UFC 182 | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC Rankings Update: Jones’ Latest Mishap Forces Drop

All of the media members who immediately voted embattled UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones back into the top pound-for-pound following his win over Daniel Cormier in July have apparently rethought that position in the weeks after his shocking USADA drug test failure for anabolic steroid Turinabol during the bout. That’s the case in this […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Jones’ Latest Mishap Forces Drop appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

That’s the case in this week’s official UFC rankings update, where “Bones” fell two spots down the pound-for-pound list to No. 3, moving decorated flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who will face Ray Borg in an attempt to set the UFC’s all-time record for title defenses in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., September 9, 2017) UFC 215 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, into the top spot and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who needs no such introduction even though he’s 2-2 in his last four combat sports bouts.

The only division that saw significant movement this week was heavyweight, where Nos. 4-7 fighters Francis Ngannou, Mark Hunt, Derrick Lewis, and Alexander Volkov all moved up one spot. Volkov stopped longtime UFC mainstay Stefan Struve in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC Rotterdam, sending “the Skyscraper” down a spot to No. 10.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson +1
2 Conor McGregor +1
3 Jon Jones -2
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway
6 Cody Garbrandt
7 Daniel Cormier
8 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
9 Tyron Woodley
10 Dominick Cruz
11 Michael Bisping
12 Jose Aldo
13 Cris Cyborg
14 Robert Whittaker +1
15 Amanda Nunes -1

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Sergio Pettis
5 Wilson Reis -1
6 Jussier Formiga
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Tim Elliott
10 John Moraga
11 Dustin Ortiz
12 Ian McCall
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Louis Smolka
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Cody Garbrandt
1 Dominick Cruz
2 TJ Dillashaw
3 Jimmie Rivera
4 Raphael Assuncao
5 John Lineker
6 Bryan Caraway
7 Aljamain Sterling
8 John Dodson
9 Thomas Almeida
10 Marlon Moraes
11 Eddie Wineland
12 Pedro Munhoz
13 Rob Font
14 Matthew Lopez
15 Johnny Eduardo

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Ricardo Lamas
4 Cub Swanson
5 Chan Sung Jung
6 Brian Ortega
7 Yair Rodriguez
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Renato Moicano
11 Dennis Bermudez
12 Dooho Choi
13 Mirsad Bektic
14 Myles Jury
15 Jason Knight

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Khabib Nurmagomedov
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Justin Gaethje
6 Nate Diaz
7 Kevin Lee
8 Dustin Poirier
9 Michael Johnson
10 Michael Chiesa
11 Al Iaquinta
12 Beneil Dariush
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Gilbert Melendez +1
15 Evan Dunham -1

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Robbie Lawler
3 Demian Maia
4 Jorge Masvidal
5 Carlos Condit
6 Donald Cerrone
6 Neil Magny
8 Colby Covington
9 Santiago Ponzinibbio
10 Rafael Dos Anjos
11 Gunnar Nelson
12 Dong Hyun Kim
13 Kamaru Usman
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Tarec Saffiedine

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Michael Bisping
1 Robert Whittaker (Interim Champion)
2 Yoel Romero
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Jacare Souza
5 Chris Weidman
6 Anderson Silva
7 Derek Brunson
8 Kelvin Gastelum
9 David Branch
10 Krzysztof Jotko
11 Vitor Belfort
12 Thales Leites
13 Tim Boetsch
14 Uriah Hall
15 Thiago Santos

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Corey Anderson
9 Misha Cirkunov
10 Ilir Latifi
11 Rogerio Nogueira
12 Patrick Cummins
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante
15 Gadzhimurad Antigulov

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Alistair Overeem
2 Fabricio Werdum
3 Cain Velasquez
4 Francis Ngannou +1
5 Mark Hunt +1
6 Derrick Lewis +1
7 Alexander Volkov +1
8 Marcin Tybura +2
9 Aleksei Oleinik +2
10 Stefan Struve -1
11 Andrei Arlovski +1
12 Junior Albini +1
13 Curtis Blaydes +2
14 Travis Browne
15 Tim Johnson *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
3 Rose Namajunas
4 Jessica Andrade
5 Tecia Torres
6 Michelle Waterson
7 Carla Esparza
8 Cynthia Calvillo
9 Felice Herrig
10 Paige VanZant
11 Joanne Calderwood
12 Cortney Casey
13 Alexa Grasso
14 Randa Markos
15 Maryna Moroz

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Holly Holm
3 Julianna Pena
4 Ronda Rousey
5 Raquel Pennington
6 Sara McMann
7 Cat Zingano
8 Germaine de Randamie
9 Liz Carmouche
10 Alexis Davis
11 Marion Reneau
12 Katlyn Chookagian
13 Ketlen Vieira
14 Bethe Correia
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

The post UFC Rankings Update: Jones’ Latest Mishap Forces Drop appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones Passed Blood Test Hours After UFC 214

Those predicting Jon Jones’ demise in MMA may have to wait a little. According to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, the embattled UFC light heavyweight champion, who tested positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol the day before his UFC 214 knockout win over Daniel Cormier, reportedly passed a blood test from USADA in the hours after […]

The post Jon Jones Passed Blood Test Hours After UFC 214 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Those predicting Jon Jones’ demise in MMA may have to wait a little.

According to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, the embattled UFC light heavyweight champion, who tested positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol the day before his UFC 214 knockout win over Daniel Cormier, reportedly passed a blood test from USADA in the hours after the event from Anaheim, California.

That means Jones tested negative one day after he failed the steroid on July 28, the day of weigh-ins for his bout versus Cormier. However, it has to be noted blood screenings do not test for Turinabol, begging the question as to exactly what USADA would be looking for if it was not anabolic steroids.

Jones also passed out-of-competition drug screens on July 6 and July 7, with negative results in a blood and urine screen on July 6 and the same for a urine screen on July 7. He reportedly passed seven drug tests leading up to his comeback as well.

Jones is awaiting full due process for his latest drug-related mishap, which occurred only weeks after a previous one-year suspension for testing positive for Clomiphene and Letrozol three days before his scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Cormier. He blamed a male sexual enhancement pill for the failed test but was suspended nonetheless.

Of course, it was only the most recent head-scratching instance of outside-the-cage trouble for Jones, whose laundry list of drug-related troubles have taken on a life of their own and need not be listed here in full yet again. Still, Jones’ team has encouraged his fans to let the full process play out, claiming that a tainted supplement was again the cause of Jones’ positive test.

It’s tough to give him any credit at the current moment based on his extreme propensity for screwing up unnecessarily while simultaneously being the most talented fighter the UFC has ever seen, but if we’ve learned anything about Jones’ seemingly endless mess-ups in the past, he can rebound from them like few mortals could.

The whole scene is strange, and the state athletic director where UFC 214 took place even admitted as much. Perhaps there’s something to Jones’ manager’s insistence.

We’ll keep you posted as always.

The post Jon Jones Passed Blood Test Hours After UFC 214 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

With Latest Mishap, Jon Jones Is Running Out Of Chances – Or Is He?

Now that the MMA world has had two full days to digest the disappointing news that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tested positive for banned anabolic steroid Turinabol following his third-round knockout of rival Daniel Cormier in the main event of July 29’s UFC 214, the sequence of events now moves on to Jones’ […]

The post With Latest Mishap, Jon Jones Is Running Out Of Chances – Or Is He? appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It’s the latest in a long, winding, and ultimately disturbing series of outside-the-cage troubles for the ultra-talented “Bones,” a fighter so rare and dominant that many, including myself, were quick to re-anoint him as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts history after he floored Cormier with a head kick and brutal ground and pound last month. By now the troubles, which always seem to be centered on recreational and performance-enhancing drugs, have become well-documented over and again to the point fans are probably tired of reading about them.

But to summarize, drug test failures for cocaine and driving under the influence charges lead to a disturbing early morning hit-and-run accident in his adopted home of Albuquerque, New Mexico that left a 25-year-old pregnant woman with a broken arm. He didn’t make it his re-scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Cormier due to a failed pre-fight screen for banned substances clomiphene and letrozole, both known as masking agents. Unfortunately, he was able to fight at UFC 214, however, brutalizing his greatest foe with a finish so decisive there left no doubt as to who was the greatest light heavyweight in UFC history – or so we thought.

Now, Jones is owed his due process, a phrase repeated so often during these whirlwind two days that it would seem as if not one person is willing to consider that a realistic process afforded Jones at this point. Many may feel that way, but overall, it’s just becoming hard to blame them after the latest incident to mar a huge pay-per-view headliner featuring Jones.

His team is claiming another (yawn) tainted supplement – predictably – and that’s a defense they used when Jones claimed to have tested positive for clomiphene due to his use of a sexual enhancement enhancer, or more affectionately, a ‘dick pill.’ But Jones didn’t get off based on that the first time, as his one-year USADA suspension only just expired when he fought Cormier a second time. The tainted supplement, if it even proves to be the case, is most likely not going to save “Bones” from another long suspension, which could be up to four years this time, due to fighters having to screen any and everything they put in their bodies.

UFC president Dana White isn’t sure we’ll ever see Jones in the octagon again – and indeed that may be the case. However, after a couple days to mull it over, I wouldn’t rush to such a conclusion just yet, even though that was admittedly my first reaction. Jones has shown an almost preternatural ability to somehow bounce back from what seems like certain doom based on a pointless risking of his reputation and brand just like he displays preternatural abilities in dispatching his opponents in the cage.

He came back from every mishap he’s created before, and even though he’s facing his toughest test in terms of his rep being stepped on, and by his own hand if it is proven that he willingly took anabolic steroids before he rematched Cormier. The moral high road isn’t going to play into any “Bones’” comeback as much as the angry mobs with pitchforks and torches may hope for, either, and the UFC needs elite draws to headline PPV events more than ever, something they got for the first time all year with Jones at UFC 214.

It’s clearly going to take a cataclysmic mess-up for them to stop signing Jones for headliners – but what is worse than knocking out a world-class rival with by kicking them in the head while having used steroids (if that is the case)? Situations like that are exactly why the UFC decided to enlist USADA to enact heavily increased and more stringent testing in MMA in the first place. “Bones” ability to beat the best MMA talent in the world in the octagon will seemingly always supersede his tendency to screw up outside of it

A lot – even a ton – could change before Jones is actually able to return to MMA, if he ever does. Just don’t be surprised if somehow, he does.

The post With Latest Mishap, Jon Jones Is Running Out Of Chances – Or Is He? appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones’ Manager Goes Off On Online Haters

By now, it’s plain to see there’s been a verifiable downpour of news and opinions surrounding UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ shocking failed drug test at UFC 214. Most of it has been in the form of online vitriol directed at the massively talented-but-troubled MMA legend who had supposedly made a successful comeback against […]

The post Jon Jones’ Manager Goes Off On Online Haters appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

By now, it’s plain to see there’s been a verifiable downpour of news and opinions surrounding UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ shocking failed drug test at UFC 214.

Most of it has been in the form of online vitriol directed at the massively talented-but-troubled MMA legend who had supposedly made a successful comeback against Daniel Cormier, but Jones’ management team issued a statement late last night expressing their surprise at the unfortunate event, noting that he was due the full process of sorting out the truth of his failed test.

That’s certainly true for Jones and any other UFC athlete who is flagged for a potential USADA anti-doping violation, but it’s also no surprise that most are doubting the validity of his camp’s suggestion they would test his supplements for contamination, the go-to response of nearly every UFC athlete who fails a drug test. It didn’t work for Jones last year after he failed a pre-fight screen for clomiphene just days before his scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Cormier as Jones earned a one-year suspension that just expired in the weeks before UFC 214.

Regardless, Jones’ manager Malki Kawa is apparently still baffled that MMA fans online, of all places, would be so quick to pass judgment on a fighter who has shown nothing but the inability to make it to the octagon in the past two years due to a nefarious list of drug-related troubles. Kawa took a professional tone in his statement last night, yet that has changed in a day’s time.

He issued a singing statement on his Facebook page discrediting all of “Bones’” haters:

“The amount of hate that everyone has towards jon jones with out any due process is beyond me. The messages I keep getting saying to “drop him” or “don’t take up for him” goes to show me how low this society is.
I stand with bones!
For anyone to think I would “drop” him like Him and I aren’t brothers is stupid.
I know how hard he worked to get back to where he’s at. This is definitely heartbreaking. He def didn’t cheat or use steroids. But I’m with him more now than the night he won the belt…. being there for the good times is what everybody would do. But who’s really there when times get bad?
I hope that you people pick your friends, wives/husbands and close confidants based on real stuff. Not who can celebrate when you’re on top. I’m not sure why this is happening to him again, or how even, but We’ll get to the bottom of it.
To those of you that truly support my brother and I, thank you! To those of you who say “drop him” you’re not doing me any favors by saying that. You’re not my friend nor my family. So a big “fuck you” to you and your “support””

Now, it’s important to note that Jones is, of course, owed his due process and could be exonerated by USADA, but it’s hard to imagine they’re going to take it easy on him only a little more than a year after they deemed his behavior nearly “reckless” in taking a sexual performance pill while also acknowledging he was not a “drug cheat.”

Kawa suggests that is exactly the case, and justice will once again shine through for “Bones.” But with a mounting set of disappointing drug issues that are making it tough to believe Jones’ team when they blame their trouble on something else every time, at some point Kawa will have to point the finger at his fighter – and as a result, even himself.

We’ll just have to wait and see what USADA unveils, yet one thing is certain: Jon Jones is running out of chances.

The post Jon Jones’ Manager Goes Off On Online Haters appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Daniel Cormier Reacts To Jon Jones’ Drug Test Failure

While essentially the entire MMA world was offering their reactions to the disappointing news that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had failed a drug test for steroids after his UFC 214 win over Daniel Cormier, perhaps no reaction mattered more than that of “DC” himself. The former champion issued his personal statement on the matter […]

The post Daniel Cormier Reacts To Jon Jones’ Drug Test Failure appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

While essentially the entire MMA world was offering their reactions to the disappointing news that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had failed a drug test for steroids after his UFC 214 win over Daniel Cormier, perhaps no reaction mattered more than that of “DC” himself.

The former champion issued his personal statement on the matter to MMA Fighting this evening, taking a somber tone that reminded everyone that Jones was still entitled his due process, and that he no longer knew what to think anymore as he sat in shock that he was actually going through this with Jones once again:

“It’s hard to find words to describe how I’m feeling right now,” Cormier said. “I’m disappointed to hear the news. It’s very emotional.

“We as athletes are entitled to due process, and I will refrain from saying much more until I know exactly what happened.

“In my mind, on July 29, I competed and I lost. I thought Jon Jones was the better man that day. I don’t know what to think anymore. I can’t believe we are going through all of this again. We will see what happens next.

“Thank you to all my fans who have supported me during this dark time. I love you all very much.”

Jones, of course, failed a drug test for two banned substances only days before he and Cormier were supposed to rematch one another in the main event of July 2016’s UFC 200, but this time it came after he had already fought Cormier and beaten him with a very violent finish.

It’s a disturbing set of circumstances for the former champ, who, at 38 years old, is nearing the end of his decorated fight career but had never been knocked out before his fateful UFC 214 match with Jones, who is now reported to have been on steroids.

As Cormier said, Jones will be afforded his due process, and “DC” feels that Jones was the better man that night. If he was chemically enhanced, however, could have played a big part in that, and now Cormier could have yet another run as champion all because of Jones’ inability to stay out of trouble.

No wonder he isn’t quite sure to think of the matter as of yet.

The post Daniel Cormier Reacts To Jon Jones’ Drug Test Failure appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones’ Camp Reacts To UFC 214 Drug Test Failure

The UFC received some of the worst news possible when word came tonight that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had reportedly tested positive for an anabolic steroid after his UFC 214 knockout of former champion Daniel Cormier on July 29. The news was especially disturbing considering Jones obviously had an already disturbing history of legal and […]

The post Jon Jones’ Camp Reacts To UFC 214 Drug Test Failure appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC received some of the worst news possible when word came tonight that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had reportedly tested positive for an anabolic steroid after his UFC 214 knockout of former champion Daniel Cormier on July 29.

The news was especially disturbing considering Jones obviously had an already disturbing history of legal and drug test troubles, and had only just come back from a one-year suspension for using a banned performance-enhancing drug prior to his scheduled main event against Cormier at UFC 200 in July 2016. There’s no need to list all of the many Jones’ extracurricular hiccups; those are well known enough by the vast majority of the MMA-informed public by now.

What does matter right now, however, is the fact that Jones’ MMA career is, at the best, on hiatus for several years and over for good at the worst. It rates as an absolutely huge blow for the company, who only just regained the services of one of their most popular – and dominant – draws ever, an unstoppable (inside the cage) pound-for-pound force who they had at least hoped would follow Conor McGregor as the promotion’s second-biggest draw in the wake of Ronda Rousey’s seeming exile from the fight game.

The UFC released an official statement on the concerning matter tonight, and Jones’ camp soon followed. In a statement issued to MMA Fighting, Jones’ manager Malki Kawa (predictably) said they were at a loss for words, and were of course going to have the sample re-tested for another ‘source of contamination’:

“We are all at a complete loss for words right now. Jon, his trainers, his nutritionists and his entire camp have worked tirelessly and meticulously the past 12 months to avoid this exact situation. We are having the samples tested again to determine the validity or source of contamination. Jon is crushed by this news and we are doing whatever we can as a team, to support him.”

Jones and his team will not surprisingly exhaust all available options in order to skate by the alleged violation, but it would seem apparent that he’s just not going to find much of sympathy after failing for cocaine in 2015, clomiphene in 2016, and now Turinabol in 2017 for his long-awaited comeback. Jones, of course, blamed a male sexual performance enhancement pill for the clomiphene failure before UFC 200. That defense is only going to hold up so many times, and it didn’t even hold up the first time “Bones” tried it.

He looked as dominant as ever in finishing Cormier with a vicious third-round head kick and follow-up assault of ground and pound, and if he is proven to have been on performance-enhancing drugs, it’s a horrible look for a former champion to have been knocked by a legendary fighter who was on steroids.

Now, it seems like a foregone conclusion that he’s going to be stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title again, and even though Jones has shown an almost inhuman ability to come back from apparent doom, it’s going to be hard for even him – quite possibly the UFC’s most talented fighter ever – to bounce back from a blunder this big.

The post Jon Jones’ Camp Reacts To UFC 214 Drug Test Failure appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.