MMA | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 146: Junior Dos Santos Feels Fight Against Alistair Overeem Would Be Unfair

Since UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem was popped for having elevated testosterone levels, it seems as if almost everyone has offered their opinion on the subject; everyone but the main players in the drama. At this point, we have not heard from the UFC, nor have we heard from Alistair Overeem, and until recently, we had not heard from Junior dos Santos.

As the man that is scheduled to defend his UFC heavyweight title against Overeem in the main event of UFC 146, his thoughts on Overeem’s drug test and the upcoming fight should be heard.

Dos Santos did take a shot at Overeem via Twitter shortly after it was revealed that Overeem’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone levels were 14:1, far above the allowable limits of the Nevada State Athletic Commission:

After that tweet, Dos Santos was silent on the subject.

Recently, that changed when Dos Santos spoke to Tatame.com about the possibility of facing Overeem knowing that he tested for such high levels of testosterone:

If the Athletic Committee and UFC want to, I’ll fight him. I’m a fighter and I’ll always be there to fight, but it sure is disrespectful to MMA and how serious the sport is. It’s also unfair, it’s unfair to me. I have never used these devices to gain strength.

Overeem has filed for a license to fight Dos Santos on the May 26 fight card, which will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The hearing for that license will take place on April 24 in Las Vegas.

Opting to have a hearing is a somewhat risky proposition for Overeem. If he is not granted that license, he won’t be able to apply for another license to fight in Nevada for a year. With the UFC honoring the NSAC’s decisions across all of their events, Overeem, if he would remain under the employ of the UFC, would effectively be forced to sit on the sidelines for that year. Not an ideal situation for a fighter that joined the UFC and immediately sent former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar into retirement.

If Overeem is licensed, expect the fight to go on as planned. If he is not licensed, the UFC will not have a very long time to find a replacement to face Dos Santos. With that being said, they should not have a problem on that front, as Frank Mir, Mark Hunt and Dan Henderson have all expressed interest in taking the fight.

For his part Dos Santos did not seem thrilled about the prospect of fighting and possibly losing to Overeem:

“In case I lose, it’s unfair. He won’t have fought better than me, he will have fought on drugs.”

The NSAC can license Overeem and the fight can go on as planned. To be honest, if he is licensed, the fight needs to take place; there’s no reason that it shouldn’t. However, a license from the NSAC won’t alleviate the concerns of Dos Santos or those of many fans that will feel that Overeem will enter the Octagon with an unfair advantage.

Yes, Overeem will most likely be tested before and after UFC 146, but even if he passes those tests, in the minds of many, a win over Dos Santos will be tainted. There’s just no way to avoid that thought from creeping into the minds of MMA fans.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Where Pride Stars Are 5 Years After the Zuffa Purchase

This fall will mark the five-year anniversary of Zuffa’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championships, an event that reshaped the landscape of the MMA world.For the better part of the 2000s, fans of mixed martial arts debated whether it was the U…

This fall will mark the five-year anniversary of Zuffa’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championships, an event that reshaped the landscape of the MMA world.

For the better part of the 2000s, fans of mixed martial arts debated whether it was the UFC or Pride that had the better roster of fighters, which company put on better events and which organization was overall superior to the other.

These discourses ceased in 2007.

Shortly after the purchase was announced, Pride was eliminated, its operations shutdown and its stable of fighters was in part discarded, in part amalgamated into the UFC.

Here, we will take a look at what has become of some of the better-known fighters who carved out their niche in the world of mixed martial arts in Pride FC.

In addition to those who built themselves up through Pride, the organization saw lots of established, or soon to be established, talent grace its ring. Legends like Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva and Royce Gracie come to mind.

But this article will acknowledge those who spent significant time fighting under the Pride banner. Those who became stars there. Those that became legends.

Certainly, the promotion produced no shortage of either during the its golden age.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 145: Rashad Evans Is in over His Head Against Jon Jones

By the time Rashad Evans and Jon Jones lace up the gloves to battle, it will have been nearly two months since the last UFC pay-per-view event. Some have suggested the delay is bleeding the life out of them. Contrastingly, I actually have enjoyed the b…

These days there seems to be no shortage of UFC cards on television and PPV. As a matter of fact, there are 11 in the span of four months from April to July alone. I vividly remember the not-so-distant past of 2004 when there was regularly a month or two break between UFC cards.

It seems these days perhaps we have become spoiled by our bounty. I like the fact that I have had to wait to see Rashad Evans and Jon Jones fight. I have had to watch UFC Primetime, listen to interviews and watch Rashad break down Jon Jones at UFC 135 last September.

The stage has been set. The Octagon has been loaded. The fighters are putting the finishing touches on their trainings. It is nearly time.

Why Rashad is In Over His Head

Jon Jones is the UFC light heavyweight champion of the world. Still the youngest champion in UFC history, Jones has already defeated Shogun Rua to capture the belt and defended that championship against none other than Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida.

Jones has shown in his bouts that he has all of the tools to beat any man at 205 pounds. Jones has great wrestling with a myriad of takedowns and trips that he uses from a distance that Rashad Evans cannot operate in.

“Bones” also has far improved striking since his first UFC bout in August 2008. He uses many strikes such as spinning elbows, flying kicks, Superman punches, stance switchups and knees to pepper the face and mid section of his opponents.

Jon Jones also has submissions that are completely original innovations of existing submissions. Because of the champion’s long limbs he is able to execute chokes and other submissions at angles and from positions that others could not attempt. In his last bout, he easily choked out Machida from a standing position with an improvised guillotine.

The UFC light heavyweight champion also has deadly weapons when he gets the fight to the ground. Mark Coleman may have started the ground and pound but Jonny “Bones” has taken it to another planet as evidenced in his brutal finish of Brandon Vera, breaking Vera’s orbital bone with a vicious elbow strike.

All of these previous advantages are key, but the one thing that makes Jon Jones virtually unbeatable is his reach advantage. A lot of folks have begun to compare Jones to Muhammad Ali lately and Jones even did an Ali-esque cover shoot for UFC Magazine. Ali fought at heavyweight and Jon Jones fights at light-heavy, yet Jones has the longer reach. Wow!

Jones uses this reach to learn when his opponent crosses the kill line. The kill line was used in prisoner of war camps starting in the Civil War. If you crossed the line, you got a bullet in the middle of the forehead. With the UFC champion, a man who crosses into his kill zone gets destroyed.

Jones will use a pawing jab to gauge his distance. He uses a front kick or a jumping knee to back up his opponents, and he can shoot for takedowns from much further away than Rashad could ever dream of.

Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Alexander Gustafsson and all of the other fighters in the 205-pound division are very good at what they do. What Jon Jones does is on another level. At this point in his career he is as close to unbeatable as anyone in the sport aside from the great Anderson Silva. Evans may not realize it until he is half way through round one, but he is in way over his head.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The 5 Worst Chins in MMA History

In the world of heavy leather and slick submissions, not everyone can have the best of it all. For every strength a fighter has, in most cases, he has a weakness to counter. One may have great submission skills but lack standup, while another might be …

In the world of heavy leather and slick submissions, not everyone can have the best of it all.

For every strength a fighter has, in most cases, he has a weakness to counter. One may have great submission skills but lack standup, while another might be a great striker but lack KO power.

But one attribute almost all fighters fear lacking is a solid chin.

In MMA, odds are that if you fight long enough, you’re going to have your chin checked. And a prosperous career can get derailed if a solid chin is lacking.

Here is a list of five fighters who have found themselves getting dropped frequently or knocked out cold because they had a weak chin.

Begin Slideshow

The Ultimate Show: Jonny Hendricks Exclusive, Silva-Sonnen Debate and More

This week on The Ultimate Show, B/R breaks down the latest installment of The Ultimate Fighter. In the fifth episode, Faber’s team took back momentum from Team Cruz with an entertaining back-and-forth fight of Mike Chiesa and Jeremy Larsen.&…

This week on The Ultimate Show, B/R breaks down the latest installment of The Ultimate Fighter. In the fifth episode, Faber’s team took back momentum from Team Cruz with an entertaining back-and-forth fight of Mike Chiesa and Jeremy Larsen. With both teams now tied, next weeks match will feature Team Cruz’s Chris Tickle vs. Team Faber’s Joe Proctor.

Bleacher Report meets up with Ian McCall to have him give us his run down on his Move of The Week. Watch Ian breakdown his patented “Swing By and Punch” move for us step by step.

With Saturday close approaching, the UFC on FUEL TV goes to Sweden for the first time with Alexander Gustafsson taking on Thiago Silva on the main card. Also, America’s hero, Brian Stann, will go up against Alessio Sakara on the undercard. This should be a great night for both UFC and Stockholm.

Bleacher Report goes one-on-one with up-and-coming star Jonny Hendricks. Hear what he has to say about beating Fitch, training for Koscheck and the open welterweight division. Also watch as B/R contributors Botter and Snowden debate on the epic rematch between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva.

Be sure to sound off and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report Productions.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA: Why Referees Are Correct in Letting Fighters Make the Decision to Tap

Competing in MMA is not for the faint of heart. It takes dedication, sacrifice and maybe even a few loose screws. The commitment associated with stepping into the cage is something that few can understand.And because of that, no one—even the refe…

And because of that, no one—even the referee—should be able to decide when a fighter chooses to submit, except for the fighter himself/herself.

Let’s be clear; opting not to tap to a choke, armbar or other submission is not the smartest idea for anyone. However, just as fighters make a choice to step into the cage, it is their decision whether or not they want to face serious injury.

Take, for example, Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The heavyweight was both too stubborn and proud to tap to Frank Mir at UFC 140 (see the above picture). “Big Nog” paid the price with a broken arm and a lengthy recovery period.

In that fight, referee Herb Dean waited until Nogueira’s right arm was mangled before intervening—much the same way that Dean had waited at UFC 48, when Mir snapped the arm of Tim Sylvia.

The role of the referee is to maintain fighter safety—meaning they enforce the rules and prevent life-threatening injuries. They are not to decide whether or not a fighter wants to continue trying to escape until the lights go out or a bone gives way. Again—for clarity’s sake—it is absolutely the referee’s job to step in once a fighter is unconscious or has suffered a significant injury, such as Nogueira’s.

Although the consequences of neglecting to tap are quite clear, the punishment that fighters’ bodies endure is something that they elect to put themselves through. If they choose to subject their bodies to broken limbs, torn ligaments and other serious injuries in training camp, the referee is right to let them do it inside the cage on fight night.

Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, follow him on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com