UFC star on Elon Musk's controversial salute, Merab Dvalishvili fooled Commission, Joe Rogan called out for spreading rumors: MMA News Roundup

Elon Musk's controversial salute during Donald Trump's presidential inauguration draws the reaction of a UFC fighter. Elsewhere, Joe Rogan got called out on his podcast for "spreading rumors" about the California fires.

Today's top combat sports updates are below, curated by Sportskeeda MMA.

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Paulo Costa reacts to Elon Musk's salute

On Monday, Elon Musk found himself at the center of a controversy after back-to-back salutes at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration. Toward the tail-end of his speech during the ceremony, the Tesla and SpaceX chief thumped his right hand into his chest and shot it out diagonally, palms facing down.

Social media users were quick to point out that the gesture looked similar to the 'Sieg Heil' salute used as a form of greeting and also an acknowledgment of rank and station in Nazi Germany.

After the video of Musk's speech went viral, UFC middleweight Paulo Costa took to X to react to it with a four-word tweet:

"Haha here we go."

Musk defended himself labeling the backlash as another set of "dirty tricks" by an unnamed party he called "they" in the tweet. He also said he was tired of the "Everyone is Hitler" narrative. He did not specify which remark he was referring to or which individual was accused of embodying Adolf Hitler prior to his controversial gesture during the speech.

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How Merab Dvalishvili fooled the California Commission before UFC 311

Merab Dvalishvili confesses he lied to the California State Athletic Commission about his leg injury to be able to fight at UFC 311.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, 'The Machine' admitted that he deceived the Commission official who was conducting his physical test by showing him his left leg twice. His right leg, which had contracted a staph infection from a cut, had 27 stitches on the shin area:

"I was worried the commission was not going to let me fight... California has a very strict commission… The commission guy asked me to show him my shin, so I lifted my left pant leg to show him my shin. He kept talking and then asked to show my other leg, so I showed him my left leg again, and then he never knew about the cut."

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Joe Rogan's podcast guest calls him out for "spreading rumors"

Joe Rogan got fact-checked and proved wrong on his podcast by guest, comedian Bryan Callen.

The UFC commentator, who has been going on about the homeless people and other locals being responsible for the raging Los Angeles fires, recently repeated a claim he heard of online. During episode #2257 of The Joe Rogan Experience, he said:

"One guy got caught setting fires, and he had a UN debit card... He had five cell phones and the United Nations prepaid debit card."

Callen refused to believe in the rumor and asked Rogan to check the source of the claim:

"I'm skeptical. Is this conspiracy? I just don't want to be played."

After looking the information up on the internet, the production team found that the report came out of an anonymous X account with no journalistic credentials or association. Callen rejoiced the moment by calling the podcaster out:

"You're spreading rumors, Joe Rogan. You got played."

The aforementioned rumor has been going around the internet ever since Los Angeles PD detailed a possible arson suspected, who was "attempting to light a fire in the community."

No details about cell phones or United Nations debit cards were revealed by the police.