As if February 19’s highly lauded – and highly watched – Bellator 149 from Houston, Texas wasn’t enough of a spectacle, news has arrived this afternoon that event co-headliners Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock have failed drug tests for banned substances in pre-fight tests according to the Texas Department Of Licensing Regulation (TDLR). According to the
As if February 19’s highly lauded – and highly watched – Bellator 149 from Houston, Texas wasn’t enough of a spectacle, news has arrived this afternoon that event co-headliners Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock have failed drug tests for banned substances in pre-fight tests according to the Texas Department Of Licensing Regulation (TDLR).
According to the agency, both men have been administratively suspended for testing positive, the maximum punishment for which in Texas usually entails a 90-day suspension and a $5,000 fine. Texas Combative Sports Program director Greg Alvarez was contacted by MMA Fighting for comment, but redirected all questions to open records officials.
The exact specifics of what drugs Slice and Shamrock are unknown, as the samples are classified pending an adjudication process. Bellator spokesman Danny Brener said he had not been notified of any failures, and president Scott Coker is looking into the matter.
Slice infamously beat street fighter Dada 5000 via third-round TKO in their co-main event bout, an exhausting affair that has been deemed legitimately the worst fight in MMA. Shamrock, on the other hand, lost to longtime rival Royce gracie by TKO after a controversial low blow to the groin went unseen by the referee.
Regardless, the 52-year-old former UFC champion’s win would have most likely been overturned based on the results of his drug test.
Bellator 149 was the promotion’s most watched event in history, boasting an overall average of 1.9 million viewers with 2.5 million for the Slice vs. Dada 5000 fight and 2.4 million for Gracie vs. Shamrock.
There isn’t a UFC event this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t high stakes up for grabs elsewhere. Invicta FC is back with two title fights to help satisfy the appetites of fight fans everywhere.
Atomweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki will defend…
There isn’t a UFC event this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t high stakes up for grabs elsewhere. Invicta FC is back with two title fights to help satisfy the appetites of fight fans everywhere.
Atomweight champion AyakaHamasaki will defend her title against Amber Brown in the main event, and Vanessa Porto will battle Jennifer Maia in the co-main event for the interim Invicta FC flyweight championship. The fun doesn’t stop there.
Invicta FC 16 features seven more quality contests. It should be a fun evening with plenty of fisticuffs. Bleacher Report will have full coverage of the event beginning with Ashley Greenway vs. Sarah Click.
Invicta FC 16 gets underway on UFC Fight Pass at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Invicta FC 16 Fight Card
Invicta FC Atomweight Championship:AyakaHamasaki vs. Amber Brown
Invicta FC Interim Flyweight Championship: Vanessa Porto vs. Jennifer Maia
Luke Rockhold believes Chris Weidman has been acting out of character since his devastating loss at UFC 194 and feels it won’t bode well him in the rematch. Chris Weidman was devastated after losing his middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at…
Luke Rockhold believes Chris Weidman has been acting out of character since his devastating loss at UFC 194 and feels it won’t bode well him in the rematch.
Weidman was booked to face Rockhold in an immediate rematch after former #1 middleweight contender Yoel Romerofailed an out-of-compeition drug test. “Soldier of God” was expected to challenge Rockhold for the belt but has been removed from the UFC rankings since his anti-doping violation.
Although Weidman claims to have recovered from UFC 194 and vowed to avenge his loss to Rockhold at the UFC’s ‘Unstoppable’ press conference, the current 185-pound champion feels “All-American” acted emotionally on-stage.
“Obviously not having the belt has got to him” Rockhold told reporters at a recent EA Sports media event (h/t MMA Junkie.com). “I don’t know where he’s coming from, he’s just really emotional – maybe he’s on his period or something. … He doesn’t look like himself. We’ll see if this emotion helps him. But to my knowledge emotion doesn’t help you fight.
“He better check himself or this fight’s going to be over a lot sooner than he expects, maybe than even I expect. I don’t feel threatened by Chris. I really don’t see what he’s going to bring to the table to blow me away. … He’s a great fighter, but I’m the best.”
Rockhold, whose only UFC defeat comes to Vitor Belfort in his debut, believes we’ll see a more urgent, precise fighter at UFC 199. The two middleweights went toe-to-toe in December until the American Kickboxing Academy product scored a takedown and began to takeover at the end of the third round.
“I think you’re going to see a different fight,” Rockhold said. “It’s going to be quick, it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be precise and I’m going to go in there and execute”
Rockhold vs. Weidman II is expected to headline the UFC 199 pay-per-view at The Forum in Inglewood, California on June 4th.
In absolutely non-surprising news, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his archrival, former champion Jon Jones, got into heated verbal warfare at last week’s UFC: Unstoppable press conference the day before UFC 196 to begin building the buzz of their anticipated rematch at April 23’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas. The current champ was
In absolutely non-surprising news, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his archrival, former champion Jon Jones, got into heated verbal warfare at last week’s UFC: Unstoppable press conference the day before UFC 196 to begin building the buzz of their anticipated rematch at April 23’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas.
The current champ was eager to call Jones out for being fake, his go-to insult for the troubled phenom. Cormier’s basis for the insinuation was a backstage confrontation where Jones allegedly called him ‘the biggest p**** he has ever met’ and told him to ‘suck his d***’ before the presser, which he detailed in an interview with Ariel Helwani this week.
Today a video of the exchange has surfaced online where Jones can indeed be heard saying those things as Cormier goads him on from afar:
Here’s just what the brash and cocky had to say to the champ, whom he feels is falsely holding his title belt:
Jones: ‘You’re the lamest bitch ass I’ve ever met.’
Cormier: ‘Yeah, and what does that make you then?’
Jones: ‘Talking all this shit outside, with bodyguards between us?’
Cormier: ‘Please Jon, when have I ever backed down from a fight with you?’
Jones: ‘Daniel, suck my dick. You got your fuckin’ cheerleading squad with you.’
We take a look ahead at the upcoming Invicta card and some of the action set to take place. Invicta 16: Hamasaki vs Brown takes place this Friday, March 11th live from Las Vegas at the Trinidad Pavilion at the Tropicana. The event begins a…
We take a look ahead at the upcoming Invicta card and some of the action set to take place.
Invicta 16: Hamasaki vs Brown takes place this Friday, March 11th live from Las Vegas at the Trinidad Pavilion at the Tropicana. The event begins at 8:30pm streaming on UFC Fight Pass. Here’s a quick look at the card.
Invicta atomweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki (12-1) returns to defend her title after her surprising win against BJJ specialist and surging fighter Herica Tiburcio, this time taking on Fit NHB standout Amber Brown (6-1). Hamasaki has faced some formidable opposition including wins over current UFC talent Seo Hee Ham, current Invicta fighters Lacey Schuckman and Mizuki Inoue, Japanese veterans Emi Fujino and Mei Yamauchi, and her lone loss to UFC strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha. She has two TKOs on her record and four submission wins. She has a very intelligent and scrappy ground game that puts major emphasis on positional advantages and remains very active after her transitions.
Brown is coming into this fight on a four-fight win streak and has wins over Catherine Costigan, Liz McCarthy and Jewels and Pancrase veteran Kikuyo Ishikawa. Her lone loss was at Pancrase 247 against Emi Fujino by submission. She has a very tough and gritty dirty boxing and wrestling style that is reliant on pressure and making her opponents carry her weight.
Also on the card will be durable and talented Brazilian veterans Vanessa Porto (18-6) taking on Jennifer Maia (12-4-1 draw) in a rematch from a bout they had in 2011, in which Porto won via armbar. Former TUF contestant and UFC fighter Angela Hill (5-2 MMA, 16-0 kickboxing) will be taking on former title challenger Stephanie Eggink (4-2). Hill is stepping up as a late replacement after stellar prospect Alexa Grasso had to withdraw due to injury. Grasso’s teammate and friend Irene Aldana (5-2) will be fighting former UFC talent Jessamyn Duke (3-3-1 no contest), making her return to the Invicta cage. Aldana is coming off a loss to Invicta bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger via submission, while Duke is on a three fight losing skid that includes losses to Bethe Correia, Leslie Smith and Elizabeth Phillips. Former UFC fighter Roxanne Modafferi (18-12) fights Invicta mainstay and former title challenger DeAnna Bennett (8-1) at flyweight.
Former strawweight champion Herica Tiburcio (9-3) will be fighting the very athletic Jinh Yu Frey (4-1), and rising talent and Legacy FC flyweight champion Andrea Lee (4-1) fights very tough veteran Sarah D’Alelio (8-6).
The card will be rounded out by the return of very promising prospect Kelly McGill (2-0) (whose last fight was in November of 2014) facing returning Invicta talent Aspen Ladd (2-0). Finally, the opening bout will see two fighters making their pro debuts as Ashley Greenway takes on Sarah Click, as both women have had a handful of amateur bouts that have yielded some promising performances. Full card and order are as follows:
With McGregor’s return at the UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle imminent, and a featherweight title defense expected, Edgar may finally get his wish granted. However, if McGregor’s coach has anything to say about who his pupil faces next, the New Jersey native will be left high and dry yet again.
This, despite previous reassurances from SBG Ireland head honcho John Kavanagh that McGregor would indeed slug it out with Edgar sometime in the future.
Kavanagh’s thoughts drew the ire of Edgar’s coach, Mark Henry, who blasted UFC for protecting its cash cow:
From his appearance on the Sunday Morning Cornerman Show (via MMA Fighting):
“I think from that fight we know why Conor and the UFC don’t want him to fight Frankie. This guy gasses out and Frankie would just maul this kid. Frankie isn’t afraid to throw strikes and has good movement. There’s a lot of things Conor does to fighters that he wouldn’t be able to do to Frankie. At the end of the fight, he was saying something like, ‘I don’t know if Frankie is worthy of fighting me.’ I think it’s the other way around. I don’t think Conor is worthy of fighting Frankie.”
Henry was evidently critical of McGregor’s performance in “Sin City” last Saturday (March 5, 2016) when he slowed to a crawl and was promptly disposed of by the former 155-pound title challenger in Diaz. The 27-year-old striking standout was outmatched on the ground and submitted via rear-naked choke in the second round of a welterweight main event.
It was Edgar, currently recovering from a groin injury, who was originally on UFC President Dana White’sspeed dial once a lightweight superfight between 155-pound titleholder Rafael dos Anjos and McGregor fell through.
No decision has been made yet as to who McGregor will make his first title defense against, but with Jose Aldoshunning Edgar on social media earlier this week and White’s newfound appreciation for the Brazilian, the American wrestler could be on the outside looking in.
Frankie Edgar has been campaigning for his shot at halting the Conor McGregor hype train for a very long time.
With McGregor’s return at the UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle imminent, and a featherweight title defense expected, Edgar may finally get his wish granted. However, if McGregor’s coach has anything to say about who his pupil faces next, the New Jersey native will be left high and dry yet again.
This, despite previous reassurances from SBG Ireland head honcho John Kavanagh that McGregor would indeed slug it out with Edgar sometime in the future.
Kavanagh’s thoughts drew the ire of Edgar’s coach, Mark Henry, who blasted UFC for protecting its cash cow:
From his appearance on the Sunday Morning Cornerman Show (via MMA Fighting):
“I think from that fight we know why Conor and the UFC don’t want him to fight Frankie. This guy gasses out and Frankie would just maul this kid. Frankie isn’t afraid to throw strikes and has good movement. There’s a lot of things Conor does to fighters that he wouldn’t be able to do to Frankie. At the end of the fight, he was saying something like, ‘I don’t know if Frankie is worthy of fighting me.’ I think it’s the other way around. I don’t think Conor is worthy of fighting Frankie.”
Henry was evidently critical of McGregor’s performance in “Sin City” last Saturday (March 5, 2016) when he slowed to a crawl and was promptly disposed of by the former 155-pound title challenger in Diaz. The 27-year-old striking standout was outmatched on the ground and submitted via rear-naked choke in the second round of a welterweight main event.
It was Edgar, currently recovering from a groin injury, who was originally on UFC President Dana White’sspeed dial once a lightweight superfight between 155-pound titleholder Rafael dos Anjos and McGregor fell through.
No decision has been made yet as to who McGregor will make his first title defense against, but with Jose Aldoshunning Edgar on social media earlier this week and White’s newfound appreciation for the Brazilian, the American wrestler could be on the outside looking in.
