The UFC announced Monday night it has pulled Lyman Good off the card for UFC 205 on Nov. 12.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency flagged a potential doping violation from a sample the group collected Oct. 14.
Good was originally supposed to fight Belal Muhamma…
The UFC announced Monday night it has pulled Lyman Good off the card for UFC 205 on Nov. 12.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency flagged a potential doping violation from a sample the group collected Oct. 14.
Good was originally supposed to fight Belal Muhammad in a welterweight bout.
Whether the company adds a new fight or not, UFC 205 shouldn’t suffer much without Good vs. Muhammad, which was scheduled for the preliminary card.
The event was going to be a nice showcase for Good, though. The 31-year-old New York City native would’ve had a hometown crowd behind him at Madison Square Garden.
It also would have been Good’s first fight since he beat Andrew Craig at UFC Fight Night 71 in July 2015, which marked his UFC debut. An injury forced him to miss a matchup with Omari Akhmedov in December. As if spending over a year out of the Octagon hadn’t already stunted Good’s UFC career enough, the flagged drug test is another big setback.
The UFC announced it’s looking at potential opponents for Muhammad in place of Good.
Conor McGregor received a $150,000 fine and 50 hours of community service Monday for throwing a water bottle during a press conference for UFC 202 in August, according to MMAFighting.com.
Sports Illustrated’s Mike Dyce shared a replay of the inci…
Conor McGregor received a $150,000 fine and 50 hours of community service Monday for throwing a water bottle during a press conference for UFC 202 in August, according to MMAFighting.com.
Sports Illustrated‘s Mike Dyce shared a replay of the incident, which begins at the 1:18 mark of the video below (warning: video contains NSFW language):
Another boxer has signaled interest in a potential fight with UFC star Conor McGregor, and it seems Amir Khan may be serious about stepping inside the Octagon.
In an interview with FloCombat’s Chamatkar Sandhu released Tuesday, K…
Another boxer has signaled interest in a potential fight with UFC star Conor McGregor, and it seems Amir Khan may be serious about stepping inside the Octagon.
In an interview with FloCombat’s Chamatkar Sandhu released Tuesday, Khan argued he’d be able to make the transition from boxing to mixed martial arts:
I would, definitely. Something like that would be massive. Even if I started to train MMA next year, I’d only be 30 years old. I could stop and train for a full year and become a good MMA fighter. It’s in our blood to fight. I’ve been fighting all my life, so for me, I don’t think it’d be a problem for me to learn and switch over to the sport.
Khan also said he’d like his chances if pitted against McGregor:
I think McGregor has some great boxing skills. A good boxer will always win a MMA fight–I’ve always said that. A good puncher will always win. You saw in the [Jose] Aldo fight–he took a step back and countered him as he came in. With boxing, it’s all about distance and timing, and that’s something we have on our side more than MMA fighters.
When McGregor was embroiled in his standoff with the UFC that saw him pulled from July 9’s UFC 200 card, Floyd Mayweather Jr. also threw out the idea of a fight with the featherweight champion. Mayweather went so far as to create a promotional poster for the event:
On a May episode of Russillo & Kanell,via ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, UFC President Dana White downplayed the chances of Mayweather and McGregor fighting:
Let me put it to you this way. Manny Pacquiao and [Mayweather] are in the same sport. It took how long for those two to fight? Now imagine how hard it would be to get (Mayweather and McGregor) to fight. They’re not in the same sport. […]
Is this thing going to be MMA or boxing rules? Who’s getting the lion’s share of the money? This and that. It’s impossible. But like I’ve said, ‘Floyd, you want to fight Conor, call me.’
Many of those same logistical problems would be present should Khan want to pursue a bout in the UFC. Since Khan isn’t as big of a star as Mayweather, White may also question whether bringing him into MMA would be worth all of the hassle.
To his credit, though, Khan told Sandhu he’d be willing to make certain concessions—most notably that he’d fight under MMA rules.
James Toney was similarly confident he’d be successful in MMA after years in the boxing ring, but Randy Couture submitted him in three minutes and 19 seconds at UFC 118 in August 2010. At 29 years old, Khan is 13 years younger than Toney was for his fight against Couture, though.
Shortly after Khan first discussed venturing into MMA back in May, former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub argued on the Fighter and the Kid podcast, via Patrick McCarry of SportsJOE.ie, Khan would be in for a rude awakening:
Especially Khan being a lighter guy, he’s not going to be a knockout guy. I don’t even know where to begin on this…He’s that boxer saying ‘I don’t need a ground game; I could walk into the Octagon’… I’ll tell you this right now, you could take a low-level amateur at 155 pounds—a guy who might not even make The Ultimate Fighter house—and he would mop the floor with [Khan]. Mop the floor. All he would have to do would be cover up, get inside and get an underhook. [Khan] would go for a ride.
Khan would likely be a heavy underdog should he ever oppose McGregor in the Octagon, but the fight would create a lot of buzz among fight fans who want to see two stars from boxing and MMA face off.
Mixed martial arts fighter Evangelista Santos confirmed in an interview with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz he suffered a “serious fracture in his forehead” in his Bellator 158 loss to Michael Page on Saturday.Continue for updates.Doctors Waiting to Per…
Mixed martial arts fighter Evangelista Santos confirmed in an interview with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz he suffered a “serious fracture in his forehead” in his Bellator 158 loss to Michael Page on Saturday.
Continue for updates.
Doctors Waiting to Perform Surgery on Santos
Sunday, July 17
Cristiane Justino, Santos’ ex-wife, provided an update on Instagram. She wrote doctors are continuing to closely monitor Santos’ health in case his brain continues swelling (warning: graphic image):
Bellator shared a replay of Santos’ knockout. Page caught him with a flying right knee, and the Brazilian immediately fell to the canvas:
Page tweeted out a message of support for his opponent Sunday:
“I’m under observation now and will have surgery in the United States,” Cyborg told Cruz. “I had a serious injury, but Bellator is giving me all the support I need.“
The ownership of the UFC is reportedly changing hands.On Sunday night, TMZ Sports reported WME/IMG bought the company for around $4 billion. Chris Maathuis of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas confirmed the news.The UFC is expected to confi…
The ownership of the UFC is reportedly changing hands.
On Sunday night, TMZ Sports reported WME/IMG bought the company for around $4 billion. Chris Maathuis of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas confirmed the news.
The UFC is expected to confirm the sale Monday morning, per Maathuis.
According to the New York Times‘ Michael J. de la Merced, WME/IMG will be the main investor along with private equity firms Silver Lake and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and an investment firm belonging to Michael S. Dell.
TMZ reported UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will step down from his post and retain a minority stake, while Dana White will stay on as president.
Shortly after the news broke, White sent out this tweet:
White described the sale as “very” bittersweet, per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto. He also told Okamoto mixed martial arts “is going to the next level” with WME/IMG on board.
Rumors of the UFC’s sale have been swirling for months. In May, ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell reported four or more bidders were vying to make the best offer. Rovell listed WME/IMG, the Blackstone Group, China Media Capital and Dalian Wanda Group among the strongest contenders and noted the asking price was likely to be $3.5 billion to $4 billion.
The sale represents a massive return on the Fertitta brothers’ investment. De la Merced noted they purchased the UFC for $2 million in 2099. Since then, the company and the sport have grown exponentially.
Along with a packed calendar of pay-per-views, the UFC earns millions of dollars from broadcasting and sponsorship rights along with revenue from its on-demand UFC Fight Pass service.
Of course, WME/IMG will have to deal with a few notable issues as the UFC’s owners.
Some fans argue the product has been watered down by the company’s decision to run a higher volume of events than it did years ago. Reebok’s exclusive apparel deal and Conor McGregor’s standoff with the UFC also highlighted problems with fighters’ pay structure.
Any changes WME/IMG plans to make to the product are unlikely to be immediate. The deal between the Fertittas and WME/IMG could take anywhere from six weeks to two months to become official, per TMZ.
Former MMA fighter Dan Quinn reportedly threatened UFC President Dana White ahead of UFC 200, per TMZ Sports.
TMZ talked to sources who said Quinn allegedly intends to show up to Saturday’s pay-per-view event to confront and shoot White. The sources ci…
Former MMA fighter Dan Quinn reportedly threatened UFC President Dana White ahead of UFC 200, per TMZ Sports.
TMZ talked to sources who said Quinn allegedly intends to show up to Saturday’s pay-per-view event to confront and shoot White. The sources cited “unresolved bad blood” between Quinn and White as the motivation behind the threats.
This may not be the first time the 49-year-old has threatened White. In May 2012, TMZ Sports posted a voicemail message, supposedly from Quinn, in which he allegedly said he’d “shoot [Dana] right in the head.”
Quinn denied sending the message.
Quinn fought 13 times as a professional but never appeared in the UFC. He finished 5-7-1 in his career; his last fight was a technical-knockout defeat to Rick Vardell in November 2010.
