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Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson Announced for UFC 209

The UFC added another fight to the UFC 209 card, announcing Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson have agreed in principle to fight on March 4.
“It’s happening,” UFC President Dana White said Thursday, per the Los Angeles Times’ Lance P…

The UFC added another fight to the UFC 209 card, announcing Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson have agreed in principle to fight on March 4.

“It’s happening,” UFC President Dana White said Thursday, per the Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire. “We haven’t received bout agreements from both guys, but they’ve both verbally agreed.”

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson are ranked first and second in the lightweight division. Pugmire noted the UFC booked a fight between the two since champion Conor McGregor’s immediate future remains uncertain.

After McGregor’s UFC 205 victory over Eddie Alvarez in November, White said he expected the top lightweight to be out of action for 10 months, per FoxSports.com’s Damon Martin.

That would put McGregor’s next fight around September, at which point he’d likely face the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson.

In an interview on The MMA Hour on Jan. 2 (h/t MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle), Nurmagomedov lobbed the first verbal grenade in his upcoming bout with Ferguson: “I want to beat Tony Ferguson, take the interim bulls–t belt, and I will fight with Conor for real belt. This is what I want to make in 2017.”

Nurmagomedov is coming off a submission victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 205, which ran his pro record to 24-0. Ferguson earned a unanimous decision against Rafael dos Anjos on Nov. 5. It was his ninth straight win since losing to Johnson in May 2012.

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson’s clash will be among the most anticipated on a card that is headlined by Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title defense against Stephen Thompson, which is a rematch of their UFC 205 fight that ended in a draw.

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Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino Notified of Potential USADA Drug Test Violation

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) notified Cris “Cyborg” Justino of a possible violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test on Dec. 5, according to MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle.
The UFC released a statement about the situation Thur…

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) notified Cris “Cyborg” Justino of a possible violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test on Dec. 5, according to MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle.

The UFC released a statement about the situation Thursday, per Doyle:

Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.

More to follow.

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Dana White Comments on Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, Bjorn Rebney

UFC president Dana White is rarely shy about voicing his opinion, and he was no different when discussing last week’s announcement of the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Association.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast (via MMA Fighting),…

UFC president Dana White is rarely shy about voicing his opinion, and he was no different when discussing last week’s announcement of the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Association.

Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast (via MMA Fighting), White zeroed in on Bjorn Rebney, the former chairman and CEO of Bellator, calling him “Bjork” during the interview:

Listen, I don’t know enough about it to really speak on it. The only thing I need to know is the biggest scumbag in the history of combat sports—Bjork—is involved in this thing.

And if you’re a fighter—listen, there’s three unions out there now all battling against each other. And if you’re a fighter, these guys are all looking to get in your pocket. It’s another business, it’s a business where guys are going to make money. And if you’re a fighter and this is what you want to do, you’ve got to figure out whose hand you want in your pocket. And I guarantee you, you don’t want Bjork’s hand in your pocket. You know what I mean?

Rebney responded on Twitter:

White isn’t the first to question Rebney’s involvement in the fighters’ union.

Mixed martial arts agent Malki Kawa tweeted he will steer clear of the MMAAA:

Former UFC champion Randy Couture expressed similar reservations, per Bloody Elbow’s Amy Dash: “His reputation as a promoter precedes him a little bit and so it’s interesting now that all the sudden he’s for fighter rights and all these things that obviously as the CEO of a major fight organization he didn’t demonstrate that same feeling.”

In one of Rebney’s more famous missteps, he and Bellator were embroiled in a legal dispute with Eddie Alvarez after Alvarez attempted to sign with UFC in 2013. Bellator used a clause in his contract to match UFC’s offer, preventing him from signing with the company. Bellator eventually released Alvarez from his deal in August 2014.

As the president of the biggest MMA company in the world, White has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Especially after WME-IMG spent $4 billion to purchase the company, UFC will want to do everything it can to keep costs down. A powerful fighters union would almost certainly eat into UFC’s bottom line.

With that said, many will likely argue White’s comments about Rebney speak to valid concerns about his role in the MMAAA.

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Jose Aldo Speaks on Conor McGregor Relinquishing UFC Featherweight Title

Jose Aldo wasn’t surprised to see Conor McGregor vacate the UFC Featherweight Championship in order to hold onto his lightweight belt.
“It was a fact that this was going to happen,” Aldo said in an interview on Brazilian sports program Plan…

Jose Aldo wasn’t surprised to see Conor McGregor vacate the UFC Featherweight Championship in order to hold onto his lightweight belt.

“It was a fact that this was going to happen,” Aldo said in an interview on Brazilian sports program Planeta (via MMAjunkie’s Steven Marrocco and Fernanda Prates). “We knew [McGregor] was going to relinquish the belt—obviously, either mine or the lightweight one.”

McGregor beat Aldo at UFC 194 in December 2015 to unify the UFC featherweight title. He then knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 on November 12 to capture the lightweight belt.

In October, UFC President Dana White said McGregor would have to surrender one of his two belts in the event he was a champion in two weight classes.

Aldo won the interim featherweight title with his victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July. ESPN.com’s Brian Campbell reported the UFC made the 30-year-old the undisputed featherweight champion after McGregor surrendered the belt.

Despite losing to McGregor, Aldo told Planeta he expected to stand atop the featherweight division once again:

I think I’ve always been the champion, and I will always be the champion. As long as I’m at featherweight, no matter what happens, I’ll keep being the champion. So this, for me, was something that was already certain. The minute I lost, I knew, the next day, the belt would be mine again. It was just a matter of time. Of course, [it was] not the way I wanted, but I’m happy because I know I’m the champion.

Aldo added that he envisions making one featherweight title defense in February or March before getting a second crack at McGregor.

Aldo’s title defense will likely come against the winner of the interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 on December 10.

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Bellator 164 Results: Winners, Scorecards from Koreshkov vs. Lima 2 Card

Douglas Lima avenged his 2015 defeat to Andrey Koreshkov on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel. The 28-year-old Brazilian knocked Koreshkov out to win the welterweight world title in the main event at Bellator 164.
Fifteen bouts made up the Bellator 164 card…

Fifteen bouts made up the Bellator 164 card, with the four main card fights set to air on tape delay Friday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Below is a list of the results:

When Lima and Koreshkov first met, the former was returning from an injury layoff that lasted over a year. Koreshkov captured the welterweight belt in a unanimous-decision win.

Now that he’s back to 100 percent, Lima said Wednesday he knew he could take down the 26-year-old Russian, per Christian Stein of MMAjunkie:

Everyone who trained with me knows I fought hurt. But that’s fine. It’s all behind me now. I fought, lost, and now I’m making up for lost time.

Thankfully I’m very healthy, training well, and highly confident going into this rematch. We expect a good fight. It will be a hard fight, but without a doubt, I’ll come out on top.

I’m ready and I’m healthy. I’m getting my belt back.

Lima delivered on his prediction.

With Koreshkov backing him against the cage, Lima countered with a vicious left hook that sent Koreshkov to the canvas. From there, he delivered three more blows to an unprotected Koreshkov before the referee called the fight.

Josh Sanchez of Campus Sports Net thoroughly enjoyed the main event:

Also on the main card, Noad Lahat was victorious in his Bellator debut, defeating Scott Cleve via submission. Winning in Tel Aviv was extra special for the Israeli-born star. It’s the third time he has fought in the city, and he’s prevailed each time. Lahat will likely ask Bellator to make another stop in Tel Aviv before long.

In the women’s flyweight division, Lena Ovchynnikova moved her record to 11-4 with a unanimous-decision win over Karla Benitez. It was a convincing performance and exactly what Ovchynnikova needed after her defeat to Rebecca Ruth at Bellator 150 in February.

Rounding out the main card, Georgi Karakhanyan and Kirill Medvedovsky’s bout came to an abrupt end after Medvedovsky suffered a shoulder injury in the first round. It was the second straight loss for Medvedovsky, who fell to Magomed Ginazov in March.

Karakhanyan, meanwhile, will begin looking toward bigger and better things. In an interview with MMA Weekly’s Mick Hammond, Karakhanyan said he’s strongly considering moving up to the lightweight division, mentioning Josh Thomson and Melvin Guillard as potential opponents.

While Thursday’s win wasn’t the most resounding of Karakhanyan’s career, it should provide him with more momentum as he looks to take a step up in his next fight.

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Jon Jones Suspended 1 Year by USADA for Positive Drug Test

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officially suspended Jon Jones for one year Monday after he tested positive for two banned substances prior to his UFC 200 clash with Daniel Cormier in July, according to MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi. The UFC ultimat…

The suspension is retroactive to Jones’ positive test, so he’ll be eligible to fight again in July 2017.

Fox Sports’ Damon Martin reported Jones was flagged for hydroxy-clomiphene and a Letrozole metabolite. Martin explained the benefit the drugs provided to an athlete:

Anti-estrogen drugs are typically used in doping to counteract the effects of another illegal substance such as steroids. Steroids or other similar substances that introduce extra testosterone in the human body, which then produces additional estrogen as a natural result. Additional estrogen can result in fat retention or potentially lead to gynecomastia, which is breast growth in men.

ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto wrote that Jones’ lawyer attempted to argue the 29-year-old believed he was taking Cialis, a male enhancement pill, which he received from teammate Eric Blasich. Instead, Blasich had given Jones a different pill that contained substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The arbitrators who evaluated Jones’ appeal ruled that the fighter didn’t intend to cheat but was instead reckless.

Jones’ rematch with Cormier was one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the year. The arbitrators who looked at Jones’ case estimated the former champion lost roughly $9 million as a result of getting pulled off the UFC 200 card and the ensuing consequences, per Okamoto.

In addition to his USADA suspension, Jones could face retroactive punishment from the Nevada State Athletic Commission stemming from the positive test. Citing the Silva case, Okamoto speculated Jones could receive another one-year suspension from the NSAC in line with USADA‘s ruling.

In August 2015, the NSAC suspended Silva for one year after he tested positive for Drostanolone and Androstane prior to and after his fight with Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in January 2015.

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