Author: Nick Caron

Matthew Riddle Released from UFC for Marijuana: Why the UFC Made the Right Call

Seven months after failing a drug test for marijuana at UFC 149, Matthew Riddle appeared to be back on track as he stepped into the cage at UFC on Fuel 7. As it turns out, he apparently didn’t learn from his mistake as a second failed drug test has now…

Seven months after failing a drug test for marijuana at UFC 149, Matthew Riddle appeared to be back on track as he stepped into the cage at UFC on Fuel 7. As it turns out, he apparently didn‘t learn from his mistake as a second failed drug test has now caused the UFC to release this very entertaining fighter.

Riddle himself spoke with BJPenn.com Radio on Wednesday night following his release and seemed baffled about the promotion’s decision to release him.

I’ve failed two drug tests in seven months. There’s not much I can do. I was prescribed my medicine and I’m going to take it. I got fired over taking my medicine because I don’t want to take pharmaceutical drugs or testosterone. This is what works for me, it’s just s****y, but it is what it is.

Riddle’s second failed drug test for marijuana has been the source of much controversy within the MMA community over the past few days, bringing questions to light that have been debated before, but rarely resulted in a fighter losing his or her job.

Should marijuana be on the banned substances list? Should it be considered a performance-enhancing substance? Should the UFC even care about marijuana when there isn’t an athletic commission regulating the event?

All great questions. But they leave out the real question:

Shouldn’t Matt Riddle understand that he can’t smoke marijuana?

Now before you jump down my throat, let me first say that I completely disagree with marijuana being on the banned substances list. I don’t believe it’s a performance enhancer and I also don’t believe that it should be illegal whatsoever, in any way, shape or form. 

But this isn’t about what should and shouldn’t be allowed. It’s about what is allowed under the current rules.

For Matt Riddle and other fighters on a UFC contract, marijuana is against the rules. Period. Put your doctor’s note back in your pocket because it doesn’t matter. Marijuana is a banned substance.

So why, then, is Matt Riddle surprised about his failed test?

Riddle told BJPenn.com Radio:

I still don’t know how it’s possible; I quit smoking three weeks out from the fight. I’ve passed drug tests when I quit two weeks out from a fight; it’s just crazy to me. I asked for my numbers and they sent me a form that just said I tested positive for marijuana.  It didn’t say how much, it just said I was over the amount.

Do you know how it’s possible, Matt? Because you put marijuana into your body!

Want to know how to not have a positive drug test? Stop doing it!

This is such an easy concept that I can’t believe it even needs to be said. When fighters like Matt Riddle and Nick Diaz openly admit to smoking marijuana, they are simultaneously admitting to a breach of their UFC contract. 

I find myself saying this far too often in an effort to explain the decisions they make, but the UFC is a business. When a fighter is admitting to using a substance that is banned by the usual governing body—even if it’s not banned in the area the event is currently being held—the fighter draws an immediate red flag from management. 

When the drug test comes back positive, the frustrations only grow greater.

With Riddle having already failed one test, the UFC now has to consider the possibility that a third failed test could result in a long suspension. In addition to the bad press that failed tests bring to the sport, not being able to book a fighter for a year (in some cases) is a harsh penalty not just for the fighter but for the organization.

Marijuana apologists and Riddle himself talk about how marijuana is a better natural healer than over-the-counter or prescription medication, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it is against the rules. 

If you’re a fighter who can’t go without marijuana, then perhaps you should consider moving to an area that does not test for the substance. Don’t bother signing with the UFC because chances are pretty good that you’re eventually going to get caught when you have to fight in an area that does test.

And don’t complain about getting released, either. Don’t play the “woe is me” card.

You are a professional athlete who is living the life that thousands, if not millions of people around the world want. For every one of you who doesn’t take your responsibilities seriously, there are a thousand others who would give up everything to take your spot on the UFC roster.  

Until marijuana gets removed from testing, we need to hold these fighters accountable for their decisions. In this case, the UFC made the right move to serve Matt Riddle his walking papers.

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Invicta FC’s Kaitlin Young: Sponsor Owes Money, Merchandise from Previous Fights

After months of frustration, Invicta FC star Kaitlin Young finally broke her silence Sunday about a non-paying sponsor from back in the summer of 2012. A winner of the very first Invicta FC “Fight of the Night” bonus for her bout against Leslie Sm…

After months of frustration, Invicta FC star Kaitlin Young finally broke her silence Sunday about a non-paying sponsor from back in the summer of 2012. 

A winner of the very first Invicta FC “Fight of the Night” bonus for her bout against Leslie Smith at Invicta FC 1, Young claims that Gamebred Fightwear has not fulfilled obligations that the two parties agreed to for her fights in 2012. 

According to Young, part of her deal with Gamebred Fightwear was that she was to receive 100 “signature” shirts for the Invicta 1 fight in April 2012. That apparently has not happened. She also says that she is owed a sum of money from her second bout in July.

“I have not received 85 of the 100 signature shirts for the Invicta 1 fight,” Young told Bleacher Report MMA. “And I have not received half of the financial compensation for the Invicta 2 fight in July.”

Non-paying sponsors are not anything new to mixed martial arts, but for a fighter like Young who is competing in the high levels of women’s MMA, it seems a bit surprising that a sponsor wouldn’t deliver. Unfortunately, because there was not a legal contract between the two, it will be hard to determine what the actual obligations were. 

“There was not a contract, which is pretty standard for smaller amounts of money and gear agreements,” Young said. “Gamebred has expressed that they have no intention of correcting the situation.”

Young also noted that fans who purchased the signature shirts she spoke of, through the Gamebred website, still have not received them. 

Although Young hopes that the situation with Gamebred will be rectified, she is not holding her breath. 

“I very much doubt it will [be fixed] but I have accepted that at this point,” she said. “I just don’t want anyone else to lose money because of them.”

A request for a rebuttal from Gamebred Fightwear has not yet been answered.

With things having gone this far, Young also asserts that she will not work with Gamebred again, even if they fulfill the obligations in their spoken contract.

“If they try to compensate me now, it will only be due to social pressure—not because they are an actual sponsor,” she said. 

Young is set to fight Amanda Nunes at Invicta FC 5 in Kansas City on April 5. She has asked MMA fans to get the word out about the situation with Gamebred Fightwear. 

Nick Caron is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For more fighter news, interviews and articles, please follow him on Twitter @nicholascaron. 

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Ronda Rousey, Danica Patrick and the Top 10 American Female Athletes Today

The Daytona 500 and UFC 157 are different in many ways, but both shared a female in the lead role in common.The media couldn’t get enough of Danica Patrick, the pole-sitter for the Daytona 500, as she looked to become just the second woman in the histo…

The Daytona 500 and UFC 157 are different in many ways, but both shared a female in the lead role in common.

The media couldn’t get enough of Danica Patrick, the pole-sitter for the Daytona 500, as she looked to become just the second woman in the history of NASCAR to ever lead the race under non-caution circumstances. She accomplished that goal on Lap 90, when her GoDaddy.com car took over the top spot. 

Like Patrick, the UFC’s Ronda Rousey also made history on Saturday night when she became the first woman to ever win a fight in the Octagon, defeating Liz Carmouche in the first round of the bout. Her win solidified her place as the top female fighter in the sport. 

With these women exuding plenty of “girl power” into their traditionally testosterone-filled sports, now seems like a good time to take a look at the 10 best female athletes in America today.

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Jon Fitch Cut by UFC: Does His Release Create a Credibility Issue for the UFC?

Perennial UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was cut from the UFC this afternoon, creating a whirlwind of emotions that has the Internet buzzing.While some are okay with the decision to release Fitch, most fans and experts seem to agree that it was a…

Perennial UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was cut from the UFC this afternoon, creating a whirlwind of emotions that has the Internet buzzing.

While some are okay with the decision to release Fitch, most fans and experts seem to agree that it was a shocking move that may have been done out of spite.

But even worse than that, by releasing Fitch the UFC has created a credibility issue for itself. 

A few weeks back, the UFC started a campaign to further solidify the rankings of the fighters on their roster. Media members from numerous trusted sources, including Bleacher Report MMA‘s own Jonathan Snowden, Jeremy Botter and Damon Martin, were asked to rank the top 10 fighters in each weight class.

The results were then calculated to create the official UFC Fighter Rankings list. 

Although no specifics were given in regards to how this list would be used, the UFC was essentially officially announcing that these were the best fighters in each weight class. As such, we all assumed there would be some sort of value given to them.

Even after two losses in his previous three fights, Jon Fitch ranked No. 9 in the official UFC welterweight rankings as of Feb. 18. 

By releasing Fitch, the UFC has essentially stated that these rankings—their own official rankings—do not matter.

Again, it should be reiterated that the promotion never said that the rankings did matter, but if they don’t matter, then what’s the point of having them? Why take the time? Why put it on the website? Why promote it like they matter? 

The consensus among dozens of the top analysts in the sport is that Jon Fitch is one of the top 10 fighters in the UFC’s welterweight division. He was released despite the company employing somewhere around 70 other welterweight fighters on their active roster. 

We’ve heard it many times from Dana White in the past: The UFC is supposed to be the place where the top fighters come together to prove who is the best.

Releasing Jon Fitch proves that the promotion cares more about “entertainment” than it does determining the best fighter.

And that’s their choice. This is their business. Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of that. If they don’t feel that the return-on-investment is there to continue employing Jon Fitch or another fighter on the roster, then the right business decision is to release him (or her).

But if it’s all about making a dollar and entertaining the fans, perhaps it’s time to that we all admit that the UFC is starting to creep further away from proving who is the best and more toward the WWE’s brand of “sports entertainment.”

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UFC Releases Jon Fitch, Jacob Volkmann, Sends a Message to “Boring” Fighters

It’s not quite spring yet, but that hasn’t stopped the UFC from getting a head start on some spring cleaning. The organization made some of the most controversial cuts in the promotion’s history over the past few days.On Tuesday …

It’s not quite spring yet, but that hasn’t stopped the UFC from getting a head start on some spring cleaning. The organization made some of the most controversial cuts in the promotion’s history over the past few days.

On Tuesday afternoon, we learned that Jacob Volkmann had been cut by the UFC. At 6-2 in his previous eight fights, Volkmann’s release caught both fans and top analysts by surprise—even if his two losses have come over his past three fights.

But even given Volkmann’s status as one of the best in the division, the news of his release pales in comparison to Wednesday’s news that former welterweight No. 1 contender Jon Fitch had joined Volkmann on a list of 16 fighters who were also released.

Although quite a few of the pink slips on that list were expected to be there, the release of Fitch and even Volkmann is a bit of a shock. Over the course of their UFC careers, Fitch and Volkmann‘s combined records were a combined 20-7-1, with Fitch having been ranked in the top-5 of the welterweight division for the better part of the past five years. 

The release of these two upper-echelon fighters has to point to one thing—with an ever-growing roster that now includes women and flyweights, the UFC is no longer as willing to tolerate “boring” fighters.

Of course, the definition of a “boring” fighter is still very much up for discussion. Is it just the smothering wrestling style that both Fitch and Volkmann have used to succeed in the Octagon that would be considered boring? Or should fighters like Chris Leben, who used to be known for his exciting striking game but recently fell short in a relatively uneventful bout against Derek Brunson, be worried as well? 

At the end of the day, it appears to be a simple judgment call. And according to Volkmann himself, that judgment call may not be coming from who many expected it from.

Assuming that Volkmann is correct in the situation, UFC fighters now need to be even more keenly aware of what matchmaker Joe Silva is looking for when he’s putting fight cards together. 

Dan Hardy, who lost four straight bouts from 2010 – 2011, has remained employed by the company because his wild fighting style meant that most of his fights turned into a standup brawl, so long as his opponent obliged. Perhaps this is a style that more fighters need to make use of.

These releases seem pretty harsh on the surface, but hey—when your roster now includes athletes in nine different weight classes and your events typically only feature 10-12 fights, it’s only going to get tougher to stay employed. 

The message from the UFC, and specifically, Joe Silva appears to be pretty simple—fighters can either start finishing fights that are “entertaining,” never lose or start looking for a new job.

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UFC 157’s Ronda Rousey: Is She MMA’s Version of NASCAR’s Danica Patrick?

With the NFL and MLB in their offseasons, the sports world will shift its focus on Saturday to NASCAR and the UFC as the Daytona 500 and UFC 157 will take center stage. While the spectacles surrounding NASCAR races and MMA fights are not unusual, …

With the NFL and MLB in their offseasons, the sports world will shift its focus on Saturday to NASCAR and the UFC as the Daytona 500 and UFC 157 will take center stage. 

While the spectacles surrounding NASCAR races and MMA fights are not unusual, what is unusual is where the attention will be focused.

On February 23, Danica Patrick will become the first woman to start the Daytona 500 from the pole position and Ronda Rousey will battle Liz Carmouche in what will be the first women’s fight in UFC history. 

These monumental occasions could very well be the foundation that is laid for women in sports to be taken more seriously by the mainstream, perhaps even as equals to men in many cases.

Given their ever-growing popularity, it should come as no surprise that Danica Patrick and Ronda Rousey have a lot in common.

Both began competing as youth. Patrick began racing go-karts competitively at 10 years old while Rousey starting her Judo training at age 11. Both women were very successful in their previous jobs as well, with Patrick having won an Indy Car race in 2008 and Rousey winning an Olympic bronze medal in Judo the same year.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that both ladies have a certain undeniable beauty to them both as experts in their craft and in general as members of the fairer gender. Sex appeal and talent combined have helped these women land the kind of national media coverage that is rarely, if ever, found for women in sports. 

But where these two differ is who they’re competing against when they go to work.

Danica Patrick isn’t the first female to have driven against men, but she is undeniably the most famous despite having never finished on the podium in a NASCAR race. Nevertheless, she has already crossed the obstacle that women’s MMA may never overcome—she’s on equal footing with the opposite gender every time she gets into a car.

For Ronda Rousey, an undefeated record with six first-round submission victories is incredibly impressive as she heads to her 157 fight against Liz Carmouche. There would be little denying that she’s the biggest star the sport of women’s MMA has already seen and the No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet.

Heck, she might already be there.

Unfortunately, a victory for Rousey in that fight just doesn’t compare to what a Patrick win at the Daytona 500 would mean for women in sports.

Rousey could win every fight from here until eternity against women and the question would always be, “Yeah, but can she beat men?”

If Rousey wins on Saturday and solidifies her place as the top woman in the sport and the unquestioned UFC champion, it will do wonders for her and the women of MMA. Still, it’s a bit early to be comparing her potential success on Saturday to the complete shock that would overcome the sports world if Danica Patrick wins the Indy 500. 

In no way am I attempting to denigrate the importance of this fight for Rousey or even compare the physical skills of these two very talented women as I don’t believe there is a direct comparison that can be made.

What I am suggesting, however, is that the national media wants to see a woman beat the men in her sport. As of right now, that’s only achievable for Patrick, given the rules in MMA. 

Perhaps one day we’ll see Rousey or another woman get to the point where the only competitors for her are men. Maybe then we’ll see something change. But until that point, if she wins on Saturday, Rousey will have to be satisfied with being the best woman in her sport…but hey, that’s still pretty damn impressive. 

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