Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa Rumored For UFC South Dakota

The UFC continues to dish out exciting fight announcements with the latest being a rumored lightweight tilt between surging contenders No. 3-ranked Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson and No. 9-ranked Michael “Maverick” Chiesa. According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the fight is being targeted as the main event for the UFC’s debut in South Dakota which is

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The UFC continues to dish out exciting fight announcements with the latest being a rumored lightweight tilt between surging contenders No. 3-ranked Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson and No. 9-ranked Michael “Maverick” Chiesa.

According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the fight is being targeted as the main event for the UFC’s debut in South Dakota which is set for July 13, 2016.

Ferguson has been red hot as of late, winning seven-straight fights and finishing five of them. That stretch includes victories over Danny Castillo, Gelison Tibau, Josh Thomson, and most recently Edson Barboza last December.

“El Cucuy” was scheduled to clash with returning top contender Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov at last month’s UFC on FOX 19 from Tampa, Florida, but he was forced to withdraw after suffering a rare lung injury.

Chiesa, the winner of the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter, has been rolling as of late as well. “Maverick” has won three consecutive bouts including back to back submission victories over the likes of Jim Miller and Beniel Dariush.

A bout between Ferguson and Chiesa has all the makings to produce fireworks given each fighter’s slick submission skills and strong finishing ability.

If confirmed, who do you see winning this one?

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Five Biggest Takeaways From UFC On FOX 19

UFC on FOX 19 has concluded and the card greatly exceeded expectations. Seven of the eleven scheduled bouts where finished while the remaining four produced spectacular decision wins. While the fantastic card did provided MMA fans with entertaining fights, we also learned a few things about the near future of some of the fighters from the event.

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UFC on FOX 19 has concluded and the card greatly exceeded expectations. Seven of the eleven scheduled bouts where finished while the remaining four produced spectacular decision wins.

While the fantastic card did provided MMA fans with entertaining fights, we also learned a few things about the near future of some of the fighters from the event. Here are 5 things we learned from UFC on FOX 19.

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UFC on FOX 19 Loses Another Fight Due To Failed Drug Test

This is just getting silly… UFC on FOX 19 is taking an absolute beating at the moment, and it’s going right to the wire. First off it was the injury bug that saw Tony Ferguson removed from his bout with Khabib Nurmagomev, although ‘The Eagle’ remained on the card with new player Darrell Horcher stepping

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This is just getting silly…

UFC on FOX 19 is taking an absolute beating at the moment, and it’s going right to the wire. First off it was the injury bug that saw Tony Ferguson removed from his bout with Khabib Nurmagomev, although ‘The Eagle’ remained on the card with new player Darrell Horcher stepping in. Then Lyoto Machida popped under the new USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) testing for a masking agent, although he had admitted to taking the substance and not knowing it was on the banned list before failing the test.

So that meant Machida’s rematch with Dan Henderson was cancelled, and ‘Hendo’ removed from the card all together, with the card heavily rearranged. Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans were promoted to the main event, Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres were bumped up to co-main, but the UFC on FOX 19 card is not in the clear just yet

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Training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov at the American Kickboxing Academy, Islam Makhachev has failed a drug test and been forced off the UFC on FOX 19 card in Tamp, Florida. He was set to face Drew Dober in a lightweight contest, but the circumstances behind his failed drug test are not black and white. Check out the initial report details by BloodyElbow.com:

Meldonium is a heart medication developed in Latvia primarily used for improving bloodflow in patients with ischemia or heart issues like angina and similar issues. It is not currently scheduled or available in the USA. It has been commonly used by athletes as a supplement in eastern Europe and Russia for several years. It was placed on the in and out of competition prohibited list by WADA on Jan 1st 2016 after previously being on the WADA watchlist in 2015. It was still legal under WADA/USADA guidelines as recently as December 31st 2015.

WADA released a statement this week addressing the issue of excretion times:

“In the case of meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiable find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established on the balance of probabilities that he or she ingested meldonium before 1 January 2016 could not reasonably have known or suspected that meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. In these circumstances, WADA considers that there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete.”

Where stricter drug testing has improved the overall image of the sport and helped make it more of a level playing field, it seems there are still a few peculiar circumstances that need addressing.

Here’s the UFC on FOX 19’s woefully injured card as of now:

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Event: UFC on FOX 19: “Teixeira vs. Evans”
Date: Sat., April 16, 2016, on FOX
Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida

UFC on FOX 19 Main Event:

205 lbs.: Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans

UFC on FOX 19 Main Card (8 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres
160 lbs.: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Darrell Horcher
145 lbs.: Cub Swanson vs. Hacran Dias

UFC on FOX 19 “Prelims” (6 p.m. ET):

155 lbs.: Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush
135 lbs.: Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington
170 lbs.: Court McGee vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
155 lbs.: Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev

UFC on FOX 19 “Prelims” on UFC Fight Pass (4 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan
170 lbs.: Randy Brown vs. Michael Graves
185 lbs.: Cezar Ferreira vs. Oluwale Bamgbose
170 lbs.: Omari Akhmedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

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Conor McGregor & Nate Diaz Are On The Eagle’s List Of Bums

Undefeated UFC lightweight prospect Khabib Nurmagomedov has long been pegged for great things in the world’s largest proving ground for martial artists. It looked briefly as though his hopes were wavering during his unfortunate spree of injuries, but thankfully the Sambo specialist had guys like Dominick Cruz to inspire him during that dark patch. Having

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Undefeated UFC lightweight prospect Khabib Nurmagomedov has long been pegged for great things in the world’s largest proving ground for martial artists. It looked briefly as though his hopes were wavering during his unfortunate spree of injuries, but thankfully the Sambo specialist had guys like Dominick Cruz to inspire him during that dark patch. Having been out of action for two years since his dominant win over current lightweight boss Rafael dos Anjos in 2014, ‘The Eagle’ was set to finally face his rival Tony Ferguson this weekend.

khabibferg

Then in a sad twist of fate, ‘El Cucuy’ pulled out injured and Nurmagomedov was instead slated to face Darrell Horcher at UFC on FOX 19. Since that time Ferguson had asked ‘The Eagle’ to wait and fight him in May, which didn’t appeal to Nrumagomedov, as he told MMAFighting.com yesterday:

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“He’s running, that’s why my face isn’t on the poster any more. I’m here, he called me out, and now he pulled out. He asked me to wait, I can’t wait two more months, I trained to fight here. My plan is to fight in April and September, I can’t let Ferguson make my plans, Tony can’t talk about me, when you pull out you have to stay quiet. I didn’t ask Tony to wait when the UFC put him against Edson Barboza, this is stupid.”

“He’s injured, he pulled out, I’m here, where is Tony? I have to focus on Horcher, please forget about Tony. I like this atmosphere, I’ve finally come back.”

In terms of competition elsewhere in the UFC lightweight division, Nurmagomedov is interested in facing dos Anjos again although he says he proved his point the last time they fought, then the conversation turns to Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz…

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Finally Has New Opponent For UFC On FOX 19

The rollercoaster ride that has been Khabib Nurmagomedov’s scheduled Octagon return at the UFC On FOX 19 event appears to have made its’ final stop, as “The Eagle” now officially has a new opponent for his highly-anticipated Octagon return.

Nurmagom…

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The rollercoaster ride that has been Khabib Nurmagomedov’s scheduled Octagon return at the UFC On FOX 19 event appears to have made its’ final stop, as “The Eagle” now officially has a new opponent for his highly-anticipated Octagon return.

Nurmagomedov will return at the event next weekend but it won’t be against Tony Ferguson as originally planned, or even Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, as was rumored at one point.

When “The Eagle” makes his UFC return, he will be fighting Octagon newcomer Darrell Horcher in a 160-pound catch weight bout.

UFC On FOX 19 takes place on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Make sure to join us here at MMANews.com on for the best live results coverage of the event!

Donald Cerrone Denies Rumors He Pulled Out Of Khabib Fight

No one who has followed MMA for any significant amount of time was surprised to hear last night that Donald Cerrone offered to step up on short notice and replace Tony Ferguson versus Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC on FOX 19 from Florida. With the April 19 card rapidly approaching, the fight

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No one who has followed MMA for any significant amount of time was surprised to hear last night that Donald Cerrone offered to step up on short notice and replace Tony Ferguson versus Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC on FOX 19 from Florida.

With the April 19 card rapidly approaching, the fight between the two top-ranked lightweights who had previously scheduled bouts at UFC 178 and 187, was apparently signed, but a subsequent rib injury forced him to pull out:


Khabib then called out Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis for a fight:


However, the plot thickened when Cerrone replied that he was just fine:


Cerrone also told a fan who wished him a speedy recovery that there was nothing wrong with him:


Nurmagomedov then goaded Cerrone to sign the contract, which ‘Cowboy’ said he already had:


Then Cerrone got a bit heated at all the suggestions that he was hurt, taking a shot at Khabib’s frequent injuries:


Khabib wanted to prove he signed to face him so he posted the supposed photo evidence of the contract:


Interesting. With UFC on FOX 19 only 10 days away, it looks like the lightweight main event may or may not still be on. We’ll let you know what goes down soon.

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