Author: McKinley Noble

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen Set for April 27th in New Jersey

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen will finally settle their rivalry in just five months and 23 days.MMA Junkie reports that the UFC has made Jones’ next title defense official for New Jersey’s Prudential Center in Newark on…

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen will finally settle their rivalry in just five months and 23 days.

MMA Junkie reports that the UFC has made Jones’ next title defense official for New Jersey’s Prudential Center in Newark on April 27th. It will be Sonnen’s third time challenging for a UFC title in five fights, with two unsuccessful attempts at Anderson Silva‘s middleweight belt.

For Jones, this title defense comes with some history-making opportunities.

If he notches a victory over Sonnen, Jones will become only the second man to defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship five times in a row. Jones has previously stated an intent to surpass that record, which is currently held by UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz.

Additionally, Jones will potentially climb the ladder for all-time consecutive title defenses, where he is currently surpassed by Anderson Silva (10), Georges St. Pierre (6), Tito Ortiz (5) and Matt Hughes (5).

Jones and Sonnen are currently filming Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas, which will air in January next year in a new timeslot on the FX channel.

Chael Sonnen is a heavy 6-to-1 underdog for this title fight, although betting website BestFightOdds shows that former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort was actually a much longer bet when he stepped in to face Jones at UFC 152.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Nick Diaz Update: NSAC Exec Keith Kizer Says Diaz Camp Is ‘Playing Games’

Keith Kizer doesn’t seem remotely fazed by accusations that the Nevada State Athletic Commission is picking on UFC welterweight Nick Diaz.In fact, the NSAC executive director left no mistake about it when he reiterated his claim that Nick Diaz dra…

Keith Kizer doesn’t seem remotely fazed by accusations that the Nevada State Athletic Commission is picking on UFC welterweight Nick Diaz.

In fact, the NSAC executive director left no mistake about it when he reiterated his claim that Nick Diaz drank 24 bottles of water after his UFC 143 defeat against current interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit. Diaz allegedly did so to cleanse his system before his pre-fight drug test, which resulted in a positive test for marijuana metabolites.

Kizer described the scenario in detail to MiddleEasy, telling them where that news came from:

[That story] came from [Diaz] drinking a lot of water afterwards.

Those water bottles were 8-ounce bottles, so 24 bottles is about a gallon-and-a-half if my math is right. I saw what [Diaz] drank. And we know why. And you can play games about it if you want, but we know why.

Kizer also stated that he accepted offers from Diaz‘s head trainer, Cesar Gracie, to sit down with attorneys and discuss the current lawsuit between Diaz and the NSAC, but Gracie never returned their last phone call:

[Gracie] called me during the case and said, “Look, I want to sit with you. Nick and I want to sit down with you.” I said, “Look, Cesar, you gotta call Ross Goodman. He’s the attorney. You gotta go through him. We’re happy to do that, we’ve offered it several times to Ross. [Cesar] said “I will call Ross right away.” We never heard back from him after that. I don’t know what the conversation was between him and Ross, but we’ve always a good relationship. I expect to have a good one with Cesar in the future.

According to Kizer, the NSAC filed its legal brief on October 29th. Provided that Ross Goodman (Diaz‘s attorney) submits his own paperwork on time, the case will go to a judge’s hearing by December this year.

Kizer also commented on therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for fighters and how the NSAC would likely deal with marijuana. He stated that as long as athletes had “a legitimate medical condition” and got a physician to approve paperwork, the commission would “look at it.”

Diaz is currently serving a one-year suspension for his positive drug test and will be free to reapply for a fighter’s license on February 3rd.

Prior to Diaz‘s fight with Condit, he had been expected to face Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 137. However, UFC president Dana White dropped Diaz from the match after Diaz failed to appear at three press conferences supporting the title fight.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Eddie Alvarez Given Early Release from Negotiating Period, UFC Bound?

Eddie Alvarez has been released out into the wild by Bellator Fighting Championships.Although Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney could’ve tied up his former lightweight champion for a full 90-day negotiation period, Alvarez has apparently requested for an early…

Eddie Alvarez has been released out into the wild by Bellator Fighting Championships.

Although Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney could’ve tied up his former lightweight champion for a full 90-day negotiation period, Alvarez has apparently requested for an early release. Now, one of the most-wanted free agents in MMA is able to entertain offers from anyone he chooses.

MMA Mania reports that Alvarez recently told MMAInterviews.TV that he’s going to let interested employers come to him, and nothing’s lined up yet:

Bjorn Rebney was gracious enough to give us our release papers early, earlier than what we were contractually to get, he gave it to us Friday. So we’re going to try to move it along as fast as possible for myself and for Bellator. We’ll see. Nothing’s set in stone and I’m just waiting to see what happens, letting the management and letting the promotions do their job now.

UFC president Dana White has given hints that he would like to see Alvarez in the Octagon, messaging him on Twitter following Alvarez’s win over Patricky Freire at Bellator 76.

Moreover, the UFC will likely be able to offer more money than Bellator, ONE FC and recently debuted promotion World Series of Fighting.

According to MMA Fighting, the UFC spent roughly $700,000—a $400,000 signing bonus plus $300,000 per fight—to lure away Bellator‘s former middleweight champion, Hector Lombard.

Alvarez is currently ranked as a top-10 lightweight by several MMA publications and hosts a 24-3 record with 21 wins by stoppage. He’s also 9-1 in his last 10 fights with his only career losses coming against current Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler, Japanese legend Shinya Aoki and former Bodog Fight welterweight champion Nick Thompson.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

WSOF 1 Payout: Andrei Arlovski Nets $60K, Anthony Johnson Takes $55K

World Series of Fighting handed out a reported $352,000 in fighter pay during their first event, with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski topping the payroll.For his knockout win over Devin Cole, Arlovski made a cool $60K ($3…

World Series of Fighting handed out a reported $352,000 in fighter pay during their first event, with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski topping the payroll.

For his knockout win over Devin Cole, Arlovski made a cool $60K ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win).

Anthony Johnson, one of several UFC veterans on the card, almost made the same amount with $55K ($30,000 to show, $25,000 to win), stopping D.J. Linderman in a particularly brutal “walk-off” knockout victory.

Here’s the full list of reported pay for each fight that night, courtesy of Bloody Elbow:

WSOF 1 Main Card

  • Andrei Arlovski: $30,000 base + $30,000 win vs. Devin Cole: $10,000
  • Anthony Johnson: $30,000 + $25,000 win vs. D.J. Linderman: $10,000
  • Marlon Moraes: $6,000 + $6,000 win vs. Miguel Torres: $18,000
  • Tyrone Spong: $20,000 + $7,000 win vs. Travis Bartlett: $4,000

WSOF 1 Preliminary Card

  • Tyson Steele: $5,000 + $5,000 win vs. Gregor Gracie: $25,000
  • Brian Cobb: $6,000 + $6,000 win vs. Ronys Torres: $12,000
  • Steve Carl: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Ramico Blackmon: $10,000
  • Josh Burkman: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Gerald Harris: $15,000
  • Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante: $7,000 + $7,000 win vs. T.J. O’Brien: $5,000
  • David Branch: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Dustin Jacoby: $5,000

Despite losing a close fight to unheralded Marlon Moraes, Miguel Torres made $6,000 more than his opponent in a split-decision loss. After Moraes defeated Torres, the WSOF announced that Elite XC and King of the Cage veteran Tyson Nam would face the winner at the promotion’s next event.

Tyson Steele’s purse had the fourth-largest discrepancy between opponents. He only made $10,000 for his KO win over famed grappling-world champion Gregor Gracie, who pocketed $25,000 just to step in the cage.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

WSOF 1 Payout: Andrei Arlovski Nets $60K, Anthony Johnson Takes $55K

World Series of Fighting handed out a reported $352,000 in fighter pay during their first event, with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski topping the payroll.For his knockout win over Devin Cole, Arlovski made a cool $60K ($30,000…

World Series of Fighting handed out a reported $352,000 in fighter pay during their first event, with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski topping the payroll.

For his knockout win over Devin Cole, Arlovski made a cool $60K ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win).

Anthony Johnson, one of several UFC veterans on the card, almost made the same amount with $55K ($30,000 to show, $25,000 to win), stopping D.J. Linderman in a particularly brutal “walk-off” knockout victory.

Here’s the full list of reported pay for each fight that night, courtesy of Bloody Elbow:

WSOF 1 Main Card:

  • Andrei Arlovski: $30,000 base + $30,000 win vs. Devin Cole: $10,000
  • Anthony Johnson: $30,000 + $25,000 win vs. D.J. Linderman: $10,000
  • Marlon Moraes: $6,000 + $6,000 win vs. Miguel Torres: $18,000
  • Tyrone Spong: $20,000 + $7,000 win vs. Travis Bartlett: $4,000

WSOF 1 Preliminary Card:

  • Tyson Steele: $5,000 + $5,000 win vs. Gregor Gracie: $25,000
  • Brian Cobb: $6,000 + $6,000 win vs. Ronys Torres: $12,000
  • Steve Carl: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Ramico Blackmon: $10,000
  • Josh Burkman: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Gerald Harris: $15,000
  • Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante: $7,000 + $7,000 win vs. T.J. O’Brien: $5,000
  • David Branch: $8,000 + $8,000 win vs. Dustin Jacoby: $5,000

Despite losing a close fight to unheralded Marlon Moraes, Miguel Torres made $6,000 more than his opponent in a split decision loss.

Tyson Steele’s purse had the fourth-largest discrepancy between opponents—he only made $10,000 for his KO win over famed grappling world champion Gregor Gracie, who pocketed $25,000 just to step in the cage.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

World Series of Fighting: What We Learned From WSOF 1

World Series of Fighting 1 is now on the record, and the night had entertaining but decidedly mixed results.Although the card was packed with exciting matches, memorable finishes and plenty of star power for the NBC Sports broadcast, overall production…

World Series of Fighting 1 is now on the record, and the night had entertaining but decidedly mixed results.

Although the card was packed with exciting matches, memorable finishes and plenty of star power for the NBC Sports broadcast, overall production had some noticeable issues that left viewers confusedly scratching their heads.

But was the free fight card worth watching?

Is this promotional upstart a company that the UFC and Bellator should be worried about?

Well, that’s not an easy answer, but there are plenty of things we know for certain.

From fighters’ futures to the potential for the second WSOF card, here’s a quick list of what we learned about World Series of Fighting’s first event.

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