Alexander Volkanovski at 155, Ryan Garcia banned & Dana White on ESPN

A daily news brief on all things MMA and boxing, plus my thoughts on what we've learned.
Alexander Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski / Matt King/GettyImages
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I'll be breaking down the news from around the combat sports world and giving you my take on it in this new daily column. Check back every morning to see the biggest or most obscure headlines and what I think about them below.

Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight at 155 pounds again

Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has expressed his desire to fight at 155 pounds two more times if he's being forced to wait for a rematch at 145 pounds with Ilia Topuria. “I want an exciting fighter like a Charles Oliveira,” Volkanovski said. “I did call out (Dustin) Poirier after that. He’s a great dude. We get along. I think he’s a good man and he’s obviously a big, fun fight. There’s still history there with mutual opponents. He used to fight at featherweight, things like that, and obviously a big name – fun fight, that would be. So that’s exciting.

I'm not so sure this is the right move for Volkanovski to take. We've aready seen him at 155 pounds and he lost both times. Sitting out and waiting or taking a 145 pound fight in the meantime seems like a better idea. It won't make a lot of sense to give a guy who is losing at 155 a title shot at 145 pounds, no matter who he is. Best case scenario he wins at 155, then why would he stop fighting there. It's not a good game plan and I hope he rethinks it.

Ryan Garcia has been banned by the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman

Controversial boxer Ryan Garcia has been banned by the WBC for several racist and Islamophobic tweets he made on the Fourth of July. Garcia has been having a very public personal crisis for months and this is just the latest in a line of bad behavior.

Punishing Garcia for his actions is what needed to be done months ago. He needed to be given serious help, medically and emotionally. There's something very wrong with Garcia and everyone is afraid to make the first move. One of these days he's going to be dead and every single one of us who stood by and did nothing will be to blame. This is far little and far too late.

Dana White gives update on ESPN relationship

The UFC's broadcasting deal with ESPN is almost up and UFC president Dana White is reflecting on their relationship over the years. "I’ve had some headbutting with ESPN, but I feel like we are in a really good place right now and I’m really happy with my relationship with them and the way that this whole thing is running," White told The Sports Business Journal. "We’ll see how it plays out. I think everyone is kicking the tires and is interested in making a bid.”

I think a lot of fans are hoping that White decides to go to Amazon or Netflix. Both streaming giants are in nearly every household around the world and could make the sport grow above and beyond what it is today. The ESPN+ app hasn't been the best or most user-friendly experience and MMA fans are ready for a change.

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