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Diego Sanchez May Go Back to Lightweight, Wants Fight with Anthony Pettis

Diego Sanchez was once considered one of the hottest lightweight prospects in the world. But after a 2009 loss in a title fight with then-champion B.J. Penn, Sanchez made the decision to move back to welterweight.It wasn’t the best move in the world. S…

It wasn’t the best move in the world. Sanchez is undersized at 170 pounds, and his 2-2 record is evidence that he’s not fighting in his optimal weight class.

That may change soon, however. Sanchez told MMAjunkie.com that he’s considering a move back to lightweight:

I really try to lift weights, but the shoulder injury sort of set me back. As I heal up, my body’s going to get a little smaller, so I might just go down to 155.

The last time I was at 155, I was just a wreck. Mentally, I was still young and partying a lot, and I was still smoking weed. I was just a wild child. Now that I’m grounded and have my life together and am married, I’m just focused. So maybe 155 might be a better weight for me.

Sanchez even has an opponent in mind: Anthony Pettis. It’s not the perfect matchup, at least when it comes to Zuffa matchmaking sensibilities. Joe Silva isn’t a big fan of pairing one fighter coming off a win with another coming off a loss.

So while the fight may not make sense from a logical matchmaking standpoint, it sure makes sense from the “that fight would be awesome” standpoint. Pettis is perennially near a title shot, but he’ll have to wait until at least late 2012 or early 2013 before he could secure a shot at the belt.

Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar will face off one more time late this summer, and the winner of the May fight between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz is expected to get the winner.

So that leaves Pettis in a familiar place. He’s not going to wait around for a title shot, and so he’ll take a fight in the meantime. He needs to face someone with a good track record, but he also needs to secure a win over a big name in order to bolster himself as a potential pay-per-view draw for the company.

Sanchez fits that bill. Sure, he’s coming off the loss to Jake Ellenberger, but his performance in the fight (or at least in the third round of the fight) didn’t detract from his overall career arc one iota. He’s still a guy the fans love to watch because of his heart and his willingness to lay it all on the line. And he’s had plenty of success at lightweight in the past.

Pettis needs to face someone like Sanchez, and Sanchez needs to rebound with a big win. The fight makes perfect sense on every level.

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UFC: Is Mark Hunt a Legitimate Heavyweight Title Contender?

Alistair Overeem’s failed urinalysis during a random pre-fight drug test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission may end up being a boon for several UFC heavyweights.Overeem’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) levels were reported toda…

Alistair Overeem’s failed urinalysis during a random pre-fight drug test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission may end up being a boon for several UFC heavyweights.

Overeem’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) levels were reported today at being a very high 14:1. For frame of reference:

Normal human T/E levels are 1:1. There are cases where people have natural T/E levels as high as 5:1, but they’re exceedingly rare.
The World Anti-Doping Agency allows up to 4:1.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission allows up to 6:1.

No matter how you look at it, Overeem’s T/E levels were off the charts. For the sake of comparison, UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen had a 16.9:1 T/E level for his first fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen was initially suspended for a year, then had the suspension reduced to six months in a hearing. Issues with the California commission ultimately saw that reduction overturned, and Sonnen ended up serving the entire 12-month suspension.

Overeem will appear before the NSAC during an April 24th meeting, where he’ll try to explain why his T/E levels were over two times the legal limit and 14 times higher than the average human being. Overeem does not currently have a fighter’s license in the state of Nevada, so he’ll need to clear his name at the hearing and apply for a license in order to fight Junior dos Santos next month at UFC 146.

Given Overeem’s recent history with the NSAC, I’d say that’s a long shot.

And so the UFC will likely be left to pick up the pieces in the coming weeks, trying to replace Dos Santos vs. Overeem with a fight fans will still be interested in.

Frank Mir is the obvious candidate. He’s riding a three-fight winning streak over increasingly good competition in Mirko Cro Cop, Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He’s one of the most well-known fighters on the heavyweight roster. And to top it off, he’s a two-time champion who would love to complete an improbable career resurgence by winning an unprecedented third Heavyweight Championship belt. It’s probably the biggest fight the UFC can make with the hand they’ve been dealt.

Cain Velasquez is also an option. He’d probably be the best choice if he weren’t coming off a definitive knockout loss to Dos Santos in November. I want to see Velasquez and Dos Santos mix it up again down the road, because I believe Velasquez is still the best all-around heavyweight in the UFC despite the loss to Junior. But Velasquez needs a solid win before the fans will truly be intrigued by the rematch.

And then there’s Mark Hunt.

The fact that I’m discussing Hunt as a potential title contender in the year 2012 is an amazing thing. When he entered the UFC, he was on a five-fight losing streak, and a quick loss to Sean McCorkle in his UFC debut seemed to confirm everyone’s suspicions: that Hunt, put simply, was a terrible fighter. After all, he only secured a UFC contract due to a clause in his PRIDE contract, after Zuffa purchased the promotion.

And yet, here we are, with Hunt riding a three-fight winning streak against tough competition in the UFC. As crazy as it sounds, Hunt is on the verge of title contention. He’s scheduled to face Stefan Struve on the UFC 146 card, and an emphatic win over the towering Struve would likely put him in the mix for a title shot.

Hardcore fans around the world are clamoring for Hunt to replace Overeem against Dos Santos. They’re bombarding Dana White on Twitter and other social media outlets. They’re organizing campaigns. In short, they’re doing everything they can to get hunt the improbable title shot that was all but impossible two years ago.

White puts a great deal of stock into what his fans tell him on Twitter. The UFC President views it as a direct conduit to real UFC fans, and the UFC has booked fights based solely on Twitter activity in the past.

I don’t think the Twitter campaign will work this time, though. Hunt just isn’t deserving of a title shot. Not yet, anyway. And while it would indeed be something magical to see Hunt step in the cage for a world title fight, we must also realize that Hunt has yet to face a true top contender in the division. Three wins in a row is impressive, especially for someone that was long ago written off as a mixed martial artist, but he still lacks that signature win that will propel him into the main event.

I’d love to see Hunt get a title shot. It would be the culmination of the most incredible career turnaround in the history of the sport. And his incredible striking skills and power would give him a chance to knock out any fighter in the division.

But he’s just not ready. Not yet.

That day may come, though. And what a day it would be.

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Rampage Jackson’s New Rape Video Isn’t Funny and He Should Be Punished

I don’t know why fighters think rape is funny.I’m painting with broad strokes, of course. Not all fighters think rape is a funny topic. But we’ve certainly seen our share of rape-related humor in recent months, with Forrest Griffin and Miguel Torres ta…

I don’t know why fighters think rape is funny.

I’m painting with broad strokes, of course. Not all fighters think rape is a funny topic. But we’ve certainly seen our share of rape-related humor in recent months, with Forrest Griffin and Miguel Torres taking up the majority of the limelight for their Twitter-related offenses.

And now, we have Quinton “Rampage” Jackson throwing his hat into the mix.

In the video posted above, Jackson:

Tells you that he’s going to show you how to pick up a “gurl,” and fast.
Reveals the tools of his trade: shoes, chloroform and zip ties.
Says he likes a particular parking garage because he knows the cameras won’t be on
Attacks a woman while wearing a ski mask.
The woman turns out to be a man.
The transvestite bites on Jackson’s erect penis, causing him a great deal of pain.
Jackson is forlorn that the woman ended up being a “damn dude.”

I understand that this is supposed to be funny and edgy. It’s neither.

When the basis of your comedy centers on rape, you’re not being funny. You’re being stupid.

This isn’t new territory for Jackson, either. His infamous motorboat incident with female MMA reporter Karyn Bryant was, according to Jackson and Bryant, supposed to be funny. That wasn’t funny, either. And who can forget the time Jackson dry-humped a female reporter in Japan? Yeah, that wasn’t funny.

Luke Thomas over at MMAFighting.com chimes in:

The video – from the concept to the execution – is prima facie bad. There is no defense of it, or none that put any premium on a sense of shame. This brings us back to the central question: why would Jackson participate in such a monstrosity? Between this video and his more recent history of dubious proclamations about a MMA future outside of the UFC, one has to consider he has seriously problematic judgment. Worse, it appears to be fed in part from a poor understanding of how he’s perceived and what’s required to successfully navigate career challenges.

And just in case you need a female perspective, here’s Donna from Gal’s Guide to MMA:

What’s so offensive about this, you ask? Well, the video boils down to a how-to on raping women, including using chloroform to help her relax, using zip ties, picking women who are in parking lots with malfunctioning cameras, and putting on your condoms, cause, safety first!

That’s the bottom line, I think. I realize this was supposed to be comedy. I realize that Jackson and the people at FilmOn.com had no intention of actually filming a how-to guide for raping women. It’s asinine to think otherwise.

But at the end of the day, this is still a video—starring a controversial UFC fighter with a history of making gay slurs and questionable antics with women—making light of rape. It doesn’t matter what Jackson and the filmmakers intended because the end result is a video that casts Jackson, and the UFC by association, in a bad light.

Forrest Griffin was reprimanded for his rape jokes on Twitter. Miguel Torres was fired for his. It’ll be interesting to see if Jackson faces any punishment for this regrettable video. Perhaps he’ll get his wish and be released from his UFC contract.

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Rashad Evans Analyzes Jon Jones’ Performance Against Rampage Jackson

The UFC’s weekly magazine-style show, UFC Ultimate Insider, has become a gold mine for fantastic exclusive content. That’s no surprise; it’s produced in conjunction with the UFC, after all, so they’re going to put their best foot forward and make it de…

The UFC’s weekly magazine-style show, UFC Ultimate Insider, has become a gold mine for fantastic exclusive content. That’s no surprise; it’s produced in conjunction with the UFC, after all, so they’re going to put their best foot forward and make it destination television for UFC fans around the world.

Host Jon Anik is a complete and utter pro, taking fans behind the scenes and giving them the kind of access they crave.

This week’s edition was more of the same. The UFC filmed Rashad Evans providing commentary during the UFC 135 bout between Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and the footage has finally surfaced.

In the video, you can see Evans giving his take on Jackson’s game plan against Jones, who Evans will finally face at UFC 145 later this month.

A few takeaways from Evans’ commentary:

Evans repeatedly notes that Jackson is fighting from the wrong range against Jones. The light heavyweight champion has the longest reach in the UFC, and Jackson was obviously standing right at the end of Jones’ range instead of getting inside and trading punches. Evans says before the fight even begins that Jackson needs to be on Jones’ chest, fighting inside, and Jackson failed to do that. In hindsight, this was a major flaw in Jackson’s game plan.
Evans praised Jones’ flying triangle at the end of the second round, noting that it likely earned him points in what was a fairly close round up to that point.

It’s an interesting video. These are the kinds of things that I like to see from the UFC, and hopefully we’ll get more exactly like it in the future.

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Brock Lesnar’s UFC 141 Loss to Alistair Overeem Should Be Overturned

In the wake of yesterday’s news that Alistair Overeem tested positive for elevated testosterone during a random pre-fight drug test after the conclusion of a UFC 146 press conference, many people had one question: Would Overeem’s win over Brock Lesnar …

It’s a legitimate question. Overeem was granted a conditional license for that fight, a license that was predicated on him passing several random drug screenings in the months after the fight took place. Overeem failed the first of those random tests, so his license for UFC 141 shouldn’t count and the win should not have counted.

I asked Keith Kizer from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his take on the subject.

“By itself, the test result has no effect on that decision,” Kizer said.

This is curious, isn’t it? By my thinking, Overeem’s license for the Lesnar fight was invalid due to the fact that Overeem failed one of his required post-fight random drug screenings.

I’m not saying that Lesnar should be granted a win over Overeem. Alistair was clean when the fight took place, and the result is the result. Overeem earned the win in the cage.

But Overeem also failed to live up to the stipulations of his conditional license, which means he—retroactively, of course—fought without a valid license in the state of Nevada. Because of that, his win over Lesnar should be turned into a no-contest.

It won’t help Lesnar’s new career in the WWE much, but it’s still the right thing to do.

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Alistair Overeem and His Completely Inexcusable Drug Test Failure

The news that Alistair Overeem failed a surprise drug test after last Tuesday’s UFC 146 pre-fight press conference shouldn’t really surprise anyone. It simply confirms what everyone suspected all along—that you can’t really build a human body tha…

The steroid failure isn’t the surprise.

The shocking thing, at least to me, is that Overeem failed the drug test despite knowing that he would be the subject of random testing in the months leading up to his fight with Junior dos Santos. The Nevada State Athletic Commission made that abundantly clear when they granted him a conditional license for his fight with Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, a situation that only came about when Overeem conveniently left America on the same day the NSAC called and asked for a urine sample.

Overeem’s failure puts a question mark around the UFC 146 main event. UFC President Dana White noted today in a conference call with Canadian media members that he was beyond angry with Overeem (via The Star Phoenix):

I am beyond pissed about this, White said. I’m so (expletive) mad right now. How (expletive) stupid do you have to be? Seriously dumb. Anybody who’s using (performance-enhancing drugs) right now is an absolute (expletive) moron.

White also said that Overeem previously told he and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, while sitting in the UFC’s offices in Las Vegas, that he was drug-free and would pass any impending tests.

And yet he still failed.

And so what might have been another huge UFC main event, headlining a landmark card filled with heavyweight bouts, is simply out the window. Not due to injury, as is usually the case, but due to one fighter simply believing he was above the system. How else do you explain Overeem giving the NSAC the run-around prior to the Lesnar fight, getting away with it and winning the biggest fight of his career, only to turn around and start using performance-enhancing drugs?

It boggles my mind. I simply cannot understand what Overeem was thinking.

He knew he would be tested at least twice prior to his fight with Dos Santos. He knew those tests would be random. He knew he needed to stay clean in order to earn his title shot, and he knew that everyone in the world placed him under a microscope after December’s fiasco.

And yet he still failed.

This is not a man who is deserving of a title shot. I’m sure we’ll hear all kinds of excuses from Overeem, as we did during the December NSAC meeting when he explained how he was able to avoid taking a random drug test for nearly one month. We’ll hear about those evil tainted supplements and how they caused him to fail.

But the absolute bottom line is this: Overeem gloated about being the most-tested fighter in the sport.

He knew he would be randomly tested as soon as he had a public event in Las Vegas. He knew he needed to pass that test, for his own reputation and for the sake of the UFC, who put a ton of trust in him by giving him another main event after his run-around with the NSAC in December.

And yet he still failed.

That’s inexcusable. There’s no other way to put it.

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