UFC veteran blasts "sadistic" fans, Khamzat Chimaev reacts to being removed from rankings, Paddy Pimblett's next fight leaked: MMA News Roundup

A veteran UFC fighter reprimanded the MMA community for hateful comments hurled at Sean Strickland. Elsewhere, Khamzat Chimaev reacted to being removed from Russia's pound-for-pound rankings.

Catch up with today's top combat sports updates with Sportskeeda MMA's News Roundup.

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UFC veteran slams fans for criticizing Sean Strickland

Veteran UFC middleweight Jared Cannonier is confused about the hate Sean Strickland has been receiving for his UFC 312 performance.

The American could not show much explosivity against Dricus du Plessis in the title rematch in Sydney, and the South African ended up retaining the belt. Following the loss, Strickland got blasted by fans, fighters, and even his coach Eric Nicksick for his game plan.

However, Cannonier believes he does not deserve it. He said during the UFC Vegas 102 media day:

"Congratulations to both competitors for making it out not as concussed as everybody hoped they would. 'To the death' - Everyone keeps repeating it and throwing it in Sean’s face. It was a scrap as expected. DDP fought as expected, Sean Strickland fought as expected, and we’ve got ourselves another championship fight in the books."

Cannonier chastised those who sounded disappointed at the lack of violence:

"People wanted him to sustain more damage than that. We live in a sadistic world where people want to see other people go through some sort of pain and take pleasure out of that."

Watch Jared Cannonier's comments below (7:00):

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Khamzat Chimaev reacts to being removed from Russian P4P rankings

Despite his close ties with Russian political leaders, including Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, Khamzat Chimaev has been removed from the country's pound-for-pound rankings. This happened after 'Borz' left Sweden and relocated to the UAE with Emirati citizenship.

During the ACA media day, Chimaev told a journalist from the Russian outlet Ushatayka his feelings on the matter:

"I don’t know about being on this roster, but I love being in Russia. I love this country and often visited it when I was having my training camp... for [Robert] Whittaker... Mentally, and in all respects in general, I really like having training camps in Russia. That’s why I come here very often."

Chimaev continued:

"What should I say? Let them include me in the rankings if they like. If they don’t… well, I don’t know who decides. But I represent both Russia and the UAE."

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Paddy Pimblett's next fight seemingly leaked

A fellow UFC lightweight fighter has seemingly leaked Paddy Pimblett's next fight. The Liverpudlian, who has been eyeing a fight with Dustin Poirier on social media recently, will reportedly face Mateusz Gamrot next.

The UFC matchup was mentioned by Renato Moicano on his Show Me the Money podcast. Moicano is also someone who Pimblett has been beefing online for a while.

Moicano said:

"Mateusz Gamrot is very good with the leg-locks. He doesn't do much [use it much] in the fights, but he's very good... And do you know he's fighting [Paddy] Pimblett?"

He quickly added that he wasn't sure about the report and that he had seen it on the internet.

"I don't know, but that's what it looks like... No, no, I don't know if it's true or not. I just saw it on social media."

Check out Renato Moicano's comments below (29:00):