Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Jon Jones is back, baby! The former light heavyweight champion got a very light fifteen-month sentence from an independent arbitrator, Richard McLaren. This makes him eligible to return as soon as the end of October.
How, exactly, did Jones wrangle such a light sentence? It turns out that buried in the arbitration agreement is the fact that Jones gave ‘Substantial Assistance’ to USADA. In other words, he turned someone in to USADA or another anti-doping organization.
This is, to my knowledge, the first time any UFC fighter has chosen to avail themselves of section 10.6.1 and turn “states evidence” to reduce their suspension.
It’s a very substantial reduction as well, so I doubt this is just a case of giving a name, it’ll be more than that.
— Iain Kidd (@iainkidd) September 20, 2018
Worth noting that early in his UFC career Jones used to talk about turning in other kids for smoking weed, and called himself “kind of a snitch.”
Guess he was telling the truth, there.
— Iain Kidd (@iainkidd) September 20, 2018
Here is the clause. ‘Substantial Assistance’ refers to Jones helping USADA or another anti-doping body discover a violation or criminal offense by another person.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13120817/USADA_JonJones_Assistance.PNG)
If you are wondering who Jon Jones snitched on, the agreement doesn’t say. The reduction was substantial, however, a whopping 30 months taken off Jones’ sentence.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13120881/USADA_JonJones_Snitch.PNG)
His return won’t be at UFC 230, which is still missing a main event, according to Dana White and multiple sources who spoke to Ariel Helwani.
Jon Jones isn’t scheduled and currently isn’t in the plans to compete on the Nov. 3 card at MSG, according to multiple sources.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 20, 2018
I told Dana White the obvious assumption everyone is making is Jon Jones will headline MSG on 11/3. He replied, “not true.”
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 20, 2018
Other fighters have some strong feelings about USADA’s decision, especially ones who have faced their wrath before.
No shade to JJ but no one is surprised by this arbitrary decision , USADA is steadily losing respect in the fight community to the point of questioning why they even exist https://t.co/AhVmwBvBEr
— Curtis Blaydes (@RazorBlaydes265) September 20, 2018
U$ADA
— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) September 20, 2018
The full arbitration agreement, including details on Jon Jones admitting to his use of cocaine, his one-month stint in rehab, and the arbitrator’s conviction of his innocence despite Jones failing to prove just how he failed the test, can be found here.
Insomnia
Your time watching UFC events is mostly NOT watching fights.
Feel like UFC events are too long? That’s because you only watch about 2 hours of actual fighting in a 6 hour broadcast. Full analysis: https://t.co/PJZs1vxX7K
— Streaming Observer (@StreamingOb) September 19, 2018
That does look like Chris Weidman
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) September 19, 2018
Amanda Nunes has a soft spot for puppies
if was my the corner of the table would be gone #goodboy pic.twitter.com/rEZXtjU4DG
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) September 19, 2018
He went down hard
Clever
Reece “Lightning” Mclaren takes flight! Or did he… ? #WeAreONE #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/65tJUGGZhX
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 18, 2018
Combat sports this weekend
Live Combat Sport Schedule: 9/19 – 9/24
Full schedule: https://t.co/SiORMS6xnT pic.twitter.com/XL29zUf0RS
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) September 19, 2018
Daniel Cormier thinks McGregor is the only guy who should be throwing that corkscrew uppercut.
Lil Nog doing cosplay
Big Nog trying his best to impersonate Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov. Bless his heart pic.twitter.com/J2hqGkZG53
— ZombieProphet (@GIFsZP) September 19, 2018
Gregor Gillespie is the lightweight no one is talking about, but his wrestling is really slick.
Slips, Rips, Combat Clips
Sumo
Day11 This Takanoiwa (L) Kotoshogiku bout I show because it’s great to see Iwa bounce back from all that happened, win juryo and now do well in makuuchi. Also great to see Shogiku show he can still hold his own. #Sumolingo #akibasho pic.twitter.com/9R7K4tBmr4
— SumoSoul (@TheSumoSoul) September 19, 2018
Karate Combat has some astonishingly cool production value
World champion. Sharm Sheik Champ. Legend.
.
Abdalla ‘The Legend’ Ibrahim has lived up to his nickname after a KO at Karate Combat: Inception.
.
Will he add another W to his record?
.
Watch Abdalla ‘The Legend’ Ibrahim in the MAIN EVENT at Karate Combat: One World! pic.twitter.com/uFjmrAeP6A— Karate Combat (@Karate_Combat) September 19, 2018
I’ll take any excuse to watch highlights from this fight again
I wanted to stop posting these but they are too good
Nice choke
Random Land
The physics of this were mesmerizing
Buenos días compañeros ?? pic.twitter.com/Nrr4ENIrad
— Euro Valladares (@EuroValladares) September 19, 2018
A Very Texas Story
Texas grandma kills 12-foot gator, says she’s finally avenged her miniature horse https://t.co/RxZH9gZ4lh
— Jared Keller (@jaredbkeller) September 19, 2018
Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality