Tag: Nate Diaz

Twitter Reacts To Jon Jones’ USADA Suspension & Return

Jon Jones’ USADA suspension make it seem like he got off easy. Today Jones was given a 15-month suspension for his second USADA violation. Jones was suspended when he tested positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol. He knocked ‘DC’ out to regain his long-held light heavyweight belt in a thought-to-be historic scene. The knockout then became a […]

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Jon Jones’ USADA suspension make it seem like he got off easy.

Today Jones was given a 15-month suspension for his second USADA violation. Jones was suspended when he tested positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol. He knocked ‘DC’ out to regain his long-held light heavyweight belt in a thought-to-be historic scene. The knockout then became a no contest.

The troubled-but-historic great had been on the sidelines awaiting his punishment ever since. Jones has teased a return to action on social media. That seemed like a longshot considering he was facing a potential four-year suspension. Today, we just found out the opposite is true.

Jones will be eligible to return on October 28, putting his return at November 3’s UFC 230 as a distinct possibility. The MMA world was understandably abuzz with the news. Find out how MMA Twitter reacted to the news here:

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Quote: Woodley Won’t Get UFC 230 Main Event Because ‘UFC Hates Him’

The loudest trash talker in the UFC says Tyron Woodley won’t get the coveted UFC 230 main event slot. Interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington (or former champion, who knows) has ramped up his callouts of Woodley. A sinus injury for Covington prolonged their expected title fight earlier this year. The consensus is they’ll meet for […]

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The loudest trash talker in the UFC says Tyron Woodley won’t get the coveted UFC 230 main event slot.

Interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington (or former champion, who knows) has ramped up his callouts of Woodley. A sinus injury for Covington prolonged their expected title fight earlier this year. The consensus is they’ll meet for the title next because of their long-standing rivalry.

Woodley recently stated he would be ready to face Covington at November’s UFC 230 on one condition. Covington isn’t buying that, however, telling BJ Penn (via MMA Mania) that was “fake news.” They won’t be fighting at that coveted event because the UFC simply hates Woodley according to Covington:

“Tyron, that’s fake news about his hand being hurt. He was saying he was ready to go, but I think it’s more that the UFC, they don’t want to give him that spot.

“They don’t want to reward him that main event, ’cause they hate him. He doesn’t know how to sell fights, he doesn’t know how to promote fights, he just complains, man. He just consistently shoots himself in the foot every time he opens his mouth.”

Woodley has received an endless amount of criticism for many topics. Some fans believe he is not promoted due to the fact he put on two boring title fights against Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson last year. UFC president Dana White has repeatedly blasted Woodley in the media.

Woodley claims the UFC is unwilling to promote him, at least in part, due to racism. He believes the UFC has failed to secure him the African-American contingent of Floyd Mayweather fans.

Regardless, November 3’s UFC 230 from Madison Square Garden in New York City is without a main event. The pay-per-view card features the long-awaited return of Nate Diaz against Dustin Poirier. That means it should sell well on pay-per-view.

It’s unknown who will headline the event, however, and the UFC may not want to give Woodley the massive PPV cash that comes along with it.

Should they?

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Dustin Poirier Wishes More Fighters Would Move Up Weight Class

Dustin Poirier wishes more fighters would move up a weight class.

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With all of the weight cutting mishaps lately, more fighters have considered moving up a weight class.

Lightweight Dustin Poirier is one such fighter who has already made the move. In his early UFC days, “The Diamond” found success in the featherweight division. However, Poirer felt he was being held back due to the brutal weight cut down to the 145-pound mark.

So he moved back to 155 pounds and hasn’t looked back since.

And that move back to lightweight just may prove to be the best decision Poirier has made in his career. Since returning, he has gone on quite a run, compiling a record of 8-1 (1NC) in the sports deepest division.

Having already made the move up in weight, Poirier knows that many other fighters would benefit from the same move. That’s why “The Diamond” is encouraging his fellow fighters to follow suit and move up in weight.

“Yeah, I’d recommend that to pretty much everybody,” Dustin Poirier told Nick Dwyer of Everlast.com.You’re just happier with training camp, you know? You can enjoy it more, you enjoy fight week more, it’s better for your body, your mind. It’s just better for everything. There’s a point when you do this long enough where you’re going to hate the process of starving yourself and being low on calories and nutrients all through camp and then having to sacrifice two or three months of hardcore dieting and then show up and still have 20 pounds to go, it just makes it not fun.”

“You should enjoy your job, you should enjoy the process of preparing for fights and being at your best and I just think that’s the way the sport should be moving,” he added. “Diego Sanchez just did it this weekend and I hope things continue to go that way. I know I feel a lot better.”

The sport of MMA as a whole has been plagued by weight cutting issues, seemingly now more than ever. The UFC seems to have a fight called every other event – or even more – due to a fighter’s health being in danger. It’s extended to the most high-profile of bouts in the octagon as well.

Poirier success after ditching his weight cut has been well documented, and the improvement is more than apparent. ‘The Diamond’ has been on a tear and most recently stopped rival Eddie Alvaveriz in Canada this July. He’ll face Nate Diaz in the biggest match-up of his career at November’s UFC 230.

Let us know what you think. Should more fighters follow Poirier’s advice and move up in weight?

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Gilbert Melendez Reportedly In Talks For Possible Retirement Fight

Gilbert Melendez’s decorated MMA career could be coming to an end. News broke today that Melendez is reportedly in talks to end his lengthy layoff to face Arnold Allen at December’s UFC 232 according to an anonymous source who confirmed the talks to MMAjunkie.com. The fight was first reported by FloCombat. Melendez recently confirmed that he […]

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Gilbert Melendez’s decorated MMA career could be coming to an end.

News broke today that Melendez is reportedly in talks to end his lengthy layoff to face Arnold Allen at December’s UFC 232 according to an anonymous source who confirmed the talks to MMAjunkie.com. The fight was first reported by FloCombat.

Melendez recently confirmed that he was ending a yearlong hiatus since a brutal beating at the hands of feared knockout artist Jeremy Stephens. The bout was contested at featherweight, Melendez’ first bout at 145 pounds since 2003.

The former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC title challenger was once one of the top 155-pound fighters in the world. He won the Strikeforce lightweight title twice and defended it five times in total to storm into the UFC in 2013. He met then-champ Benson Henderson for the title and lost a close split decision. ‘El Nino’ then won a brutal, bloody war with Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 to earn a second UFC title shot at UFC 181 in December 2014.

Melendez was submitted by former champ Anthony Pettis and went on to lose three straight fights to Stephens, Edson Barboza, and Eddie Alvarez to put his overall UFC record at a disappointing 1-5.

He was also suspended for a positive drug test and has been dealing with a significant leg injury where bruises calcified and resulted in nerve damage. But in an interview with MMAjunkie this week, he said he’s doing better:

“As a fighter, recovery takes a bit longer, and mileage is a little bit more, so with all that added up, I took some time,” Melendez said on Wednesday. “But I’m feeling great. My leg is better. I’m checking kicks right now, and I feel good about it.”

With the losses mounting to the best fighters in the world, ‘El Nino’ admitted he needs to win his next fight and win big.

If he did, he claimed his career may continue, but a loss or poor performance would result in him re-examining his path:

“I think it’s important for me to succeed in my next fight,” Melendez said. “It will be hard to go on if I don’t succeed. I really have to deliver. Even if I did come out with a victory, and I’m not happy with my performance, I’d probably have to consider everything.

“I need to succeed in this fight. If I do, that journey may continue. But if I don’t succeed, I can’t say forever-ever, but it’s definitely going to be time to step back for a long time.”

If he does battle Allen, he’ll have no easy task. The 24-year-old featherweight was last seen submitting Mads Burnell at May’s UFC Liverpool. He boasts four wins in a row in the UFC and an overall MMA record of 13-1.

Will Melendez continue his storied career past UFC 232?

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Conor McGregor Finally Appears In UFC 229 Training Video

It’s high time Conor McGregor finally appears before his anticipated showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Irish megastar will meet the undefeated champion in the main event of October 6’s UFC 229 from Las Vegas, Nevada, in his first MMA fight in almost two years. Contrary to his previous UFC bouts, however, he’s done precious little […]

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It’s high time Conor McGregor finally appears before his anticipated showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The Irish megastar will meet the undefeated champion in the main event of October 6’s UFC 229 from Las Vegas, Nevada, in his first MMA fight in almost two years. Contrary to his previous UFC bouts, however, he’s done precious little promotion for a fight many are calling the biggest UFC contest of all-time.

McGregor has reportedly chosen to focus on his training for the fight rather than media, something he did in the lead-up to his awaited rematch with Nate Diaz at August 2016’s UFC 202. The UFC is supposedly none too happy with their biggest star, but they’re going to have to put up with his schedule to get him back in the octagon.

So McGregor hasn’t been talking all too much trash, instead choosing to focus on his preparation for the monumental task before him. He finally did make some semblance on an appearance on Instagram tonight, posting a video of his training routine at SBG Ireland. Check it out here:

McGregor has been out of action since he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez at November 2016’s UFC 205. He was eventually stripped of the title when Nurmagomedov won it by defeating Al Iaquinta at April’s UFC 223, but McGregor made his mark there too.

Storming the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a host of goons, McGregor infamously threw a metal handcart through a bus containing Nurmagomedov, injuring several fighters and forcing three fights off of UFC 223. He was arrested for assault and reached a plea deal in a Brooklyn court this July.

Some say he got off easy, but in any case, he’s coming back for the biggest MMA fight of his career. From the look of things, he’s focused solely on his opponent.

There has not yet been a press conference for UFC 229 as of this writing.

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Former UFC Title Challenger: I Hope Khabib Rearranges Conor’s Face

This former title challenger is pulling no punches with his Khabib vs. Conor prediction.

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A former UFC title challenger is rooting for Khabib Nurmagomedov to dismantle Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 229.

That’s obviously because of his storied history with the undefeated UFC lightweight champ. Al Iaquinta met Nurmagomedov on short notice in the main event of April 7’s UFC 223. He was the feared wrestler’s fifth prospective opponent in the week. ‘Ragin’ Al’ was also supposed to face Paul Felder at the event, but was instead dominated by ‘The Eagle.’

Predictions ‘Rage’ On

That set up his highly anticipated match-up with McGregor. One top-ranked lightweight is picking McGregor to sleep Khabib, but Iaquinta feels differently. The Long Island-based slugger recently told MMA Fighting that Nurmagomedov should walk through McGregor’s feared knockout power and keep charging:

“The worst-case scenario, I think [Nurmagomedov] takes a few shots from Conor and just keeps coming forward. I mean, Conor obviously has the power to put him out, but I don’t know. Does he? I think a lot of people think he does, because he’s knocked a lot of people out, but Khabib is tough. He sees things, he’s got a little awkward style, which is different. It’s tough to adjust to, because it’s so different, standup-wise.”

That’s the question on everyone’s mind. Many are in agreement with Iaquinta’s stance that Khabib will simply impose his relentless pressure on “The Notorious.” That will lead to the ‘pretty’ McGregor giving up – at least in Iaquinta’s mind:

“I think he could just get after him. Get after him, keep the pressure on him. Conor, he’s quit before. He’s given up. Against Diaz, it gets a little later rounds. I think he’s a pretty fighter. If the fight is pretty and it’s going good for him … [Chad] Mendes took that fight on no notice. He had zero in the gas tank going into that fight. If it’s five rounds of that, I think Conor is finding a way out.”

‘Ragin’ Al’ then affirmed his desire that Nurmagomedov demolishes McGregor. It would obviously make him look much better. It’s also something he thinks will happen:

“I hope he does,” Iaquinta said. “It would look good for me — if he beats the **** out of him more than he beat the **** out of me on a day’s notice. It’d look real good. So, I hope Khabib f*cking knocks his *** out, makes him quit and rearranges his face like he says he’s gonna do. I think it’s gonna happen — I hope it happens.”

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