This is The A-Side Live Chat on MMA Fighting.
Today on the show, we’ll be talking about Tony Ferguson’s outside-the-cage issues. His wife dropped the restraining order case against him recently, so what does that mean for his prospects of returning to the Octagon? Are there any concerns about his fighting future? If not, who should he fight in his return?
We’ll also discuss this weekend’s UFC Fort Lauderdale, which is headlined by Ronaldo Souza vs. Jack Hermansson in a middleweight fight. This wasn’t the initial plan for the main event, so what is up with Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero? Is there anything else on the card worth getting excited about?
We will also speak about USADA’s six-month suspensions of four UFC fighters — Sean O’Malley, Nicco Montaño, Augusto Mendes and Marvin Vettori — for testing positive for ostarine. The suspensions run four months and are all retroactive to last year. Why did USADA come to this conclusion? How do these cases differ from other anti-doping cases?
Also on tap, Khabib Nurmagomedov talked about his future UFC lightweight title unification bout with Dustin Poirier last weekend after UFC St. Petersburg. Is that definitely the fight to expect next? When? Does Poirier have a shot?
Another topic can be Bellator 220, which is headlined this weekend by a welterweight title fight and grand prix tournament first-round matchup between champion Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defends her women’s flyweight title in the co-main event against Veta Arteaga. Will the champions hold or could the challengers give them a run? Will MacDonald be ready with a win in time for the Madison Square Garden show in June?
If there is time, we can also talk about Alistair Overeem’s big win over Aleksei Oleinik from UFC St. Petersburg. Plus, Rizin was last weekend and Kyoji Horiguchi picked up another knockout win, while Muhammed Lawal was unsuccessful against Jiri Prochazka.
This will be Marc’s final show.
There is plenty to talk about, so join us to discuss all of the above and much more. All is up for discussion. The chat will start at our time of 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.
As always, we’ll post the video window as the event draws near and answer any questions you might have if you post them in the comments below. For the comments you deem the most deserving, please click the “rec” button. Comments in green will get first priority.
Please link this page and use the hashtags #theaside or #chatwrappers on Twitter when you’re watching to tell everyone you’re taking part with us.
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