Author: admin

Dan Henderson: Would a One-Sided Loss to Gegard Mousasi Spell the End?

Dan Henderson may be considered one of the top 10 mixed martial artists to ever compete, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a point where he will have to walk away from the sport. At 44 years of age, that moment is coming sooner rather than later. A …

Dan Henderson may be considered one of the top 10 mixed martial artists to ever compete, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a point where he will have to walk away from the sport. At 44 years of age, that moment is coming sooner rather than later. A one-sided loss to Gegard Mousasi at UFC on Fox 14 would be enough to call an end to one of the most productive MMA careers in history.

Success has followed Henderson nearly everywhere he has competed. He’s a former Strikeforce, Pride and UFC tournament winner. Yet all of those accolades seem too long ago.

Since moving back to the UFC in 2011, Henderson has won only two fights. Both of those fights came against Mauricio Rua—another fighter who is in the latter part of a great career. Henderson’s 2-4 run within the Octagon has left room for many individuals to propose that it is perhaps time for him to step away from the sport. It’s a proposition Henderson has addressed but not acted upon.

“I feel good and I know I’m able to compete with the top guys in the sport,” said Henderson in a 2013 interview by Christopher Murphy of BJ Penn.com. “I’m thinking it will be at least two years before I talk about retiring.”

Time has ticked away, and now Henderson is at a crossroads in his career.  

Mousasi is a dangerous competitor who is a multiple-time champion in his own right. The former Strikeforce and DREAM title holder is looking to remain relevant within the middleweight division after suffering a recent loss to Ronaldo Souza in September.

His diversified attack game can be a problem for Henderson, who has visibly slowed with age. In his recent bouts he has been relegated to striking exchanges because he has struggled to use his wrestling to score any takedowns. In fact, according to FightMetric, “Hendo” has been unable to take an opponent to the mat since his fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 three years ago.

If Henderson takes a bad loss this weekend, UFC President Dana White should step in to remove the eventual Hall of Fame candidate. White has done so multiple times in the past. Fighters such as Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell and others have listened to White openly say that he doesn’t believe these men need to fight again.

“I want Hughes to retire. Hughes has nothing left to prove,” White said in a MMA Weekly report by Damon Martin. “If you look at the guys who helped us build this company, Hughes was one of them, Chuck Liddell (too), it’s hard to finally say it’s over.”

Now, removing Henderson from the UFC would not mean that his fight career is over. Organizations such as Bellator and World Series of Fighting have signed multiple UFC veterans. The pairing of Tito Ortiz against Stephan Bonnar—two other fighters who were “retired”—shows that these groups are willing to do all they can to sign fighters who will bring in ratings.

This weekend will mark Dan Henderson’s 43rd professional MMA bout. If he finds himself on the receiving end of a one-sided defeat, he should take steps away from active competition. Henderson does not have anything left to prove to the fight community. Continuing to take bouts at this point would do harm to his already outstanding legacy.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Nevada Athletic Commission: All of Jon Jones’ post-UFC 182 drug tests come back clean

Jon Jones is in the clear with regards to UFC 182.

All of the UFC light heavyweight champion’s drug tests have come back clean, Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) executive director Bob Bennett told MMAFighting.com on Tuesday.

Jones’ post-fight carbon isotope ratio (CIR) test reportedly returned clean last week. And Jones was found to be clean of street drugs in a separate test taken after UFC 182 on Jan. 3, too. Those results came back this week. Bennett said he would have the official documents out to the media within the next 48 hours.

Jones, 27, tested positive for cocaine metabolites in a Dec. 4 test. But since that test was taken out of competition (outside of a 12-hour window before and after the fight), Jones faced no punitive action from the NAC. He was tested two weeks after that and came up clean. Those samples featured irregular testosterone levels, but a CIR test on both turned up that Jones had not taken synthetic testosterone.

When the positive test came out two weeks ago, Jones announced that he would be checking himself into a drug-treatment facility. He told FOX Sports 1 in an interview Monday night that he spent only one night there when doctors determined that he would be better served with an outpatient program. Jones said he is being tested at least once a week now as part of that process.

“I did it, basically at a party,” Jones said in the sitdown interview. “I think a coward would sit here and try to come up with this elaborate reason or to try to blame something, and I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to blame friends or blame pressure or stress. I’m not going to blame anything. But what I will say is that, I messed up. It wasn’t a mistake. I can’t call it a mistake necessarily, because I consciously did it.”

Jones also said in that interview that he knew he’d fail the Dec. 4 test and wasn’t sure until weigh-ins that he would be allowed to fight. Jones retained his title against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182.

All of Cormier’s tests also came back negative, per Bennett.

Jon Jones is in the clear with regards to UFC 182.

All of the UFC light heavyweight champion’s drug tests have come back clean, Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) executive director Bob Bennett told MMAFighting.com on Tuesday.

Jones’ post-fight carbon isotope ratio (CIR) test reportedly returned clean last week. And Jones was found to be clean of street drugs in a separate test taken after UFC 182 on Jan. 3, too. Those results came back this week. Bennett said he would have the official documents out to the media within the next 48 hours.

Jones, 27, tested positive for cocaine metabolites in a Dec. 4 test. But since that test was taken out of competition (outside of a 12-hour window before and after the fight), Jones faced no punitive action from the NAC. He was tested two weeks after that and came up clean. Those samples featured irregular testosterone levels, but a CIR test on both turned up that Jones had not taken synthetic testosterone.

When the positive test came out two weeks ago, Jones announced that he would be checking himself into a drug-treatment facility. He told FOX Sports 1 in an interview Monday night that he spent only one night there when doctors determined that he would be better served with an outpatient program. Jones said he is being tested at least once a week now as part of that process.

“I did it, basically at a party,” Jones said in the sitdown interview. “I think a coward would sit here and try to come up with this elaborate reason or to try to blame something, and I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to blame friends or blame pressure or stress. I’m not going to blame anything. But what I will say is that, I messed up. It wasn’t a mistake. I can’t call it a mistake necessarily, because I consciously did it.”

Jones also said in that interview that he knew he’d fail the Dec. 4 test and wasn’t sure until weigh-ins that he would be allowed to fight. Jones retained his title against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182.

All of Cormier’s tests also came back negative, per Bennett.

UFC brings back MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop

The master of the left head kick is coming back to the UFC.

Mirko Cro Cop, a legendary knockout artist from his days in PRIDE, has been re-signed by the UFC after four years away. UFC president Dana White confirmed the news with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. It was initially reported on Twitter by journalist John Joe O’Regan.

Cro Cop, 40, didn’t have a great first run with the UFC. Actually, it wouldn’t be unfair to call it disappointing given all the hype behind him coming from PRIDE. The Croatian went 4-6 under the UFC banner from 2007 to 2011 with three fights in Japan in between. He never beat a true contender in the heavyweight division.

Cro Cop (30-11-2, 1 NC) was primed for a UFC heavyweight title shot after knocking out Eddie Sanchez in his debut. But he famously was knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga via Cro Cop’s trademark left head kick, eliminating him from title contention. Cro Cop, whose real name is Mirko Filipovic, never got back into title contention.

The former K-1 champion’s name came up just last week. Bellator MMA president Scott Coker was asked if the organization was interested in signing Cro Cop and he said they had “several discussions” with him about coming back to the United States. Evidently, the UFC beat Bellator to the punch. Or the left high kick, if you will.

Cro Cop is coming off two straight victories in Japan over Satoshi Ishii, the latest on Dec. 31 via TKO (head kick and punches). He is 3-1 since leaving the UFC, but not against the best competition. Cro Cop departed the UFC after three straight losses to Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub and Frank Mir.

Since leaving, Cro Cop has also competed in kickboxing, winning a K-1 grand prix in 2012 and going 1-1 under the Glory banner.

The master of the left head kick is coming back to the UFC.

Mirko Cro Cop, a legendary knockout artist from his days in PRIDE, has been re-signed by the UFC after four years away. UFC president Dana White confirmed the news with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. It was initially reported on Twitter by journalist John Joe O’Regan.

Cro Cop, 40, didn’t have a great first run with the UFC. Actually, it wouldn’t be unfair to call it disappointing given all the hype behind him coming from PRIDE. The Croatian went 4-6 under the UFC banner from 2007 to 2011 with three fights in Japan in between. He never beat a true contender in the heavyweight division.

Cro Cop (30-11-2, 1 NC) was primed for a UFC heavyweight title shot after knocking out Eddie Sanchez in his debut. But he famously was knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga via Cro Cop’s trademark left head kick, eliminating him from title contention. Cro Cop, whose real name is Mirko Filipovic, never got back into title contention.

The former K-1 champion’s name came up just last week. Bellator MMA president Scott Coker was asked if the organization was interested in signing Cro Cop and he said they had “several discussions” with him about coming back to the United States. Evidently, the UFC beat Bellator to the punch. Or the left high kick, if you will.

Cro Cop is coming off two straight victories in Japan over Satoshi Ishii, the latest on Dec. 31 via TKO (head kick and punches). He is 3-1 since leaving the UFC, but not against the best competition. Cro Cop departed the UFC after three straight losses to Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub and Frank Mir.

Since leaving, Cro Cop has also competed in kickboxing, winning a K-1 grand prix in 2012 and going 1-1 under the Glory banner.

Power Ranking John Dodson’s 5 UFC Victories

Former flyweight title challenger John “The Magician” Dodson has been relegated to the sidelines since his lopsided second-round TKO of John Moraga in June.
The 30-year-old re-aggravated a lingering knee issue during his bout with Moraga and underwent …

Former flyweight title challenger John “The Magician” Dodson has been relegated to the sidelines since his lopsided second-round TKO of John Moraga in June.

The 30-year-old re-aggravated a lingering knee issue during his bout with Moraga and underwent surgery a month later to repair his ACL and MCL. Dodson has compiled a 5-1 record in the UFC, including a first-round TKO over current 135-pound champion T.J. Dillashaw that won him The Ultimate Fighter in December 2011.

“I’m looking at six to eight months of me actually being out before I can start going back in the gym and going hard and stuff,” Dodson told Fox Sports in July.

By the looks of his Instagram account, he is on his way to a full recovery. Dodson, who fights out of Jackson’s MMA, remains the No. 2 flyweight behind champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. That doesn’t mean he’s set on a rematch.

“I’m trying to get whatever gold is available to get at that time,” Dodson told Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley in November. “I’ll take it from D.J. or T.J. It really doesn’t matter to me.

While we await his return at either 125 or 135 pounds—sometime later this year—let’s take a look at his most memorable wins in the UFC.

For the purpose of these rankings, difficulty of opponent and ease at which victory was achieved will be taken into account.

Begin Slideshow

Scott Coker: Fedor Emelianenko ‘made it very clear he doesn’t want to fight right now’

Scott Coker went to Japan late last month in part because of one man: Fedor Emelianenko.
The Bellator MMA president was in attendance at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye show in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve knowing the potential of speaking to Emelianenko abo…

Scott Coker went to Japan late last month in part because of one man: Fedor Emelianenko.

The Bellator MMA president was in attendance at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye show in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve knowing the potential of speaking to Emelianenko about returning to the United States to fight for his organization. Coker didn’t get the answer he was hoping for.

“He’s made it very clear he doesn’t want to fight right now,” Coker said Friday night after Bellator 132 in Temecula, Calif. “He didn’t say he never wants to fight. He just said right now.”

Emelienenko did leave the door open, as Coker said. And Bellator would obviously be interested. The Russian legend fought for Coker under the Strikeforce banner and the two have a good relationship. Coker said his visit with Emelianenko was more of the social variety anyway. Emelianenko had his wife and kids with him at the event.

“We caught up,” Coker said.

Coker said Emelianenko is very busy with his job as the ministry of sport in Russia. Basically, Fedor is running the country’s MMA program for youths. Though he is just 38 years old, Emelianenko doesn’t have current designs to return to the cage.

In late November 2012, UFC president Dana White has said that Emelianenko and the UFC were in deep negotiations about a fight between him and Brock Lesnar at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. But the entire thing fell through when Emelianenko’s father died. He has not expressed a desire to come back since then.

Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) is regarded as one of the greatest ever in MMA — and perhaps the best heavyweight of all time. He is a former PRIDE heavyweight champion and did not lose a fight between 2001 and 2009, a stretch of 28 consecutive victories.

Fabricio Werdum broke Emelianenko’s decade-long winning streak when he submitted him with a triangle choke in 2010 in Strikeforce. Emelianenko lost two in a row after that and departed the organization. The soft-spoken Russian closed his career with three straight wins against Jeff Monson, Satoshi Ishii and Pedro Rizzo with the latter coming in June 2012.

Or did he close his career? Coker would not entirely rule out a potential return for “The Last Emperor.”

“You never know,” Coker said.

UFC Returns to Dallas in March with Two Title Fights

Las Vegas, Nevada – Two world titles are on the line when the UFC®  returns to the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday, March 14 as lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis defends his title for the second ti…

Las Vegas, Nevada – Two world titles are on the line when the UFC®  returns to the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday, March 14 as lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis defends his title for the second time when he meets No. 1 contender Rafael dos Anjos and newly-crowned women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza makes her first title defense against top contender Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The last UFC event in Dallas in 2014 saw Johny Hendricks defeat Robbie Lawler to claim the UFC welterweight title in front of a sold out crowd.
In his first … Read the Full Article Here