Author: Khurram Aziz

UFC 168: Travis Browne Will Join Josh Barnett for Additional WADA Drug Testing

UFC heavyweight Travis Browne has volunteered to subject himself to the same enhanced drug testing his opponent Josh Barnett will have to undergo in the run-up to their fight at UFC 168.
The tests were ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (N…

UFC heavyweight Travis Browne has volunteered to subject himself to the same enhanced drug testing his opponent Josh Barnett will have to undergo in the run-up to their fight at UFC 168.

The tests were ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) as a condition for granting Barnett his first license to fight in the state since 2006.

Browne confirmed his decision to undergo the same WADA-certified drug testing as Barnett in a statement released through his manager John Fosco (H/T MMA Junkie).

I think it’s a great idea, and I’m a big supporter of it. I think our sport and the commission taking actions like this is putting us ahead of the game compared to other sports. We’re not putting out a fire. We’re attacking the problem before it becomes an epidemic.

As with Barnett, the UFC has agreed to foot the bill for all of the tests involved. However, Browne will undergo testing only in the month and a half leading up to their Dec. 28 clash, as well as immediately after the match as per standard commission practice. Barnett, meanwhile, will continue to be tested for all of 2014.

Barnett has been subjected to such extensive scrutiny after having failed three separate drug tests in his career. He failed twice in 2001 and 2002, in two consecutive matches fighting for the UFC in the state of Nevada; the latter of which cost him his UFC heavyweight title. Then, in 2009, he failed a third drug test in the lead-up to a much anticipated fight between him and Fedor Emelianenko in the state of California.

During his hearing with the NSAC last week, Barnett explained that his previous failures were due to the consumption of supplements that were later reclassified as anabolic steroids or were contaminated. He also said that he would never apply for a therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone—a controversial practice many would argue disguises cheating.

Browne, meanwhile, has never failed a drug test in his career.

Both fighters have shot up the UFC rankings after scoring first-round KOs against their opponents in their last outings. Indeed, the winner of their match at UFC 168 could determine who gets the next shot at heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who is set to face Fabricio Werdum sometime next year.

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Tito Ortiz to Get Another Shot in the Bellator Cage

Bellator is looking to tempt fate once more, with its president saying that the injury prone Tito Ortiz will, eventually, make his debut for the promotion.
The former UFC star was due to headline Bellator’s first ever pay-per-view event this Satu…

Bellator is looking to tempt fate once more, with its president saying that the injury prone Tito Ortiz will, eventually, make his debut for the promotion.

The former UFC star was due to headline Bellator’s first ever pay-per-view event this Saturday, however, a neck injury, which has dogged the fighter for years, forced him out.

“He’ll be back,” said Bellator president Bjorn Rebney (H/T MMA Junkie). “Right now, we just have to worry about the fracture in his neck healed 120 percent. Once it’s healed, he’ll be back… He wants to fight again, and his neck specialist told me that it’s not the kind of injury you can’t come back from.”

Ortiz, 38, had officially retired from fighting after losing three in a row in 2012. His last fight, a decision loss to Forrest Griffin, was also his sixth loss in seven fights, and much of the latter part of his career has been spent recovering from the same neck injury that forced him off the card on Saturday.

Since retirement, the UFC Hall of Famer has flirted with management, in particular taking charge of the career of female fighter Cristiane Justino. However, he’s been unable to conceal his desire to step back in the cage, particularly fighting for a rival promotion to the UFC.

In fact, fighting for Bellator would have been the perfect opportunity for the media-hungry Ortiz to demonstrate his contempt for his former UFC employers, for whom he has few kind words to say, as well as recapture his former glory.

He was scheduled to fight at Bellator 106 against another disgruntled ex-UFC fighter, Quinton Jackson, until Ortiz’s injury forced the promotion to postpone its PPV dreams.

Since then, Jackson has been signed on to face Joey Beltran at Bellator 108, while Ortiz looks to recover and take another shot at his Bellator debut.

Rebney, meanwhile, says he’s standing by his unreliable fighter no matter what.

“I’ve made a commitment to him that we’d try to make another run,” said Rebney. “And while this went to sh*t, the assumption is he’ll heal and we’ll give it a run. He’s had injuries, but he hasn’t made a career out of pulling out of fights.”

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Post Bellator 106: Alvarez vs. Chandler III Set for PPV

It was inevitable, both for contractual reasons and the epic back-and-forth show the two fighters have repeatedly put on, that new Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and ex-champ Michael Chandler would meet again to complete the trilogy. Now, acc…

It was inevitable, both for contractual reasons and the epic back-and-forth show the two fighters have repeatedly put on, that new Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and ex-champ Michael Chandler would meet again to complete the trilogy. Now, according to the promotion’s president Bjorn Rebney, Alvarez vs. Chandler III is likely to be a pay-per-view event.

Rebney confirmed his intentions to MMA Junkie, saying that the pair’s third fight was destined for PPV “unless I have my brains removed.”

“I mean, please. How could you not?” he added.

There is so much drama and intrigue involved in the fights between Alvarez and Chandler, both inside and outside the cage, that having them slug it out for the third time on PPV makes perfect sense for Bellator.

Indeed, the rematch between the two, which went down at Bellator 106 on Saturday, was originally meant to be a PPV event headlined by two former UFC fighters—Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson. However, an injury to Ortiz led to the decision to air the event free on Spike TV and move the Alvarez vs. Chandler rematch to the main event.

The first fight between the two, which took place in 2011, was arguably the fight of the year, with Chandler upsetting the odds and taking the title from the man many considered the best 155-pound fighter outside the UFC.

After that fight, Alvarez fought two more times for Bellator before attempting to move to the UFC. Thereafter, a bitter contractual dispute began involving the three parties, with Bellator determined to keep their former champion presumably to stage a rematch against Chandler.

The contractual dispute was eventually cleared up this August, with media reports suggesting that Alvarez would have to fight Chandler a second time. If he lost again, he would be a free agent, but if he won, he’d have to fight his opponent a third time before likely moving on to the UFC.

In such a scenario, it’s in Bellator’s interest for Chandler to win back the title before the promotion lets go of its troublesome lightweight. With that in mind—considering there is so much riding on this fight for Bellator, not to mention the epic contests the two fighters have already put on—a PPV event to complete the trilogy seems completely fitting.

When that will take place is yet to be determined.

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Dana White Taunts “Djork” Rebney After Alvarez Win

UFC president Dana White wasted no time in taunting Bjorn Rebney in what must be considered a night of mixed feelings for the Bellator chief on Saturday.
Although there was plenty to enjoy on the night of Bellator 106, two fighters from the world&rsquo…

UFC president Dana White wasted no time in taunting Bjorn Rebney in what must be considered a night of mixed feelings for the Bellator chief on Saturday.

Although there was plenty to enjoy on the night of Bellator 106, two fighters from the world’s No. 2 MMA promotion were nevertheless left frustrated.

But it was the defeat of Bellator’s lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, at the hands of Eddie Alvarez that put the biggest smile on White’s face.

As he tweeted moments after the event:

Both the UFC and Bellator have been in a protracted bitter dispute over Alvarez, whose attempts to jump promotions to the UFC were scuppered over a contractual dispute.

After almost a year on the sidelines, Alvarez agreed to a rematch against Chandler, who took the Bellator 155-pound title from him in 2011. However, according media speculation on his new contract, Alvarez would be free to sign with the UFC should he lose to Chandler again, with his stock clearly diminished. If he wins the rematch, then he’s reportedly obligated to a third and final bout against Chandler, after which he’s free to sign with the UFC regardless, this time with his stock clearly raised.

In other words, Bellator had a lot riding on their stalwart champion defeating the troublesome Alvarez, who seems UFC-bound regardless.

But Alvarez’s win isn’t the only “karma” Rebney may have tasted on Saturday. The promotion had also invested heavily in promoting another former Zuffa (the parent company of the UFC) fighter, King Mo Lawal, who lost for the second time to Emanuel Newton.

And all that came on the back of the collapse of Bellator’s plans for its first-ever pay-per-view event, which would have been headlined by two former UFC veterans Quinton Jackson and Tito Ortiz. With Ortiz injured, the event was aired free on Spike TV instead with the Chandler vs. Alvarez fight becoming the main event.

Whatever White may have been referring to, Chandler and Alvarez once again put on one of the best fights of the year, giving Rebney some cause for celebration.

“If karma is that we just put on the best mixed martial arts fight I’ve ever seen, that’s karma I’ll take big boatloads of,” Rebney said following the event, according to MMA Junkie.

Is that just posturing? A GIF making the rounds on the internet, which shows Rebney shaking his head moments before putting the belt around Alvarez, may reveal his true feelings.

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Anderson Silva: Chael Sonnen Is a ‘Good, Hard-Working Guy’

Relations seem to be warming between two of the UFC’s bitterest rivals, with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva full of praise for Chael Sonnen in a recent interview.
Speaking to Whoa! TV (h/t Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania), Silva r…

Relations seem to be warming between two of the UFC’s bitterest rivals, with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva full of praise for Chael Sonnen in a recent interview.

Speaking to Whoa! TV (h/t Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania), Silva remarked that his former opponent may have crossed the line with some of his trash talking but was still a hard worker who always came through for the UFC and Dana White.

Chael talk too much, but is a good guy. He’s not bad, he’s a good guy. Chael is (always) in the media for fight. Chael fight for the belt against me two times. Chael fight Jon Jones, Chael fought Shogun, Chael fight now. Chael is working for Dana White all the time. Dana don’t need to talk nothing because Chael is working all the time. It’s normal. Chael talk.

The kind words come after years of animosity between the two during which Sonnen honed some of the most biting trash talk—aimed at Silva—the UFC has ever seen.

After securing his first title shot against Silva in 2010, Sonnen’s verbal attacks on the then 185-pound champ continued through to their rematch in July last year, by which point Silva’s fury against the American reached a boiling point.

During the weigh-ins for that event at UFC 148, Silva went so far as to strike Sonnen with his shoulder, a move that could have led to the cancellation of the fight. However, after securing the second win, all seemed to have been forgotten with the Brazilian even inviting his opponent to a BBQ to put things behind them.

More recently, Sonnen, who is to appear opposite new nemesis Wanderlei Silva in the next season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, suggested that he would ask The Spider to be a guest coach on his team.

Silva hasn’t responded to that suggestion, and he’s unlikely to accept considering his friendship with Wanderlei and the enemies Sonnen’s made in his home country.

Silva’s next fight is a less-heated, though much more challenging fight to regain his title from Chris Weidman, which he lost over the summer. The fight will go down Dec. 28 at UFC 168.

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Tito Ortiz Expects Full Recovery, Return to Gym in 6 Weeks

Injury prone and over the hill, Bellator’s new signing Tito Ortiz nevertheless expects full recovery from his latest training setback, promising to return to the gym in six weeks.
That won’t be soon enough to save the promotion’s firs…

Injury prone and over the hill, Bellator’s new signing Tito Ortiz nevertheless expects full recovery from his latest training setback, promising to return to the gym in six weeks.

That won’t be soon enough to save the promotion’s first pay-per-view event, originally scheduled for this Saturday, which would have seen Ortiz face off against fellow UFC veteran Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the pair’s first outing for Bellator.

Instead, Bellator 106 is now a free-to-watch event, airing on Spike TV and headlined by a lightweight clash between champion Michael Chandler and challenger Eddie Alvarez.

As Ortiz explained on Twitter:

Ppl I will have 100% recovery & will be back n the gym in 6 weeks.I’m a fighter & I love competition. I was doing great n training but accident do happen. Just time to reshuffle the deck & deal another hand.

Ortiz joined the UFC in 1997 and eventually announced his retirement in 2012 after posting a 1-6 record in his last seven fights. The 38-year-old was snapped up by rival promotion Bellator this year.

Together with Rampage, his fellow UFC exile, Ortiz was gearing up to launch Bellator’s first PPV event until a recurring neck injury forced him off the card.

It was a similar neck injury that forced him to withdraw from a rematch against Chuck Liddell in 2010, and many would question the wisdom in having the veteran front another major MMA event.

Rampage, meanwhile, has signed on to face another ex-UFC fighter in Joey Beltran at Bellator 108, due to go down on Nov. 15.

It’s unclear at this stage whether Ortiz will return to face Rampage after all.

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