New Khabib vs. Conor audio, Jon Jones charged with 2 misdemeanors & Santiago Ponzinibbio on judges

A daily news brief on all things MMA and boxing, plus my thoughts on what we've learned.
UFC 229: Khabib v McGregor
UFC 229: Khabib v McGregor / Harry How/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.

New Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor audio has been shared

The UFC revealed audio from the controversial 2018 fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov and we are hearing things that happened in the fight we've never heard before.

We all knew there was bad blood between these two, that's no shock but this really shows just how deep it went for Nurmagomedov. I'm a little surprised the UFC took so long to release this and it makes me wonder if there's something they are planning that we aren't aware of. Perhaps this will be the next Hall of Fame fight? Is Nurmagomedov finally coming back? Is this build-up to something with Islam?

Jon Jones has been charged in drug testing altercation [VIA MMA FIGHTING]

In late March, Jon Jones was accused of bad behavior when two testing agents arrived at his home to collect a sample for the Drug-Free Sport program. Now it's been revealed that he has been charged with "assault — a petty misdemeanor — and interference with communications, a misdemeanor" stemming from that visit. If convicted he could face jail time and fines.

Nothing with Jones ever shocks me anymore. He needs serious help with his life outside of the cage. Much like the the Ryan Garcia issues, Jones needs the help that unfortunately no one can force upon him. He has to want to change and it's apparent that he's failing at turning his life around. If convicted he will likely get the bare minimum, which is what's happened every time before.

Santiago Ponzinibbio responds to UFC Denver loss

Santiago Ponzinibbio is not happy that he lost his UFC Denver fight with Muslim Salikhov via split decision. "We think we won the fight," he said on Instagram (translated from Spanish by MMA Junkie) "We at least had two clear rounds. In many MMA places that specialize in this, most people gave me two rounds and some even three. But oh well. Whenever we go to the judges, this is how it goes for me. If I don’t knock my opponent out, the decisions don’t go in our favor."

I was at UFC Denver and I thought the fight was incredibly close. I could see why Ponzinibbio would be upset because, depending on who you asked, he won that fight. It's really hard when you are not doing enough to win decisively. Chalk it up to another exaple of never leaving it up tot he judges.

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