PRICE WAS STRAPPED FOR KASH
HEAVYWEIGHT SCANDAL UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT
DAVID PRICE said he was tempted to lash out at Kash Ali immediately after being bitten by his former sparring partner in their heavyweight grudge bout over the weekend.
Ali was disqualified for the transgression in Liverpool on Saturday, which has led to his boxing licence being suspended, pending a hearing. The 27-year-old had appeared to be edging his way back into the contest when the pair fell to the canvas in the fifth round, after which Price complained of the bite, with a welt evident on his stomach.
Price said: “When he was on the floor on top of me he went a bit limp and I thought, ‘He doesn’t want to get up here’. The next thing I felt was his teeth sink in. Part of me wanted to lay him out there and then.
“But I thought better of it because it would have got me in a load of trouble and caused trouble on the night.”
ROB’S THE TRIM REAPER
ROBERT WHITTAKER is getting back in shape for a summer return following his emergency abdominal surgery in February.
‘The Reaper’ (right) was forced to withdraw before his middleweight title defence against Kelvin Gastelum due to a collapsed bowel and an internal hernia. Whittaker’s setback led to the introduction of an interim 185lb title, which Israel Adesanya and Gastelum will contest at UFC 236 a week on Saturday. And after getting the all-clear to resume full training, the Aussie aims to unify the division this August. “That’s the date I’ve penned,” said Whittaker. “August is the date I want. I think that’s fair.”