Author: MattSaccaro

And Now He’s Fired: Will Chope Fired from UFC After Shady Past Surfaces


(Photo via Getty)

UFC Fight Night 38 is only hours away but it’s already causing quite a stir in the headlines. The reason? Will Chope was fired from the UFC this morning after an article from Bleacher Report exposed the fighter’s sordid past.

Chope was discharged from the Air Force in 2009 due to repeated instances of domestic abuse. The final straw was assaulting his wife in that same year, and threatening her with a knife. Here are some of the details from the official Air Force Court of Appeals documents:


(Photo via Getty)

UFC Fight Night 38 is only hours away but it’s already causing quite a stir in the headlines. The reason? Will Chope was fired from the UFC this morning after an article from Bleacher Report exposed the fighter’s sordid past.

Chope was discharged from the Air Force in 2009 due to repeated instances of domestic abuse. The final straw was assaulting his wife in that same year, and threatening her with a knife. Here are some of the details from the official Air Force Court of Appeals documents:

During the phone call, the appellant [Chope] and AW [his then wife] got into an argument concerning a joint credit card. he then asked AW to pick him up so that he could visit their daughter. AW hesitantly agreed…During the visit, the appellant resumed the argument concerning the credit card. The argument escalated and he told AW that if she did not give him the credit card, he would hurt her. When AW refused, the appellant told her that he had noting to lose and that he was going back to Florida. He then went to the kitchen, retrieved a paring knife, and threatened AW with it. He grabbed her, slammed her head onto the floor, and hit her on top of her head with both the knife handle and his hand. When AW screamed for help, the appellant took her onto the ground and used a ‘pillow or blanket’ to silence her screams. Thea appellant continued demanding that she return the credit card, and she continued refusing. At one point, he pointed the handle of the knife at her thigh. When AW tried to escape, he kicked her leg with his foot, but she never gave him the credit card.

Depressing stuff. The court rejected Chope’s appeal and is discharge was upheld.

Chope issued a statement on the domestic abuse allegations, but this was before the UFC made their final decision on the issue:

I fight today. But I just want to make a small post about what has been brought up last night. I made some mistakes in my past. The incidents happened 5 years ago and I will live with them for the rest of my life. But I just want everyone to know the articles are being sensationalized right now and me and my ex wife have spoken about this and we would like everyone to know that we are friends now and have moved on and are different people and are just trying to be good parents to our daughter. She also made a post on her personal page she is allowing me to share. I will make a formal address to this issue after the fight, but I hope this is suffice until then.

When all this came to light, the UFC’s reaction was swift. Chope’s fight against Diego Brandao at tonight’s UFC Fight Night 38 was scrapped, and Chope’s contract was terminated. Brandao will receive both show and win money. As for Chope, we likely won’t be seeing him in the UFC again. He was 19-6 in MMA but 0-1 in the UFC, losing to Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 34.

After the fight was canceled, Chope issued yet another statement:

My fight has been canceled for a 5 yaer old mistake I made. I am truly sorry to all the fans and will do everything I can to make this right. I have spoken with my ex-wife on the phone and she supports what I am doing and together we will make a formal press release as soon as I get back to the USA on Wednesday.

More updates as we get them.

 

Martial Arts Fail of the Week: Defeating Boxers is THIS Easy

It’s Saturday! Do you know what that means? A day off from the drudgery of office life in middle class America? A lackluster UFC card with a $60 price tag? Unfit for television jobber matches on UFC fight pass? None of these. Saturday means CagePotato’s Martial Arts Fail of the Week!

Last time, we had a bona fide ninja (or as bona fide as a ninja can be) teach us one of Ninjitsu’s most esoteric guard passes. This week, however, we’re revisiting an old friend—Master Wong, of “don’t poke him in the eye or he’ll kill your whole family” fame.

It’s Saturday! Do you know what that means? A day off from the drudgery of office life in middle class America? A lackluster UFC card with a $60 price tag? Unfit for television jobber matches on UFC fight pass? None of these. Saturday means CagePotato’s Martial Arts Fail of the Week!

Last time, we had a bona fide ninja (or as bona fide as a ninja can be) teach us one of Ninjitsu’s most esoteric guard passes. This week, however, we’re revisiting an old friend—Master Wong, of “don’t poke him in the eye or he’ll kill your whole family” fame.

What is the Master teaching us this week? How to best boxers in a street fight. But these boxers are special. They pump “steroids up the asshole” and still wear their boxing gloves  while fighting in parking lots (so they don’t break their hands and ruin their ability to “grab titty”). What’s Master Wong’s secret to putting down pugilists? Is it takedowns? Leg kicks? You’ll have to watch and see. We promise that it’s worth you’re time. We give the video the CagePotato Guarantee™.

 

If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected]

Bellator 113 Results: Newton Edges Vegh, “Pitbull” Freire Buries “Caveman” Rickels

Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.

But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)

Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card. At the time of writing, the results of this fight aren’t available. We’ll update the article when they are.

Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.

But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)

Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card; it wasn’t televised or streamed. Davis won via guillotine with only two seconds left in the first round.

In the first televised fight, Tim Welch fought Derek Campos in another lightweight tournament quarterfinal bout. The first round was evenly matched, but Campos was more aggressive, consistently pushing Welch back with his striking. He also landed more strikes. Campos almost finished Welch in the second, wobbling him with a right hand. He neglected to swarm a battered Welch, however. Instead, he opted for a takedown, which allowed Welch to recover and eventually rise to his feet. The third round didn’t feature much action. Campos took Welch to the ground and held him there. Unsurprisingly, Campos got the nod from the judges.

It didn’t take long for Polish prospect Marcin Held to defeat Rodrigo Cavalheiro. After a very brief striking scuffle, Held took Cavalheiro to the mat and submitted the Brazilian with a toehold.

In the night’s co-main event, David Rickels fought Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. This was also the last lightweight tournament quarterfinal of the night. The first round was, essentially, five minutes of brawling with some grappling interspersed. Rickels got the better of nearly every exchange in the first round, but that changed in the second. Freire hurt Rickels with a right hook, swarmed in, and then dropped him cold with a left hook. After one follow-up strike, it was called off.

The lightweight tournament semifinals will be as follows:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos.
Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson

Bellator 113′s main event was to unify Bellator’s light heavyweight title. Interim champ Emanuel Newton faced non-interim champion Attila Vegh. It was a long, boring 25 minutes, that featured ineffective striking and lots of missed “spinning shit.” There really isn’t much to tell other than that both guys threw lots of strikes that amounted to nothing. If you DVR’d the event, watch this on fast forward if you feel the need to watch at all. Twitter pundits scored it every way imaginable, but the only people that mattered (the judges) gave it to Newton.

Complete Results:

Main Card

Emanuel Newton def. Attila Vegh via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Patricky Freire def. David Rickels via KO (punches), 0:54 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro via submission (toe hold), 1:56 of round 1
Derek Campos def. Tim Welch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

LC Davis def. Tory Bogguess via submission (guillotine), 4:58 of round 1
Derek Anderson def. Brandon Girtz via KO (knee), 0:23 of round 2
Israel Giron def. Cody Carrillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Wisely def. Donnie Bell via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Gallemore def. Fredrick Brown via TKO (punches), 3:34 of round 1
Bobby Cooper def. Marcio Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Diego Sanchez Blames UFC 171 Loss to Myles Jury on Raw Quail Egg


(Sanchez grimaces as the raw meat works its intestinal magic. / Photo via Getty)

You read the headline right. Diego Sanchez took to twitter earlier today to explain why he lost to Miles Jury at UFC 171. It wasn’t due to age, strategy, or simply fighting from a previous era. No, the culprit was steak tartare with a side of raw quail egg:


(Sanchez grimaces as the raw meat works its intestinal magic. / Photo via Getty)

You read the headline right. Diego Sanchez took to twitter earlier today to explain why he lost to Myles Jury at UFC 171. It wasn’t due to age, strategy, or simply fighting from a previous era. No, the culprit was steak tar tar with a side of raw quail egg:

As hilarious as it sounds, Sanchez wasn’t trying to be funny. He even tweeted out the menu of the restaurant he attended, SER Steakhouse—”an exciting new breed of Dallas steakhouse” that promises to offer “a sophisticated and urban dining experience unlike any other.” They delivered on that promise, but not in the way they intended; Sanchez spent the day of the fight vomiting, which we’d say is an experience unlike any other.

After losing to Jury, Sanchez is now 1-3 in the last two years of competition. We suggest less high brow dining and more KFC.

UFC 171 Results: Why Are We Talking About Everyone BUT Johny Hendricks?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

At UFC 171, Johny Hendricks decisioned Robbie Lawler
in one of the greatest fights in recent memory. The two men traded punches, bled, and even smiled during their 25-minute brawl that saw Hendricks leave Dallas as the UFC welterweight champion…but nobody really cares about that.

The “morning after” discourse isn’t about Hendricks overcoming a perilous weight cut or about the implications of Hendricks being the first champ of the post-GSP era. It’s about two stars of a bygone era—Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre.

Nick Diaz stole some of the press at the weigh ins, heckling Hendricks for being a pound and a half heavy. That stunt soon snowballed into something more. At an unofficial media scrum, Diaz proclaimed that he was in fighting shape. In an interview with SportsNet, Diaz elucidated his presence in Dallas.


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

At UFC 171, Johny Hendricks fought Robbie Lawler in what became an instant classic. The two men traded scores of punches, bled, and even smiled during their 25-minute brawl that saw Hendricks leave Dallas as the UFC welterweight champion…but nobody really cares about that.

The “morning after” discourse isn’t about Hendricks overcoming a perilous weight cut or about the implications of Hendricks being the first champ of the post-GSP era. It’s about two stars of a bygone era—Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre.

Nick Diaz stole some of the press at the weigh ins, heckling Hendricks for being a pound and a half heavy. That stunt soon snowballed into something more. At an unofficial media scrum, Diaz proclaimed he was in fighting shape. In an interview with SportsNet, Diaz elucidated his presence in Dallas.

“[The UFC] bought me a ticket, for once, they bought me an actual ticket…Maybe they want me to fight Johny Hendricks! Take an ass-whooping right to your face, bro…I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to fight the right fight…I need a title fight. I need a real fight. Give the fans what they wanna see. That’s why I’m here.”

The heat is on Diaz, now, not the guy who just captured the belt. But it wouldn’t be a welterweight affair without GSP’s name being thrown around, which it was by Hendricks himself at the post-fight presser.

To an extent, it’s understandable why people aren’t pouring paragraphs of praise on Hendricks; he’s mild-mannered. Even his call-out of GSP was tame. And his views on star power are problematic for an organization reeling after the loss of its biggest names.

“I think you can let your fighting [talk],” Hendricks said in response to Diaz claiming he was the only draw in the division. “I think this is what’s gonna do real good for our weight class—let the fighting do everything.”

That’s certainly an admirable way to look at combat sports, but it isn’t true. To quote The Simpsons, “Every good scientist is half B.F. Skinner and half P.T. Barnum.” Just so, every fighter needs to be half Georges St-Pierre and half Chael Sonnen. It has been proven time and time again that emotional investment generates PPV buys. “These two fighters really hate each other” sells well, even if it’s not the truth. “I respect him; he’s a great opponent” always fails to move the needle, as factual as it might be. In that regard, not pushing Hendricks in articles is forgivable. His behavior and words won’t garner page views and aren’t conducive to strong post-fight narratives.

Dana White is also partially responsible for the lack of hype because he was mum regarding the future of welterweight. What can the media write about other than Diaz vs. Hendricks if the boss shrugs his shoulders at a division teeming with contenders? Another issue is that the would-be challengers, in the minds of some, didn’t look wholly impressive. Tyron Woodley defeated Carlos Condit due to a “freak injury” and Hector Lombard bested Jake Shields but many felt the fight was lackluster. Diaz, despite having not fought in a year and being on a two-fight losing streak, somehow came out of UFC 171 looking like the most impressive welterweight.

UFC 171 was a spectacular event, but the fallout was anything but. Perhaps some part of the blame for the UFC’s inability to create stars falls on our shoulders, since when we have a chance to try and build a new star, we ignore him and bellow smoke into old ones, just so their waning flames might linger a little while longer.

Dennis Siver Tests Positive for Testicle-Preserving Banned Substance


(Dennis Siver celebrates healthy testicles. / Photo via Getty)

Dennis Siver has failed his UFC 168 drug test. The Russian-German fighter tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). For those not in the know, the drug is typically used post-steroid cycle. Its purpose is to restore the size of the testicles and kickstart testosterone production.


(Dennis Siver celebrates healthy testicles. / Photo via Getty)

Dennis Siver has failed his UFC 168 drug test. The Russian-German fighter tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). For those not in the know, the drug is typically used post-steroid cycle. Its purpose is to restore the size of the testicles and kickstart testosterone production.

A suspension and fine are almost definitely on their way for Siver, whose UFC 168 win over Manny Gamburyan will probably become a no contest as well.

This is an unfortunate development for the UFC, as Siver is one of their top European fighters and the company’s international efforts are more important than ever before. The tarnishing of Siver’s reputation and losing him for any length of time will be a detriment.

We’ll be sure to add this to our official failed drug test timeline.

More updates on the story as we get them.