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Conor McGregor penned an elaborate message for Ryan Garcia after he beat Devin Haney. Meanwhile, the referee officiating the fight got grilled online for deducting points.
Here are today's top combat sports updates by Sportskeeda MMA.
Conor McGregor reacts to Ryan Garcia's win
Ryan Garcia's majority decision upset over Devin Haney earned him high praise from Conor McGregor. While Garcia outpointed Haney, he could not win the WBC super lightweight belt held by Haney, as he had missed the 140-pound championship weight by 3.2 pounds. The belt remained with Haney, but McGregor wrote:
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"Godspeed to both men and teams in this crazy world and congrats Ryan Garcia! Tonight is your night... A win or a loss will never make or break a person to me. When you know, you know. Fighters know."
The Irishman, who has recently been more vocally religious in recent times similar to Garcia, added:
"Now the real fight happens for the young man, too! Stay strong kid, believe in the Lord’s guidance, and keep it tight like frogs a*s in Versace lad hahaha yes!"
Pros and fans criticize Garcia vs. Haney referee
Combat sports professionals and fans came together to criticize the referee officiating the highly-anticipated boxing match between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. The official deducted a point from Garcia for punching in the clinch but did not treat Haney similarly.
The deduction almost cost Garcia a well-earned win, as one of the judges had the bout as a draw. Stephen A. Smith took to X to slam the refereeing:
"This referee is absolutely terrible. Ryan Garcia drops Haney. He’s hurt as hell, holding into Garcia for dear life, forcing Garcia to punch in the clinch. The ref pauses action to deduct point — no warning. Utter bullshit. Garcia drops Haney again twice — yet ref calls both a slip. Unreal! Horrible officiating."
Aljamain Sterling wrote:
Patrick Bet-David wrote:
Read more reactions here.
Jamahal Hill reacts to UFC 300 controversy
Jamahal Hill gave his first public statement about the time-out controversy that plagued his UFC 300 main event fight with Alex Pereira. A supposed low blow, which Hill believes landed around the waist, caused the referee to step forward to allow 'Poatan' the required time-out.
Pereira, however, turned the time-out offered by Herb Dean down and proceeded to knock out Hill almost immediately. Many argued that Dean and Pereira's interaction distracted Hill, ultimately leading to his downfall.
Hill did not say much on the matter but admitted that he should have been more cautious. He said:
"I'm just going to say, just protect yourself at all times, you know... I just take it as a lesson learned and just go from it from there... I took no damage... I remember everything, I remember looking up seeing his legs, I remember him coming in... I was coherent the whole time."
Watch Jamahal Hill's comments below from the 2:20 mark:
