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Miesha Tate: I Got Stronger From My Losses, Ronda Rousey Hasn’t

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The UFC women’s bantamweight division has always been exciting at the top end. Since 2012, when Ronda Rousey officially joined the UFC from the Strikeforce merger, to present date, there’s never a dull moment. Part of the reason was always involving Rousey, her heated rivalries and brash trash talk. When it came to fight night ‘Rowdy’ was beginning to set records for fastest title fight finishes, dominating the contenders in short order and demanding massive media attention in doing so.

The problem came when facing Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. At the time Rousey had six straight title defenses under her belt, the last four had lasted a total of 2m12s, and she was gaining worldwide notoriety, not just in the realm of mixed martial arts. Once that second round head kick from ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ connected, the house of cards began to fall. Spiralling in to depression and becoming a recluse until emerging earlier this year, Rousey had clearly been altered immeasurably by her brutal knockout loss.

Rousey 1

Suddenly the field of play was wide open again, and Miesha Tate would step in to take advantage. Facing Holm at UFC 195, the two-time opponent of Rousey finally put her hands on UFC gold with a stunning fifth round finish. As Holm slept from the rear naked choke, the rivalry with Rousey was instantly reignited and Tate wasted no time in calling out the absent women’s MMA pioneer. The problem was that ‘Rowdy’ really didn’t seem interested, as roles in Hollywood movies and acting classes were keeping her away from the octagon.

Rousey had submitted Tate in Strikeforce to take the bantamweight strap, then again at UFC 168 while fending her off for the UFC belt. Now, finally in a position to enact her vengeance, and Rousey is nowhere to be found. During a recent segment called ‘The Exchange,’ Miesha Tate further comments on the case of Ronda Rousey, saying she feels the drive to fight is just not there anymore for the ex-champion. As transcribed by FOX Sports.

“I would expect things like, you know, ‘I need to get right back in there, I’ve got to prove this, I’m going to go on another title run.’ Those are not things that I’ve been hearing from Ronda. Where is her heart really laying,”

“I know that when I’ve gone through the toughest of tough times – I’ve been head kicked and knocked out, before. I’ve lost to Ronda, twice, [and] that was the most devastating thing that could have ever happened to me inside my career. But, here I am. I’ve made myself better for it. I’ve made myself stronger.”

“I don’t recognize that in Ronda,”

“I don’t recognize the same desire, the same drive, the same passion, the same willingness to overcome that kind of adversity. I don’t see that in her.”

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Video: Brock Lesnar Makes Incredibly Awkward UFC 200 Prediciton

The post Video: Brock Lesnar Makes Incredibly Awkward UFC 200 Prediciton appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Brock Lesnar makes his return to mixed martial arts on Saturday July 9, as he faces Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200. The former heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Lesnar has been away from fighting for five years now. A battle with diverticulitis and a couple of harrowing losses at the tail end of his career saw ‘The Beast’ retire with a 5-3 record, only to come out of the woodwork a month ago claiming he didn’t want to leave MMA without one more crack of the whip.

Was he just helping promote the fight and obscuring the fact he’s happy to get punched for large sums of money? Maybe, either way there will be millions tuning in to watch his bout with Hunt, who has a better chance than anyone to land a face imploding one punch knockout against Lesnar. As dangerous and somewhat pointless as this fight is, it’s hard to deny how watchable it will be.

The fascination surrounding Brock Lesnar’s UFC comeback will reach it’s peak when he steps in the octagon with Mark Hunt, but what tools does the gigantic pro wrestler really have to win this fight? He previously said that if he can get Hunt to ground the fight would be over, but how? Does he plan on submitting, pounding or maybe just grinding ‘The Super Samoan’ out?

In the fight week interview with Lesnar, released by Paul Heyman on July 4, the WWE star gives his prediction for the UFC 200 fight against Hunt. Although the former UFC champion can talk some good trash, he seems a little half-hearted in this latest segment.
“I feel well prepared, I’m excited, I’m calm. And before the storm, and there will be a storm. Victory. No picking rounds, I’ve had a great camp, I feel great. I’m not sitting here trying to fake anything. I’m coming in to the octagon very well prepared, and that’s dangerous. I’ll see you there.”

OK, so maybe Lesnar’s awkward rant was just an illustration of his impatience or possibly dislike for self promoting, or could it be that he just wants that pay check and doesn’t really see victory on the horizon?

Time will tell, and there’s only four days left to wait!

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Jon Jones Says UFC 200 Referee ‘Not Welcome,’ Daniel Cormier Responds

The post Jon Jones Says UFC 200 Referee ‘Not Welcome,’ Daniel Cormier Responds appeared first on LowKick MMA.

UFC 200 is now less than two weeks away, and serves as one of the most highly anticipated cards of the year. The main event pits bitter rivals Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones against each other in a light-heavyweight title unification bout. In continuation of a feud that dates back to ‘DC’s’ Strikeforce days, and includes the UFC 178 media day brawl and ‘death threats’ video, ‘Bones’ and Cormier will tangle in a rematch of their UFC 182 battle. Jones came away from that 2015 meeting with his belt intact, but in just over a year a lot has changed.

After his New Mexico hit-and-run saga saw Jones stripped of the championship, Cormier took hold of the division with a UFC 187 submission win over Anthony Johnson. The two were still beefing hard throughout Jones’ absence, and Cormier defended the belt successfully at UFC 192 before Jones was reinstated by the promotion. Now scheduled for a July 9 do-over, we’ve perhaps seen a toned down version of their contention, at least in comparison to Jones and Cormier’s infamous history.

Jones even recently stated that Rashad Evans is in fact his biggest rival, but there’s someone else out there, who happens to be a UFC referee, that has ‘Bones” attention right now. John McCarthy is that man, as Jones told media during a recent press luncheon that he hopes ‘Big John’ will step down from his refereeing duties for the UFC 200 main event. McCarthy was announced by the Nevada Commission last week to officiate Cormier vs. Jones 2, and the interim boss is not happy. As per MMAFighting.com:

“I would prefer any other referee but him. It’s been a mixture of many things throughout the years,” Jones said. “Just the energy. I don’t feel like we have the best energy. It’s an accumulation of some of the things that happened during some fights and just personal interactions. I just don’t feel as, you don’t need anything stacking up against you when you’re fighting a great fighter like DC.”

“He [officiates] probably once a week somewhere,” Jones said. “For me, this is my life, this is my story, this is my legacy. This is everything to me, and if I don’t agree with his energy that he brings to the fight, if I was him, I wouldn’t want to be a part of it. You know what I mean? If you’re not welcome, why would you even want to be part of someone’s big night who doesn’t want you there. I would say, ‘you know, I’ll back out of this one, I don’t need to be a part of this one.’”

Cormier himself is no stranger to taking a dislike to a certain style of reffing, as he put in an appeal to have Herb Dean removed as referee from UFC 197. ‘DC’ was originally scheduled to face Jones in the main event before dropping out injured. In an interview with Matt Serra and Jim Norton, the light-heavyweight boss said Jones needs to ‘nut up’ over his issue with McCarthy:

“I think John McCarthy is a guy that is a great referee. He’s a guy that he’s kind of in the fight. You feel like there’s a third guy. Herb will get out of the way. In some instances you need a ref that will just stay out of the way, he’s just there to protect you. But John does interject himself into the fight some with the open hands and certain things that Jones kind of does consistently. So I guess that may be where his complaints come from but I’m not exactly sure.”

“I’m fine with John McCarthy. I would have been fine with Herb Dean again because as a man when I said that about Herb Dean on a conference call, I will tell you I didn’t know that was going out audio to everybody. I thought it was just me talking to the commission. But afterwards…I felt the need to reach out and say, ‘If I have a gripe I should be able to tell it to you.’ So I ended up talking to Herb Dean and he was gonna get one of the commissioners on the phone so that we could discuss everything, so that he could hear my complaint.

“Every referee has something that they do that someone will not agree with…Look April 23rd, if Herb Dean would have been the official I would’ve had to just nut up and deal with it. And that is exactly what Jones is gonna have to do on July 9.” Quotes from MMAFighting‘s Jed Meshew

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Brock Lesnar Granted Waiver From Four-Month Drug Testing Rule

The UFC 200 card on July 9 got a massive boost this past weekend, as the announcement of the return of Brock Lesnar during the UFC 199 broadcast produced a nostalgic feel in the mixed martial arts community. It’s been five years now since the WWE crossover last fought in the UFC octagon, and his placement

The post Brock Lesnar Granted Waiver From Four-Month Drug Testing Rule appeared first on LowKick MMA.

His influence at UFC 100 along with the rest of the card’s stars such as Georges St-Pierre and others meant the pay-per-view bar was shattered. The obvious draw of Lesnar fro his hordes of pro wrestling fans and the rivalry with Frank Mir was always a formula for success. Will he have the same PPV power as he did back in 2008 though? One thing is for sure, he has taken very dangerous fight indeed, as he confirmed earlier this week on ESPN that his return opponent is none other than Mark Hunt.

Lesnar’s bouts with Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez were tough to watch for his fans, although he states he was hindered massively by illness, it was clear his striking skills were also not up to par. The back-to-back knockout losses sent Lesnar back to the WWE with a 5-3 record, and a few facial scars to boot. His return on July 9, already massively anticipated, comes with a number of interesting factors, a few of which ‘The Super Samoan’ pointed out recently.

Hunt stated he ‘hoped the UFC would be (drug) testing Lesnar,’ but also that he’d ‘knock his lips of his face’ either way. According to this report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo, there has already been a concession made by the UFC and USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) in regards to Lesnar’s screening. Here’s the long and short of it.

“On June 6, 2016, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar was registered by USADA into the UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing pool. As part of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete. Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December 30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect, for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization.”

“While conversations with the heavyweight have been ongoing for some time, Lesnar required permission from WWE to compete in UFC 200 and only agreed to terms and signed a bout agreement last Friday. He was therefore unable to officially start the Anti-Doping Policy process any earlier. UFC, however, did notify Lesnar in the early stages of discussions that if he were to sign with the UFC, he would be subject to all of the anti-doping rules. Lesnar and his management have now been formally educated by USADA on the policy, procedures and expectations.”

Here is that specific clause in the USADA policy regarding the four-month testing requirement:

5.7.1 An Athlete who gives notice of retirement to UFC, or has otherwise ceased to have a contractual relationship with UFC, may not resume competing in UFC Bouts until he/she has given UFC written notice of his/her intent to resume competing and has made him/herself available for Testing for a period of four months before returning to competition. UFC may grant an exemption to the four-month written notice rule in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an Athlete.

So although Lesnar is now subject to as many random drug tests as the USADA testers feel worthy, his vacation from the sport and sudden return means it would be ‘unfair’ to subject him to the same standard four-month testing cycle as other current athletes.

Do you agree?

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Five Opponents For Brock Lesnar To Fight At UFC 200

The madness of last night’s (Saturday June 4, 2016) UFC 199 event has still not set in. The middleweight championship changed hands yet again as Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold in a massive upset, and then of course there were the ground breaking announcements made during the event. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2

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OH. MY. GOD. ???? #UFC200 https://t.co/ffhsOYIRvz

— UFC (@ufc) June 5, 2016

The chilling promo for UFC 200 blew everyone’s minds, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan. It seems that Lesnar’s UFC return is quite possibly the best kept secret in the promotion’s history. So what are we to make of this? According to a report on Sherdog, Lesnar’s UFC return is a ‘one off opportunity,’ as he’s still bound by contract to the WWE.

So many questions arise in the wake of this huge news, but most relevant is whom Lesnar will face in his return to fighting. Does the promotion go with a top level heavyweight, knowing that name value alone will bring in the big pay-per-view numbers at UFC 200, or do they look at a more ‘winnable’ fight for the 39-year old pro wrestling superstar? Although he’s tied to the WWE, that’s not to say the wrestling entertainment promotion wouldn’t sell out his employ for the right number.

On to the five possible opponents for Brock Lesnar to fight at UFC 200…

Cain Velasquez

The hard hitting Mexican heavyweight first won the belt with a brutal destruction of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. The overmatched wrestling ace got beat down hard, eventually succumbing to a bloody barrage of punches and hammerfists at the end of round one.

The loss marked the beginning of the end for Lesnar as a fighter. After taking 14 months off for stomach surgery, the gigantic heavyweight was made to look tiny by Velasquez’s beating, one that must still hurt to this day.

More on page 2…

continue…

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Which Huge Fight Would You Like To See At UFC 200?

The post Which Huge Fight Would You Like To See At UFC 200? appeared first on LowKick MMA.

UFC 200 is shaping up to be one of, if not the most amazing looking card in modern UFC history. Even without their self proclaimed king of the pay-per-views Conor McGregor, the second major milestone PPV event on July 9 has a whole host of blockbuster fights going down. UFC president Dana White recently teased the promotion was not done announcing big fights on the card, which has led to widespread speculation about the possible rematch between McGregor and Nate Diaz coming back together, and many other potentially amazing fights.

Miesha Tate will defend her belt against Amanda Nunes on the crazy UFC 200 card

So let’s take a look at some dream fights that could still be in the works for the July 9 event, that could make the already stacked UFC 200 card even more star studded.

McGregor vs. Diaz 2

OK, so let’s start with an obvious one, Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz part 2. Love him or hate him, ‘The Notorious’ is good viewing and the originally scheduled rematch of their UFC 200 rematch could be massive if re-inked to the July PPV. They first met at UFC 196 following a grossly entertaining 11-day feud, but the second fight fell apart when the featherweight champion refused to attend his media obligations for the rematch.

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