Pat Healy to Return From Marijuana Suspension Against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 165, Sept. 21 in Toronto


(“The name’s Pat. But my friends call me Bruisey McWeirdnose.” / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

After catching a 90-day suspension for failing his UFC 159 drug test due to marijuana, UFC lightweight contender Pat Healy has paid his debt to society, and will be returning to action against 20-0 up-and-comer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson, September 21st at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Healy’s “huge mistake” of toking up a month before his April 27th fight against Jim Miller had severe, far-reaching consequences: His fantastic submission win over Miller was officially changed to a no-contest, he was stripped of $130,000 in Fight Night bonuses, Bryan Caraway got $65,000 richer by default, and then Nate Diaz was fined and suspended, simply for expressing his heartfelt opinion that Caraway is “the biggest Fag in the world.” All because of a little weed.

Now, you can look at the Healy vs. Nurmagomedov booking in one of two ways: Either the UFC is doing Healy a solid by giving him another upper-echelon opponent so he can solidify his place in the UFC title-mix, or they’re punishing him by setting him up in a lose-lose fight against an indestructible Russian savage whose name casual UFC fans can’t even pronounce. But regardless of what the promotion’s reasoning was, it’s a killer matchup between two consistently-exciting 155-pounders — and another opportunity to see if Nurmagomedov is the real deal.

For the record, Nurmagomedov was actually hoping for match against TJ Grant, now that Grant has been knocked out of his UFC 164 title fight due to a concussion. Ah, that’s our Nurmy. Such an ambitious young man.


(“The name’s Pat. But my friends call me Bruisey McWeirdnose.” / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

After catching a 90-day suspension for failing his UFC 159 drug test due to marijuana, UFC lightweight contender Pat Healy has paid his debt to society, and will be returning to action against 20-0 up-and-comer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson, September 21st at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Healy’s “huge mistake” of toking up a month before his April 27th fight against Jim Miller had severe, far-reaching consequences: His fantastic submission win over Miller was officially changed to a no-contest, he was stripped of $130,000 in Fight Night bonuses, Bryan Caraway got $65,000 richer by default, and then Nate Diaz was fined and suspended, simply for expressing his heartfelt opinion that Caraway is “the biggest Fag in the world.” All because of a little weed.

Now, you can look at the Healy vs. Nurmagomedov booking in one of two ways: Either the UFC is doing Healy a solid by giving him another upper-echelon opponent so he can solidify his place in the UFC title-mix, or they’re punishing him by setting him up in a lose-lose fight against an indestructible Russian savage whose name casual UFC fans can’t even pronounce. But regardless of what the promotion’s reasoning was, it’s a killer matchup between two consistently-exciting 155-pounders — and another opportunity to see if Nurmagomedov is the real deal.

For the record, Nurmagomedov was actually hoping for match against TJ Grant, now that Grant has been knocked out of his UFC 164 title fight due to a concussion. Ah, that’s our Nurmy. Such an ambitious young man.