Conor McGregor plug, MMA fighter sentenced for murder, & Matt Brown blames fighters for fighter pay

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.

MMA fighter sentenced for murder

Andrew Osborne a MMA veteran of 28 fights was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering a man. Osborne was convicted of stabbing 47-year-old Brian Wilkinson to death in a hotel room in New Jersey on May 30. According to NJ.com, Osborne stabbed Wilkinson in the head and neck and left the room wearing the victim’s shoes and pants.

This fighter competes from 2011 to 2017 under the banners for CES MMA, Ring of Combat and World Series of Fighting, among others. This conviction is just another in the line of terrible things MMA fighters do. Unfortunately martial arts can't save them all. My condolences to the family of Wilkinson and I hope this doesn't deter fans from resp

Matt Brown blames fighters for fighter pay

One of the biggest debates in MMA right now is the low fighter pay in the UFC. Veteran Matt Brown has spoken about about why he thinks the fighter pay is so low and who is to blame. “If anybody is to blame for fighter pay, it’s the fighters — and I’m one of them, at least formerly,” Brown said on the Fighter vs. Writer podcast. “I never fought against the UFC about my pay. You’ve seen on Instagram, Twitter, different interviews where the fighters stick up for the UFC."

He's not wrong. The Fighters are the only ones who can make a chance happen. As long as fighters take the low pay, the low pay will keep being offered. The problem is that many fighters are poor to start out with and a $12,000 contract feels like a million dollars and there's no way they'll give that up. It's a spinning wheel and someone has to break it.

Conor McGregor plugs up-and-coming female fighter

Conor McGregor made a plea to Dana White to sign an up and coming Irish WMMA fighter after her performance at Road to UFC last week. "THIS IS A PROMO! In at the drop of a hat to beat and maul the much bigger girl," he tweeted. "Finishing with a call out of the UFC’s current strawweight champion who is from the same region as her just beaten opponent. Magic! IRISH GOER WAR CRY! announce her signing brother this is magic! ! FORGED ARMY!"

I saw Danni McCormack fight at Road to UFC and I was instantly impressed. The fight opened the card and frankly was the only exciting fight the whole night. I co-sign Conor's thoughts about signing her and hope the UFC brings her up to the big show.