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USADA Clears Cyborg Following Thailand Police Confusion

Cris Cyborg is reportedly on par with all of the required steps of the UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). After a report recently surfaced from Bloody Elbow stating that Cyborg had potentially run afoul of USADA after someone had called police on USADA testing agents in Thailand, where Cyborg has been […]

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Cris Cyborg is reportedly on par with all of the required steps of the UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

After a report recently surfaced from Bloody Elbow stating that Cyborg had potentially run afoul of USADA after someone had called police on USADA testing agents in Thailand, where Cyborg has been training with Phuket Top Team, who had shown up to the gym to test the UFC women’s featherweight champ.

However, USADA issued a statement to MMA Fighting this week (Tues., September 26, 2017) that fully exonerated Cyborg from any confusion or wrongdoing after her sample was successfully collected and sent to a WADA-accredited lab in Tokyo:

“Ms. Justino fully complied with the sample collection process. From collection to delivery, the integrity of the sample was secured, and it is currently being analyzed by the WADA accredited lab in Tokyo. Athletes’ cooperation in providing a requested sample is critical to ensure all athletes’ right to safe and clean sport is protected.”

Photo: Gary A. Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports

Apparently, the police had been called on the testing agents by workers at her hotel and Phuket Top Team front-desk employees. Phuket Top Team owner Boyd Clarke addressed the situation by explaining just why the police were called on the agents in a lengthy forum post on The Underground:

“Fake news aside, here’s the first hand on the spot happenings of the situation. As owner of Phuket Top Team I feel I should fill in some of the missing info. My Thai staff was made aware of several people believed to be “stalking” Cris cyborg, as they would not identify themselves.

We were told by our staff that 2 people checked into a hotel room next to cris and were acting strange by asking questions about them. Cyborg was placed in an exclusive location to provide her privacy while training at my gym.

Initially my staff thought the couple were just overly excited fans. At 6am those people knocked on the door of the of Cris’s bungalow and the hotel staff notified my office of the disturbance.The hotel staff told my front desk that they heard the people requesting a urine sample. In Thailand the only people who do this are police. Unable to contact Cris by phone My staff rang the local police to ask why they would send people to her residence.

The police stated they had no knowledge of any officers at that hotel, and sent a patrol car to investingate. It was after the police arrived that they discovered the pair was from Singapore.Speaking directly to Cris they learned that the testers where checked into the hotel to do their job of collecting a urine sample for testing and not on vacation.

The police further investigated the situation to discover that neither employee had a valid work permit and when questioned both individuals from Singapore failed to mention they were part of any international testing agency, instead informing the officers on site they were only in Phuket for Vacation. Allowing them to initially leave, the police later detained them upon reviewing paperwork completed during the testing. and later discovering that they were wearing uniforms and in the presence of work ID’s. Cris cyborg complied with the entire process, giving her sample as she was unaware of the issues with them not having a valid work permit until the test was completed and the local authorities arrived to investigate the situation.

The issue for the police was two part.

First The Singaporean collectors made false statements denying they were here working and to collect urine samples. In Thailand the country is big on saving “face” and having two Singaporeans lie about their purpose on the island did not sit well with them.

Second since they were here working without a permit they did not provide the country with the proper taxes for conducting business in Thailand.

To further escalate the situation one of the testers attempted to offer money to the Thai police in exchange for them to be let go without incident.Cris was uninvolved in the police and immigration issues other than providing answers to the police when questioned.

The entire process was started by the hotel staff notifying my front desk of a disturbance at our VIP guests residence and was further escalated by the false statements made to the police by the testing agency.

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Quote: Neither Bisping Or GSP Will Defend Title After UFC 217

Regardless of who walks out of UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden with the 185-pound title, neither man will be defending the title next – that’s according to ex-UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold. Rockhold joined The MMA Hour yesterday (Mon. September 25, 2017) to discuss the current state of the middleweight division, and the fact […]

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Rockhold joined The MMA Hour yesterday (Mon. September 25, 2017) to discuss the current state of the middleweight division, and the fact that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who has never competed at 185 pounds in the UFC, is getting a shot at the belt fresh out of retirement.

With Bisping already talking about the possibility of retiring, and St-Pierre seeming to have making history on his mind as his career draws to a close as well, Rockhold doesn’t see either man defending the title after UFC 217 (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t believe Bisping will, either,” Rockhold said. “He’s ran this far. He’s finally gonna come up and get a payday. Either way, I don’t think either one fights any of us.”

Following his second round TKO win over David Branch at UFC Pittsburgh just weeks ago, Rockhold refused to mention Bisping by name in his post-fight speech, but had no issue mentioning the Canadian phenom on multiple occasions. Rockhold said that Bisping didn’t deserve a reference from him, and believes “GSP” is ‘overstepping his boundaries’ with his title shot against “The Count”:

“He doesn’t deserve it,” Rockhold said. “GSP, he’s overstepping his boundaries. He’s jumping into a world that he’s not ready for. I mean, even if he were to win this fight, he’s unprepared to fight any of us. That’s not gonna happen. It just doesn’t make any sense. And it’s annoying. It’s what we all worked for, is to get to that title. To have that thing held hostage is frustrating. The direction this company is going, just feeding the people this bullshit. I fight to get the title, I fight to be the best. There’s two of them out there and I’m trying to hunt one down. So, obviously Bisping is my first priority. If not, Whittaker is there.”

The 32-year-old Californian noted that one of his coaches noticed Bisping looking at his Instagram stories during his last training camp, taking it as an indication that Bisping is looking over his shoulder for Rockhold as he reemerges in the title picture:

“He’s nervous, he’s scared,” Rockhold said. “He knows his time is limited. He’s gonna have to run. I’m gonna be there. I’m gonna put myself on that stage, on that doorstep. He’s gonna have to make a choice.”

“If he wants to think that I’m vulnerable in that realm or any of those realms, please. Sign the contract. I’ll be ready to go. As a matter of fact, if Bisping were to sign to fight with me, I would promise you and the world, I would bet on it. I would not shoot for one takedown. This would purely be a stand up fight. I’d give him every opportunity to implement his boxing, get on the inside. … I f*cking guarantee you, I will finish you on the feet. With all the holes in my game, I will pick you apart.”

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Freddie Roach ‘Worried’ For GSP In First Round Against Michael Bisping

Georges St-Pierre is back in the UFC, and he’s eying a new weight class’ throne when he returns to the Octagon. The ex-UFC welterweight king is slated to make his Octagon return against UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping in the main event of the UFC 217 pay-per-view (PPV) from Madison Square Garden in New York […]

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Georges St-Pierre is back in the UFC, and he’s eying a new weight class’ throne when he returns to the Octagon.

The ex-UFC welterweight king is slated to make his Octagon return against UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping in the main event of the UFC 217 pay-per-view (PPV) from Madison Square Garden in New York City. St-Pierre has worked with legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach for many years now, who will be in his corner when he takes on “The Count” for the 185-pound title.

Roach was recently interviewed by Fight Hub TV to discuss the upcoming match-up, and noted that St-Pierre’s jump up in weight has improved his striking power (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“He’s getting better and better. He’s a little bigger, a little stronger than he has been in the past because this fight is going to be in a higher weight class. He has a little more weight on him, and he punches with a lot more power,” Roach said.

He then noted that St-Pierre asked him to be in his corner for fight night in Madison Square Garden, an invitation Roach happily accepted. Roach is looking forward to cornering his very first UFC fight:

“He did really really well. I’m going to be heading up to Montreal pretty soon. For six weeks, I’ll spend 3 days a week in Montreal, and 4 days here,” he said. “He wants me in the corner. He wants me in the ring, in between rounds, and I said no problem.”

“He’s in with a big tough guy, and it should be action packed. I’m excited with my first UFC fight.”

While Roach believes “Rush” holds a big athletic advantage over Bisping heading into their fight, the first round of the contest still worries the longtime boxing legend, who calls St-Pierre ‘stiff’ during the the first five minutes of a fight:

“(Bisping) is a tough guy. He comes to fight. I don’t think he’s the best athlete in the world. I think Georges is a much better athlete, and I think that will be the difference in the fight. His athleticism will take him through the fight.

“But it’s not going to be easy though, that’s for sure. The first round, I’m a little worried, because Georges is always a little bit stiff in the first round. Then he gets into the fight as the rounds go on. So early, I’m a little bit worried but I’ll warm him up really good in the dressing room.”

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Miesha Tate Picks Conor McGregor Over GSP

Following his TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in “The Money Fight” on August 26, the MMA world is anxiously awaiting just what UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s next move will be. A rumor recently surfaced that longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would call out “The Notorious” if he were to get by middleweight champion Michael […]

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Following his TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in “The Money Fight” on August 26, the MMA world is anxiously awaiting just what UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s next move will be.

A rumor recently surfaced that longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would call out “The Notorious” if he were to get by middleweight champion Michael Bisping in his comeback bout in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from New York, and it’s hardly a bad idea given the UFC’s need for big-name bouts after a horrendous 2017.

So that’s naturally lead to some discussion about whom would win the proposed super fight, and former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate recently weighed in on the topic on her “MMA Tonight” podcast (via MMA Fighting). According to “cupcake,” McGregor has proven her wrong when she doubted him, so she can no longer count him out.

In her eyes, he holds the speed advantage over the larger GSP – in addition to a strategic edge:

“Conor McGregor, I’ve underestimated the guy a number of times, thinking he wasn’t going to win some of the fights that he won and he did it. The man is truly in a league of his own. When it comes to his game planning, when it comes to his trash talking, when it comes to getting inside people’s heads, nobody does it better than Conor McGregor. So I absolutely would not count him out in a fight like that.

“I think the speed favors him. I think he has great striking and I think the fact that GSP’s been out for so long, I think Conor McGregor can put together a strategy to beat pretty much anybody and I think the matchup actually favors Conor.”

High praise from a woman who’s been around the top levels of the sport for many years, one who’s admittedly a St-Pierre fan. She knows the precision he brings to the octagon, yet gave McGregor a mental edge she deemed difficult to get around for the all-time great:

“I feel almost bad saying that because I’ve been a huge GSP fan for a really long time. He’s perfect when he fights. Maybe not the most exciting fighter you’ve ever watched but he’s almost perfect and that’s so hard to do. If you’ve been an athlete in any sport, to have a perfect game or a perfect match or a perfect bout, it almost never happens.

“You watch him go out there and he’s pretty much perfect in all of his fights. He never waivers from his strategy and he’s like a robot, like somebody’s controlling a controller somewhere and he’s just doing exactly what he needs to do to get through those fights. But I think with this one, Conor’s just so hard to beat and he’s so hard to get around mentally. I think the speed actually, being the smaller guy, does favor Conor.”

Met with at least some degree of doubt, Tate acknowledged that picking the Irish star over St-Pierre may sound a bit crazy, but cited the fact that McGregor has predicted the result of many of his high-profile bouts.

She thought he was going to lose to Nate Diaz in their UFC 202 rematch, and he did not. Tate also thinks St-Pierre has never been made to deal with the nonstop mental onslaught of an elite trash talker like McGregor, something that could affect the fight.

To top it all off, Tate thought he would be easily handled by Mayweather in the boxing ring, yet he again proved her wrong by lasting 10 rounds with arguably the greatest defensive boxer of all time. For that reason, the still-evolving McGregor would do well against the returning – and rusty – all-time great former champion in the potential match:

“Yes. I know that sounds crazy, but dude, crazier things have been said about Conor and he’s done it. He literally predicts his exact what he’s gonna do in every fight. When he lost to Nate Diaz, I thought he was gonna lose again and he came out and he had the right game plan. He’s just brilliant. He knows how to figure out people.

“Not to mention, GSP has never had to deal with someone’s berating, that constant mental barrage that Conor McGregor does. Something is there. People haven’t quite figured it out but there’s something, an element that Conor McGregor adds that’s not just his skillset. He gets inside people’s heads and he ruins them before they even step inside the octagon. To say that he couldn’t do to GSP when he’s done it to everyone else, it’s insane to think that he couldn’t do that.

“So I just think he would probably do well. He’s evolving, he’s very athletic, he’s heavy-handed. I think he could knock out a lot of guys bigger than him. Look how well he did against Mayweather. I was so impressed with how he did there. I thought he was gonna lose that fight handily and he hung in there tough.”

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Matt Brown Opens Up On His Decision To Retire

Matt Brown is calling it a career following his next bout. The MMA (mixed martial arts) veteran announced last week that he will retire after his upcoming bout with Diego Sanchez on Nov. 11 at UFC Norfolk. Brown recently spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to open up on his decision to retire […]

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Matt Brown is calling it a career following his next bout.

The MMA (mixed martial arts) veteran announced last week that he will retire after his upcoming bout with Diego Sanchez on Nov. 11 at UFC Norfolk. Brown recently spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to open up on his decision to retire from the sport.

According to Brown, his retirement thoughts came about prior to his fight against Donald Cerrone last December, which was his most recent bout.

“Maybe that wasn’t necessarily when I first felt it, but that was when I came to the realization that it’s something I should start really thinking about,” Brown said. “Because when I was sitting in the locker room, it literally crossed my mind to not even walk out. I thought about just walking outside, getting an Uber, going back to the hotel and just being done with it. It wasn’t out of fear, it wasn’t out of nerves, it was just no excitement. I was kind of tired, a little bored. And just like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I feel like doing this right now.’

“I didn’t get into this to be a journeyman, or to be in second place, I came into this to be a champion and I got very, very close to that, I think I was one round away from beating Robbie Lawler and getting to a title shot. Being that I got that close, right now, I don’t feel like I have that hunger inside my heart that’s going to get me back to that point and that’s not to say I won’t ever come back one day. I don’t plan on pulling out of the USADA testing pool and I don’t plan on canceling my UFC contract because I’d like to keep that just in case there. But I’m not going to come back unless I plan on making a run for the title.”

As seen in the fight against Cerrone, Brown suffered a KO loss after getting hit by a nasty head kick in the third round. This marked the the first time that Brown had ever been knocked unconscious like that.

It also was the second consecutive time he’d been finished with strikes following a TKO loss to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 201.

“Absolutely, I got knocked out for the first time in my life in my last fight,” Brown said. “Got knocked down for the first time in my life before that. I have to wonder if – you know, I had a concussion last year for the first time. All these first time things start happening 40 fights into my career, as a father and a family to go home to, when I’m slurring words to my kids, you start thinking, ‘How much is it worth all this?’ So that definitely plays a part, but it’s not necessarily my primary concern though. It’s not my primary motivation to retire, but it is a piece of the puzzle for sure.”

Brown is happy that he is facing the always game Sanchez and that it will be in Norfolk, Va. It’s a highly anticipated bout due to Sanchez having a reputation for wild scraps. Brown wants to put on an entertaining show for a crowd.

As a result of the UFC announcing the bout along with its location, Browne figured that he should let everyone know ahead of time that this will be his last bout.

“Part of it was I just kind of had to commit to it,” Brown said. “What I’m afraid would happen is I would end up having a great camp, which right now I’m having probably one of the greatest camps I ever had, and then I’d get in there and feel amazing and I’d be like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to retire.’ And then a couple of weeks later be like, ‘Ah man, I don’t know, I want to retire.’ I don’t want to go through that whole up and down, that rollercoaster, I don’t want to put my family through all that.

“The second part is that I want everybody to come out, my family and everybody to know that it’s going to be my last one and they can get their tickets and everything and they can come out. Norfolk is coincidentally right in between my wife’s family and my family. My family is in Ohio, her family is in Massachusetts, it’s right there in the middle. I have a lot of family in North Carolina and Virginia Beach also, so it kind of works for everybody to kind of meet right there. And again, I think Diego makes a perfect retirement fight. I think we’re going to go out there and we’re going to have a great war and it’s going to be an amazing fight.”

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Michael Bisping Goes Off On ‘Fraud’ Georges St-Pierre

It seems like Michael Bisping can’t wait to get his hands on Georges St-Pierre this November. Bisping is set to make his second middleweight title defense against the ex-UFC welterweight kingpin in the main event of UFC 217 from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 4th. “The Count” will be […]

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It seems like Michael Bisping can’t wait to get his hands on Georges St-Pierre this November.

Bisping is set to make his second middleweight title defense against the ex-UFC welterweight kingpin in the main event of UFC 217 from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 4th. “The Count” will be welcoming St-Pierre to the 185-pound division for the first time in his career, and some mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are picking “Rush” to emerge victorious in the match-up.

Apart from the majority of MMA fans picking St-Pierre to win, Bisping seems to be frustrated that the Canadian is taking him for easy pickings. On a recent edition of The MMA Hour, “The Count” explained that an old training session may have led to this belief from St-Pierre, who out-wrestled him during their time working together (quotes via MMA Mania):

“We trained together a long, long time ago and he outwrestled me then,” Bisping said. “I didn’t know a double-leg from a Big Mac. So he still thinks he can outwrestle me down and beat me.”

“He didn’t want to fight Anderson Silva when he was the champion. He didn’t want to fight Luke Rockhold when he was the champion. So he’s looking at me as easy pickings. That’s why he’s focused on fighting me so much. And for all this talk, I say Georges is a fraud. And Canada, who looks at him as their champion — Canada’s champion is a fucking fraud.”

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