No.12 Irish whiskey brand by Proximo Spirits. His businesses were boycotted all across Dublin and Ireland at large. IO Interactive removed his purchasable character from their popular video game series, "Hitman".

McGregor is also facing another civil lawsuit for sexual misconduct stemming from an alleged incident at a 2023 NBA Finals game hosted by the Miami Heat. The fighter maintains his innocence in both.

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Alex Pereira reveals the worst injury of his career

Alex Pereira recently sat down for a live interview with Mark Bouris for the VIP AOA Global event at the ICC Sydney Grand Ballroom. Among the plethora of questions he answered, including some asked by fans, one was about the worst injury he has suffered in his career.

Pereira revealed via his translator Plinio Cruz that it was the one he sustained right before his UFC debut in 2021:

"I don’t know if anybody knows this, but prior to my UFC debut, I had a bad injury on my ankle/foot, I had to push forward, didn’t want to spoil it and not fight… And then I won by knockout."

'Poatan' debuted in the promotion at UFC 268 against Andreas Michailidis with a second-round TKO victory. A year later, he fought his arch-rival Israel Adesanya for the first time in MMA, the third time overall, and emerged as the new UFC middleweight champion.

Listen to the full interview below (26:40):