Tag: quick quote

UFC President Dana White (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images North America)

With a number of fighters testing positive for performance enhancing drugs and some calls for stricter drug testing within the sport of mixed martial arts, UFC president Dana White feels that under the current rules most of his fighters will end up under suspension but not for PED use.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White told reporters that he thinks many fighters would test positive for marijuana use and therefore under most commission rules would be out for a year due to suspension.

(Quote via NESN.com)

“Forget about PEDs,” White said. “If we get into this system that we’re talking about where we would randomly test these guys, do you know how many guys would probably test positive for marijuana? It would be probably off the charts. “If you randomly test them and then [the results] came out, you’d get the exact same suspension [for using marijuana] as you do for using PEDs.”

“But [giving fighters similar suspensions for using both PEDs and marijuana] is just crazy,” White said after acknowledging the danger of PEDs in MMA. “It’s so easy to sit there and say, ‘Here’s what you should do. Here’s how you fix it,’ but there are so many flaws in the system, it’s just not that easy. It’s not just, ‘Hey, let’s sign up this company [to do testing].’ There’s a whole [expletive] of things that would come about.”

“Everybody thinks that if you did this random testing you’d catch so many guys on PEDs,” White said. “No. You’d catch more of the guys on marijuana. That’s where you’d really bust a lot of guys. … We have 475 guys under contract and probably 400 of them would be out with marijuana.”

Current UFC welterweight contender Nick Diaz is currently sitting out a year’s suspension for a positive test for marijuana metabolites following a decision loss to Carlos Condit last February at UFC 143. Also under suspensions is heavyweight Dave Herman who was handed a six month suspension following a submission loss to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira last October at UFC 153.

Be sure to read more of White’s comments at NESN.com.

Todd Duffee

Heavyweight Todd Duffee (7-2) will make his long awaited return to the Octagon this coming weekend after a two-and-a-half year absence.

Duffee was called on as a late replacement for Matt Mitrione who had been scheduled to face Phil De Fries at the upcoming UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II show.

The call back to the Octagon was a big surprise for the heavyweight who admits that he has yet to live up to his “own potential.”

“I thought I had another year and a half to go (to get a call from the UFC,” said Duffee. “I had a lot of problems getting fights, and it’s not from lack of trying and not from lack of trying to get things done. It was a real big surprise.”

“… I have not lived up to my own potential, there’s no question. And everybody that’s trained with me, everybody that’s seen me, they know that. I have a lot of potential and I owe it to my coaches and I owe it to my family and friends to see it through. I’ve had to make some crazy sacrifices from friends, family, all that stuff, but if I go out there and I perform, it’s gonna be worth it. I’ve gotten life experience that most small town kids from Raleigh, Illinois don’t get. That alone is pretty special to me. To get where I’m at now from where I was, a town of 351 people, it’s a pretty big deal, and I’m proud of that.”

Duffee offers more thoughts on his return in an interview with UFC.com.

The heavyweight is 1-2 in his last three bouts, with a 34-second TKO finish of former Bellator fighter Neil Grove this pas April with the Super Fight League. The losses came via knockout, a 19-second defeat at the hands of Alistair Overeem on Dec. 31, 2010 and a loss to Mike Russow at UFC 144 in May 2010.

UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II is scheduled for December 29, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Duffee vs. De Fries bout is scheduled to appear on the live Facebook prelim stream.

Vladimir Matyushenko

UFC light heavyweight Vladimir ‘The Janitor’ Matyushenko (26-6) feels his upcoming UFC on FOX 6 bout with Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader (14-3) will be one for the fans next month, expressing in a recent interview “Don’t blink” or you may miss a quick finish from either fighter.

The two meet on January 26, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on the FX broadcasted prelim card of UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson.

“It is an intriguing fight. I hope to get out there and give a good performance for the fans. Don’t blink because this fight can begin and end standing or on the ground, “said the Belarusian, in an exclusive interview with tatami.

“Every fight starts standing, and will depend on who can control the distance. Do not want to reveal my strategy, but I believe will be an exciting fight for the fans, “despista.

(Translated using Google Translate)

Matyushenko is 2-1 in his last three matches having suffered a first round TKO loss to Alexander Gustafsson almost a year ago at UFC 141 in Las Vegas. ‘The Janitor’ had been linked to a September UFC 152 bout with Matt Hamill but was forced out with a torn achilles tendon. His last win came in April 2011, a 20-second knockout of Jason Brilz at UFC 129.