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A renowned UFC personality was left in complete shock over the report of NBA star Luka Doncic's surprise trade. Elsewhere, Israel Adesanya issued a statement on his UFC Saudi Arabia loss to Nassourdine Imavov.
Here are your top combat sports updates from today.
Ariel Helwani is shocked over rumored Luka Doncic trade
Veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani was left in complete surprise over the rumor of NBA superstar Luka Doncic getting traded off. On Saturday night, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Dallas Mavericks were trading Doncic along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
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The alleged deal was kept under wraps and there were no whispers of it whatsoever. According to Charania, Doncic and Davis were equally stunned by it, and so was LeBron James.
Helwani's first reaction was utter disbelief, which is how most of the sporting world responded.
He followed up with a tweet suggesting that there could potentially be more to the story than what has been made public so far.
Helwani added that it was undeniably "one of the most stunning trades in North American sports history."
"No rumors. No whispers. The face of the franchise shipped off just like that?! Gotta be more to this story. Truly shocking. And I feel so very sorry for Mavs fans."
Bryce Mitchell apologizes for H*tler comment
Bryce Mitchell sparked a massive social media outrage with his pro-Nazi comments this week. On the first episode of his new podcast Arkansity, the UFC fighter called Adolf H*tler a "good guy" and a patriot trying to "purify" his country.
After a public admonishment by Dana White and similar reactions from a few fellow athletes, Mitchell took to social media to apologize for his comments.
'Thug Nasty' wrote:
"I'm sorry I sounded insensitive. I definitely was not trying to offend anybody, but I know I did. I know that a lot of people died in the Holocaust, and that's a fact. H*tler did a lot of evil things, I think we can all agree on that. I'm definitely not a Nazi, and definitely do not condone any of the evil things H*tler did."
Mitchell also vowed to be "more considerate" while talking about other people's sufferings in the future.
Israel Adesanya issues statement on UFC Saudi Arabia defeat
Israel Adesanya suffered the second knockout loss of his career at UFC Saudi Arabia. Nassourdine Imavov pulled off a feat only accomplished by Alex Pereira before when he dropped 'The Last Stylebender' in the second round and then finished him with a flurry of punches.
In his first social media statement since the defeat, Adesanya posted a cryptic tweet but shared his real reactions to the TKO in the attached video:
Take a look at the post below:
Earlier, in a backstage interview with ESPN MMA, the former UFC middleweight champion said that he was not sure about the future but wanted to rest and help teammates with their upcoming fights for now.
