Anderson Silva sent his “deepest and most sincere” sentiments to Chris Weidman after his former rival suffered a gruesome leg injury in a loss to Uriah Hall at Saturday’s UFC 261 pay-per-view…
Anderson Silva sent his “deepest and most sincere” sentiments to Chris Weidman after his former rival suffered a gruesome leg injury in a loss to Uriah Hall at Saturday’s UFC 261 pay-per-view…
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) always likes to end their year with a bang. It seems like every year-ending pay-per-view (PPV) put on by the world leader in mixed martial arts (MMA) is stacked. So much so that you’ll have to go back to UFC 141 in 2011 to find the last UFC PPV that
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) always likes to end their year with a bang. It seems like every year-ending pay-per-view (PPV) put on by the world leader in mixed martial arts (MMA) is stacked. So much so that you’ll have to go back to UFC 141 in 2011 to find the last UFC PPV that ended the year without a title fight.
The final UFC event of 2016 will keep the streak going unless a last minute incident ruins those plans. Current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her title for the first time against former 135-pound queen Ronda Rousey. It’ll be the fifth straight year-ending UFC PPV to close with a title bout.
LowKickMMA.com has a list of the top five UFC PPVs that ended the year in exciting fashion.
Let’s hop into it.
5. UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor
The final PPV card of 2015 had a ton of hype surrounding it. UFC 194 was headlined by a featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor. The two were initially set to meet at UFC 189, but Aldo pulled out with an injury. “Notorious” knocked out Chad Mendes on the PPV to capture the interim 145-pound title.
McGregor blasted Aldo countless times going into the fight, even going as far as saying, “I love you like my bitch.”In one of the most shocking title finishes in the history of the sport, McGregor slept Aldo in just 13 seconds with a left punch.
The co-main event featured a middleweight title bout between champion Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold. Weidman had successfully defended his title against Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort. Rockhold earned his shot by winning four straight bouts.
Weidman’s fate was all but sealed in the third round when he threw a sloppy wheel kick that allowed Rockhold to take him to the ground. The champion had no answer for Rockhold’s ground assault and Weidman was a bloody mess at the end of the round. The challenger picked up where he left off in the fourth round and finished Weidman to become the new 185-pound kingpin.
Here are the rest of the results:
Yoel Romero def. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza via split decision (29-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Demian Maia def. Gunnar Nelson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
Max Holloway def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ahead of his battle against fellow highly-regarded UFC Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 94 event, Michael Johnson is featured in the latest “Free Fight” released by the UFC on Monday.
Feat…
Ahead of his battle against fellow highly-regarded UFC Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 94 event, Michael Johnson is featured in the latest “Free Fight” released by the UFC on Monday.
Featured below is the complete Gleison Tibau vs. Michael Johnson fight from the UFC 168 pay-per-view, which took place in December of 2013 and saw Johnson score a second-round knockout victory.
Johnson takes on Dustin Poirier in the main event of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 94 event, which goes down live from State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, and airs live on FOX Sports 1.
It’s hardly a secret that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate doesn’t like former champion Ronda Rousey, but it was an unknown that ‘Rowdy’ had a problem with rising 11-pound talent Paige VanZant. And apparently VanZant didn’t know that she did, either, as Tate revealed on today’s episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast that
It’s hardly a secret that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate doesn’t like former champion Ronda Rousey, but it was an unknown that ‘Rowdy’ had a problem with rising 11-pound talent Paige VanZant.
And apparently VanZant didn’t know that she did, either, as Tate revealed on today’s episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast that Rousey supposedly cornered ’12 Gauge’ at a recent Reebok event when she only wanted to take a picture with the popular but downtrodden former champ. With a rematch with Rousey potentially on the horizon, Tate recalled the story that VanZant told her:
“We were at a Reebok deal recently, we were at a shoot and I was trying to find her [Ronda] so I could get a picture, and the Reebok people said don’t ask Ronda for a picture. Stay away from Ronda don’t ask her for a picture.”
It may seem a strange request, as Rousey is obviously quite used to be the center of attention in many photographs thanks to her booming movie career and countless magazine photo shoots. But apparently her disdain towards VanZant centers on the young fighter’s reaction to her shocking loss to Holly Holm at last November’s UFC 193, an event that sent Rousey into a sort of self-imposed media seclusion.
You’d think that Rousey and VanZant share a common bond in that they’re the most recognized fighters in their respective divisions in terms of corssover appeal, with Rousey a movie star in several films and VanZant currently leading the ucrrent season of ‘Dancing With The Stars.’
Yet that seems to be very far from the case.
According to Tate, Rousey sought VanZant out and lashed out at her for congratulating Holm on beating ‘Rowdy’ for the belt:
“Ronda found her later that day and cussed her out. I guess Ronda said to her, ‘Fuck you your fair weather bitch. How dare you cross me? You congratulated Holly Holm for beating me, so fuck you, you fucking fair weather 115-pound fighter.’ Paige came to me and told me, and I was like well, welcome to my world.”
Indeed Tate does know what it’s like to be in that world, as she first made her archrival champion when she lost to Rousey back in Strikeforce in 2012 before engaging in a heated back-and-forth war of words when the two served as opposing coaches at 2013’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18 before facing off for a second time at UFC 168 that year.
Rousey notched her second straight armbar finish of Tate at that event, but it’s largely thought that version of ‘Rowdy’ is gone, at least for now, while Tate continues her ascension of improvement with five straight wins capped off by her emphatic fifth-round submission of the woman who beat Rousey at UFC 196.
That means they could meet for a third time in the near future if Rousey does decide to return. And when she does, it appears she’s going to have more female fighters on her ‘naughty list’ than just Tate.
As a longtime fan of German spin-kicker/liver-destroyer Dennis Siver, I was more upset than most to learn that he had failed his UFC 168 drug test for a testicle-preserving banned substance often used in post-steroid cycles. Shocked no, because just look at the dude, but upset nonetheless. And being that we are currently living in the era of shirked responsibility, Siver has now come forth to place the blame on his nutritionist, while simultaneously claiming that his positive test is no one’s fault but his own.
Siver spoke with German publication GroundandPound, and although his excuse may not be on the level of Vinicius Queiroz’s “the sauna gave me steroids,” it is interesting to say the least:
Today I would like to issue a public statement and give my fans and supporters the opportunity to form their own opinion on how the alleged doping allegations against me came about.
Last fall, my coach Niko Sulenta was diagnosed with severe cancer, which lead to me being on my own during the preparations for a UFC fight for the first time, without me being able to draw on his longstanding care and advice. Niko has always been essential to my weight reduction.
So prior to UFC 168 I had to hire an external personal trainer and nutritionist to support me with making weight. The nutritionist recommended me a new diet method from the US, which had been successfully used by the stars.
(Well shit, if it worked before he shot Skyfall…)
As a longtime fan of German spin-kicker/liver-destroyer Dennis Siver, I was more upset than most to learn that he had failed his UFC 168 drug test for a testicle-preserving banned substance often used in post-steroid cycles. Shocked no, because just look at the dude, but upset nonetheless. And being that we are currently living in the era of shirked responsibility, Siver has now come forth to place the blame on his nutritionist, while simultaneously claiming that his positive test is no one’s fault but his own.
Siver spoke with German publication GroundandPound, and although his excuse may not be on the level of Vinicius Queiroz’s “the sauna gave me steroids,“ it is interesting to say the least:
Today I would like to issue a public statement and give my fans and supporters the opportunity to form their own opinion on how the alleged doping allegations against me came about.
Last fall, my coach Niko Sulenta was diagnosed with severe cancer, which lead to me being on my own during the preparations for a UFC fight for the first time, without me being able to draw on his longstanding care and advice. Niko has always been essential to my weight reduction.
So prior to UFC 168 I had to hire an external personal trainer and nutritionist to support me with making weight. The nutritionist recommended me a new diet method from the US, which had been successfully used by the stars.
Thereupon I asked, if I, as a competitive professional athlete, could safely use this supplement. This was confirmed to me. Then I committed the fatal mistake of not making sure through the UFC if individual substances from the supplement could have effects on the drug tests.
I flew to the US and won my fight. I was all the more shocked when the result of the A sample was deemed ’inconclusive’ and I was hoping for the result of the B sample. They found a small component of hCG in my urine sample – a minor ingredient of the diet preparation and a substance which is banned in the UFC.
I do not want to blame anyone for this result and I take full responsibility for my gullible and careless behavior. It was my mistake and it was grossly negligent. But I distance myself from any kind of doping. In my previous sixteen UFC fights, not even the smallest banned substance has been detected. This makes the current events all the more disappointing and shocking for me and my team.
Actual email I received from BG about this story:
“The nutritionist recommended me a new diet method from the US, which had been successfully used by the stars.”
In a related story, Jennifer Lawrence has been checked into a hospital for swollen testicles.
In all seriousness, I almost want to give Siver the benefit of the doubt here. Yes, the man has a physique that is…suspicious, but he’s put in some 17 fights in the UFC — dating all the way back to 2007 — without incident up to this point. His story seems reasonable — a classic tale of a fighter placing too much faith in his physician ala Antonio Silva (poor example) or Ben Rothwell – and while I would personally make sure to double, triple, and quadruple-check every substance I was putting into my body if my paycheck/employment depended on it*, I also don’t have my logical-thinking skills dimmed by a daily input of punches, kicks, and knees**.
An airtight argument, I know, and one that is definitely not biased by my appreciation for the fantastic fights Siver has put on over the years (his UFC 122 scrap with Andre Winner is a personal favorite of mine). But in the hope that his healthy, steroid-free balls may one day produce another spin-kicking, liver-destroying, Daniel-Craig-looking UFC star, I must believe him.
*Thankfully, CP has yet to actually locate my secret lair and make this hellish nightmare a reality.
**The irony being that I’m 75% sure I received a concussion in a mosh pit last night. Never saw that 13-year old girl coming, man.
There is bad news for UFC featherweight Dennis Siver. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is reporting he officially failed his post-UFC 168 drug test.
Siver’s “A” sample was deemed inconclusive two weeks ago and led to his “B” sample getting tested…
There is bad news for UFC featherweight Dennis Siver. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is reporting he officially failed his post-UFC 168 drug test.
Siver‘s “A” sample was deemed inconclusive two weeks ago and led to his “B” sample getting tested. In turn, the results were a positive flag for human chorionicgonadotropin (HCG), a female fertility drug. While that may seem odd at face value, HCG is commonly taken to combat low testosterone following steroid use. Manny Ramirez famously tested positive for HCG while with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which led to a 50-game suspension.
At this time, the Nevada Attorney General’s office is preparing its complaint against Siver.
This is the first time Siver has failed a post-fight drug test. As such, he will likely receive the standard nine-month suspension and a fine. In addition, his UFC 168 decision victory over Manny Gamburyan will likely be overturned to a no-contest.
Also, in addition to the news that Siver had failed his drug test, fellow UFC 168 fighter SiyarBahadurzada officially passed his drug test. Bahadurzada‘s “A” sample, like Siver‘s, was deemed inconclusive. However, his “B” sample came back clean.
Siver is currently ranked as the No. 8 featherweight in the UFC, and he owns a 3-1 record in the division. His win over Gamburyan followed a third-round knockout loss to Cub Swanson, who he fought at UFC 162. He is yet to comment on either the initial “A” sample coming back inconclusive or the official “B” test failure.
Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available, and watch for the Nevada State Athletic Commission to begin the hearing process in the coming days.