Tag: Breaking News

Robert Drysdale Likely Out of Bout at UFC 167 for Elevated T/E Ratio

MMA fans excited for Robert Drysdale’s highly anticipated UFC debut are going to have to wait a bit longer. Again. 
The jiu-jitsu ace was slated to step into the Octagon for the first time against Cody Donovan at UFC 167 on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas, b…

MMA fans excited for Robert Drysdale’s highly anticipated UFC debut are going to have to wait a bit longer. Again. 

The jiu-jitsu ace was slated to step into the Octagon for the first time against Cody Donovan at UFC 167 on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas, but he has been denied the necessary licensing to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. 

The news originally broke on MMA Junkie, where it was reported Drysdale would not be receiving the proper licensing or medical clearance due to elevated T/E (testosterone to epitestosterone) levels. The story details Drysdale’s test came in at 19.4-1 which is three times over the 6-1 ratio Nevada allows.

The report also goes on to say that Drysdale tested negative for a variety of other steroids. NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed the information with MMA Junkie and stated Drysdale has not yet been fined or suspended as of this time.

Should Drysdale be pulled from the card at UFC 167, it will mark the second time the Las Vegas-based fighter has been forced to withdraw from a bout since signing with the organization earlier this year. He was originally slated to face Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 163 in August but was forced to pull out of the fight less than a month before the scheduled date with a staph infection.

Drysdale’s arrival to the UFC has come with high expectations, as the former Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championship gold medalist has jumped out to a perfect 6-0 start in mixed martial arts. But after signing his contract to join the biggest promotion in the sport, Drysdale failed to make good on his first scheduled appearance, and the chances are likely he will also be unable to make his bout against Donovan at UFC 167.

The UFC has changed its stance on TRT in the past year, with President Dana White vowing to put extra pressure on anyone who seeks an exemption. With Drysdale’s licensing issue due to elevated T/E levels coming under the microscope, it will be interesting to see how the organization handles the situation.

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.

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UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC Fight Night 30

Lyoto Machida is back in title contention. This time, though, the former light heavyweight champion is aiming at the middleweight championship.
At UFC Fight Night 30, Machida smoked Top Five middleweight Mark Munoz with a head kick in the first round. …

Lyoto Machida is back in title contention. This time, though, the former light heavyweight champion is aiming at the middleweight championship.

At UFC Fight Night 30, Machida smoked Top Five middleweight Mark Munoz with a head kick in the first round. In finishing Munoz so decisively, Machida is already among the elite in the 185-pound class. With one more win, he could be looking at a title shot in a division that was owned by his teammate, Anderson Silva, until recently.

With such success in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Machida is considered among the pound-for-pound best in MMA. Was his win on Saturday enough for him to break into the Top 10 pound-for-pound rankings?

With UFC Fight Night 30 in the books and UFC Fight Night 31 ahead, here are the latest official UFC rankings. 

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Donald Cerrone Will Drop to Featherweight After UFC 167 Fight with Evan Dunham

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will dip his toes in the featherweight pool after his UFC 167 clash with Evan Dunham. 
During a live Google chat Monday, Cerrone revealed this plan after mentioning BJ Penn as a dream opponent for his future. 
Penn rec…

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will dip his toes in the featherweight pool after his UFC 167 clash with Evan Dunham. 

During a live Google chat Monday, Cerrone revealed this plan after mentioning BJ Penn as a dream opponent for his future. 

Penn recently enlisted the help of weight-cut and dieting guru Mike Dolce to help prepare for his own cut to 145 pounds, and Cerrone said he would like to follow suit. 

“I need to get Dolce on my side,” Cerrone said. “I’m going to 145 after this fight [with Dunham].” 

For Cerrone, this, in my eyes, is a terrible decision. 

He is already a massive lightweight, and, while he has never had trouble making the 155-pound limit, I cannot imagine him effectively shredding another 10 pounds. 

Some fighters, like Hector Lombard, Rousimar Palhares and Michael Bisping dropped weight classes with great success, but these fighters are not particularly tall for their division. It makes sense that they could cut weight with few issues.  

At 6’0″ with a significant amount of muscle mass, Cerrone’s frame is massive for his division, but he sounds confident that he can effectively make the cut to featherweight. 

“45 is going to be a lifestyle change,” Cerrone said. “No more Bud Light and Budweisers…No more late nights with [UFC Senior Director of Public Relations] Dave Sholler at Wendy’s.”

Cerrone then backed his decision, saying that he feels he can compete and “Go get the belt” in the division. 

“I just think I could really dominate down there,” Cerrone said. “Most people lose a lot of fights, and they run down; I’m going to go down to 45 after a win.” 

While the move is intriguing, Cerrone also conceded that it would not be permanent, and he would probably bounce between 155 and 145 for a bit. 

While I do think some fun matchups loom for The Cowboy at 145, I cannot help but think the cut will cause him to go full science-project skeleton on us and become a lesser fighter for his troubles. 

What do you think of Cerrone’s decision to join the featherweight masses after his UFC 167 bout with Dunham? Let me know, and we’ll chat it out. 

 

Like MMA, heavy metal or life’s absurdities? Let’s talk on Twitter, @HunterAHomistek. 

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Ed Soares: ‘A Well-Trained Anderson Silva Would Beat Jon Jones’

Anderson Silva may no longer be a UFC champion, but Ed Soares is convinced he would still defeat Jon Jones in a superfight.
Soares, Silva’s longtime manager, recently told James Koh during an appearance on Fox 11’s Cage Talk that …

Anderson Silva may no longer be a UFC champion, but Ed Soares is convinced he would still defeat Jon Jones in a superfight.

Soares, Silva’s longtime manager, recently told James Koh during an appearance on Fox 11’s Cage Talk that Silva is still “the best fighter on the planet.” He believes Silva would have an edge over any fighter in the world, including UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones:

I believe Anderson Silva is the best fighter on the planet, period. I think you could put Anderson Silva against any fighter in any weight class, but I believe he has a bigger danger to any fighter he faces than any fighter has towards him. …I do think Anderson can beat Jon Jones, not taking anything away from Jon Jones. Incredible athlete, but he doesn’t have the experience, and I think that a well-trained Anderson Silva would beat Jon Jones.

UFC president Dana White hinted at a superfight between Silva and Jones for months. Many felt there was actually a chance of the bout coming to fruition if Silva managed to get past Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

As fate would have it, Weidman spoiled any plans of a potential superfight by shocking the world and knocking out Silva to win the middleweight title.

The immediate rematch is already scheduled to take place on December 28 at UFC 168. In September, Jones told Fighters Only that he was still very much interested in the superfight. He believes a convincing win over Weidman in the rematch would be more than enough for Silva to drum up enough interest for a possible 2014 showdown.

The only question mark is Silva’s personal level of interest in moving up in weight and challenging Jones.

According to MMAFighting.com, Silva flat-out admitted during a media luncheon before his fight with Weidman that he doesn‘t think he would beat Jones in a fight. While he isn’t afraid to face Jones, Silva doesn’t really see the point in competing against an exceptionally larger and younger fighter.

The light heavyweight division is also home to many of his teammates, who are also vying for a shot at UFC gold. For now, Silva appears to be at peace with finishing his career at 185 pounds.

Soares is obviously speaking hypothetically, but his comments are incredibly bold, even for the manager of perhaps the greatest fighter in MMA history.

Is Soares just bloviating about his client, or does Silva really hold an edge over any fighter in any weight class?

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Video of Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Uriah Hall’s Scuffle Surfaces on YouTube

As you may or may not have heard, now-retired middleweight journeyman Jason “Mayhem” Miller and The Ultimate Fighter season 17 runner-up Uriah Hall were involved in a scuffle following a BAMMA event last weekend.
MMA Interviews has posted a video of p…

As you may or may not have heard, now-retired middleweight journeyman Jason “Mayhem” Miller and The Ultimate Fighter season 17 runner-up Uriah Hall were involved in a scuffle following a BAMMA event last weekend.

MMA Interviews has posted a video of part the incident to their YouTube channel, which you can see above (click here as embedding on the video has been turned off). You can also catch a glimpse of the meat of the action in the below gifs.

In it, Miller is heard repeatedly using a racial slur to antagonize Hall while waving his middle finger in his face. Hall eventually throws a punch. Miller takes a step toward Hall, but the two are immediately broken apart and separated.

The description of the video discusses what happened immediately before the video started and sheds light on how things escalated between the two:

The scene begins with Jason “Mayhem” Miller being aggressive to a woman who is apparently his ex girlfriend whom he has allegedly assaulted in the recent past. She was visibly emotional and upset and he continued to yell at her. Uriah Hall poked his head in the situation and instantly Miller turned his aggression to him. He began with continuous rants of, “N**** please.” Then the video starts and you see the rest.

Hall trains at Reign MMA, a gym founded by Mark Munoz which Miller previously trained and coached at. Miller was famously booted from the gym last month by Munoz, who was previously one of Miller’s greatest advocates, due to his recent brushes with the law. It is very likely, at least in part, that Miller’s ongoing feud with the gym and his former friends and training partners was behind this.

Miller took to Twitter to continue the feud afterwards, repeating the racial slur. However, after being bombarded with negative reactions to his language, insisted he was in no way a racist: 

“Mayhem” has been on a steady downward spiral since being released from the UFC after going 0-2.  Not too long after the initial release, he was arrested after vandalizing a church while completely naked and followed that up with his infamous “Lucky Patrick” appearance on The MMA Hour. More recently, he was arrested three times within 30 days between August and September for charges that included domestic violence. 

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Chael Sonnen: ‘That Fight Knocked Years off Junior Dos Santos’ Life and Career’

The course of Junior Dos Santos’ life and career was drastically altered by the 23-minute beating he took from Cain Velasquez at UFC 166, according to Chael Sonnen.
Shortly before the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 30, the self-proclaimed “O…

The course of Junior Dos Santos’ life and career was drastically altered by the 23-minute beating he took from Cain Velasquez at UFC 166, according to Chael Sonnen.

Shortly before the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 30, the self-proclaimed “Oregon Gangster” enjoyed a heart to heart with fans during a live Q&A session. One of the questions hurled his way pertained to the controversial heavyweight title bout between Velasquez and Dos Santos.

The general consensus in the MMA community is that the fight should have been stopped much earlier than the official time of 3:09 in the fifth round. Velasquez pummeled Dos Santos relentlessly for nearly five full rounds. Referee Herb Dean motioned like he was going to stop the fight several times, but Dos Santos’ ability to remain upright and return punches in the midst of overwhelming punishment kept the bout going.

Dos Santos’ face was hardly recognizable by the fifth round. His left eye was completely swollen shut, and he was bleeding profusely from a deep cut over his right eye.

Sonnen believes Dean should have stopped the fight earlier, but he puts the brunt of the blame on the shoulders of Dos Santos’ cornerman:

Junior Dos Santos’ cornerman needs to be cut, period, Sonnen said at the Q&A. That was beyond inappropriate, that they sent him back out there. The doctor comes in twice, what that doctor was looking for I have no idea. The referee didn’t stop the fight, though he should have. Ultimately it defaults to your cornerman, who you trust, who is like a father figure, and that guy let Junior Dos Santos down, period. The commission licenses these cornermen. I don’t have the foggiest idea why; I guess just to take their $25. That should be the first cornerman that’s suspended, that was beyond wrong what he did.

UFC President Dana White has also been very critical about Dos Santos’ corner in the fight.

Speaking with MMAFighting.com, White said he thought the fight “should have been stopped in the third.” Like Sonnen, he was completely baffled that Dos Santos’ cornermen could stand by so idly and watch a guy they supposedly care about take such a vicious beating.

Dos Santos is a world class fighter with a heart the size of the entire South American continent. A cornerman is the great protector in a sense, and an often overlooked responsibility the job entails is having the fortitude to save fighters from themselves.

You have to be the one to make the call when your fighter has had enough. The decision to throw in the towel shouldn’t be based around whether or not a fighter is still standing. As Sonnen so eloquently puts it, a good cornerman throws in the towel when he feels his fighter can no longer win:

You do not stop the fight when your fighter can no longer continue. You stop the fight when your fighter can no longer win. The second your guy can’t win, you get him out of there. That fight should have been stopped way earlier. It knocked years off Junior’s life and career, that cornerman should be fired.

In a message relayed to Combate.com, via Fighters Only, Dos Santos reportedly thought the fight was stopped in the second round and had no recollection of the last three rounds after the bout. This is truly scary stuff for a fighter who hasn’t even reached the age of 30 yet.

If Dos Santos hopes to have a long MMA career, perhaps he should reconsider the people he chooses to stand behind him.

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