(Leben might need to pray that MMA fans and the UFC don’t turn their backs on him in the next year while he serves his latest suspension. Ask Karo Parisyan.)
Anyone who says that the UFC isn’t policing its own athletes when it comes to drug use needs to talk to Chris Leben.
The troubled UFC middleweight, who blamed a massive weight cut on his sluggish performance, tested positive for Oxymorphone and Oxycodone in tests administered by the promotion following his UFC 138 loss on November 5 to Mark Munoz. As a result, he has been suspended by Zuffa for a year.
For those keeping track, this is the second time “The Crippler” has been popped for pissing dirty by the UFC. The first time was after his UFC 89 decision loss to Michael back in October 2008 when he tested positive for Stanozolol. Between these incidents, he also got picked up for DUI for the second time in October 2010, which clearly reveals a pattern of someone who needs help for a substance abuse problem or someone who really needs a hobby during the winter months.
(Leben might need to pray that MMA fans and the UFC don’t turn their backs on him in the next year while he serves his latest suspension. Ask Karo Parisyan.)
Anyone who says that the UFC isn’t policing its own athletes when it comes to drug use needs to talk to Chris Leben.
The troubled UFC middleweight, who blamed a massive weight cut on his sluggish performance, tested positive for Oxymorphone and Oxycodone in tests administered by the promotion following his UFC 138 loss on November 5 to Mark Munoz. As a result, he has been suspended by Zuffa for a year.
For those keeping track, this is the second time “The Crippler” has been popped for pissing dirty by the UFC. The first time was after his UFC 89 decision loss to Michael back in October 2008 when he tested positive for Stanozolol. Between these incidents, he also got picked up for DUI for the second time in October 2010, which clearly reveals a pattern of someone who needs help for a substance abuse problem or someone who really needs a hobby during the winter months.
At any rate, Leben’s boss, UFC president Dana White issued the following statement on the TUF 1 vet’s current lapse of judgment via UFC.com:
“I like Chris and I want him to do well, but based on his actions, he’s been suspended for one year,” White said. “If he needs professional help, we are going to be there for him. We want to see him succeed not only in the Octagon, but in his personal life.”
Leben issued a statement of his own, accepting responsibility for his mistake and pledging to do better for the sport, his fans, his family, his friends and his employer.
“I would like to make it known that I fully accept this suspension and apologize for embarrassing the UFC, my friends and family, and sport of mixed martial arts,” Leben said. “I’m learning that I’m my own worst enemy sometimes. I can’t succeed in the Octagon or in life behaving this way. I’ve got to make some real changes over the next year and I’m going to focus on getting my life and career back on track. Again, I’m sorry to the UFC and fans that’ve supported me since my days on The Ultimate Fighter.”
According to the UFC each of the remaining 19 fighters on the card all passed their drug tests.
Like any other sport, MMA has athletes who at one time or another seem destined for greatness. Some fighters reach their full potential, while others just can’t seem to get over the hump. Whether you like a fighter or not, it’s sad to see one…
Like any other sport, MMA has athletes who at one time or another seem destined for greatness.
Some fighters reach their full potential, while others just can’t seem to get over the hump.
Whether you like a fighter or not, it’s sad to see one who could have become greater than what they were.
Here’s a list of those fighters who have wasted their talents.
We had several entries in what was likely our toughest contest to date. As always, you guys showed that you’re passionate fans of our site and the sport — either that or you just like free stuff.
Anyway, before we get into announcing who the winner is, here are the official correct answers:
2. Acclaimed coach Shawn Tompkins (hitting the bag), Frank “Johnny Cage” Colcher and Trevor “Hollywood” Harris (both sparring in ring) in “Sons of Anarchy” (2010)
3. UFC 3 tooth loser Teila Tuli AKA Taylor Wily in “Forgetting “Sarah Marshall” (2008)
4. Maurice Smith (the fatherless bastard) in “Miami Connection” (1987)
6. UFC founder Rorian Gracie (Mexican restaurant maitre d’) in “Hart to Hart” 1983
7. Cunning linguist Tito Ortiz in “The Crow: Wicked Prayer” (2005)
8. Rapist and murderer Joe Son (fighting Bolo Yeung) and Mike Bernardo (cornerman shouting encouragement to Yeung) in Shootfighter 2 (1996)
9. MMA legend and all around good guy (unless you accost his wife in a bar) Bas Rutten in Zookeeper (2011)
10. MMA trainer extraordinaire Steven Seagal, Randy Couture (answers door and gets KO’d by Seagal) and Karo Parisyan (thug number two that Seagal KOs) in “Today You Die” (2005)
11. UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock in “That 70’s Show” (1999)
12. Raving lunatic Harold Howard (wild-eyed murderous gladiator) in “Gladiator Cop” (1995)
We had several entries in what was likely our toughest contest to date. As always, you guys showed that you’re passionate fans of our site and the sport — either that or you just like free stuff.
Anyway, before we get into announcing who the winner is, here are the official correct answers:
2. Acclaimed coach Shawn Tompkins (hitting the bag), Frank “Johnny Cage” Colcher and Trevor “Hollywood” Harris (both sparring in ring) in “Sons of Anarchy” (2010)
3. UFC 3 tooth loser Teila Tuli AKA Taylor Wily in “Forgetting “Sarah Marshall” (2008)
4. Maurice Smith (the fatherless bastard) in “Miami Connection” (1987)
6. UFC founder Rorian Gracie (Mexican restaurant maitre d’) in “Hart to Hart” 1983
7. Cunning linguist Tito Ortiz in “The Crow: Wicked Prayer” (2005)
8. Rapist and murderer Joe Son (fighting Bolo Yeung) and Mike Bernardo (cornerman shouting encouragement to Yeung) in Shootfighter 2 (1996)
9. MMA legend and all around good guy (unless you accost his wife in a bar) Bas Rutten in Zookeeper (2011)
10. MMA trainer extraordinaire Steven Seagal, Randy Couture (answers door and gets KO’d by Seagal) and Karo Parisyan (thug number two that Seagal KOs) in “Today You Die” (2005)
11. UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock in “That 70′s Show” (1999)
12. Raving lunatic Harold Howard (wild-eyed murderous gladiator) in “Gladiator Cop” (1995)
14.Stephen Quadros (dude with the animated facial expressions) in “Demon Wind” (1990)
15. Patrick Smith’s first UFC 2 victim Ray Wizard (gang leader) in “The Master” AKA “Long Xing Tian Xia” (1992)
16. Joe Rogan in “Zookeeper” (2011
17. Chuck Liddell (Boy Scout catching orange) in “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (1981)
If you got all of the answers you would have gotten 22 right. Worth noting is that not one person got all 22 and most (who were frontrunners up until we received the winning entry last night) topped out at 17. Many forgot to mention Sensei Seagal since most don’t consider him an MMA personality and the majority didn’t catch the background “bonus” characters in the Sons of Anarchy and Shootfighter 2 clips. A few, who are likely kicking themselves today, incorrectly stated that the clip with Joe Son was from Shootfighter, NOT Shootfighter 2.
We’d like to say thanks to Hayabusa for offering us such a great prize and to everyone for entering. Unfortunately there can only be one grand prize winner.
As a consolation prize we will be sending the runners up one of our coveted Cage Potato “Devil Horns” or “Hall of Fame” shirts. If your name is called, send us your shipping info and shirt size at [email protected]: Blakethoria, John Hernandez, Noah Kalkstein, Miles Ravitz, Chris Reid and Justin Williams.
And the big winner, and a true expert of Googling obscure MMA cameos is…. Michael Jones. Shoot us your shipping address and size and we’ll get your prize out to you.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
No stranger to brutal throws, “The Barbarian” showcased his “redneck judo” once again this past weekend and impressed a lot of people with his decision win over the previously unbeaten Ring. As further proof of the effectiveness of Judo in MMA, here’s a video of the Cory Devela/Joe Riggs scrap from the Strikeforce: Strikeforce at the Dome event back in 2008, which ended just over a minute in after Devela pulled off a similar throw. Karo Parisyan would be proud. Enjoy.
Just a friendly reminder that the inaugural Amazon Forest Combat show is tomorrow and for those of you who want to watch it, we’ll have a stream. Fair warning: Chael Sonnen tells us the Internet quality in Brazil is slightly better than dial-up, so the quality may be a bit less than 720p.
Anyway, the card for this show is a good one and definitely worth watching. According to the promotion’s website, it should be live around 8:00 pm ET Wednesday.
(Main event, huh? Interesting choice.)
Just a friendly reminder that the inaugural Amazon Forest Combat show is tomorrow and for those of you who want to watch it, we’ll have a stream. Fair warning: Chael Sonnen tells us the Internet quality in Brazil is slightly better than dial-up, so the quality may be a bit less than 720p.
Anyway, the card for this show is a good one and definitely worth watching. According to the promotion’s website, it should be live around 8:00 pm ET Wednesday.
Satoshi Ishii versus Paulo Filho should be a great scrap, as should Ronys Torres versus Drew Fickett and Lopes Dileno versus Ian MacCall. Antonio Braga Neto versus Maiquel Falcao has potential as long as both fighters engage and it doesn’t end up looking like Harris-Falcao. One way to ensure this would be to have Neto dress up like Falcao’s wife. Too soon?
Although the expiration date on the Royler Gracie-Masakatsu Ueda fight may have passed some time ago, it’s worth watching simply because it might be Royler’s last bout.
If Karo Parisyan is in as good as shape as we’re told he’s in (and judging by this photo he is) and has been taking his training seriously since being back with Gokor Chivichyan, Jordan Smith might be in trouble.
For those of you who are JuJu Panicat fans, she’ll be the ring card girl at the event.
Check back in later tonight for the live stream of the event and don’t ever say we don’t look after the Potato Nation.
Amazon Forest Combat September 14, 2011 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Royler Gracie vs. Masakatsu Ueda
Satoshi Ishii vs. Paulo Filho
Josh Burkman vs. Roan Carneiro
Antonio Braga Neto vs. Maiquel Falcao
Alexandre “Capitao” vs. Shanon Slack
Jordan Smith vs. Karo Parisyan
Ronys Torres vs. Drew Fickett
Lopes Dileno vs. Ian MacCall
George Clay vs. Anthony Birchak
