Ian McCall Speaks on Food Poisoning: ‘I Couldn’t Move’

ian-mccall

https://youtu.be/8Ai4duIJlrE

Veteran mixed martial arts (MMA) flyweight Ian McCall hasn’t competed since late Jan. 2015. “Uncle Creepy” was going to fight in August of that year, but an injury forced him to pull out of his scheduled bout with Dustin Ortiz.

Once he was healthy, McCall was booked to meet Justin Scoggins. Unfortunately, a botched weight cut on Scoggins’ part canceled the fight. McCall had yet another fight scrapped when Ray Borg went down with an illness.

McCall was booked to face Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2. “Uncle Creepy” came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. McCall told BloodyElbow.com that the illness had major negative effects on his body:

“I think it was an hour to 90 minutes before weigh-ins, and my body just shut down. I started throwing up, and I thought I was having a stroke at one point. My whole face went weirdly numb and droopy. I couldn’t move, really. It was a really strange feeling. Once I thought I was having a stroke, I just said, ‘Go get a doctor. There’s something wrong with me.’ By the time they went and got the doctor and came back, I was throwing up and I was a mess, so then they just said, ‘You’re not going to fight.’”

The culprit of the food poisoning was the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) complimentary breakfast. The meal simply didn’t mesh with McCall’s system.

“All I had was eggs and vegetables. It was nothing crazy. By the time I was done eating, I had to go upstairs, I threw everything up, went back downstairs, was talking to my coaches and team, went upstairs again, kept throwing up.”

After his recovery, McCall decided to switch camps. “Uncle Creepy” had been a mainstay at Team Oyama for most of his career. McCall moved to RVCA, but he did so on good terms.

“I just needed a change. I’ve spent pretty much my whole professional career with Colin Oyama at Team Oyama. It was nothing bad; I just woke up one day and needed a change.”

ian-mccall

https://youtu.be/8Ai4duIJlrE

Veteran mixed martial arts (MMA) flyweight Ian McCall hasn’t competed since late Jan. 2015. “Uncle Creepy” was going to fight in August of that year, but an injury forced him to pull out of his scheduled bout with Dustin Ortiz.

Once he was healthy, McCall was booked to meet Justin Scoggins. Unfortunately, a botched weight cut on Scoggins’ part canceled the fight. McCall had yet another fight scrapped when Ray Borg went down with an illness.

McCall was booked to face Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2. “Uncle Creepy” came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. McCall told BloodyElbow.com that the illness had major negative effects on his body:

“I think it was an hour to 90 minutes before weigh-ins, and my body just shut down. I started throwing up, and I thought I was having a stroke at one point. My whole face went weirdly numb and droopy. I couldn’t move, really. It was a really strange feeling. Once I thought I was having a stroke, I just said, ‘Go get a doctor. There’s something wrong with me.’ By the time they went and got the doctor and came back, I was throwing up and I was a mess, so then they just said, ‘You’re not going to fight.’”

The culprit of the food poisoning was the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) complimentary breakfast. The meal simply didn’t mesh with McCall’s system.

“All I had was eggs and vegetables. It was nothing crazy. By the time I was done eating, I had to go upstairs, I threw everything up, went back downstairs, was talking to my coaches and team, went upstairs again, kept throwing up.”

After his recovery, McCall decided to switch camps. “Uncle Creepy” had been a mainstay at Team Oyama for most of his career. McCall moved to RVCA, but he did so on good terms.

“I just needed a change. I’ve spent pretty much my whole professional career with Colin Oyama at Team Oyama. It was nothing bad; I just woke up one day and needed a change.”

UFC Issues Statement On Pulling Ian McCall From UFC Fight Night 99

ian-mccall

At the official weigh-ins for tonight’s UFC Fight Night 99 event in Belfast, Northern Ireland, “Uncle Creepy” had his fight scrapped during fight weekend once again.

As we noted in our UFC Fight Night 99 weigh-in results on Friday, Ian McCall was pulled from his scheduled return to the Octagon yet again.

This time, McCall was the fighter pulled from the bout, which was scheduled to be against Neil Seery on the UFN 99 on the main card of the event, which airs exclusively via UFC Fight Pass from the SSE Arena in Belfast.

UFC.com issued the following statement regarding Ian McCall being pulled from the event less than 24 hours before his scheduled fight:

“On the advice of physicians, and with the athlete’s health and safety in mind, UFC has removed Ian McCall from his bout tomorrow night against Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 in Belfast, Northern Ireland due to illness.

“UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 will proceed with 13 bouts. Seery will serve as a backup in the event a flyweight from the card cannot compete.”

Headlined by Gegard Mousasi vs. Urijah Hall 2, UFC Fight Night 99 takes place live from Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday, November 19th. Make sure to visit MMANews.com for a recap of the UFN 99 event.

ian-mccall

At the official weigh-ins for tonight’s UFC Fight Night 99 event in Belfast, Northern Ireland, “Uncle Creepy” had his fight scrapped during fight weekend once again.

As we noted in our UFC Fight Night 99 weigh-in results on Friday, Ian McCall was pulled from his scheduled return to the Octagon yet again.

This time, McCall was the fighter pulled from the bout, which was scheduled to be against Neil Seery on the UFN 99 on the main card of the event, which airs exclusively via UFC Fight Pass from the SSE Arena in Belfast.

UFC.com issued the following statement regarding Ian McCall being pulled from the event less than 24 hours before his scheduled fight:

“On the advice of physicians, and with the athlete’s health and safety in mind, UFC has removed Ian McCall from his bout tomorrow night against Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 in Belfast, Northern Ireland due to illness.

“UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 will proceed with 13 bouts. Seery will serve as a backup in the event a flyweight from the card cannot compete.”

Headlined by Gegard Mousasi vs. Urijah Hall 2, UFC Fight Night 99 takes place live from Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday, November 19th. Make sure to visit MMANews.com for a recap of the UFN 99 event.

UFC Fight Night 99 Weigh-Ins Results: Ian McCall Fight Scrapped Yet Again

ufc-fight-night-99-mousasi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELPrtBdZhEQ

For the fourth time in the last four months, Ian McCall was left without a fight.

This time, though, it was McCall’s fault, as “Uncle Creepy” was deemed unfit to compete and did not weigh-in for his flyweight fight with Neil Seery Saturday at UFC Fight Night 99.

Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall each successfully weighed in, making their main event on UFC Fight Pass official.

The ceremonial face-off weigh-ins will stream live at 1 p.m. ET.

Complete weigh-in results can be found below:

MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass/4 p.m. ET)

Uriah Hall (185) vs. Gegard Mousasi (184)
Ross Pearson (156) vs. Steven Ray (155)
Timothy Johnson (264) vs. Alexander Volkov (249)
Teruto Ishihara (146) vs. Artem Lobov (144)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/12:15 p.m. ET)

Ian McCall (n/a) vs. Neil Seery (126)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) vs. Jack Marshman (184)
Ali Bagautinov (126) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (125)
Kevin Lee (155) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (156)
Amanda Cooper (116) vs. Anna Elmose (116)
Mark Godbeer (238) vs. Justin Ledet (240)
Zak Cummings (172.8) vs. Alexander Yakovlev (171)
Milana Dudieva (135) vs. Marion Reneau (135)
Brett Johns (136) vs. Kwan Ho Kwak (136)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (170) vs. Charlie Ward (169)

– McCall did not weigh in; fight with Seery scrapped due to illness

– Cummings missed weight by 1.8 pounds; fined 20 percent of purse, which goes to Yakovlev

ufc-fight-night-99-mousasi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELPrtBdZhEQ

For the fourth time in the last four months, Ian McCall was left without a fight.

This time, though, it was McCall’s fault, as “Uncle Creepy” was deemed unfit to compete and did not weigh-in for his flyweight fight with Neil Seery Saturday at UFC Fight Night 99.

Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall each successfully weighed in, making their main event on UFC Fight Pass official.

The ceremonial face-off weigh-ins will stream live at 1 p.m. ET.

Complete weigh-in results can be found below:

MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass/4 p.m. ET)

Uriah Hall (185) vs. Gegard Mousasi (184)
Ross Pearson (156) vs. Steven Ray (155)
Timothy Johnson (264) vs. Alexander Volkov (249)
Teruto Ishihara (146) vs. Artem Lobov (144)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/12:15 p.m. ET)

Ian McCall (n/a) vs. Neil Seery (126)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) vs. Jack Marshman (184)
Ali Bagautinov (126) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (125)
Kevin Lee (155) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (156)
Amanda Cooper (116) vs. Anna Elmose (116)
Mark Godbeer (238) vs. Justin Ledet (240)
Zak Cummings (172.8) vs. Alexander Yakovlev (171)
Milana Dudieva (135) vs. Marion Reneau (135)
Brett Johns (136) vs. Kwan Ho Kwak (136)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (170) vs. Charlie Ward (169)

– McCall did not weigh in; fight with Seery scrapped due to illness

– Cummings missed weight by 1.8 pounds; fined 20 percent of purse, which goes to Yakovlev

When Missing Weight Goes Wrong – Or Is It Right?

From the title, you might be thinking “If someone has missed weight, haven’t things already gone wrong? When is missing weight ever a good thing?” Well, last night it turned out alright for the guys who lost their battle with the scale. The men it went poorly for were their opponents. Last night’s (October 1,

The post When Missing Weight Goes Wrong – Or Is It Right? appeared first on LowKick MMA.

From the title, you might be thinking “If someone has missed weight, haven’t things already gone wrong? When is missing weight ever a good thing?” Well, last night it turned out alright for the guys who lost their battle with the scale. The men it went poorly for were their opponents.

Last night’s (October 1, 2016) UFC Fight Night 96 had several fighters in prominent positions on the bill miss weight. On the undercard, Hacran Dias missed the featherweight limit by 2.5 pounds, and wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision to Andre Fili. This is an example of when missing weight goes right, or at least according to plan. The competitor who struggles with his weight cut, whether because of injury, illness, or lack of discipline, is supposed to get outperformed on fight night. His opponent “did everything right”, and fans hope he will be rewarded for that. Fili left Portland with 20 percent of Dias’ purse and a win over a ranked opponent to boot.

The fact that all three offenders are Brazilian is probably irrelevant. There are half a dozen Brazilians fighting on just about every card, never mind the cards in the South American country when the number is north of a full dozen. They make weight the vast majority of the time. So it’s not as if Brazilian fighters aren’t disciplined or don’t know how to cut weight. Gleison Tibau has been making 155 for a decade for goodness’ sake.

If the list did not include Lineker and “lightweight” Oliveira, the fact that three Brazilians missed weight on the same card would highlight the difficulty of making weight in a foreign country. Local food and culture are sometimes radically different, and it can be difficult for a fighter to stick to his usual pre-fight diet when what he normally eats might be hard to come by.

While it might be true in theory, that explanation is a hard sell when considering the offenders in this case. Lineker has always had issues on the scale, having missed the 126-pound flyweight limit in a full half of his eight UFC flyweight bouts. Now back up at bantamweight, the struggles continue. And of his 12 fights in the UFC, only three have been in his home country. So it’s not as if Lineker is unfamiliar with trying to make weight away from home.

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The more disturbing trend is that Lineker hasn’t really been disincentivized from missing weight by what happens on fight night. The only time he tipped the scale heavy and then lost was his UFC debut. After going five hard rounds in which he threw north of 300 strikes but looked fine doing it, the weight “cut” clearly doesn’t affect his performance. Often when fighters come in heavy, they look awful on the scale, drawn or otherwise out of peak shape. ‘Hands of Stone’ looks fine at the weigh-ins and sensational on fight night. Lineker can continue to brush off his weight troubles because he is exciting, keeps getting W’s, and finds himself on the cusp of title contention. Why risk hurting his performance with an arduous cut when the results so far have been great?

I saw on Twitter last night something to the effect that Anthony Johnson has to be asking himself how Lineker is still in the UFC after so many mishaps on the scale (h/t @ZPGIFs). The answer is that Lineker doesn’t fold up like a cheap tent the first time he gets his back taken, and he is must-watch television in victory or defeat. And it’s victory most of the time.

Lineker only came in half a pound over, so he was nowhere near the worst offender on the night. That ignominious distinction goes to Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira, who missed the lightweight limit by an astounding 5.5 pounds. As soon as the fight started, it was clear that Oliveira was a full weight class above Will Brooks, at a minimum. He made it work for him too. The Brazilian ‘Cowboy’ outmuscled the former Bellator champ in the clinch, broke his rib with a knee in the first, and polished off the compromised Brooks with ground and pound two rounds later.

Getting 20 percent of Oliveira’s purse has to be small consolation for Brooks, who had his climb up the lightweight ladder interrupted in frustrating fashion. A sizeable favorite coming into the contest, Brooks no doubt believed his superior skill set would carry him on fight night. In hindsight, he would probably agree he should have taken the ‘Uncle Creepy’ route.

Ian McCall might be the fighter to weigh in for the most fights that have never happened. While Ray Borg was forced to pull out due to illness in McCall’s most recently scheduled bout, his opponent prior to that, Justin Scoggins, was going to miss weight badly. McCall declined to fight him anyway, received his show money (and his win bonus as well), and got another fight in short order. He learned his lesson after this last opponent missed weight by five pounds and he ended up losing. His opponent for that fight? John Lineker.

The UFC needs to take a lesson from McCall and Brooks’ misfortune. They do their job, play the “company men” by fighting anyway, and take a beating for their troubles. There needs to be a black and white rule if a fighter misses weight by more than five pounds. Occasionally it works out, as when Vitor Belfort choked out a 191.5-pound “middleweight” Anthony Johnson, but that is the exception. The whole point of having weight classes is to prevent what happened to Brooks. The fight needs to be called off.

As for repeat offenders in the weight department? If we’ve learned anything from Conor McGregor, it is that one size does not fit all and every fighter will not be treated equally. Lineker is exciting, so he’ll keep his job. Not a fighter with an iron chin who recklessly throws bricks in the pocket? Better make weight.

The post When Missing Weight Goes Wrong – Or Is It Right? appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Ian McCall Booked For Third Time In 2016, Faces Neil Seery

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsQmsz1mePc[/embed]

UFC flyweight Ian McCall will attempt for the third time to make his 2016 debut, signing to face Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night 99.

McCall (13-5-1) had a bout at UFC 201 scrapped when Ju…

ian-mccall

UFC flyweight Ian McCall will attempt for the third time to make his 2016 debut, signing to face Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night 99.

McCall (13-5-1) had a bout at UFC 201 scrapped when Justin Scoggins failed to make weight, while his recent UFC 203 fight vs. Ray Borg was also canceled after Borg fell ill. He is 2-3-1 over his Octagon career, but has not fought since early in 2015.

Seery (16-12) will get a homecoming, as the card takes place in Northern Ireland. He is 3-3 over six UFC fights.

UFC Fight Night 99 takes place November 19 from the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It airs entirely on UFC Fight Pass.

UFC 203: Ian McCall – Again – Loses Out On Fight Days Before Event

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caokreA9N1Q[/embed]

Ian McCall really has no luck at all.

Just days before his planned UFC 203 bout with Ray Borg, McCall found out that his fight will be scrapped for a second straight time.

According to…

ian-mccall

Ian McCall really has no luck at all.

Just days before his planned UFC 203 bout with Ray Borg, McCall found out that his fight will be scrapped for a second straight time.

According to a report by FOX Sports, Borg is ill and cannot compete Saturday from Cleveland.

Just six weeks ago, McCall vs. Justin Scoggins was scratched right around the same time after Scoggins’ body failed to continue cutting weight. He has since moved to the bantamweight division.

McCall was paid for the bout with Scoggins back at UFC 201. He has not competed since January 2015 when he lost to John Lineker in a bout that Lineker came in five pounds heavy for.