Author: Nathan McCarter

Joe Duffy Forced off UFC Fight Night 76 Main Event with Mild Concussion

The five-round lightweight main event for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 76 is officially off.
The UFC issued a release on Wednesday afternoon stating that Joe Duffy had to be removed from the card due to a mild concussion suffered earlier in the week….

The five-round lightweight main event for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 76 is officially off.

The UFC issued a release on Wednesday afternoon stating that Joe Duffy had to be removed from the card due to a mild concussion suffered earlier in the week. The co-main event between Louis Smolka and Paddy Holohan will now be promoted to the main event slot while remaining a three-round affair.

Dustin Poirier, the would-be Duffy opponent this weekend, will be rescheduled for another event per the UFC release.

This was the second big blow to the Dublin event. Earlier in the month Stipe Miocic was forced off the card with an injury, and Ben Rothwell was removed from the card as a suitable replacement could not be found. The loss of the lightweight main event was a significant blow to the quality of the event.

The positive news is the policy and procedures of the UFC’s medical team were effective, and they would not allow Duffy to fight after sustaining the concussion. The UFC should be heralded for this decision even though it weakens the fight card for fans this weekend. The health and safety of athletes should be paramount.

The Duffy vs. Poirier contest was sure to be exciting and would have sent the winner into the mix of contenders at 155 pounds. Now they will have to wait for their next shot at glory. An unfortunate bit of news mid-week for the fans and the fighters.

UFC Fight Night 76 will now be a 10-fight event on UFC Fight Pass. It begins at 1 p.m. ET, and Bleacher Report will have full coverage when the action gets underway.

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Dustin Poirier vs. Joe Duffy: A Head-to-Toe Breakdown

UFC Fight Night 76 has a lightweight main event sure to take fans off their feet with excitement. as Ireland’s Joe Duffy fights in front of a friendly crowd against Dustin Poirier.
Poirier was a former Top Five-ranked featherweight, but after suffering…

UFC Fight Night 76 has a lightweight main event sure to take fans off their feet with excitement. as Ireland’s Joe Duffy fights in front of a friendly crowd against Dustin Poirier.

Poirier was a former Top Five-ranked featherweight, but after suffering a TKO loss to Conor McGregor, he made the decision to move up to 155 pounds. Thus far, it has seemed like a good move. He has back-to-back knockout victories over quality opponents.

It has moved Poirier into the Top 15 of the division. Entering the fight, Poirier will be ranked No. 13.

Duffy made his UFC debut at UFC 185 with a win over Jake Lindsey. He returned in July with a submission win against Ivan Jorge. Poirier will be his best test inside the Octagon to date.

So who has the advantage in this fight? That is what we will look at with this head-to-toe breakdown of UFC Fight Night 76’s main event.

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Ronda Rousey’s Mom Blasts Daughter’s Coach in Scathing Video

Dr. AnnMaria De Mars is not one to mince words, and that includes ones directed toward her daughter’s head coach.
Her daughter is, of course, Ronda Rousey. The UFC bantamweight champion is coached by Edmond Tarverdyan. And De Mars is not a fan.
De Mars…

Dr. AnnMaria De Mars is not one to mince words, and that includes ones directed toward her daughter’s head coach.

Her daughter is, of course, Ronda Rousey. The UFC bantamweight champion is coached by Edmond Tarverdyan. And De Mars is not a fan.

De Mars put it all out there in a video by LatiNation. She jumped right into it by stating that she thinks “Edmond is a terrible coach.” And she did not stop there. De Mars said Tarverdyan “hit the lottery” with Rousey, who was a world-class athlete before she ever stepped foot in his gym.

The former judo world champion said she thinks her daughter continues to train under Tarverdyan out of superstition.

I think she stays there because it’s like somebody who, you know, pitches a no-hitter when they’re wearing red underwear and they wear that red underwear every day. I think it’s superstition, and I would caution anybody from going there.

The colorful De Mars also said Tarverdyan uses Rousey to lure other fighters to his camp and called him a “bad person.”

De Mars may have a case against Tarverdyan. He has yet to produce another top-flight prospect, and his veteran fighters have failed to make a big impact after arriving. Travis Browne was once thought to be a potential title contender, but he has faltered. Marina Shafir has been knocked out in each of her last two bouts.

Rousey is the lone athlete who stands out.

Now that De Mars has aired her issues with Tarverdyan, we’ll see if the situation develops as Rousey gears up for a bout against Holly Holm in November.

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UFC Champ T.J. Dillashaw Said He’d Fight Former Mentor Urijah Faber

The conflict between Urijah Faber and UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw continued on Monday afternoon on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

Dillashaw’s departure from Team Alpha Male has been a developing story over the past week. Faber and forme…

The conflict between Urijah Faber and UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw continued on Monday afternoon on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

Dillashaw‘s departure from Team Alpha Male has been a developing story over the past week. Faber and former Team Alpha Male coach Duane Ludwig, who still trains Dillashaw, have had a back-and-forth as of late, but the champion getting involved will raise the stakes.

He told Helwani (h/t Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter) that he is even banned from the gym itself:

This is not the first time this fight has appeared to be a viable option.

In January on UFC Tonight (h/t MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi), UFC president Dana White said the two made it clear that they would indeed compete against each other if necessary. In July, Faber told Fox Sports that if Dillashaw asked him for the fight, he would oblige.

According to Dillashaw on The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Fighting’s Shaheen Al-Shatti), it appears that could be around the corner:

Dillashaw is confident that if the fight occurred, he would have no problem defeating the former WEC champion. It’s hard to disagree with him after stellar performances that have led him to be the best fighter at 135 pounds today.

However, Faber is no slouch and certainly has some inside knowledge on his former protege.

Faber’s next scheduled bout is slated for December 12 at UFC 194. Dillashaw is scheduled to defend the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz on January 17 in Boston. The timing could be right for a teacher-vs.-student scrap in 2016.

The list of interesting fights at 135 is not lengthy. In a thin division, this could be a money fight awaiting the UFC—one it may not be able to pass up.

The war of words continuing to heat up only makes it more enticing to see play out, and it almost seems as if they are on a collision course to settle this brewing feud.

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Ronda Rousey to Co-Anchor SportsCenter on October 7

The Ronda Rousey media train continues to pick up steam. The bantamweight champion of the world will have a big week on major platforms.

On Tuesday, Rousey will return to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She will join Lady Gaga as guests for the da…

The Ronda Rousey media train continues to pick up steam. The bantamweight champion of the world will have a big week on major platforms.

On Tuesday, Rousey will return to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She will join Lady Gaga as guests for the day. This marks Rousey‘s second trip to the leading nightly talk show after being a guest back in March after her destruction of Cat Zingano.

And that isn’t the most surprising news surrounding her upcoming media blitz. Per Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, Rousey will co-anchor SportsCenter on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET. Rousey will share the desk with Lindsay Czarniak.

MMA has grown by leaps and bounds, and ESPN has taken notice over the years. But Rousey‘s superstardom has given her more coverage than any other MMA fighter on the leading sports network. Earlier this year, Rousey won the ESPY award for Best Female Athlete.

The mainstream media hype surrounding Rousey has been a snowball rolling downhill at high velocity. When the UFC debuted their first upscale event trailer for UFC 193 featuring Rousey, they didn’t release it themselves. It was not dropped onto their YouTube channel. Instead, Ellen DeGeneres tweeted it out to her 48 million followers:

2015 has seen a big gain for media coverage of women’s athletics, and Rousey has been at the helm of this movement. She is the face of the UFC and the biggest star they have ever had. There is a reason ESPN has chosen her as the first female athlete for this guest role. This week’s media presence for the champion only proves her worth to this sport.

UFC 193 takes place in Melbourne on November 15 where Rousey will defend her title against Holly Holm in the main event.

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Pop Culture Icon Cher Wants Nick Diaz’s Suspension Lifted

Cher—yes, that Cher—wants the Nevada Athletic Commission’s (NAC) suspension of Nick Diaz lifted, and she tweeted her support to her nearly 3 million followers Monday.

Raise your hand if you thought this is how we would start our week in MM…

Cher—yes, that Cher—wants the Nevada Athletic Commission’s (NAC) suspension of Nick Diaz lifted, and she tweeted her support to her nearly 3 million followers Monday.

Raise your hand if you thought this is how we would start our week in MMA. Did you raise your hand? Well, if you did, then I will call you a liar. Cher is a strange bedfellow for a crusade against the NAC‘s harsh decision of Diaz‘s career.

The NAC suspended Diaz for five years for a failed drug test at UFC 183. The circumstances surrounding the test, and the hearing itself, gave rise to a movement in support of the fan-favorite fighter.

Diaz took three tests for his fight against Anderson Silva. Of those three tests, two came back clean. Both of those tests were done at World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited labs, but the test that came back positive for marijuana metabolites was taken to a non-WADA lab. The NAC used that test in conjunction with his status as a repeat offender—Diaz tested positive for marijuana in 2007 and 2012—to suspend him for five years.

What has followed has been nothing short of astonishing. An individual from Alabama submitted a petition to We the People, the White House’s online petition service, regarding this situation. The service has a 100,000-signature threshold to meet before it can be sent for official review. How successful has this petition been thus far? It has over 66,500 signatures.

That is overwhelming support for Diaz.

What happens if it reaches the mark? The issue will be sent to the appropriate officials within the White House for official comment. Reaching the goal would undoubtedly shine a larger spotlight on the situation going on with Diaz and this suspension.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reached out to Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval about the NAC decision and got a reply back from his office stating he will not “second-guess” its ruling.

Can Cher’s tweet to millions of users on social media get this petition over the hump? Well, it certainly can’t hurt the attempt. If nothing else, the support of an icon such as Cher will certainly raise the profile of this issue.

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