Another day, another one bites the (USADA) dust. Heading into very possibly the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the main event of February 21’s UFC Fight Night 83 from Pittsburgh, welterweight Tim Means could instead be headed for a lengthy suspension after the UFC issued a
Heading into very possibly the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the main event of February 21’s UFC Fight Night 83 from Pittsburgh, welterweight Tim Means could instead be headed for a lengthy suspension after the UFC issued a statement online that the ‘Dirty Bird’ may have tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition test:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Tim Means of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. However, because Means was scheduled to compete against Donald Cerrone on February 21 in Pittsburgh, there is insufficient time for a full review and proper promotion before the scheduled bout. As a result, UFC will announce shortly a replacement opponent for Cerrone on the UFC Fight Night card in Pittsburgh.
Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
As per the statement, the promotion is now seeking a replacement opponent for Cerrone, who most recently lost to 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos via TKO at last December’s UFC on FOX 17.
Means may be headed for a stint on the pine instead of the biggest fight of his life, but the ‘Dirty Bird’ just tweeted out that he didn’t exactly consider himself dirty.
Hop to the following page to find out Means’ reaction…
In what can’t help but be perceived as a response to the UFC’s partnership with Reebok, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone recently took to social media to gloat about the excellence that is Nike.
Cerrone, who was one of the first three fighters to be issued a fine for violating the UFC’s outfitting policy based around their deal with Reebok, posted a photo of himself wearing Nike training gear on his official Instagram account with a caption that reads, “Sure love the way my Nike shoes and shorts fit! So many different styles & color options! #NikeTraining.”
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who recently came up short in his attempt to win the UFC Lightweight title from Rafael dos Anjos, returns to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 83 on February 21st at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as he takes on Tim Means in the main event of the evening.
You can check out Cerrone’s Instagram post below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBBJF9AOfSn/
In what can’t help but be perceived as a response to the UFC’s partnership with Reebok, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone recently took to social media to gloat about the excellence that is Nike.
Cerrone, who was one of the first three fighters to be issued a fine for violating the UFC’s outfitting policy based around their deal with Reebok, posted a photo of himself wearing Nike training gear on his official Instagram account with a caption that reads, “Sure love the way my Nike shoes and shorts fit! So many different styles & color options! #NikeTraining.”
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who recently came up short in his attempt to win the UFC Lightweight title from Rafael dos Anjos, returns to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 83 on February 21st at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as he takes on Tim Means in the main event of the evening.
Although the fight records officially list Cain Velasquez‘s 5th round TKO of Junior Dos Santos at UFC 166 as coming by way of “Slam and Punch,” the credit should rightfully be given to Dos Santos for executing a picture perfect ninja-choke-into-faceplant KO. It was truly the most spectacular self-destruct sequence ever carried out in the octagon, and one that got us thinking: What are the Most Brutal Self-Inflicted KO’s in MMA History?
Matt Lindland will be discussed at some point in this article.
As Ben previously noted, it’s a good thing that the 2002 Mark Kerr documentary, The Smashing Machine, ended when it did, because we wouldn’t have been able to sit through the tale of woe that Kerr’s career became from 2004 onward.
Following a pair of losses to Igor Vovchanchyn and Heath Herring at PRIDE 12 and 15, respectfully, Kerr would take a three year break from the sport before returning against Yoshihisa Yamamoto (who held a modest 13-16 record at the time) at PRIDE 27. Forty seconds into the fight, Kerr would knock himself out during a takedown attempt. He would walk away from PRIDE shortly thereafter and lose 7 out of his next 9 contests, all by first round stoppage.
This post has gotten off to an unexpectedly depressing start, but such is Mark Kerr. Let’s lighten things up a bit…
Although the fight records officially list Cain Velasquez‘s 5th round TKO of Junior Dos Santos at UFC 166 as coming by way of “Slam and Punch,” the credit should rightfully be given to Dos Santos for executing a picture perfect ninja-choke-into-faceplant KO. It was truly the most spectacular self-destruct sequence ever carried out in the octagon, and one that got us thinking: What are the Most Brutal Self-Inflicted KO’s in MMA History?
Matt Lindland will be discussed at some point in this article.
As Ben previously noted, it’s a good thing that the 2002 Mark Kerr documentary, The Smashing Machine, ended when it did, because we wouldn’t have been able to sit through the tale of woe that Kerr’s career became from 2004 onward.
Following a pair of losses to Igor Vovchanchyn and Heath Herring at PRIDE 12 and 15, respectfully, Kerr would take a three year break from the sport before returning against Yoshihisa Yamamoto (who held a modest 13-16 record at the time) at PRIDE 27. Forty seconds into the fight, Kerr would knock himself out during a takedown attempt. He would walk away from PRIDE shortly thereafter and lose 7 out of his next 9 contests, all by first round stoppage.
This post has gotten off to an unexpectedly depressing start, but such is Mark Kerr. Let’s lighten things up a bit…
(If the slam itself doesn’t make you laugh, the sound effects surely will.)
Matt Lindland is a man of many masks: Mixed martial artist. Olympian. Coach. Politician. Professional rafter. All of these masks are certifiably goofy as fuck. Hence Lindland knocking himself out while attempting to take down Falaniko Vitale at UFC 43. The incident ranks just beneath Tim Sylvia shitting his pants on the UFC’s list of All Time Most Embarrassing Moments.
But Matt Lindland is a man of character. Matt Lindland is a fighter’s fighter. Hence why he rematched Vitale at UFC 45 and literally did not stop punching until his opponent tapped out. Lindland also cut Fedor that one time, which was pretty cool. In short, there are those of us who choose to rise from the ashes of defeat and those of us who choose to drown in them. The former are referred to as “Lindlands.” The latter are referred to as “VanOrmans.”
According to the “About” section of this video’s Youtube page, uploader Cr125rmxr “just had some fun with a UFC highlight.” I’m not so much angry that this poor fellow has never experienced true joy, I’m just disappointed that the best available free footage of Gray Maynard vs. Rob Emerson was uploaded in 2008 and features Intro to Garageband hip-hop beats, beats that dramatically cut out halfway through the video, leaving you to suffocate beneath your thoughts in the impending, deafening silence.
It’s a societal issue, really. Back in the day, computer nerds had ambition, had honor. They’d see an opportunity like Gray Maynard knocking himself out cold while slamming fellow castmate Rob Emerson at the TUF 5 Finale and just go to town: A gif parade here, a Benny Hill-themed remix there; it was glorious. But now, thanks to copyright claims, lawsuits, and general laziness, this crappy, home shot video of Gray Maynard breaking noted scumbag Rob Emerson’s ribs and simultaneously knocking himself out in his UFC debut is all that remains.
Everything’s a meme now. You’re a meme. I’m a meme. This human experiment is pointless.
Boris Miroshnichenko vs. Herman Yakubov – ProFC 50
In Russia, there is only suffering. Herman Yakubov knew this, which is why he made sure to KO himself twice for every time his opponent KO’d him at ProFC 50. From last week’s article:
While Yakubov, a Russian, was KO’d in the first round by his Belarusian counterpart, he also made sure to knock himself out *again* with his own knee on the way down, lawn chair style, and a third time when his head hit the canvas — as if to say, “Although you have damaged me, comrade, know that your damage holds not a candle to those wrought by my own devices. For what is life but the prolonging of inevitable death? And what is death, if not a face at peace…”
Randleman’s fall was so dramatic that not only did he come away from it with an actual cracked skull (*shoots visual daggers at Tito Ortiz*) but an injured shoulder to boot. And just like that, “First Defense” became “No Defense” — Randleman was pulled from his scheduled fight with Pedro Rizzo and the people of Lake Charles, Louisiana would set their city ablaze in rageful protest by nightfall.
Although many innocent lives were lost on that tragic evening of March the 10th, 1999, “The Monster” would receive his fight with Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 in June of 2000. Randleman successfully defended his belt by way of unanimous decision and rode off into the sunset a champion…until he was defeated by Randy Couture in his next bout. Meep morp.
The CagePotato CMS is trying to autocorrect “Randleman” with “Manhandle.” That detail bears mentioning.
Tim Means – UFC on FOX 5
This one is kind of like the Kevin Randleman incident, but bonus points go to the omnipresent force that is Death for trying to take out Means in a sauna. You almost got him, Death. And according to Final Destination rules, you pretty much own him at this point.
You could argue that Forrest Griffin volunteered to be brutally knocked out as soon as he agreed to fight Anderson Silva. We’re sure he would agree with you.
With Bellator 99, World Series of Fighting 5 and, oh yeah, Mayweather vs. Canelo all transpiring this past weekend, you might not have heard that Legacy Fighting Championships — the quiet, unassuming, off-off-off Broadway MMA promotion to the stars — held an event as well. Despite featuring a few names that only the hardest of hardcore MMA would recognize (Richard Odoms! THE Carlos Vergara!!), LFC 23 set the stage for a couple notable moments. Mainly, Leonard Garcia picking up his second straight win since being ousted from the UFC and Pete Spratt retiring following his first round KO loss to fellow UFC vet Tim Means in the evening’s main event.
Unfortunately, while we were in the midst of drafting up another “And Now He’s Retired” article to commemorate Spratt’s departure after nearly 50 professional bouts and 15 years in the sport (!), Spratt done went and unretired. After a 48 hour retirement. Vinny Magalhaes was all like “He did *what* now?” and we were all like “Not this shit again,” but it seems that Spratt will be moving forward with his CP ban-violating decision nonetheless. Here’s why:
That was a retirement thing based on a guy who got hit in the back of the head, that was still groggy thinking about his family and that type of stuff, without having had the opportunity to review what actually happened in the fight. If I looked back at it and my skills had diminished, that would be different. But that wasn’t the case.
Me, I was thinking I just went in there and got my butt kicked, which isn’t what happened after I watched the fight.
(Gif of the Means/Spratt ending via MMAFighting.)
With Bellator 99, World Series of Fighting 5 and, oh yeah, Mayweather vs. Canelo all transpiring this past weekend, you might not have heard that Legacy Fighting Championships — the quiet, unassuming, off-off-off Broadway MMA promotion to the stars — held an event as well. Despite featuring a few names that only the hardest of hardcore MMA would recognize (Richard Odoms! THE Carlos Vergara!!), LFC 23 set the stage for a couple notable moments. Mainly, Leonard Garcia picking up his second straight win since being ousted from the UFC and Pete Spratt retiring following his first round KO loss to fellow UFC vet Tim Means in the evening’s main event.
Unfortunately, while we were in the midst of drafting up another “And Now He’s Retired” article to commemorate Spratt’s departure after nearly 50 professional bouts and 15 years in the sport (!), Spratt done went and unretired. After a 48 hour retirement. Vinny Magalhaes was all like “He did *what* now?” and we were all like “Not this shit again,” but it seems that Spratt will be moving forward with his CP ban-violating decision nonetheless. Here’s why:
That was a retirement thing based on a guy who got hit in the back of the head, that was still groggy thinking about his family and that type of stuff, without having had the opportunity to review what actually happened in the fight. If I looked back at it and my skills had diminished, that would be different. But that wasn’t the case.
Me, I was thinking I just went in there and got my butt kicked, which isn’t what happened after I watched the fight.
Oh boy, the old “I was wronged” defense.
Look, we are obviously not in the place to decide whether Spratt’s skills have diminished over the years (although his barely above .500 record would seem to indicate that they have) or to declare whether Means’ elbows were illegal or not (my vote is that they weren’t. Also, I’m always right about these things). That being said, Spratt’s reasoning for unretiring seems to be based on decisions as hastily-made as the ones that led him to retire all of three days ago. If the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation doesn’t overturn the loss, does that mean that Spratt will accept that he “Got his butt kicked” and re-retire once and for all?
Again, our opinion probably means fuck-all to a pioneer of the sport like Spratt, who insists that he is still “having fun” competing in MMA at the tender age of 42:
I’m having fun with the competition and at the same time I’m still learning and enjoying testing myself against these younger guys. If I wasn’t 42, people wouldn’t be talking about me retiring, or being in the twilight of my career. I never drank, never smoked, never abused my body negatively for me to be diminishing in my skills. Which I’m not.
Currently 4-6 in his past 10 fights, we would say that “The Secret Weapon’s” best days are most certainly behind him. If he is unwilling to admit that, that’s fine. But who knows? Maybe the fact that the UFC is giving a mentally unstable B.J. Penn the keys to the gun cabinet has convinced Spratt to make another run at the big time, because who the hell is going to stop him? We just hope for his sake that it won’t take another brutal knockout loss (or series of brutal knockout losses) to remind Spratt that his original decision was the right one.
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
Ed Herman: $124,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Trevor Smith: $58,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: The end of a pioneering 16-year career, and Aaron Riley only made $14,000 to show. Jesus. We hope he was able to save some of his career earnings, instead of spending it all on ramen noodles. As for Michael Chiesa‘s $15,000 purse, well…it’s comforting to know that The Ultimate Fighter‘s wonderful “six-figure contract” hasn’t changed since season one.
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
Ed Herman: $124,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Trevor Smith: $58,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: The end of a pioneering 16-year career, and Aaron Riley only made $14,000 to show. Jesus. We hope he was able to save some of his career earnings, instead of spending it all on ramen noodles. As for Michael Chiesa‘s $15,000 purse, well…it’s comforting to know that The Ultimate Fighter‘s wonderful “six-figure contract” hasn’t changed since season one.
