Tag: Breaking News

UFC Releases Matt Riddle After 2nd Positive Test for Marijuana

UFC welterweight Matt Riddle has run afoul of the promotion’s drug testing for a second time after his most recent fight in England at UFC on Fuel TV 7. According to Riddle in a statement released to MMAJunkie.com, the former Ultimate Fighter competito…

UFC welterweight Matt Riddle has run afoul of the promotion’s drug testing for a second time after his most recent fight in England at UFC on Fuel TV 7.

According to Riddle in a statement released to MMAJunkie.com, the former Ultimate Fighter competitor tested positive for marijuana following his fight with Che Mills just weeks ago in the U.K.

The UFC opted to release Riddle following his second infraction with the drug testing protocols.

Because England has no athletic commission to oversee mixed martial arts in the country, the UFC heads up their own drug testing program led by Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner.

The first time Riddle tested positive was following his UFC 149 fight against Chris Clements, which he won at the time, but due to the drug test result the victory was changed to a no-contest by the Calgary Combative Sports Commission.

Riddle is a legal user of medical marijuana in the state of Nevada where he resides, but unfortunately the drug remains on the banned substances list for athletes.

In past interviews, Riddle has argued for the legalization for his of medical marijuana, but as long as the drug remains a banned substance, he cannot test positive for it.

“I deal with it, and honestly I’m an advocate for it. I think it should be legal,” said Riddle just after his fight with Mills in England.

Unfortunately, Riddle’s commitment to stop using marijuana for three weeks prior to his fight to guarantee the drug no longer stays in his system didn’t work this time around either and he’s now tested positive for marijuana a second time.

Riddle joins fellow medical marijuana user and welterweight Nick Diaz as UFC athletes that have tested positive for the drug on multiple occasions now.  Diaz was actually suspended for one year following his second infraction last year when failing the test under the jurisdiction of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Now Riddle finds himself on the outside looking in after a second failed drug test.  Following his stint on the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighter, Riddle actually made his professional debut in the UFC and has spent his entire career with the promotion.

 

Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report

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Benson Henderson Asks for Fight Against Georges St-Pierre; White Says No Way

In the land of superfights, UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson has thrown out an interesting wrinkle because the world’s top 155-pound fighter is targeting welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre for a future showdown. According to a report from UF…

In the land of superfights, UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson has thrown out an interesting wrinkle because the world’s top 155-pound fighter is targeting welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre for a future showdown.

According to a report from UFC Tonight on Tuesday evening, Henderson has asked to face St-Pierre following his bout against Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox 7 in April.

Henderson has teased about moving to 170 pounds in the past due to his body continuing to grow as he gets older, and has said a shift to welterweight could happen regardless of any superfight happening.

Here’s what Henderson had to say in an interview from late 2011:

There’s a few guys who’ve said things pretty similar as far as cutting weight when you get older, how hard it is. Dan (Henderson) is a perfect example. He’s wrestled forever. I wrestled and cut weight six months, seven months out of the year since I was 12 years old. It’s kind of getting old. I don’t like it so much anymore.

Henderson’s call out now isn’t as much about not cutting weight as taking the opportunity at a potentially huge fight by facing UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Lately, the UFC has been all about the potential of superfights, with several competitors shifting weight classes for biggest bouts possible.

UFC lightweight contender Anthony Pettis was expected to fight the winner of Henderson and Melendez, but instead jumped on the opportunity to call out featherweight champion Jose Aldo and now faces him in August.

The UFC has made no secret in their desire to put together a series of superfights with middleweight champion Anderson Silva either facing welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre or light heavyweight king Jon Jones.

Now Benson Henderson is throwing his name in the mix, as he’s willing to move up to 170 pounds to face St-Pierre. Unfortunately for Henderson, just moments after his request was revealed, UFC president Dana White shot down the idea like a missile in the sky:

“No, that’s not going to happen either,” White said on UFC Tonight. “Ben Henderson, it’s not going to happen, he just won that title not too long ago. There’s plenty of guys in the 155 pound division to defend the title against, and a possible fight with (Jose) Aldo, if Aldo moves up and stays at 55. A possible fight with (Anthony) Pettis a couple of fights away again.”

While the UFC has dealt with fighters bouncing around different weight classes in the past, it seems to be running rampant of late. White assures everybody that champions and challengers will not be switching much more, and he’s squashing that idea before it gets started.

“There’s not going to be all this jumping around,” said White. “I don’t blame Ben Henderson for wanting to go to 170, that’s the big money fight. The big money fight is Georges St-Pierre, everybody knows it.  If you’re not fighting him you want to be fighting on his card.”

Fighters have moved up from lightweight to challenge the welterweight champion previously, but both occasions involved a legendary fighter from Hawaii.

B.J. Penn has twice left the lightweight division in search of a title at welterweight, winning it once with a victory over Matt Hughes, while losing in his second attempt when he faced St-Pierre in 2009.

The UFC doesn’t seem willing to entertain the idea of Henderson vs. St-Pierre for now, but who knows what could change in the future if the right cards fall into place.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

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Demetrious Johnson Injured; Title Fight at TUF 17 Finale Scrapped

The flyweight title fight planned for the Ultimate Fighter 17 finale has been scrapped after champion Demetrious Johnson suffered an injury in training forcing him out of his scheduled bout on April 13. UFC officials announced the change via UFC Tonigh…

The flyweight title fight planned for the Ultimate Fighter 17 finale has been scrapped after champion Demetrious Johnson suffered an injury in training forcing him out of his scheduled bout on April 13.

UFC officials announced the change via UFC Tonight on Tuesday.

Johnson’s injury is expected to keep him on the sidelines for the next couple of months, obviously putting him out of his bout against top rated contender John Moraga.

Moraga has also been pulled from the card, and it’s unclear at this time if he will wait to take another fight while Johnson recovers, or if he will sit and wait to face the champion when he’s healthy enough to return.

The fight in April would have been Johnson’s second fight in 2013 after he defeated former Ultimate Fighter winner John Dodson in the main event of UFC on Fox 6 in late January. It was the first defense of Johnson’s newly created flyweight title that he won last year at UFC 152. In that contest he beat Joseph Benavidez in the inaugural championship bout for the 125-pound weight class.

Johnson has always remained a very active fighter, but this injury will sideline him now until a likely summer date when he can return healthy and defend his title again.

The UFC has yet to name a new main event for the Ultimate Fighter season 17 finale show, although it’s possible the bantamweight women’s fight between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano could take the slot alongside the middleweight tournament finals between the competitors on the reality show.

The Johnson vs. Moraga fight was actually the first time ever that the UFC has scheduled a title fight for an Ultimate Fighter finale, but now the plan will fall by the wayside as they wait for their champion to get healthy and fight again.

Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report

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The Ultimate Show’s Exclusive Jake Ellenberger Interview

Jake Ellenberger wasn’t happy with losing out on an opportunity to fight Johny Hendricks, but he’ll have the chance to square off with another dangerous fighter at UFC 158. In this segment of The Ultimate Show, Ellenberger explains his mind…

Jake Ellenberger wasn’t happy with losing out on an opportunity to fight Johny Hendricks, but he’ll have the chance to square off with another dangerous fighter at UFC 158.

In this segment of The Ultimate Show, Ellenberger explains his mindset heading into a bout with Nate Marquardt that should prove to be one of the most exciting fights of the year.

Ellenberger isn’t a cocky fighter, but he has a lot of confidence. In this episode, you’ll get a look into the mind of one of the best welterweight fighters in the UFC as he explains his abilities and how they translate to a tough fight with Marquadt at UFC 158.  

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UFC Champ Ronda Rousey May Join Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Hunger Games’ Sequel

Could mixed martial arts fans be seeing Ronda Rousey on the silver screen soon?That seems to be possible, as the face of women’s MMA has reportedly been offered a role on the sequel to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. If you haven’t hear…

Could mixed martial arts fans be seeing Ronda Rousey on the silver screen soon?

That seems to be possible, as the face of women’s MMA has reportedly been offered a role on the sequel to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

 If you haven’t heard of Catching Fire, it’s only the highly-anticipated sequel to 2012’s record-breaking $686 million blockbuster The Hunger Games.

According to Tuesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio (via Bloody Elbow), industry expert Dave Meltzer noted that Rousey may be bound for Hollywood, building off the success of her superstar Strikeforce career and UFC 157 debut:

… There was a very good chance that the promotion of Rousey was TOO successful because she’s been offered a role in the next…whatever it is…the next Hunger Games movie that they’re going to film.

And once that happens it’s like…you know, who knows? She’s making a lot of money fighting, I don’t know what those numbers are going to be when they come out when they’re released. But she’s making a ton of money.

With Rousey having cemented herself as a major superstar, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion branching into film roles.

That’s what happened with former Strikeforce fighter Gina Carano after she retired from MMA, with her own film career getting a solid start in Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 action-thriller Haywire.

Moreover, Rousey is a well-known public figure that would draw attention for any sort of cameo or supporting role in the Hunger Games‘ next film franchise installment, which would assuredly be The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1.

(Author’s Note: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is currently in the middle of re-shoots for the final nine days of filming, according to UK publication The Daily Mail.)

Not only is Rousey a UFC champion, Strikeforce champion, Olympic bronze medalist and multiple-time international judo champion, but she’s also a “Maxim Hot 100″ entrant and 2012 ESPN Body Issue (NSFW) cover athlete.

That kind of exposure makes Rousey a very hot commodity in various markets both inside and outside the MMA community. With her star shining even brighter due to her exciting UFC debut title fight victory against top-contender Liz Carmouche, it’s fair to say that Rousey’s fame is still growing by leaps and bounds.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld, PC World, The Los Angeles Times, MMA Mania and Bleacher Report. Talk with him on Twitter.

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Daniel Straus Injured; Bellator Searching for Replacement to Face Pat Curran

A broken hand will keep Daniel Straus from competing for the Bellator featherweight title on April 4 against champion Pat Curran. Bellator officials confirmed to Bleacher Report on Tuesday that Straus was indeed out for his upcoming bout against C…

A broken hand will keep Daniel Straus from competing for the Bellator featherweight title on April 4 against champion Pat Curran.

Bellator officials confirmed to Bleacher Report on Tuesday that Straus was indeed out for his upcoming bout against Curran, scheduled for Bellator 95 in Atlantic City, NJ.  The news of the change was first reported by MMAJunkie.com.

Daniel Straus had been waiting for a shot at Curran since winning the Bellator Season 6 featherweight tournament.  His wait was delayed after Curran suffered a broken orbital bone in training that pushed back his fight with Patricio “Pitbull” Freire that finally took place in January at the initial Bellator card on Spike TV.

While waiting for Curran to get healthy, Straus stayed busy taking out former UFC fighter Alvin Robinson in his home state of Ohio last October at Bellator 78.

Unfortunately, now Straus will have to wait even longer to finally get his crack at Curran after suffering the broken hand.

As for the champion, Curran was expected to make his second title defense in 2013 against Straus in April as Bellator continues to run featherweight tournaments to line up more contenders.

Bellator officials also confirmed that they are currently working on a potential new opponent for Curran to face on April 4 at Bellator 95, but no decisions have been made at this time.

Curran won the belt in early 2012 with a blistering knockout over former champion Joe Warren before defeating Freire in January.

The Bellator featherweight title picture is becoming crowded because of injuries, however, first to Curran and now to Straus. 

There is currently a featherweight tournament happening during this current Bellator season, not to mention the recent win by Shahbulat Shamhalaev, who earned the next shot at the featherweight title when he knocked out Rad Martinez just last week at Bellator 90.

Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report

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