Johnny Eblen Blames Conor McGregor for Surge in Retired Fighters Returning After PED Use

Johnny Eblen Blames Conor McGregor for Surge in Retired Fighters Returning After PED UseJohnny Eblen thinks Conor McGregor is responsible for an unsettling trend in the world of MMA. Earlier this month,…

Johnny Eblen Blames Conor McGregor for Surge in Retired Fighters Returning After PED Use

Johnny Eblen thinks Conor McGregor is responsible for an unsettling trend in the world of MMA.

Earlier this month, UFC Hall of Famer Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone announced his plans to come out of retirement for two more fights inside the Octagon, his goal being to reach 50 fights under the Zuffa (WEC and UFC) banner. However, his declaration of intent has been met with very little excitement. In fact, practically everyone is of the opinion that it’s a bad idea, including UFC CEO Dana White.

Following his fight at the PFL ‘Battle of the Giants’ pay-per-view in Riyadh over the weekend, Bellator middleweight titleholder Johnny Eblen expressed his disdain for the idea of a ‘Cowboy’ return and placed blame on McGregor for the recent trend of fighters coming out of retirement after getting juiced up.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to retire, take a bunch of steroids, and then come back and fight again,” Eblen said, speaking to the media at the PFL ‘Battle of the Giants’ press conference. “It’s not a good look. I think Conor [McGregor] paved the way, I think he’s influencing a lot of other people to do it, and I think people are trying to fight past their prime and use all these substances and it’s just not natural, it’s not good.

“Your brain doesn’t heal from steroids. So all that CTE just adds up. I’m very against steroids, I’m very against people fighting past their prime.”

Conor McGregor wasn’t as upfront about his alleged PED use as ‘cowboy’ was

While on the red carpet for the UFC 2023 Hall of Fame ceremony, Cerrone was very open about his use of banned substances following his retirement from the sport a year earlier.

“I mean, right now, all the good sh*t after the non-USADA approved sh*t, I feel like I’m f*cking 21 again,” Cerrone told reporters last year on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet. “You know what I’m saying? I’m telling you, guys — any of you fighters when you’re done, go ahead and get on the TRT and put your wife in a bind because that’s when you’ll feel like an 18-year-old boy again” (h/t MMA Junkie).

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Though Conor McGregor was not nearly as open about his alleged PED use while recovering from the broken leg he suffered against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, ‘Mystic Mac’ certainly didn’t deny using additional substances to help with the healing process.

That on top of the flood of pictures featuring an absolutely jacked McGregor on social media led almost everyone to believe that he was on the juice while out of the USADA testing pool.

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On Saturday, Eblen successfully defended his Bellator middleweight championship against Fabian Edwards for the second time in 13 months. After finishing Edwards via TKO in the third round of their first meeting, the champ needed the full 25 minutes to ensure he walked away with his title intact in Saudi Arabia.

‘Pressure’ is a perfect 16-0 in his MMA career with four submission victories and three by way of KO/TKO.

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UFC Legend Donald Cerrone Ends Retirement, Eyes 50 Career Fights with New Contract

Donald Cerrone isn’t quite ready to call it a career. The UFC legend is coming out of retirement to seek an unprecedented 50 combined fights in the UFC and…

Donald Cerrone isn’t quite ready to call it a career. The UFC legend is coming out of retirement to seek an unprecedented 50 combined fights in the UFC and…

UFC Hall Of Famer Says He’s Returning From Retirement For 2 Final Fights

Donald Cerrone recently announced that he’s stepping out of retirement with the goal of setting several unmatched records. “Cowboy” hung up his gloves after enduring a rough stretch of six consecutive losses in the Octagon, with the final blow being a second-round submission defeat to fellow veteran Jim Miller at UFC 276 in July 2022. […]

Continue Reading UFC Hall Of Famer Says He’s Returning From Retirement For 2 Final Fights at MMA News.

Donald Cerrone recently announced that he’s stepping out of retirement with the goal of setting several unmatched records.

“Cowboy” hung up his gloves after enduring a rough stretch of six consecutive losses in the Octagon, with the final blow being a second-round submission defeat to fellow veteran Jim Miller at UFC 276 in July 2022.

However, it seems that Cerrone has made up his mind to return to the promotion, aiming to reach an impressive milestone of 50 total appearances under the Zuffa banner. The 41-year-old Colorado native currently boasts 38 fights in the Octagon, ranking him third in the organization’s history, excluding the 10 bouts he fought in the WEC.

In a recent Instagram video, “Cowboy” revealed that he had been collaborating with a company and undergoing Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), along with other substances for the last few years.

However, he is now preparing to cleanse his system of these compounds to re-enter the drug-testing pool and compete in two more fights.

“I want to go back and get two more fights,” Cerrone said. “When I retired, I told you I was getting my hair done and getting on steroids. The number 50 has been sitting on my mind for a while. The last two years, I’ve been taking TRT and a bunch of peptides; now we’ve got a protocol. For all you people who are like, ‘Oh, what if you get on it, you can’t ever come off?’ Well, I now have to come off and piss clean. I’ll fight in a few months, so watch this.”

Although Cerrone never became a UFC champion, he remains a fan favorite. Throughout his active career, “Cowboy” amassed an impressive 18 post-fight bonuses, the most in UFC history, a record he shares with Charles Oliveira.

Additionally, he is tied for the second-most wins in UFC history with 23, alongside Andrei Arlovski, and boasts the second-most finishes, totaling 16, matched only by Miller.

For his illustrious career, which includes victories over multiple former UFC lightweight champions such as Oliveira, Eddie Alvarez, and Benson Henderson, Cerrone was honored with an induction into the modern wing of the UFC Hall of Fame last year.

Continue Reading UFC Hall Of Famer Says He’s Returning From Retirement For 2 Final Fights at MMA News.

Video – ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone reveals he and Tim Kennedy would target Russian-Muslim fighters in the gym: ‘I hate them’

Video - 'Cowboy' Cerrone reveals he and Tim Kennedy would target Russian-Muslim fighters in the gymIn a bit of news that’s really not all that surprising, UFC Hall of Famer Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone recently…

Video - 'Cowboy' Cerrone reveals he and Tim Kennedy would target Russian-Muslim fighters in the gym

In a bit of news that’s really not all that surprising, UFC Hall of Famer Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone recently revealed that he and ex-MMA standout Tim Kennedy used to target and “destroy” Russian-Muslim fighters during their time together at JacksonWink MMA.

In a video clip recently released on Cerrone’s YouTube channel, the former lightweight title challenger claimed that Kennedy, who regularly competed as a middleweight inside the Octagon, would hone in on any Muslim fighters stepping into the gym, making it his priority to “do malicious sh*t” to them while ‘Cowboy’ cheered him on.

“The thing about Tim Kennedy is, he’s as American as apple pie. So when we were at [JacksonWink MMA] and any of the Russian-Muslim fighters would come in, Timmy would take it upon himself to just take down, smother, and absolutely destroy these dudes.

“I’d be sitting there going, ‘Get them Tim’. He would annihilate them and I’d love it. He would smile and laugh and rub their face in the mat. He’d do malicious sh*t. I’d be like, ‘F**k yeh, Tim, that’s what I’m talking about’. He’d come back and be like, ‘I hate them’. I’d say, ‘Me too. I hate them but there’s nothing I can do, I’m 155 pounds, that dude is 200 pounds, and you’ve just destroyed him.’”

MMA Fans slam ‘cowboy’ Cerrone and Tim Kennedy

As expected, Cerrone’s comments did not sit well with MMA fans who were quick to accuse the pair of being jealous of the success of Dagestani fighters.

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MMA journalist who asked Dana White about being branded snaps back at Ariel Helwani amid criticism

MMA journalist who asked Dana White about being branded snaps back at Ariel Helwani amid criticismThe MMA journalist who asked UFC CEO Dana White to hook her up with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone for a…

MMA journalist who asked Dana White about being branded snaps back at Ariel Helwani amid criticism

The MMA journalist who asked UFC CEO Dana White to hook her up with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone for a branding session is snapping back at critics — namely MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani.

Following Saturday’s UFC St. Louis card, White addressed members of the media and was asked by one particular journalist about his competition bull, Twisted Steel. However, the conversation took a sharp turn off the rails when the woman, later identified as Abbey Wagoner of Mola Sport, asked if he could arrange a meeting with the UFC Hall of Famer so that he could brand her.

Clout, for fun. I’ll be the girl BMF,” Wagoner responded when White asked why should would want to be branded by Cerrone.

Helwani, considered by many to be the gold standard of MMA journalism, chimed in on the incident, calling it an “embarrassing” moment for combat sports media.

“This is what the UFC wants at their ‘press conferences,’ Helwani wrote on social media. “Make no mistake about it. The sport has come so far. It has evolved so much. The UFC is on fire. The athletes are more talented than ever. The ‘media,’ however, has gone backwards. Embarrassing.”

Less than 24 hours later, Wagoner snapped back at Helwani online, explaining why she posed the unusual question. She also reminded Helwani that, despite his undeniable position as a pioneer in his field, he is not the “be-all-end-all” in combat sports journalism.

“What’s up fight fans? I just wanted to jump on here and address something real quick,” Wagoner said in a video on X. “You can hear it in my voice. I was at UFC Fight Night, Derrick Lewis vs. Nascimento. It was a good night. Some of you guys might recognize my voice from the post-fight press conference. I was the female reporter that asked Dana White about Twisted Steel and specifically about getting branded at the world finals.

“Ariel Helwani, I’ve got a lot of respect for you as a reporter and as a trailblazer in combat sports media because without you, I wouldn’t have the job that I have and a lot of people wouldn’t have the jobs that they have. But you need to recognize too that, yeah, you’re a journalist. You have a podcast. You talk to fighters. You and are in very different lanes and on top of that, you made it out to seem like I was asking an irrelevant question.

“Dana White has a very competitive PBR bucking bull that I’ve been following since November of last year. I’ve been chasing the ‘Cowboy’ story. The bull ride. The eight seconds for glory since they announced it. I was one of the first MMA reporters to actually give a sh*t about that story and I’m one of the only combat sports personalities that shows up at the PBR. Other than the Monster crew, I was the only one in Jacksonville covering Twisted Steel and I went out specifically to Albuquerque. So, maybe don’t question my relevancy or my right to be in that room without understanding everything that goes in.

“And maybe don’t clip the one part of the conversation that Dana took a little bit too far and that I rolled with. It’s news media. I am new, and you are not the be-all-end-all, Ariel.”

Wagoner Continues to Double Down on Usual Dana White Inquiry

With only 774 followers on X, Wagoner has no issues responding to practically everyone commenting on her video, doubling down on her antics at the post-fight press event and her message to Helwani.

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Video – UFC boss Dana White left stunned after reporter asked to be branded with hot iron: ‘You’re crazy’

Dana White left stunned after reporter asks to get branded with hot iron UFCMMA reporters can be an odd bunch, and Dana White was definitely caught off guard by one very strange…

Dana White left stunned after reporter asks to get branded with hot iron UFC

MMA reporters can be an odd bunch, and Dana White was definitely caught off guard by one very strange question that he was asked at the post-fight press conference for the fight night in St. Louis this past Saturday.

The fights were electric, and the atmosphere at the Enterprise Center was indeed special. Dana White said it felt like he was in the crowd of a pay-per-view event, and the fighters did not disappoint in providing some insane moments.

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The fight night also broke a company record, with a gate valued at over two million dollars, the highest for any fight night before. This has even got Dana White chomping at the bit to “phase out” the UFC Apex and more consistently keep the UFC traveling the globe.

MMA reporter asks a freaky question that disturbs UFC president Dana White

Dana White was answering questions at the post-fight press conference and was caught off guard by a reporter with a strange fantasy.

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Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas – USA TODAY Sports

“I’ve got one little challenge for Cowboy (Cerrone),” the female reporter said. “If you notice this BMF brand at the top of my hat, I got that custom branding iron, and I said if he did his ride, I was going to let him brand me, but now I just want to let him do it; what do you think about that?”

White was visibly confused by this question and gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. “Did you say brand you?” White asked. “You and Cowboy were meant for each other. There’s no way in hell that I would make that happen; you’re crazy.”

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Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC

The female reporter went on to say that she would like to be branded by Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone just for the “clout” and “fun” of it. Obviously, such a silly question can lead to scrutiny, and it certainly did for the female reporter.

The reporter wouldn’t just go down without a response, and later on, she would take to her social media channels and talk about what happened and the criticism she is now receiving.

What are your thoughts about the reporter asking to be branded?