UFC star makes autism confession, Israel Adesanya's coach admits grave mistake, Sean Strickland blasts scoring rules: MMA News Roundup

A former UFC middleweight title challenger recently said on social media that he believes he could be on the spectrum after a fan made fun of a tweet faux pas. Elsewhere Israel Adesanya's coach comments on a mistake the fighter made that cost him the contest against Nassourdine Imavov.

Here are today's top combat sports updates, presented by Sportskeeda MMA's News Roundup.

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Marvin Vettori says he thinks he may have autism

Marvin Vettori reacted to Israel Adesanya's loss against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia with what seemed to be self-deprecating humor. 'The Italian Dream' wrote on X:

"Only chance for Adesanya to win a fight is to fight me lol."

Adesanya has already fought Vettori twice in the UFC and emerged victorious via decision on both occasions. Given that Vettori's tweet did not show himself in a good light, one fan took a jibe at the fighter, asking if he had been diagnosed with autism.

Adding further fuel to the situation, Vettori said that he hasn't been tested but he believes he could be autistic.

One should note that the comment was likely made in a light-hearted manner and Vettori was possibly not insinuating that he has autism. There are no public records of him being on the spectrum.

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A mistake cost Israel Adesanya UFC Saudi Arabia fight, says coach

Israel Adesanya lost his third fight in a row at UFC Saudi Arabia when Nassourdine Imavov finished him via TKO in the second round.

Moments before Imavov dropped him, Adesanya sustained an accidental eye-poke but refused to take the time off offered by referee Marc Goddard. The sequence was quite similar to Alex Pereira turning down Herb Dean after receiving a low blow from Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, according to some fans.

However, Adesanya could not capitalize on the situation like 'Poatan' did and took a huge right hand to the chin that planted him on the mat. His striking coach Mike Angove pointed out in an interview with Submission Radio that in refusing the break, 'The Last Stylebender' failed to move away from Imavov's firing zone and suffered the consequences of that:

"We made a mistake. Nassourdine, I would say, with his team recognized when we made that mistake and they jumped on it, which means they have to have planned. You've got to congratulate them on that. Izzy got poked in the eye. There was a break, and Izzy didn't want to take the break and was just keen to get on with it, in doing that he didn't reset as you normally would and create some space. That means you're still in the firing zone."

Watch Mike Angove talk about Israel Adesanya below (0:55):

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Sean Strickland obliterates MMA scoring rules

Sean Strickland is not happy with how the judges scored his first fight against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297. The American fighter lost the contest via a close split decision (47-48, 47-48, 48-47) in which Sal D'Amato scored in his favor but Derek Cleary and Eric Colon picked du Plessis as the winner.

Strickland went off at the scoring criteria used in MMA that often rewards fighters solely for a takedown, regardless of how long they can keep the opponent on the canvas and how much damage they dish out. In an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto, the former UFC middleweight champion said:

"It's such a stupid scoring criteria... You took me down for five seconds, I get up and now I'm outstriking you. How the f*ck do you score that? As a whole grand scheme of a fight, what did that accomplish? Absolutely f*cking nothing. But the judges, 'Oh, his back touched the ground. That's a point.' This ain't f*cking collegiate wrestling, we're f*cking fighting."

Listen to Sean Strickland's comments below (10:00):