Nick Diaz reaches deal for reduced jail time on DUI cases

Nick Diaz will serve one day in jail for the pair of DUI-related offenses he picked up in Nov. 2013 and Sept. 2014, MMAFighting.com confirmed Monday following an initial report by TMZ Sports.
Diaz struck a plea deal with California pros…

Nick Diaz will serve one day in jail for the pair of DUI-related offenses he picked up in Nov. 2013 and Sept. 2014, MMAFighting.com confirmed Monday following an initial report by TMZ Sports.

Diaz struck a plea deal with California prosecutors that will see the popular UFC welterweight plead no contest to one count of DUI with an alcohol or drug level above .08, in exchange for the state dropping three additional charges from the incidents, including the second potential DUI.

Diaz was sentenced to two days in jail as a result of the deal, with one day credited to time already served.

Diaz, 31, was first arrested on Nov. 20, 2013 in California for driving under the influence. Diaz missed several court dates following the initial arrest, until ultimately surrendering in court in Aug. 2014 after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Diaz was subsequently released on $25,000 bail, and a date for his arraignment was then scheduled for the following month.

Before that arraignment could happen, though, Diaz was arrested a second time in Lodi, Calif. for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, among other charges, in the early morning hours of Sept. 6, 2014. Once under police custody, Diaz attempted to induce himself to vomit several times against the commands of officers as a means to circumvent a breath sobriety test. Diaz was ultimately released from Lodi City Jail later that day.

Diaz is scheduled to report to San Joaquin court for a hearing on his plea deal on July 23 at 8:00 a.m., after which he will serve his one day in jail.

A former Strikeforce champion, Diaz (26-10, 1 NC) last fought in January at UFC 183, where he lost a unanimous decision to ex-UFC middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva. Both Diaz and Silva failed drug tests in relation to the bout, with Diaz testing positive for marijuana metabolites and Silva testing positive for anabolic steroids.

The marijuana violation was Diaz’s third in the state of Nevada, as the welterweight previously failed tests in 2007 and 2012. The latter incident drew Diaz a one-year suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC).

Diaz is currently awaiting a hearing before the NAC to determine a potential punishment for his UFC 183 testing results. That hearing is expected take place in either August or September.

Bellator creates rendering of Dynamite show with both cage and ring

Bellator MMA has put together a picture rendering of what their Dynamite show will look like. The event features both a kickboxing ring and mixed martial arts cage. Dynamite plays host to both GLORY kickboxing bouts and Bellator fights, the …

Bellator MMA has put together a picture rendering of what their Dynamite show will look like. The event features both a kickboxing ring and mixed martial arts cage. Dynamite plays host to both GLORY kickboxing bouts and Bellator fights, the latter of which includes a four-man light heavyweight tournament featuring Muhammed Lawal, Phil Davis, Linton Vassell and Emanuel Newton. The Dynamite card is headlined by a light heavyweight Bellator title fight between Tito Ortiz and champion Liam McGeary. Paul Daley will compete on the GLORY side of the card against an unnamed opponent.

Bellator Dynamite takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on September 19th. The main card will air on Spike TV.

Fedor’s Manager: Signing with UFC Is Likely…if Dana Would ‘Do Some Things’

Pride legend and possible greatest fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko is back, and it seems like the bidding war for his services has officially begun. Emelianenko’s manager, Vadim Finkelstein, joined SB Nation’s Submission Radio to discu…

Pride legend and possible greatest fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko is back, and it seems like the bidding war for his services has officially begun. Emelianenko‘s manager, Vadim Finkelstein, joined SB Nation’s Submission Radio to discuss his client’s return to the sport and possible landing spots.

When asked if Emelianenko was open to finally signing with the UFC, he stated that it was certainly possible. “Well I think UFC have a big chance to sign Fedor. It depends on what offer they will make,” he said through his translator (h/t to Submission Radio’s Denis Shkuratov for the transcription). “If Dana would not only talk, but do some things [and] will make a good offer to Fedor, they have a big chance then.”

Needless to say, this is a wise move. In spite of his struggles in Strikeforce, Emelianenko remains one of the biggest names in MMA, and his return to the sport is guaranteed to be a massive event. The best way to capitalize on that, of course, is to play the UFC’s and Bellator’s contract offers off one another, driving up the asking price. Finkelstein also stated that whichever promotion winds up hosting Emelianenko will not be asked to co-promote the fight with M-1 Global, which was an irreconcilable point of contention between the UFC and the Russian’s management team.

This is a familiar position for both Emelianenko and Finkelstein, who went back and forth at the bargaining table with the UFC in 2009 before eventually signing a deal with Strikeforce. This resulted in more than a few tirades from UFC President Dana White about both the fighter and the manager (Warning: NSFW Language).

When asked if there was any bad blood over that, however, Finkelstein stated that things are as fine as they can be. “Dana talked a lot. [He] talked a lot about Fedor, about Vadim, and he talked bad. But Fedor understands that it all was just PR,” he said. “He’s not in a bad relations with Dana and he doesn’t feel anything bad about him.”

Whether or not that is true is hard to peg (Emelianenko has actually taken multiple shots at White over recent months), but Emelianenko wouldn’t be the first fighter (Warning: NSFW Language) to butt heads with White while still working alongside him.

These negotiations will likely wind up being one of 2015’s biggest stories, and every major promotion around the world is likely to get in the running. Keep an eye on Bleacher Report over the coming weeks for more developments as they happen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fight Night 72 Results: Bisping Outpoints Leites, Dunham Tops Pearson, Duffy Continues to Wow + More

(via UFC on FOX)

Following a brutal, nearly unbearable two day stretch without a UFC event to lift us above the suffocating mediocrity of our everyday lives, the world’s premiere MMA organization returned on Saturday morning for Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites. And what an event it was, jam-packed with ferocious knockouts on the undercard and the opposite of that on the main card. Booyah, Glasgow!

In the main event of the evening, Michael Bisping did his Michael Bisping thing, stickin-n-movin his way to a split decision win over a game Thales Leites. While the fight wasn’t exactly the most memorable thing (especially given every card that’s led up to it in these past couple weeks), it did showcase the continuously evolving arsenal of Leites even in defeat, especially in the striking department. First Werdum, now Leites, it’s like Brazil is finally starting to catch up to the sport they invented. (commence Internet outrage….now!!)

In related news you never would have seen coming, bisping used the win to call out “cheating, scumbag motherf*ckers” Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, then a title shot. Which, aside from the lulz I got from that last part, LOL at the first part!

Elsewhere, the Fight Night 72 card featured a one-sided grappling clinic between journeyman lightweights and a women’s strawweight battle for the ages, so check out all the highlights and results from Saturday’s card after the jump.

The post Fight Night 72 Results: Bisping Outpoints Leites, Dunham Tops Pearson, Duffy Continues to Wow + More appeared first on Cagepotato.


(via UFC on FOX)

Following a brutal, nearly unbearable two day stretch without a UFC event to lift us above the suffocating mediocrity of our everyday lives, the world’s premiere MMA organization returned on Saturday morning for Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites. And what an event it was, jam-packed with ferocious knockouts on the undercard and the opposite of that on the main card. Booyah, Glasgow!

In the main event of the evening, Michael Bisping did his Michael Bisping thing, stickin-n-movin his way to a split decision win over a game Thales Leites. While the fight wasn’t exactly the most memorable thing (especially given every card that’s led up to it in these past couple weeks), it did showcase the continuously evolving arsenal of Leites even in defeat, especially in the striking department. First Werdum, now Leites, it’s like Brazil is finally starting to catch up to the sport they invented. (commence Internet outrage….now!!)

In related news you never would have seen coming, bisping used the win to call out “cheating, scumbag motherf*ckers” Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, then a title shot. Which, aside from the lulz I got from that last part, LOL at the first part!

Elsewhere, the Fight Night 72 card featured a one-sided grappling clinic between journeyman lightweights and a women’s strawweight battle for the ages, so check out all the highlights and results from Saturday’s card after the jump.

You know that thing I said earlier about Brazilians learning to strike? Well, the British should really take a page out of their book and apply it to wrestling. (Bring it on, 3 people who still comment here!!) 

Evan Dunham thoroughly outgrappled Ross Pearson en route to a unanimous decision victory, nearly finishing things in the first with this INSANE armbar that Pearson somehow gritted through. The Brit’s enthusiasm for matwork was almost non-present from then on, which he later blamed on his opponent’s love of lay-n-pray. To which I always say, “If a guy can win a fight simply by laying on you, aren’t *you* mostly to blame?” (Internet outrage meter: Critical.)

Anyways, the loss crushed any hope Pearson might’ve had of winning back-to-back fights for the first time since 2013, while Dunham did exactly that for the first time since 2012.

JoJo, we need to have a talk. You need to stop scaring me so bad in the early going of your fights, mmmmkay? You are my Khaleesi, my moon and stars, and I’m 90% sure that your laugh could cure cancer, so please, stopping letting these last-minute replacement opponents pummel the piss out of you for the first minute of the fight. Also, will you please return my calls? I don’t care what the judge says, we belong together.

All kidding aside, it seemed as if Joanne Calderwood needed to get punched in the face a few times by the unheard of Cortney Casey on Saturday before she could came to the Jason Bourne-esque revelation that she was a trained killing machine. Maybe it was a confidence thing, but JoJo weathered the early onslaught and took over, blistering Casey with nasty knees, body kicks, and the occassional butthole punch or two en route to a unanimous decision victory.

A credit is due to Casey for the heart she displayed while being absolutely savaged in the latter rounds, and we can’t wait to see what she looks like with a full training camp under her belt. My guess: Cortney Casey w/full camp > Mendes full camp > TRtor > Motivated Penn.

Joseph Duffy is for real, ladies and germs. Yes, the man known best as The Last Guy to Beat Conor McGregor™ once again impressed against Ivan Jorge, who I’m just going to assume was a competitor on one of the Brazilian TUFs. (I’ll admit, I’m just trying to piss people off at this point.)

After displaying his smooth, smooth boxing skills early, Duffy snatched up one of the smoothest triangle chokes you will ever see during a scramble midway through the first round. Though it at first seemed like Jorge would grit his way out of it, the Duffman We Deserve™ would simply not be denied. Duffy now sits at 2-0 in the UFC’s lightweight division and will mostly certainly be receiving a step up in competition soon.

The full results from Fight Night 72 are below.

Main card (FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET)
Michael Bisping def. Thales Leites via split decision (47-48, 49-46, 48-47)
Evan Dunham def. Ross Pearson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Joseph Duffy def. Ivan Jorge via submission (triangle choke) 3:05 of round 1
Joanne Calderwood def. Cortney Casey-Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Leon Edwards def. Pawel Pawlak via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Steven Ray def. Leonardo Mafra via TKO (punches) at 2:30 of round 1

Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 11 a.m. ET)
Patrick Holohan def. Vaughan Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ilir Latifi def. Hans Stringer via KO (punch) at :56 of round 1
Mickael Lebout def. Teemu Packalen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Robert Whiteford def. Paul Redmond via TKO (punches) at 3:04 of round 1

Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 10 a.m. ET)
Jimmie Rivera def. Marcus Brimage via TKO (punches) at 1:29 of round 1
Daniel Omielanczuk def. Chris De La Rocha via TKO (punches) at :48 of round 1

The post Fight Night 72 Results: Bisping Outpoints Leites, Dunham Tops Pearson, Duffy Continues to Wow + More appeared first on Cagepotato.

UFC Fight Night 72: 5 Fights for Michael Bisping

At 36 years old, Michael Bisping may be considered an ‘elder statesman’ of the sport. Still, that isn’t stopping him from getting key wins when needed to prolong his career. His win over Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 72 has pushed …

At 36 years old, Michael Bisping may be considered an ‘elder statesman’ of the sport. Still, that isn’t stopping him from getting key wins when needed to prolong his career. His win over Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 72 has pushed his current win streak to two straight victories and is enough to keep him ranked in the UFC Top 15 rankings. Looking forward, these are five fight suggestions that will help keep Bisping relevant and in interesting bouts.

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Olivier Aubin-Mercier to face Chris Wade at UFC FIght Night 74 in Saskatoon

A couple up-and-comers in the UFC’s lightweight division will clash on Aug. 23, when Montreal’s Olivier-Aubin Mercier takes on Chris Wade.
The UFC announced the fight on Monday via its UFC Canada Twitter feed.
The 26-year old Mercier (6-1) h…

A couple up-and-comers in the UFC’s lightweight division will clash on Aug. 23, when Montreal’s Olivier-Aubin Mercier takes on Chris Wade.

The UFC announced the fight on Monday via its UFC Canada Twitter feed.

The 26-year old Mercier (6-1) has won two fights in a row, his latest coming at UFC 186 in April against David Machaud, whom he submitted via third-round rear-naked choke. Mercier was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia fighting as a welterweight. He dropped a split decision against Chad Laprise in the Finale.

The former collegiate wrestler Wade (10-1) has gone undefeated in the UFC since choking out Cain Carrizosa at UFC 177 in his debut. The 27-year old New Yorker is coming off a decision victory over Christos Giagos at UFC Fight Night 68 in New Orleans. Wade also has a decision victory over Zhang Lipeng.

UFC Fight Night 74 takes place at the SaskTel Centre on Aug. 23 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The main event will pit featherweight upstart Max Holloway against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace, Charles Oliveira. Other fights slated for the card are Rick Story vs. Erick Silva and Patrick Cote vs. Josh Burkman.