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Brock Lesnar’s UFC Return Could Impact Mark Hunt’s Lawsuit

Mark Hunt is still going after Brock Lesnar and the UFC, and this could affect it.

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Brock Lesnar is back in bed with the UFC, and that could be to the benefit of Mark Hunt.

Lesnar’s last Octagon appearance came back in July of 2016 when he faced Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200. “The Beast” picked up a unanimous decision win on the judges’ scorecards, but it was later revealed that Lesnar tested positive for a banned substance in two drug tests – the first being 11 days prior to his fight with Hunt, and the other on fight night itself.

This came as little surprise to the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, as the WWE star was given special treatment of sorts in the early stages of setting the fight up. After partnering up with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC’s drug testing policy is now one of the strictest professional sports has to offer.

Lesnar hadn’t competed in the UFC since December of 2011 heading into his fight with Hunt. Because of this, the UFC argued that Lesnar didn’t have to comply with its policy of having fighters spend four months in the drug-testing pool before returning. Due to the fact that Lesnar came to an agreement with the UFC only one month before the fight, and that Lesnar’s nearly five-year layoff extended back to before the UFC partnered with USADA, Lesnar didn’t have to wait the four months before competing again.

After it was revealed that Lesnar failed his in-competition drug tests he was suspended for one year by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) and given a $250,000 fine, which was 10 percent of his guaranteed purse. His victory over Hunt was also reversed to a no contest.

Shortly thereafter, Hunt launched a lawsuit against Lesnar, the UFC, and Dana White, alleging that the trio committed racketeering, fraud, battery, civil conspiracy, and more in regards to Lesnar’s fight against him at UFC 200.

In December of 2016 Lesnar retired from MMA competition, freezing his one-year suspension.

That all changed earlier this month when Lesnar returned cage-side at UFC 226 to witness Daniel Cormier make history by knocking out Stipe Miocic to become the second fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously. After the fight, he entered the Octagon and engaged in a physical confrontation with “DC” before UFC President Dana White announced later in the night that Cormier vs. Lesnar is the next heavyweight title fight he intends on making.

Lesnar re-entered the USADA drug-testing pool on July 3rd, which is one of the requirements of serving out his 2016 suspension, and will be eligible to compete again on January 8th of 2019.

In the wake of Lesnar’s UFC heavyweight title opportunity, Hunt’s lawyer, Christina Denning, believes this could be helpful to “The Super Samoan’s” case. She told MMA Fighting they are considering amending their complaint:

“We debated whether or not to, while the motion to dismiss is pending, to alter the complaint again, to keep adding more facts regarding the way that the organization works and perhaps the unfairness of it,” Denning said.

“So, that’s something that we have not done yet, but we definitely [might] with all the buzz around [Lesnar] coming back.”

Denning’s initial amended complaint, which was filed in January of 2017, reads as follows:

“LESNAR, WHITE, and UFC, acted in concert as set forth fully above, to defraud HUNT and commit a battery against HUNT by a scheme to knowingly pit HUNT, a clean fighter, against LESNAR, a doping fighter, to the wrongful benefit of Defendants and to the detriment of HUNT.

“On information and belief, WHITE and UFC were intentionally delaying the announcement because LESNAR was using banned substances and needed additional time in order to circumvent testing procedures.”

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Cat Zingano Reveals How Scared She Was Before UFC Boise Return

Cat Zingano was “so scared” leading up to her fight at UFC Boise, she takes the victory home regardless.

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“Alpha” Cat Zingano isn’t done just yet.

The former women’s bantamweight title contender looked impressive on Saturday night, July, 14th 2018, en route to a unanimous decision win over Marion Reneau at UFC Boise.

“Alpha” Cat stepped into the sold-out CenturyLink Arena riding a three-fight skid, with her last win coming over current division champion Amanda Nunes September of 2014. Needless to say, a win was of paramount importance for the onetime title challenger Zingano, who has fallen on hard times the last few years.

Speaking with MMA Junkie after the fight, Zingano revealed just how stressful the lead up was for this fight.

“I was so scared going into this fight,” “Alpha Cat said. “I was very, very scared. Coming off three losses, all of them were losses where I just didn’t show up, wake up. I felt out of it.”

“To come in tonight, I wasn’t sure who would show up. I really just wanted to dance my dance and try to feel her and try to stay off rhythm and be wild and crazy and me.”

The last four years have been well documented for Zingano who has endured more than any human should.

Because of that, the first mother to have ever competed inside the octagon displayed a level of determination that few fighters have.

 “I worked so hard for so long without any of the results I wanted,” Zingano said. “I’m grateful for all the steps I took to get here. Although not all of them looked the way I wanted them to, it’s all part of this. I’m grateful and thankful, for everyone and everything along the way, and I’m able to know myself through all of this, and it’s nice to be here, and it’s nice to feel myself again.”

The much-needed win for Zingano sets her on a different trajectory for the second half of the year. As for the 36-year-old’s immediate plans, they are a bit unclear, but she did offer up an interesting rematch- stating she wants to avenge every one of her losses.

“I think we’ve got some unfinished business,” Zingano said. “I think it’s weird for me to call her out. She should call me out. It drives me crazy seeing people that (I’ve beaten) go on. She seems pretty not worried about me. But now that I’m in the W column, she’s got no reason not to lock horns with me again.”

“She’s good. She’s been a good champion. She’s been dominant. But she hasn’t done a whole lot that I feel has evolved past what I’ve done to her. It’s time. The time’s coming.”

Let us know what you think? Will Zingano earn another title shot in the near future or are her best days behind her?

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Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov Are Finally In The Same Place

Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov are living it up in the same place today.

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After months of animosity, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are finally in the same place.

Unfortunately for MMA fans, it’s just not for a fight.

The two have been at odds in a big way since McGregor stormed the Barclays Center this April and threw a metal dolly through a bus containing Nurmagomedov and several other fighters at UFC 223, forcing three fights off the card and landing “The Notorious” in jail on assault charges, for which he’ll appear in court again in Brooklyn this month. But that’s not preventing him from enjoying the best of the sports world abroad.

With France facing Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Finals in Moscow, Russia, today (Sun., July 15, 2018), both McGregor and Nurmagomedov have made their presence known on social media. First, McGregor tweeted late last night that his “Russian Compound” was taking shape as he walked through an undisclosed location with his entourage:

Next, Canadian bronze medalist in soccer, Karina LeBlanc, tweeted a picture with McGregor at the game earlier this morning:

Khabib made his presence known as well, saying he had fulfilled a childhood dream come true by attending the World Cup finals on Instagram:

News also came that “The Eagle” had a TV pass for the world-anticipated event (for whatever that’s worth):

McGregor and Nurmagomedov are living the high life at one of the year’s most awaited sporting events, but there’s still a long line of red tape to pass for them to finally get their bad blood-filled grudge match signed.

The UFC is waiting for the Irish superstar’s legal issues to pass, so even though Khabib says he wants to fight this fall or November-December at the latest, McGregor may not be clear of his latest self-caused hurdle – and his ongoing negotiations with the UFC may not be over even if he is.

Will Conor vs. Khabib ever happen? Or will they just continue with the public grandstanding?

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Gustafsson: I’ve Fought Guys Who Hit ‘Way Harder’ Than Daniel Cormier

Alexander Gustafsson isn’t so hyped on Daniel Cormier’s knockout power.

The post Gustafsson: I’ve Fought Guys Who Hit ‘Way Harder’ Than Daniel Cormier appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Alexander Gustafsson isn’t exactly pumped about the current state of his light heavyweight division.

Thought to be the next rightful contender to champion Daniel Cormier’s throne, “The Mauler” saw a perceived title shot go up in smoke when it was granted to formerly surging challenger Volkan Oezdemir at January’s UFC 220. Cormier dismantled “No Time” with a quickness, and now Gustafsson will face Oezdemir at August 4’s UFC 227 for the expected top spot at 205 pounds.

Yet it won’t guarantee a shot at Cormier even if he does come out on top, because “DC” has teased granting former champ ‘Shogun’ Rua a shot if the Brazilian great can get past Anthony Smith at July 22’s UFC Hamburg before retiring after his heavyweight fight with Brock Lesnar. So Gustafsson may never get his rematch with “DC” after taking him to the limit in a narrow split decision loss at their classic first bout back in 2015.

He’s voiced his frustration with that on social media, but overall, “The Mauler” actually has high praise for his rival. After Cormier knocked out heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of last weekend’s UFC 226, Gustafsson expressed his respect for the new two-division champ to Luke Thomas on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour. He wasn’t sure who would win the closely-matched superfight but had a feeling it would be Cormier:

“He did great. I’m impressed. I was impressed by the way he finished Stipe and how he won the fight. I’m very impressed by the guy, he did great.

“I didn’t really have a prediction for that fight because I know it’s a very tough fight to predict, but I had a feeling [that ‘DC’ would win]. ‘DC’ is tough and he’s such a good athlete,”

And even though Gustafsson lost to Cormier at 205 pounds after nearly knocking him out with a hellacious knee, the Swedish star believes heavyweight is the best division for him, as he can eat and enjoy the benefit of his true power while not draining himself to make weight:

“I think he’s better at heavyweight than he is at light heavyweight. I think he’s stronger, he can eat and he doesn’t have to stress about the weight. I think he’ll do even better as a heavyweight. I had a feeling he’d win the fight, but just the way he finished [the fight] — it’s probably the wrong thing to say, but he made it look easy.”

The reason he believes that is because of his experience in fighting Cormier. When they fought at light heavyweight, Gustafsson didn’t believe he hit that hard, adding that he’s fought fighters who hit ‘way harder.’ To him, it was Cormier’s relentless will to keep pushing the pace, a characteristic Gustafsson believed to be the double champ’s best attribute:

“[Cormier’s punching power] wasn’t that bad [when we fought],” Gustafsson said. “I don’t remember him punching me that hard. I’ve been fighting guys that punch way harder, but he’s a very hard worker. He keeps pressuring and he keeps throwing punches. He’s really good with his wrestling and he doesn’t stop working in a fight — I think that’s his biggest strength.”

“The Mauler” hopes to move on and compete for the light heavyweight title soon, and believes an interim version should be created if not having Cormier vacate it outright if he’s going to fight at heavyweight next.

It will all depend on the result of his fight against Oezdemir, of course, so “The Mauler” still has work to do.

Do you want to see him get another shot at Cormier before the champ retires?

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Daniel Cormier Owns Yoel Romero In Ongoing Rivalry

Daniel Cormier has had enough of Yoel Romero’s callouts.

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Maybe UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier does hold all the cards as he says.

In the six days since he won the UFC heavyweight championship by knocking out Stipe Miocic in the main event of July 7’s UFC 226, several high-profile fighters have predictably called out ‘DC’ for one last shot at the soon-to-be-retiring double champ.

There were the expected calls for a rematch by Miocic and former light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson, yet Cormier seems to have his mind made up that he’s going to fight former champion Shogun Rua if he gets past Anthony Smith next weekend and then move on to a heavyweight title bout against a second former champ in Brock Lesnar before retiring. However, there’s a bit of a wild card personality who has been trying to throw his name into the mix, and that’s recent two-time middleweight title contender Yoel Romero.

Missing weight before his last two fights, the Cuban Olympic medalist wrestler has hinted a move up to 205, and he figured he may as well shoot for the stars by calling out Cormier. That lead to the expected shutdown from the vocal ‘DC,’ who likened Romero’s request to ‘failing a class and moving up a grade’ after the ‘Soldier of God’ lost two out of his last three fights:

“Here’s the deal: I never wrestled Yoel Romero, but in wrestling, he probably would have served me up. He’s one of the great wrestlers of all-time. But, you don’t fail a class and then get moved up a grade to the next one.”

Romero was quick to fire back with a vicious comparison of his own, even if it didn’t necessarily make tons of sense based on the dynamics at play:

Finally, Cormier apparently had enough of Romero’s antics, breaking down the succinct reasons he would not be facing Romero soon and urging him to get his manager Malki Kawa off of his Twitter account:

Put in those terms, it’s hard to argue with Cormier.

After all, Romero, despite being one of the most fearsome knockout artists in the UFC, has lost two of his last three fights to middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and missed weight before his last two as “DC” noted.

Insisting he’ll retire right at his 40th birthday in March, Cormier probably doesn’t have time to fight former middleweights on a down stretch, and even though it could be argued Romero deserves a shot more than Lesnar does, Cormier is also understandably looking to cash in before he rides off into the sunset.

For that reason, he’s trying to squash the Romero beef as soon as possible. We’ll see if the “Soldier of God” lets him.

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Chad Mendes Calls UFC Boise ‘Biggest Fight Of His Life’ After USADA Suspension

With his two-year USADA suspension complete, Chad Mendes looks to smash Myles Jury

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Two years is a long time – 730 days to be exact.

That was the sentence imposed on Chad “Money” Mendes by USADA for failing an out of competition drug test on June 10th, 2016, for GHRP-6 – a growth hormone-releasing Hexapeptide.

UFC Boise will mark the return of the Team Alpha Male standout when he takes on dangerous featherweight Myles Jury in a FOX Sports 1-televised main card bout.

Speaking with MMA Junkie, Mendes detailed how the time off was almost a blessing in disguise.

“I’m feeling great, and I’m feeling excited,” said Mendes. “I’ve got that hunger back. I feel almost rejuvenated. My body feels good – the bumps and bruises.”

“Probably about the past four years, getting up in the morning, my feet were just so bruised and beat up from kicking and getting stepped on and stubbing your toes during practice. It’s just nice. Everything feels back to normal, I’m ready to go.”

Mendes denied knowing taking any kind of banned substance or performance-enhancing drugs but later postulated the positive test may have been the result of a cream he used to treat psoriasis.

“It was my own damn fault,” Mendes said. “I should have paid attention. I did the time. I’m not going to sit there and make up a bunch of excuses and try to get out of it. …”

The former two-time title contender has taken responsibly for the failed test, however, Mendes stands by his assertion of unknowingly consuming a banned substance. Be that as it may, hindsight is 20/20 and “Money” wishes he would’ve contested USADA’s final ruling.

“When they told me two years, at that time, honestly I was frustrated. I was embarrassed. I was just like, ‘Screw it. I’ll do my time. I just want to step away from all this.’ About halfway through it, I was like, ‘I wish I would have tried to fight it a little bit.’”

USADA, like anything else, isn’t always going to get it right. Take the recent Josh Barnett situation for example. Barnett harbors such negative feelings for the organization that he elected to be released from the UFC in order to pursue other options. Mendes may not be on the best of terms with USADA, but he fully understands their place in the MMA landscape.

“I think it’s great, just keeping blatant cheating stuff out of the sport,” Mendes said. “A lot of that stuff was getting overlooked and getting through. I think there are some petty stuff that we can probably fine-tuned. In my opinion, the tainted supplements even. There’s no way for us to know that. If I go to the store and buy amino acids, I’m planning on taking amino acids, which are 100 percent legal.”

“There’s no way for me to know there’s something illegal in there, and if there’s something the company tries to sneak in there to make their product sell better, by people saying, ‘I feel great when I take this, and I’m looking good,’ how is that our fault?”

The matchmakers didn’t do Mendes any favors in his return to the octagon, offering up a talented “Fury” to the Team Alpha Male star.

 “For me to get back there and fight a guy like Myles, who is a guy that is all right going into my world,” Mendes said. “He’s OK wrestling. He trains with (Dominick) Cruz and those guys, so I’m sure they wrestle a lot. He’s OK being on his back.”

“I’m treating this like it’s the biggest fight of my life – and it is,” Mendes said. “This is a fight that I need to go out there and prove to people (that) I’m back. I didn’t leave. I took a little bit of time off, but I’m still an animal. I’m still going to go out there and try to knock your head off. I can take you down when I want and put that pressure on you.”

“Money” is hoping he will not miss a beat in his return to the cage at UFC Boise, but more importantly, Mendes want people to remember what kind of fighter he was – and still is.

“That’s the type of Chad that I want people to remember and see back in the octagon now and be like, ‘(Expletive), this guy never left.’ That’s the plan. I’m going to go out there and try to do that and if I get that win, which hopefully I do, I would like to fight someone in the top five right off the bat.”

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