Tag: UFC 214

Anderson Silva Sounds Off On Jon Jones, Conor McGregor Troubles

Anderson Silva has an opinion on both Jon Jones and Conor McGregor.

The post Anderson Silva Sounds Off On Jon Jones, Conor McGregor Troubles appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Anderson Silva is back.

The longtime former UFC middleweight champion was recently exonerated for a failed USADA drug test prior to his scheduled bout against Kelvin Gastelum last fall and is eligible to return to competition on November 10 after it was found he had ingested a contaminated supplement.

“The Spider” is understandably excited to have his legacy intact after his status as one of the greatest of all-time was brought into serious question when he tested positive for banned substances a second time. With his reputation now less tarnished, Silva recently sounded off to MMA Fighting about two other legendary fighters with outside-the-cage troubles, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor.

First, Silva detailed his opinion of Jones’ current situation where the disgraced former light heavyweight ruler currently awaits potential punishment from USADA for his failed drug test prior to his UFC 214 knockout win over Daniel Cormier last summer. “The Spider” hoped Jones’ current plight results in a moment of reflection for “Bones,” adding that he ‘deserves our respect’:

”I’m his close friend [of Jones], I have a big affection for him, I see him as a younger brother, and I hope this moment he’s going through is a moment of reflection,” Silva told MMA Fighting. “He’s young and has everything it takes to come back and reclaim what’s his. I’m rooting for him, as always. He’s an amazing guy, a guy that has been through several difficulties, several problems, and deserves our respect.”

Silva then moved on to discuss McGregor, who will appear in court this week to reportedly work out a plea deal for his April arrest in Brooklyn where he threw a metal dolly through a bus containing lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and other UFC 223 fighters.

Although he didn’t blast “The Notorious” and his actions outright, Silva did say that fighters like himself had worked hard to make the sport of mixed martial arts a viable entertainment option for people of all walks of life, so he hoped McGregor didn’t jeopardize that by committing further crimes and tarnishing the sport’s name:

”Man, I think that not only me but other athletes that worked really hard to turn this sport into a sport to be watched by kids, ladies, women, men, people from all ages and social classes,” Silva said, “And it’s complicated when this kind of thing happens, but who am I to judge? It’s something that must come from each person.

”Athletes have to have this conscience. Everybody has problems, everybody goes through situations, and I hope he realizes how much he means to many people and doesn’t do something like that again and ends up tarnishing a bit of what we worked for this sport.”

The post Anderson Silva Sounds Off On Jon Jones, Conor McGregor Troubles appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Daniel Cormier Responds To Jon Jones Calling Out His Wife

Daniel Cormier had enough when Jon Jones brought his wife into their beef:

The post Daniel Cormier Responds To Jon Jones Calling Out His Wife appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It appears that Daniel Cormier has finally had enough of Jon Jones.

Heading into his heavyweight title fight with champ Stipe Miocic at July 7’s UFC 226, the UFC light heavyweight champion recently claimed he wouldn’t give former rival Jon Jones a platform to stay relevant while “Bones” was yet again suspended for steroids.

Cormier doubled down on that during an appearance on the inaugural episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on ESPN today (June 25, 2018), insisting the controversial former champion just wasn’t relevant, so he didn’t deserve to stick his nose in:

“I’m just done with the whole thing. I have an opportunity to go out there and make history. For me, everything tied to him [Jones] is irrelevant. It’s like he’s sticking his nose in a place where he truly doesn’t belong right now because he’s suspended.”

However, that was before Jones stuck his nose in and made things personal by insisting Cormier’s wife knew he dreamt about “Bones” at night:

By that point, Cormier had had enough and posted a seething response to Jonesthat brought his own lady friend into question:

The gloves are off on social media between Cormier and “Bones,” but then again, they have been since their infamous UFC 178 media day melee way back in 2014.

Jones, of course, outlasted Cormier by unanimous decision in their first match at January 2015’s UFC 2015 before going on a concerning downward spiral for the better part of two years until returning to beat “DC” a second time at UFC 214 in July 2017. The would-be all-time great was suspended a second time for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) shortly thereafter, and could now acquire a long suspension from USADA soon.

Cormier could become arguably the greatest fighter of all-time if he can beat Miocic at UFC 226, but Jones has beaten him twice and is therefore insisting on putting his own name back into the conversation.

As always, that will most likely be on “Bones’” ability to pass the pre- and post-fight drug tests more than his ability to actually win the fight.

The post Daniel Cormier Responds To Jon Jones Calling Out His Wife appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones Declares He’s Still UFC Champion

Jon Jones says he’s still the UFC light heavyweight champion:

The post Jon Jones Declares He’s Still UFC Champion appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones may be facing a likely lengthy suspension from USADA, but he doesn’t think that prevents him from still being the UFC light heavyweight champion.

But knowing Jones, he could wiggle out of the situation if everyone could, and indeed he believes (or claims to) that he’ll be proven innocent when it becomes apparent he never knowingly used the anabolic steroid Turinabol he tested positive for during his UFC 214 title bout with Daniel Cormier last year.

That’s kept the champ extremely active on social media in his attempt for his latest and now-countless comeback, and he did just that today. When presented with a fan’s opinion that he was still the champion, Jones said he didn’t need to physically have to hold the belt to be the 205-pound champion, and the top five of his division knows that:

Jones then followed up on his opinion by stating why he believed he was the champion and how he still had great things to do:

The legendary former champion certainly still has time to live up to his all-time greatest potential, but he may be slowly running out of it as his outside-the-cage issues with drugs both performance-enhancing and recreational in addition to alcohol.

Jones had his fighting license revoked and was fined $250,000 by the State of California in February this year after testing for Turinabol prior to his third-round knockout over archrival Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 214. He returned to fight on the card less than a month after he was suspended before his scheduled rematch with Cormier at 2016’s UFC 200 for testing positive for two other banned substances.

He now awaits punishment from USADA, who could hand him a very significant sit on the sidelines. Cormier, meanwhile, will go on to face heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of July 6’s UFC 227, a bout Jones was most likely headed for if he stayed out of trouble.

Unfortunately for him, he’s been unable to accomplish anything resembling that in the last few years.

He still feels he’s the champion nonetheless. When will be able to prove in the octagon?

The post Jon Jones Declares He’s Still UFC Champion appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones Is So Bored He’ll Snapchat Fan’s Grandma

Jon Jones is choosing a strange – and creepy – way to occupy his time.

The post Jon Jones Is So Bored He’ll Snapchat Fan’s Grandma appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones is finding new and ‘creative’ ways to bide his time.

The suspended former UFC light heavyweight champion is awaiting his official suspension from USADA after testing positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol in conjunction with his knockout win over Daniel Cormier in the main event of last summer’s UFC 214, a failure which ‘Bones’ swears he is innocent for (again).

While he does so, he’s staying active on social media to keep his name in the news, and he did just that with an unofficial fan Q&A last night. Not surprisingly, things got a little weird courtesy of a U.K.-based fan who told ‘Bones’ he had just told his grandma about him and she now wanted to FaceTime with the former champ:

Jones responded quickly, somewhat creepily asking if the fan’s grandmother was single:

The fan was apparently ecstatic to hear Jones’ interest in his grandma, offering his ‘permission’ for the disgraced would-be legend to pursue her:

Jones then confirmed he would speak to the granny on Snapchat by telling his all-too-eager fan to send him her account details:

As expected, the back-and-forth prompted a lovely exchange of mostly hateful dialect directed at both Jones and the fan, which of course the fan responded to nearly every one.

Welcome to the Internet, folks. It’s a strange place.

As for Jones, we still don’t know when we’ll see him back in the cage, but he could be facing a rather lengthy suspension for his third failed drug test in as many years.

The post Jon Jones Is So Bored He’ll Snapchat Fan’s Grandma appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Report: Nate Diaz Headed For Big-Money UFC Return

A close friend of Nate Diaz just claimed the Stockton star wasn’t only looking for a Conor McGregor trilogy in his return bout, and that scenario is reportedly developing rapidly. A report surfaced from ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto that Diaz and the UFC are in talks for a high-profile return for Diaz at August 4’s UFC 227 […]

The post Report: Nate Diaz Headed For Big-Money UFC Return appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

A close friend of Nate Diaz just claimed the Stockton star wasn’t only looking for a Conor McGregor trilogy in his return bout, and that scenario is reportedly developing rapidly.

A report surfaced from ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto that Diaz and the UFC are in talks for a high-profile return for Diaz at August 4’s UFC 227 event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Diaz supposedly wants to return at the event in his home state and is also interested in one of the names the UFC has given him after turning down many top opponents in recent months.

According to MMA Fighting, however, neither of those names is Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov, so Diaz would likely be matched with a top 155-pound contender like Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poirier, or Kevin Lee.

There’s also the possibility, of course, that Diaz stays at welterweight, where he fought McGregor twice at in 2016, and meets welterweight champ Tyron Woodley in “The Chosen One’s” return from shoulder surgery last year. The fight has been discussed over the past year or so, and Woodley has repeatedly made it overtly apparent he wants a lucrative fight with a Diaz brother – be it Nick or Nate.

Out of action since his thin majority decision loss to McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202, Diaz hinted at a comeback in “May-June” earlier this year. He’s reportedly turned down several fights with the top-ranked lightweights during his latest sit on the side, so the UFC must have come with a suitable amount of cash to bring the popular, polarizing Stockton slugger out of his self-imposed hiatus.

There’s been nothing official from the UFC on the awaited return as of yet.

If Diaz does decide to come back at the Calif.-based card, he would add another huge name to an event that already has an anticipated, bad blood-fueled rematch between bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw and former champion Cody Garbrandt.

The post Report: Nate Diaz Headed For Big-Money UFC Return appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Quote: Nate Diaz ‘Not Just Looking For Conor McGregor’

It’s been almost two years since fans have seen Nate Diaz compete in the octagon when he lost a razor-thin majority decision to archrival Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202. The younger Diaz brother has stayed on the sidelines since, holding out for the monstrous trilogy fight with McGregor that has been looked at as […]

The post Quote: Nate Diaz ‘Not Just Looking For Conor McGregor’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It’s been almost two years since fans have seen Nate Diaz compete in the octagon when he lost a razor-thin majority decision to archrival Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202.

The younger Diaz brother has stayed on the sidelines since, holding out for the monstrous trilogy fight with McGregor that has been looked at as a foregone conclusion ever since ‘The Notorious’ tied the score at one apiece following Diaz’ shocking submission victory in their short-notice first match-up at UFC 196.

He’s remained active on social media in the time since as well, calling out many of the top lightweights on social media to elicit criticism from said fighters that he’s been turning down high-profile bouts at an incredible clip. He’s reportedly been offered opponents like Eddie Alvarez, Tony Ferguson, and even welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, only to turn them down and stay on the bench.

So even though Diaz claims he wants to be active, it seems he’ll only consider a return fight against McGregor, and for a longtime veteran clearly only motivated by the biggest and best payday right now, you can hardly blame him based on that point of view.

However, that’s not succinctly the case according to Diaz’ longtime friend and teammate Jake Shields, who revealed during this week’s edition of The MMA Hour (via MMA Mania) that Diaz is not only looking for McGregor but simply the biggest and most lucrative fight possible:

“He’s not just looking for Conor. He’s looking for a fight that makes sense and that’s going to give him a big payday and a lot of hype.”

There’s little evidence to doubt that any fight involving Diaz’ return would be big business no matter whom he fought, yet the obvious blockbuster is the third fight with McGregor that seemed like it was a stark eventuality but now may be in doubt considering the Irish former champion is awaiting court and perceived to be facing current 155-pound champion Khabib Nurmagomedov if and when he does return.

That would leave precious few opponents who truly move the needle for Diaz, and that count could be even fewer when names he would actually fight are taken into account.

It’s laughable to consider him a welterweight title contender, especially with Rafael dos Anjos facing Colby Covington for the interim welterweight title at UFC 225 and Woodley expected to return from surgery to fight the winner. That makes Woodley vs. Diaz unlikely, although there may not be another bout Diaz is willing to return for.

Shields may claim Diaz isn’t just looking for his last McGregor payday, but who else may he be looking for?

The post Quote: Nate Diaz ‘Not Just Looking For Conor McGregor’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.