Tag: Breaking News

Mark Hunt Receives Visa to Travel, Fight with Dos Santos on at UFC 160

The long wait for Mark Hunt to travel to the United States appears to finally be over, and the heavyweight slugger should be on a plane either Sunday or Monday headed for Las Vegas to fight at UFC 160. Hunt has been waiting for two weeks to receive hi…

The long wait for Mark Hunt to travel to the United States appears to finally be over, and the heavyweight slugger should be on a plane either Sunday or Monday headed for Las Vegas to fight at UFC 160.

Hunt has been waiting for two weeks to receive his travel visa to be able to come to the United States, but because of an arrest that happened in 2002 involving the former K-1 fighter, he’s been delayed and unable to get on a plane thus far.

While Hunt was never actually charged with a crime in the incident, he was unable to secure a travel visa for the past couple of weeks, and there was some worry his fight at UFC 160 against former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos was in jeopardy.

Fortunately for Hunt, the red tape that was preventing his travel was cut down over the weekend, and as promised by UFC officials as of last week, the New Zealand fighter will be on a plane headed to the United States shortly (Hunt is expected to be on a plane on Sunday evening with an arrival time in the U.S. on Monday).

Hunt first confirmed the news via Twitter on Sunday.

Representatives from Hunt’s camp also confirmed via email to Bleacher Report that the fighter would be on a plane very soon traveling to the United States.

The good news is that Hunt will be able to fight and the UFC won’t have to scramble for a last-minute replacement for the co-main event on a major pay-per-view card.

If there is a downside, however, it’s the fact that Hunt will be traveling halfway around the world only four days before his scheduled showdown with a former UFC heavyweight champion. 

Hunt’s trip was supposed to take place two weeks ago to allow him time to acclimate his body to the time difference, food and other variables that can affect a fighter leading into a bout. Several competitors from countries like Japan have noted in the past that long travel schedules that see them arrive close to a fight date can be a factor when it comes to their performance.

Hunt has traveled long distances for fights for most of his professional career, so hopefully this late-notice trip to the United States won’t stop him from putting on the best performance possible when he faces Dos Santos on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

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UFC on FX 8 Full Fight Video Highlights, Including Belfort’s KO of Rockhold

In the days leading up to UFC on FX 8, Vitor Belfort said at a press conference (h/t MMA Weekly), “TRT doesn’t win fights.” We could argue that point for days and I’m sure that in some circles that debate will take place. W…

In the days leading up to UFC on FX 8, Vitor Belfort said at a press conference (h/t MMA Weekly), “TRT doesn’t win fights.” 

We could argue that point for days and I’m sure that in some circles that debate will take place. What you can’t argue is that the type of kick that Vitor Belfort delivered on Saturday night does end fights, and it ends them quickly and effectively.

Belfort is known for his devastating first-round knockouts, most of which have come via his quick and heavy hands. On Saturday night he ended his second consecutive fight with a kick, using a spinning heel kick to put Luke Rockhold down and out at the 2:32 mark of the first round. Sure, some ground strikes followed that kick, but it’s doubtful those strikes were necessary. Rockhold was not getting off the mat after the kick landed.

In his previous bout Belfort dispatched Michael Bisping with a head kick. Both knockout kicks were enough to justify the UFC writing “Knockout of the Night” bonus checks in Belfort’s name.

Following the fight, Belfort said, during in his in-cage interview, “I’m stronger than ever. I appreciate all the love from the fans.” Belfort then went on to thank the team he trains with, The Blackzilians. 

As for Rockhold, the dejected former Strikeforce middleweight champion said after the fight, “I take my hat off, he landed a spinning heel kick to my head. I didn’t see that coming. What can I say, he caught me with a spinning heel kick to the head, kudos to him.”

The win will, at the very least, put Belfort in the discussion for the next shot at the UFC middleweight title.

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Nate Diaz Missed the Message, Makes Another Twitter Misstep

The UFC acted quickly when Nate Diaz sent out an ill-advised tweet on Thursday. The promotion almost immediately suspended the fighter pending an investigation. That investigation was completed on Friday evening and Diaz’s punishment for stepping…

The UFC acted quickly when Nate Diaz sent out an ill-advised tweet on Thursday. The promotion almost immediately suspended the fighter pending an investigation. That investigation was completed on Friday evening and Diaz’s punishment for stepping outside the bounds of the UFC code of conduct was handed down. 

The punishment that was handed down by the UFC? A 90-day suspension and a $20,000 fine. 

Call it harsh, call it over the top, call it what you want, but make sure to call it a clear message from the UFC. The message is that this type of behavior, perhaps once accepted or at the very least tolerated, is no longer something that will be laughed off as “boys being boys.”

When Diaz’s penalty was announced on Friday night and there was no response from Diaz or his manager, Mike Kogan, there was hope that maybe the fine and suspension had served as a wake-up call for Diaz. There was hope that maybe being fined more than he made in his last fight would be enough of a deterrent to make Diaz realize he should think before he hits send on his twitter account.

Wrong.

Early Saturday morning an unrepentant Diaz sent out the following:

So, with attention clearly on him, with a lot of eyes watching what his next step would be, Diaz decided he was going to go out there and keep it real. Where others would have kept silent, Diaz decided that blasting away with yet another offensive, misogynistic message was a good idea. It was not a good idea.

Look, I get it.  Diaz is upset that Pat Healy was popped for weed and that Bryan Caraway, the man the tweets were directed at, took the $65,000 bonus for “Submission of the Night” that Healy forfeited. Diaz is upset that Caraway then blasted the use of marijuana, but let’s be honest, that conversation is best kept out of the public eye. Diaz should have kept his complaints among friends and not made it a public issue.

The minute that Diaz put his feelings out there on Twitter it reflected poorly on his employer, the UFC, and they had to act, especially since they now have a code of conduct in place that discusses this type of fighter behavior.

So now what? The UFC is in a quandary. It’s fairly obvious that the message the promotion was hoping to send didn’t sink in for Diaz. Do they need to pull him in and have a conversation with him face to face explaining how to act? Do they need to fine him again for sending out a misogynistic tweet (and yes, “bitch” is a misogynistic term, no matter how you try and defend it)?

Clearly the UFC needs to do something with Diaz, something that allows the message to sink in.

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Bryan Caraway Accused of Elbowing Cat Zingano in Head at TUF 17 Finale

Bryan Caraway has become the primary target of MMA vitriol since receiving the UFC 159 Submission of the Night bonus that had originally been reserved for Pat Healy. After testing positive for marijuana, Healy had the award stripped from him and h…

Bryan Caraway has become the primary target of MMA vitriol since receiving the UFC 159 Submission of the Night bonus that had originally been reserved for Pat Healy. After testing positive for marijuana, Healy had the award stripped from him and his victory over Jim Miller overturned.

In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, after learning he would be getting $65,000 in the mail, Caraway was not about to apologize for accepting the money and took a strong stance against the use of marijuana. Then, on Friday, Caraway had multiple character-damaging accusations hurled at him.

First, Bellator MMA veteran Michelle Ould called Caraway a performance-enhancing drug distributor.

Caraway responded quickly, denying Ould’s claims, but it’s unlikely this is the last we’ll hear about this.

In another serious allegation, women’s bantamweight title contender Cat Zingano told Bloody Elbow that Caraway elbowed her in the head at the TUF 17 finale weigh-ins. Zingano went on to knock out Caraway’s girlfriend, former Strikeforce champion, Miesha Tate, the following evening.

(Caraway) smiled back in my face then elbowed me in the head at weigh-ins. I was pissed. I considered him in that same respect. I am a fighter all the same, but that was dirty and cheap to do to anyone, let alone a girl.

(Caraway and Tate) were both in on it, which makes it even more disturbing. If my husband or son ever pulled something like that, I would be their biggest problem. I won’t be bullied nor condone it.

Caraway has not responded to Zingano’s comments, but this is not his first confrontation with a female fighter. In March 2012, the UFC bantamweight called eventual women’s 135-pound champion Ronda Rousey an unintelligent bimbo who needed to know her place.

With all of the bad publicity surrounding him right now, Caraway would probably be wise to take his unexpected bonus money and go on a long vacation far away from the reach of the MMA media.

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Nate Diaz Suspended 90 Days and Fined $20,000 for Offensive Twitter Message

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz decided to voice his opinion about another fighter on Thursday while using a homophobic slur, and on Friday it cost him $20,000. Diaz took to Twitter this week to speak out against bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway, boasting …

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz decided to voice his opinion about another fighter on Thursday while using a homophobic slur, and on Friday it cost him $20,000.

Diaz took to Twitter this week to speak out against bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway, boasting that he received a Submission of the Night bonus only after the original recipient, Pat Healy, was suspended for failing a post-fight drug test for marijuana.

While the message Diaz was stating was his own opinion, the use of a homophobic slur in doing so brought down the UFC hammer after the violation of the recently instituted fighter code of conduct.

It took less than 24 hours for the UFC to decide Diaz’s punishment, which will result in a brief suspension (which he would have likely sat out anyways after being knocked out in his last fight on April 20) and a hefty fine.

In a statement released on the official website on Friday, the UFC said:

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz has received an immediate 90-day suspension and $20,000 fine for violating the UFC’s fighter code of conduct.  The language used in his tweet was regrettable, offensive and inconsistent with the values and culture of the organization, and is not tolerated.

The money will be donated to charity.

The tweet that contained the offensive message has since been deleted from Diaz’s Twitter account.

Diaz becomes the third fighter in a matter of weeks to fall victim to the UFC’s code of conduct policy.

UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione faced a fine and a brief suspension after making derogatory remarks about transgender fighter Fallon Fox.  While the amount of his fine was never released, UFC President Dana White promised it hit him hard in the wallet.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva decided to miss a press obligation recently in the promotion of his July bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 162. The missed meeting cost the Brazilian $50,000 for his failure to appear at the press function.

Diaz now becomes the latest fighter in just a matter of weeks to end up on the wrong side of the UFC, and he’ll now be $20,000 lighter for the effort.

Just for the sake of reference, Diaz earned $15,000 for his last fight at UFC on Fox 7 in a losing effort to Josh Thomson.  Prior to that fight, Diaz took home $50,000 for his bout against Benson Henderson in the main event of UFC on Fox 5 last December.

The UFC did not release the name of the charity that would receive the fine paid by Diaz.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

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Bryan Caraway Denies Claim by Bellator’s Michelle Ould That He Sold PED’s

Right about now, bantamweight Bryan Caraway probably wishes he was still the guy who everyone made fun of for being the submissive boyfriend of fellow UFC fighter Miesha Tate. Instead, “Kid Lightning” has been under fire for the better part of thi…

Right about now, bantamweight Bryan Caraway probably wishes he was still the guy who everyone made fun of for being the submissive boyfriend of fellow UFC fighter Miesha Tate. 

Instead, “Kid Lightning” has been under fire for the better part of this week for accepting Pat Healy’s “Submission of the Night” bonus from UFC 159 after slamming fighters who use marijuana, according to MMAJunkie.com. 

MMAJunkie.com also reported that Healy was to have his “Submission of the Night,” “Knockout of the Night” and win bonuses, totaling $135,000, revoked after testing positive for marijuana after the April pay-per-view event.   

Now, the saga continues as Bellator women’s flyweight Michelle Ould accused Caraway of being a hypocrite.

Ould wrote on Twitter that despite Caraway’s adamant anti-drug stance, he used to sell performance-enhancing drugs to her roommate. 

It didn’t take long for the tweet to be brought to Caraway’s attention, where he said that Ould made up the story to gain notoriety. 

 

 

Ould goes on to say what she stated is a fact that she has known for years and dismisses Caraway’s notion that maybe she has him confused with someone else. 

The Bellator competitor trains at Oregon’s famed Team Quest facility, a gym Caraway once called home, so it’s not unfathomable the two have some mutual acquaintances and/or friends.  

However, beyond that, there are few certainties to draw any conclusions from. 

Dozens of fans have commented on T-Cat’s Twitter page since then, with only one person telling a similar story: 

 

 

Ould isn’t the first fighter to call out Caraway in this situation.

Recent UFC lightweight contender Nate Diaz was issued a 90-day suspension and $20,000 fine in light of a tweet, which has since been deleted, where he aimed a homosexual slur at Caraway for accepting Healy’s “Submission of the Night” bonus (via UFC.com).

Is there any possibility the relatively unknown Ould has broken a big story here, or is this simply an odd situation that has now spiraled out of control? 

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

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