As the UFC continues working toward an expected trilogy bout between Stipe Miocic and former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, the current king of the division is on the defensive following less than encouraging comments from UFC president Dana White.
Miocic recently told Uproxx Sports the only delay in getting back into the Octagon and defending his belt is his ability to train, with Ohio under stay-at-home orders until May 29. With limited equipment at home, Miocic added he would fight “anyone” as long as he has a full camp when his gym opens back up. That put Miocic competing this summer into question, to which White responded to Barstool Sports, “You either want to fight or you don’t.”
White called holding off on putting together a heavyweight title fight for Miocic until August “unrealistic” and wouldn’t rule out the possibility of stripping the champion of his belt.
In a Twitter thread following White’s comments, Miocic made it clear he wants to fight Cormier, that his management is working on dates and that he “can’t control a global pandemic.” This is the most definitive Miocic has been in months, initially delaying a return fight for Cormier after undergoing eye surgery to repair a torn retina suffered in their last bout. After successful surgery, Miocic’s agent told ESPN that his client would return to “competition this year in a fight that makes sense and against an opponent that Stipe has not beaten before.”
Cormier, however, has been relentless in his approach to getting what could be his final UFC fight as a professional.
“When you lose to a guy like Stipe Miocic, he beat me and I need to go get that right. If I don’t get that right, I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself,” Cormier later told Uproxx Sports.
For Cormier, it’s not necessarily his competitiveness that’s driving this fight. According to the man himself, it’s knowing he was better than Miocic all along.
“I lost to (Jon) Jones, but he was better,” Cormier said on his weekly podcast on ESPN (H/T MMA Junkie). “Stipe Miocic is not better than me, and that’s going to be something I regret for the rest of my life, is letting him get a victory over me. It should’ve never happened.”
With the UFC hosting its first live event since shutting down operations in March this weekend and Miocic’s latest comments around accepting a third fight, a final showdown could be on the horizon. Whether that means the champ has to get creative to get back into training or not remains to be seen.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought out a whole slew of interesting human tendencies, including a veritable tsunami of conspiracy theories. Like, holy cow, folks. When did everyone start pulling out their tinfoil hats?
And of course, there’s always a shred of truth in any conspiracy theory, which pulls people in. But just as a shred of fabric doesn’t make a shirt, a shred of truth in a conspiracy theory doesn’t make it credible or true.
By now, you’ve undoubtedly seen or at least heard about the Plandemic video making the rounds. YouTube keeps taking it down because of its policy against spreading harmful misinformation about the coronavirus, but that of course just fuels the fire of conspiracy theorists who think the truth is being silenced. The good news is that the claims in the video have been debunked many times over at this point. The bad news is that the people who need to see these debunkings have probably not even read this far into the article, and are definitely not going to take the time to read and process what we share past this point.
But we’re gonna go ahead and share these well-cited debunkings anyway, because facts matter, sources matter, not all opinions are equal, and we can’t keep letting paranoid theories that don’t hold up to scrutiny and can’t be backed up with well-done science go unchecked.
(And yes, there is such a thing as well-done science. The scientific world has spent many, many decades improving and systematizing processes for checking data, replicating studies, peer-reviewing findings, etc. so that we have a good idea of what science we can trust and what science is not credible. The only way to refute well-done science is to toss the entire systematized scientific process out the window and instead listen to random individual scientists who refuse to accept that their work was shoddy. Not all scientists are credible, and if a scientist is publishing their opinion outside of the scientific community—especially via YouTube—you should immediately be skeptical and look for whether or not their claims have been debunked by well-done science.)
Case in point, Judy Mikovitz, the scientist at the forefront of the Plandemic video.
Since there are so many clear refutations of the claims in that video and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, we’re just going to share a bunch of them with you. Off we go:
– Here’s an explanation from a microbiologist (see her credentials here) who outlines some of the most blatantly wrong things in the Plandemic video with links to back her up:
– Here’s an explanation of the difference between a scientific theory and a conspiracy theory, for those who think that the conspiracy theories are using science as their basis:
– Here’s a Snopes piece that details the issues with Judy Mikovitz’s research and history and why she is no way a credible source. (It’s worth noting that this was written in 2018, long before the pandemic. This woman has been discredited in the scientific world for years.)
– And here’s another Snopes piece about the issues with the chiropractor in the video who advocates drinking tonic water as a way to prevent coronavirus.
(I realize that most conspiracy theorists don’t trust Snopes because…well…they think the site is part of a liberal conspiracy. But the Snopes debunkings include links to reputable sources to back up their facts checks, so if the conspiracy theorists really look at everything and think critically like they claim to do, they have to look at the information and sources claiming to debunk their theories. Then they have to either refute them with actual science from reputable sources or admit that they have no credible basis for their beliefs.)
– Here’s an article I wrote about how medical associations as well as statistical experts have condemned the Bakersfield doctors shown in the video (which is a bit unnecessary since the docs issued a public statement condemned the Plandemic filmmakers for using footage of them anyway).
– Here’s a very thorough explanation of the Plandemic erroneousness on Reddit, where you can also see discussion on the video and the debunking (for those of you who say, “Let’s at least have a debate!” about already thoroughly debunked claims—here’s where you can have at it.)
– If you prefer doctors on YouTube sharing their professional opinions on all things pandemic—which seems to be the favorite method for conspiracy theorists to do “research”—here’s a doctor who explains a bit about the psychology of the Plandemic video and also explains the shoddy research behind it.
“Plandemic” Video Analysis | Did Judy Mikovits Connect the Dots?
– This final one from Stanford-trained physician Dr. Zubin Damania might be just be my favorite (but only after reading everything above for the facts). For those of us who are trying not to lose our minds over having to continually fact-check all of this misinformation for people who really should be able to do it themselves, this 3-and-a-half minutes is quite cathartic. Enjoy.
Bottom line: The video is bunk, but conspiracy theorists will keep on insisting that it’s not. (Wake up! You’re all sheep following the mainstream media! Experts who provide data backed up by multiple peer-reviewed studies can’t be trusted! Individual doctors and scientists are more trustworthy than professional associations of thousands of doctors and scientists!Everyone is getting paid off, except these conspiracy theory pushers because I trust them because they say they’re being persecuted by the science community for no reason and that sounds totally legit! And maybe the earth really IS flat—scientists have been wrong before!)
Fast fashion was always a problem. Now, COVID-19 has deepened the inequity between garment workers and fashion labels rebranding themselves as saviors.
In February this year, music fans were delighted and confused by the suddenly emergence of mysterious country trap singer RMR, who became an overnight star with the release of his viral single “Rascal” — a remake of Rascal Flatts’ “God Bless The Broken Road.” Incorporating trap rap elements into the backdrop of a country hit, RMR struck on the same vein of cross-cultural gold as Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” — and reaped the benefits.
Now, RMR — pronounced “Rumor” — is signed to Warner Records and has a recording budget capable of securing features from trap stars like Future and Lil Baby, who add their star power to RMR’s April follow-up single, “Dealer.” The remix retains the banjo-strumming loop of the original, adding verses from the two Atlantan frontrunners, both of whom will have released or will release highly successful albums this year.
Lil Baby’s My Turn helped secure him his first Billboard No. 1 after a steady stream of singles and a deluxe version with added tracks, while Future has been building up to the release of Life Is Good with a track of the same name and follow-up single “Tycoon.” As for RMR, stay tuned.
Listen to “Dealer” above.
RMR is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to adjust their lifestyles to keep themselves and others healthy. But physician Sanjeet Singh-Saluja and his brother Rajeet, a neurosurgeon, were forced to make a decision that affected them on a very deep, spiritual level.
The Singh-Saluja brothers are both members of the Sikh religion. One of the major pillars of their belief system is sewa. Sewa means “selfless service.” It involves acting selflessly and helping others in a variety of ways, without any reward or personal gain.
This commitment to sewa is the big reason why the brothers work as doctors.
Another major pillar in Sikhism is kesh. According to Sanjeet, kesh is the practice of allowing one’s hair to grow naturally out of respect for the perfection of God’s creation.
The COVID-19 pandemic put the brothers in a position that they had to choose between both pillars.
Sikh doctor shaves beard to help in COVID-19 fight
Because of the virus, the brothers both had to wear N95 masks, but they were unable to because of their beards. So they faced a dilemma, to either shave their beards or not be part of the fight against the disease. Both decisions would violate a pillar of their faith.
“We could choose not to work, but in a time when healthcare workers are falling sick, we would be adding stress to an already taxed system,” Sanjeet said in a video posted by the McGill University Health Centre.
“We could decide to simply refuse to see COVID-19 patients until viable protection is available to us, but that goes against our oath as physicians and against the principles of sewa,” he continued.
To come to a decision, the brothers consulted leaders of their faith, friends and family. In the end, they decided their commitment to selflessly serving others was more important than having their beards.
So they both shaved them off for the first time in their lives.
“It’s a decision that has left me with much sadness,” Sanjeet told the Montreal Gazette. “This was something that had been so much part of my identity. I look at myself in the mirror very differently now. Every morning when I see myself, it’s a bit of a shock.”
“But because COVID-19 has become so rampant in our community, it just wasn’t feasible anymore (not to wear an N95 mask). There are so many people coming in. I felt I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines. This was an exception to the rule, so we had to do what we had to do to help out,” he said.
It was clearly a difficult decision for the men to choose between honoring their commitment to give selflessly and to respect what they see as the perfection of God’s natural creation. However, in the Sikh religion, God created man, so by going out of their way to heal God’s children, they are providing the ultimate service to God’s creation.
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