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FRESNO, Calif. — Royce Gracie does not believe mixed martial arts, the sport he helped build, has a drug problem.

Despite the recent spat of positive tests — from Anderson Silva’s anabolic steroids to Jon Jones‘ cocaine — Gracie would prefer to accentuate the positive: that offenders are getting caught and penalized.

“It shows that the system is working,” Gracie told MMAFighting.com at Bellator 133 on Friday night. “You’re trying to look at the bad side, I’m looking at the good side. Instead of trying to encourage people, ‘Oh, let’s ban MMA because everybody is doing drugs, let’s ban NASCAR because they’re advertising drinking and driving.’ Let’s look at the good side. The system is working. Let’s not try to put down the fighters because one fighter made a mistake, decided to party and do whatever.”

Gracie, the very first UFC champion back in 1993, currently works as a brand ambassador for Bellator. The job takes him all over the country and the legend travels the world running seminars and speaking about the sport. How MMA is viewed by the public is a concern for him, but he doesn’t believe the high-profile names failing drug tests casts a negative light.

The 48-year-old believes the casual audience just needs to be educated about the sport and the testing process that’s in place by state athletic commissions.

“How many people got caught [recently]? Five?” Gracie said. “Five of how many we have in the sport all over the world? I don’t think it’s a problem.”

Gracie himself has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The California State Athletic Commission overturned his win over Kazushi Sakuraba at Dynamite! USA in 2007 in Los Angeles when he tested positive for nandrolone metabolites. Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid. Gracie denies ever using the PED.

“For 20 years since the UFC I was 178 [pounds],” Gracie said. “Today, I’m 178. I could live on fruits.”

Gracie has not competed in MMA since that bout. He was suspended one year and fined $2,500 for the failed test.

Anderson Silva tested positive for anabolic steroid metabolites in a Jan. 9 out-of-competition test before his Jan. 31 bout against Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in Las Vegas. The results did not come back until after the fight, so Silva was allowed to compete. The former UFC middleweight champion, regarded as the greatest UFC champ of all time, has denied using the steroids. He will face discipline from the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) at a hearing in March or April. Silva defeated Diaz by unanimous decision.

Gracie said he does not believe the positive test for Silva will taint his legacy and we should not “crucify the guy.”

“You can’t change the past, what he did,” Gracie said. “I haven’t talked to him, so I don’t know. Not going to jump the gun.”

Gracie was slightly harder on Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion who failed a drug test for cocaine metabolites in December before his bout with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan. 3. Because cocaine is not prohibited by the NAC out of competition, Jones was still able to compete and he beat Cormier by unanimous decision.

“He forgets sometimes that he’s an example for the young kids,” Gracie said. “He’s young, he’s human. He’s gonna go out and party, be influenced. He made a mistake.”

The UFC is scheduled to hold a press conference regarding the recent positive test results Wednesday in Las Vegas. Gracie, though, maintains that there is not an issue and the testing procedures done by athletic commissions are doing their jobs.

“I feel like the system works,” Gracie said. “It’s good. Let’s not think of the bad side, let’s think it’s the good side. It works.

“The system works. That’s why they’re getting caught.”

LOS ANGELES — Khabib Nurmagomedov has the rest of this year all mapped out.

The rising UFC lightweight is targeting a return to the Octagon from a knee injury at UFC 187 on May 23 in Las Vegas. Nurmagomedov is hoping for a matchup with Donald Cerrone. After what he expects to be a victory, the Dagestani star wants to fight for the title and then defend the belt — all before 2015 is up. It was reported this past week on UFC Tonight that the UFC is targeting the Cerrone-Nurmagomedov bout for the Memorial Day Weekend card.

“This is my plan,” Nurmagomedov told MMAFighting.com. “I want, in this year, three fights — Cerrone, after that I fight for the belt and after that I defend the belt.”

The undefeated Nurmagomedov (22-0) was here last weekend as part of the Paradise Warrior Retreat seminar program at TheFitExpo inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. He said he has just begun training at 100 percent. Nurmagomedov has been rehabbing in Las Vegas under the watchful eye of the UFC, which has provided him an apartment and a car.

Nurmagomedov, 26, tore his meniscus last July, just days after he and Cerrone verbally agreed to a fight at UFC 178 in September. Before that, the two were going to clash in July, but Nurmagomedov, a Muslim, was fasting for Ramadan. Nurmagomedov believes he and “Cowboy” have some unfinished business — plus the bout just makes sense from a rankings perspective.

“I told them this is a very good matchup,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m No. 2, he’s No. 3. Who wins gets a title shot.”

Eight weeks before his first fight back, Nurmagomedov will head back to American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., the place he calls home during training camps. In the mean time, the focus will be getting everything fine-tuned.

The one thing Nurmagomedov has excelled at during this time off due to injury is keeping himself relevant. His English has improved exponentially and he is a regular on Twitter, calling out Cerrone and UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Nurmagomedov is quick to correct, though, when asked about his trash-talking.

“I’m not a trash talker,” Nurmagomedov said. “I say truth, you understand? I say and I do. Why was Muhammad Ali the greatest? Because he say and he do. I am 22-0. I am not 22-10.”

Nurmagomedov said he doesn’t speak Russian at all when he’s in the United States. He sticks to English, even with his brother, and said he’s getting better at it every day. He believes learning the language is vital for him as he continues to succeed as a professional athlete.

“English for me is very important,” Nurmagomedov said. “I speak with my fans, everything. I like English.”

Nurmagomedov has won all six of his fights in the UFC, mowing down his opponents. His last victory came via unanimous decision against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 11 in April 2014. Dos Anjos has won two in a row since then and now meets Pettis in a title bout at UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas.

Of course, Nurmagomedov wouldn’t mind getting Pettis right away. But he knows how these things work, which is why he has no problem accepting a fight with Cerrone first.

“I want Cerrone,” Nurmagomedov said.

Ronda Rousey has been nothing but respectful to Cat Zingano in interviews. “Rowdy” can be known for trash talk, especially directed at rivals Miesha Tate and Cris Cyborg. But she’s been uncommonly complimentary of Zingano.

However, Rousey always finishes that praise by saying “when” she beats Zingano. Not if. When.

Zingano is cool with Rousey’s confidence. Because she shares it. There isn’t a doubt in Zingano’s mind that she’ll become the UFC women’s bantamweight champion by beating Rousey in the main event of UFC 184 on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles.

“That’s the level we’re at,” Zingano told MMAFighting.com in a recent interview at the LA FitExpo, where she was promoting her sponsor MusclePharm. “She’s there, because I’m not yet. Her time came first. All these opportunities came first. All we can do is wait and see.”

Many before have said they would vanquish Rousey. No one has even come close. The champ is a perfect 10-0 with every single victory coming by finish. All but Tate in their second meeting has been done within the very first round. Rousey knocked out Alexis Davis in just 16 seconds at UFC 175 last July.

Zingano (9-0), too, is undefeated. And she doesn’t think she compares to any of those other women.

“I’m unorthodox,” Zingano said. “There’s just nothing like me. There’s not. They haven’t seen anyone like me. She’s the closest that there gets, but it’s still different. I’m just more well-rounded, I have more heart, I have a lot of things going for me that people just haven’t had a chance to see yet.”

The 32-year-old Broomfield, Colo., native might indeed be the most versatile fighter Rousey has had to contend with. Zingano was a four-time national champion in college, has won world titles in jiu-jitsu and yet she’s still known mostly for her striking. Zingano’s lethal Muay Thai has allowed her to knock out five of her nine opponents.

Zingano is also indisputably tough-minded. In 2013, she tore her ACL and then re-injured it later that year. Then in January 2014, her husband and coach Mauricio committed suicide. Eight months later, Zingano returned to the Octagon to beat Amanda Nunes by third-round TKO at UFC 178 on Sept. 27.

Currently, Zingano juggles training at Team Elevation in Denver with raising her 7-year-old son Brayden. She is a private person and the new spotlight of being in the UFC 184 main event has brought more media. Chris Weidman’s injury forced the cancellation of his middleweight title defense against Vitor Belfort. Zingano is trying to embrace the added attention.

“There’s been a lot more camera crews around and a lot more interviews, but for the most part it’s all still really new to me,” Zingano said. “I gotta have that healthy balance to make sure that I’m maintaining focus on the fight and getting my rest in, getting my food in. All those things come first. My needs, my kid’s needs. As long as I have all that done, nothing really bothers me. It’s all part of the job.”

Rousey has been so dominant that the talk surrounding her always involves potential challengers, especially Cris “Cyborg” Justino, who will be competing for Invicta FC just one day before the Rousey-Zingano fight in the same city. “Cyborg” is reportedly currently in negotiations with the UFC. A potential showdown with Rousey is surely part of the talks.

Zingano doesn’t mind being overlooked. She just wants to remind people that she’s next up, before Rousey can think about “Cyborg” or her next movie role.

“It doesn’t really matter to me, because I’ve had to prove myself the whole way along,” Zingano said. “So it’s just another step, another way that I gotta get through and shut people up. I can care about it and have it bother me or I can laugh about it and keep enjoying the surprises.”

And that’s what Zingano is planning for Feb. 28. A surprise — for Rousey and everyone watching.

“She’s never seen or had to deal with anyone like me before,” Zingano said. “So it’s gonna be interesting.”

The UFC is going to have a hard time finding an opponent for Ronda Rousey if she destroys Cat Zingano later this month.

UFC president Dana White joked on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday night that the promotion will have to go outside Rousey’s gender with a dominant victory at UFC 184 on Feb. 28 on Los Angeles.

“She’s gonna have to start fighting men if she walks through Cat Zingano,” White said after UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch.

Rousey is an undefeated 10-0, all by finish. Only one woman, Miesha Tate, has been out of the first round with the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. “Rowdy” is coming off a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis at UFC 175 last July.

“If Ronda Rousey walks through Cat Zingano the way she has walked through every body else, I don’t know what to do with her,” White said.

The UFC will likely have some options. There is Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the Invicta women’s featherweight champion, who the UFC is currently in negotiations with. Justino takes on Charmaine Tweet one day before and in the same city as UFC 184. There is speculation that “Cyborg” could be in attendance at Rousey-Zingano at Staples Center.

Then there’s Holly Holm, the former champion boxer. Holm meets Raquel Pennington in the co-main event of UFC 184. It’s clear she’s being groomed to be another future contender for Rousey, who also might take time off after the Zingano fight to continue with her budding movie career.

Of course, as White noted, beating Zingano will be no easy task. She’s coming off a third-round TKO of Amanda Nunes at UFC 178 last September. That was after being out for a year and a half dealing with a torn ACL and the suicide of her husband Mauricio.

“A lot of people believe, including myself, think that this is the toughest fight for Ronda Rousey, the toughest fight she’s ever had,” White said. “Cat Zingano after the huge layoff, the surgery looked insane in her last fight.”

Max Holloway passed a big test and the next one is coming up pretty quickly.

After a unanimous decision victory over Cole Miller on Saturday night, Holloway was told in the Octagon that the UFC is saving a spot for him at UFC on FOX 15 on April 18 in Newark — against Cub Swanson. That is the fight the organization is targeting for the event, according to UFC spokesman Dave Sholler.

That’s the plan. “@marc_raimondi: Cub Swanson vs. Max Holloway in Newark?”

— Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) February 15, 2015

Holloway (12-3) got the better of Miller standing at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch in Broomfield, Colo. A cut was opened up on Miller’s left eyebrow by a pair of Holloway incidental headbutts, but Holloway was clearly the more well-rounded fighter. He has now won four straight in the UFC and, at age 23, is one of the brightest young prospects in the featherweight division.

Swanson (21-6) has been one of the best fighters at 145 for years. Before his fifth-round submission loss to Frankie Edgar in November, he had won six in a row and was on the verge of a title shot. Swanson, 31, owns wins over the likes of Dennis Siver, Jeremy Stephens and Dustin Poirier.

UFC on FOX 15 will be headlined by a middleweight contender bout between Lyoto Machida and Luke Rockhold. The main event is also an important middleweight encounter: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Yoel Romero. Paige VanZant will also meet Felice Herrig on the main card from Prudential Center.