Tag: quick quote

‘Cyborg’ Santos Releases Statement, Apologizes For Failed Drug Test Blames Dietary Supplement

Tweet A day after news broke that Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos had tested positive for steroids following a drug test for her fight versus Hiroko Yamanaka last month (Dec. 16, 2011), the fighter has released a statement on her Facebook page. In it, she takes full responsibility apologizing to the fans, Strikeforce, Zuffa, and the UFC, […]

A day after news broke that Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos had tested positive for steroids following a drug test for her fight versus Hiroko Yamanaka last month (Dec. 16, 2011), the fighter has released a statement on her Facebook page.

In it, she takes full responsibility apologizing to the fans, Strikeforce, Zuffa, and the UFC, but defends herself by saying she used a dietary supplement for a tough weight cut.

The California State Athletic Commission suspended her for a year and fined her $2,500, while Dana White stated that she had been stripped of her Strikeforce women’s featherweight title.

Here is ‘Cyborg’s’ full statement:

I would like to sincerely apologize to StrikeForce, the Zuffa organization, Hioko Yamanaka and my fans for my failed drug test.

I am ultimately responsible for everything I put in my body, and at the end of the day, there is no excuse for having a prohibited substance in my system. I do not condone the use of any performance enhancing drugs by myself or any other professional athlete, and willingly accept the penalties and fines that have been handed down to me by the California State Athletic Commission and those of the StrikeForce/Zuffa organization.

While I was preparing myself for my last fight I was having a difficult time cutting weight and used a dietary supplement that I was assured was safe and not prohibited from use in sports competition. It was never my intention to obtain an unfair advantage over Hiroko, mislead StrikeForce, the Commission or my fans. I train harder than any fighter in MMA and do not need drugs to win in the cage, and I have proven this time and time again! My only mistake is not verifying the diet aid with my doctor beforehand, and understanding that it was not approved for use in the ring. Unfortunately in the end I suffer the consequences and must accept the responsibility for my actions.

I will do everything I can to show my fans that I can still compete at the professional level without the use of any prohibited substances, and ask God’s forgiveness for my mistake.

Cris Santos – Curitiba, Brazil January 7th, 2012

If she can produce the name of this dietary supplement, and it can be shown to increase testosterone levels, this will take some of the heat off of her, but the damage is already done.

It will be interesting to see how women’s mma recovers from this blow to the sport.

‘Cyborg’ Santos Stripped Of Title, Future Of Women’s 145 Pound Division Up In The Air

Tweet After today’s announcement by the California State Athletic Commission, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker released his own statement regarding Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, saying they will closely monitor the situation. “STRIKEFORCE has not seen the test results regarding Ms. Santos. However, we have a consistent and strong stance against any use of performance-enhancing drugs. We also […]

After today’s announcement by the California State Athletic Commission, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker released his own statement regarding Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, saying they will closely monitor the situation.

“STRIKEFORCE has not seen the test results regarding Ms. Santos. However, we have a consistent and strong stance against any use of performance-enhancing drugs. We also have a long history of supporting effective drug testing of athletes by authorized regulatory bodies. Therefore, we will closely monitor the matter and will work with the California State Athletic Commission regarding any information we may be asked to provide. We also recognize that Ms. Santos has administrative process rights under California law and we hope that she is not prejudged before she has the opportunity to exercise such rights.”

Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White, has already come out saying that they have stripped ‘Cyborg’ of the title and wasn’t sure what the future was for the women’s 145-lbs division. Likely the shallow talent pool of the division will see it shut down letting Strikeforce concentrate on the women’s 135-lbs division

Here’s what White had to say about the situation while he was a guest on ESPN radio (via USA Today).

“We were going to hold that division and just do fights with ‘Cyborg’ whenever there was a new contender,” White said Friday during a radio interview with ESPN 1100 Las Vegas. “She’s getting stripped of the title. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

Santos tested positive for steroids following her victory over Hiroko Yamanaka on Dec. 16 in San Diego, California. The CSAC suspended her license for one year, fined her $2,500 and overturned the win to a “No Contest”.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out over the next days, weeks, and months as many of you are familiar with Chael Sonnen’s recent tussle with a positive steroid test which hasn’t hurt his career at all. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if a double standard applies.

Despite Showcasing His Improved Striking, Shinya Aoki Not Satisfied With Recent Win

Tweet DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (30-5, 1NC) showed off his improved striking skills this past weekend by defeating his longtime friend Satoru Kitaoka in the co-main event of DREAM’s Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 event on New Year’s Eve (hit the link to watch the full fight). Aoki has been training […]

DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (30-5, 1NC) showed off his improved striking skills this past weekend by defeating his longtime friend Satoru Kitaoka in the co-main event of DREAM’s Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 event on New Year’s Eve (hit the link to watch the full fight).

Aoki has been training at the Evolve MMA gym in Singapore, steadily improving his striking, something he has taken heat for in the past, as well as all facets of his fight game.

The lightweight spoke to MMAWeekly.com about the win as well as his training at Evolve MMA.

“The media keeps writing about my striking training in Singapore, but people don’t realize that I train every day with world champions in every discipline at Evolve MMA. My submission game has improved tremendously at Evolve MMA. And of course, my striking and takedowns have improved. I am a much more complete MMA fighter today and I will be even better in the future because of my team, Evolve.”

“I am grateful for the win, but I am not satisfied because I did not finish the fight,” Aoki said. “My coaches thought that I would be able to submit or KO him. My style of fighting is to finish my opponents. I don’t like decision victories. However, Kitaoka is a very tough opponent. He is my good friend and training partner for many, many years. I trained very hard for this fight and I tried to use new things…. ”

“I want to fight the best in the world. I will fight anyone, anywhere,” said Aoki. “I don’t choose my opponents. I fight whoever they put in front of me.”

The win was Aoki’s seventh straight since a loss to Gilbert Melendez in Nashville in April 2010. The DREAM champ is hoping to appear at the upcoming co-promoted ONE Fighting Championship/DREAM event this coming March.

Strikeforce’s Lorenz Larkin “Honored” To Face ‘King Mo’ Lawal For Title Contender Spot

Tweet Just one year ago fans of the Strikeforce promotion were unfamiliar with light heavyweight fighter Lorenz ‘The Monsoon’ Larkin (12-0), but after three wins and one Challengers headlining bout, fans are about to learn a lot more about him. Larkin is set to face former champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal this Saturday as part […]

Photo via Strikeforce.com

Just one year ago fans of the Strikeforce promotion were unfamiliar with light heavyweight fighter Lorenz ‘The Monsoon’ Larkin (12-0), but after three wins and one Challengers headlining bout, fans are about to learn a lot more about him.

Larkin is set to face former champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal this Saturday as part of the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event in Las Vegas. The two 205-lbs fighters will battle for a title contender spot for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight title, vacated by Dan Henderson this fall.

Speaking to MMAMania.com, Larkin stated that he was “honored” to face Lawal as well as being given an opportunity to fight for the vacant title should he win.

MMAmania.com: One year ago today, you were preparing to fight Mike Cook at MEZ Sports: Pandemonium 4. Do you ever just think and look back and think, “Wow, so much has happened to me in such a short time?”
Lorenz Larkin: Yeah, it is pretty crazy. Everybody’s asking, “How do you feel about this fight?” and I just keep saying, “I’m honored, I’m looking at it a totally different way than other people are looking at it.” I get questions like, “Do you feel like you’re ready?” just for me to even be considered to fight King Mo, you have to understand that just this April, I was new to the organization. Nobody knew about me or had ever heard of me.

I was just this guy that was pretty much getting fed to Scott Lighty and I was pumped enough to even be in Strikeforce on TV. That was the biggest accomplishment of my career in April. Just to have these last three fights, every single thing that I’ve been doing is the biggest thing of my career. My second fight, I’m fighting again on TV and my third fight in Strikeforce, I’m headlining and that’s the biggest thing. Now, to be considered for King Mo and it’s for title contention, that’s a whole ‘nother big thing in itself. I’m taking it like it’s the biggest accomplishment for me.

(MMAmania.com): Now there’s a lot of parallels, I see, looking at your fight with King Mo compared to Ovince St. Preux’s fight against Gegard Mousasi. Both really talented prospects undefeated in Strikeforce and then stepping up against the former champion. Do you kind of look at that fight and are there any concerns seeing how he did stepping up like that for the first time?

Lorenz Larkin: No, listen. To me, it’s MMA. Anything can happen. I can go in there and be the best conditioned Lorenz Larkin that I’ve seen or anyone else has seen and get dropped in the first five seconds or it could be the total opposite. You never know in the fight. I felt it was a good showing for OSP and it was a hard fight for Mousasi. That was along, hard-fought drawn out fight. I don’t think that he got demolished. I just think that him being a veteran, that came into play.

Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine is scheduled to take place on January 7, 2012 from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card is set to air on Showtime while the prelim card airs on Showtime Extreme.

Charles Oliveira On Dropping To Featherweight & Meeting Eric Wisely At UFC on FOX 2

Tweet Brazilian fighter Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira (14-2, 1NC) is set to drop weight classes and will make his debut in the UFC’s featherweight division at the end of this month at the UFC on FOX 2 card against newcomer Eric Wisely (19-6). Oliveira had resisted a move to 145-lbs after fourteen straight wins, including […]

Brazilian fighter Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira (14-2, 1NC) is set to drop weight classes and will make his debut in the UFC’s featherweight division at the end of this month at the UFC on FOX 2 card against newcomer Eric Wisely (19-6).

Oliveira had resisted a move to 145-lbs after fourteen straight wins, including two in the Octagon, but after going 0-2 (1NC) in his last three fights, the fighter opted to change his mind.

Speaking to Tatame.com, ‘Do Bronx’ talked about making the decision to move weight classes as well as his expectations for newcomer Wisely.

Previously, you said you wouldn’t drop because it was already hard to cut weight for the lightweight division. Why did you change your mind?
Everybody saw that when I fought on the lightweight division I didn’t quit against anyone and I said I couldn’t drop because it’s already hard on me. But the truth is that I’ve always been the tiniest fighters of the division, I was always there trading punches with the guys and when I hit them it seemed that it didn’t hurt them, and when they hit me, I got hurt. But, since it was working out, I decided to stay on the division. After my first loss, me, Erick (Cardozo) and Macaco (Jorge Patino) sat down and I asked them what they thought about me dropping. I had two options: I could do a serious work with nutritionists and take more supplements to get bigger or I could drop to the featherweight division and would cut weight. I was scared of gaining much muscles for the lightweight division and get slower, losing my main characteristic. It was then that we decided I should drop to the featherweight and cut weight like all fighters do and since I would gain muscles and start to get slower otherwise, and that’s not what I want. So that’s how we got to this conclusion. Get bigger to remain on the division or drop and that’s why I decided to do. I won’t get bigger and I’ll drop.

You’re fighting Eric Wisely at UFC on FOX 2. He’s an experienced guy but, at the same time, he’ll be debuting on the UFC. Will you take advantage of that?
I compare it to what happened to me. When I debuted in the UFC I had blood on my eyes, I really wanted to win, I was thirsty, wanting to move forwards all the time. If he’s like that, I know it’ll be a tough fight. I’m coming from a loss and I don’t wanna lose again. I’m going for the win, I’ll move forwards the entire time, it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side, it doesn’t matter if he’s gonna be tough. To me, it’s a very important fight. I’m not under pressure. The only pressure I’m under is my own because I want to win it one way or another. I’ll walk forwards, show my work and if Eric comes liked that, like I was on the beginning, on my first fight, it’ll be a great bout. But yeah, I’ll take advantage of it, because I fought five times on Ultimate, I’ve lived many things in there. UFC is a unique show and if he doesn’t get amazed by all that it’ll be a good fight. I’ll used a little of what I’ve learned on the UFC, what it is and what it is not. I’ll use my experience and with God’s help I’ll get off there with a win.

After Impressive Win, Nate Diaz Wants Shot At UFC Lightweight Title

Tweet UFC 141 co-main event winner Nate Diaz says he would like to get a shot at the title, whether he has to beat the number one contender next, or if his performance over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone puts him into that position, he is after a championship title. Diaz put in a strong performance against […]

Photo via UFC.com

UFC 141 co-main event winner Nate Diaz says he would like to get a shot at the title, whether he has to beat the number one contender next, or if his performance over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone puts him into that position, he is after a championship title.

Diaz put in a strong performance against the ‘Cowboy’ Friday night (Dec. 30, 2011) by outboxing a fighter who was on a six fight win tear, including four impressive finishes in the Octagon.

After the fight, Diaz tells UFC.com that he is out to fight the best and wants what he deserves.

“I hope I’m like getting a number one contenders spot or a title shot because I ain’t trying to play around with these funny fights no more. I’ve been fighting for too long and I want to fight the best guys, and you know, I think I deserve, I want to get what I deserve out of this.”

At the post fight press conference, Diaz re-iterated the same statement to the gathered media.

“[I want to fight] the best person in my weight division. Whoever they would like to give me, the highest ranked contender, that’s what I’m after. I want to fight for the championship. I just want to show the world I can fight the best fighters and beat the best fighters.”

Diaz certainly impressed many with his win over Cerrone, who I had picked to take the fight as I felt he was the better striker. I could see the UFC matchmakers waiting to see how the upcoming UFC 144 bout between champ Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson turns out. A quick finish for either fighter could see Diaz given a title shot, while a five round battle between Edgar vs. Henderson would likely put Diaz into a No. 1 contender match with one of the many skilled fighters at 155 lbs.