Tag: UFC 214

Jon Jones Targets Online Haters In Brutal Callout

Jon Jones’ future in the UFC or any kind of MMA may be in significant jeopardy, but the troubled former champion is choosing to put the focus on his online detractors. And he’s done so in a not-too-subtle fashion. Earlier today, Jones, who will appear before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) on February 27 to face […]

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Jon Jones’ future in the UFC or any kind of MMA may be in significant jeopardy, but the troubled former champion is choosing to put the focus on his online detractors.

And he’s done so in a not-too-subtle fashion.

Earlier today, Jones, who will appear before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) on February 27 to face potential punishment for his UFC 214 drug test failure for anabolic steroid Turinabol, issued a Tweet saying he was going to ‘talk to his haters’ who ‘blamed his greatness on things they don’t understand’ before an emphatic ending statement.

Check it out:

Pure class from the troubled former champion, who would almost assuredly be the finest competitor in MMA history were it not for his litany of drug and alcohol-related issues.

But they are there tainting his legacy nonetheless, and even though his manager recently claimed there was a “95 percent chance he fights in 2018” if the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was a respectable organization.

After Jones was given a one-year suspension for testing positive for clomiphene and Letrozol before 2016’s UFC 200, that could be a difficult proposition to attain, however, considering we’ve never seen a fighter get off completely scot-free in the more stringent USADA testing era.

Jones has shown an almost uncanny ability to avoid major punishment and come back, so it’s anyone’s guess if he’ll somehow return this year. Based on the brash manner in which he’s told his fans to “s**k it,” it would seem he’s betting firmly on himself to indeed make an umpteenth comeback to the Octagon.

Does he deserve it? Or is he simply digging himself a bigger hole by blurting out the callout online?

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Jon Jones’ Doping Hearing Officially Announced

The next step to finding in Jon Jones’ latest drug-related trouble is set. The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) listed on their official agenda (via MMA Fighting) that Jones will attend a hearing on February 27 for his in-competition failure for anabolic steroid Turinabol the day before his UFC 214 win over current champion Daniel […]

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The next step to finding in Jon Jones’ latest drug-related trouble is set.

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) listed on their official agenda (via MMA Fighting) that Jones will attend a hearing on February 27 for his in-competition failure for anabolic steroid Turinabol the day before his UFC 214 win over current champion Daniel Cormier. The win, which was originally a third-round KO via head kick, was overturned to a no contest.

At the time, the win put Jones as most fans and media members’ number-one choice for the greatest MMA fighter of all-time, but as has been the case for years, problems involving drugs and alcohol interfered with Jones’ illustrious fighting accomplishments. He’s expected to be handed a suspension and fine for his current case with the CSAC, his second anti-doping violation after he tested positive for clomiphene and Letrozol before his scheduled rematch with Cormier at 2016’s UFC 200.

Those performance-enhancing drug-related issues joined his prior drunk driving arrest in 2012 and failure for cocaine in 2015, not to mention his Albuquerque hit-and-run that left a young pregnant woman with a broken arm in April 2015. If it’s starting to sound exhausting; you’re right – it definitely is, and it’s only magnified by the fact Jones would otherwise be the greatest fighter in the history of MMA if not for drugs.

Jones faces a possible four-year suspension for his latest infraction due to it being his second offense; he received a one-year suspension following arbitration with USADA for his UFC 200 failure after USADA didn’t necessarily buy his sexual-enhancement pill defense. His manager seems to think that if USADA is ‘a respectable organization,’ and does their due diligence, then there’s a “95 percent chance” Jones will fight in the UFC in 2018.

For what it’s worth, UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky recently admitted there are some strange timelines in the failure after Jones passed all previous tests for the bout. He took and passed his own polygraph test as well.

While the promotion would most likely like that, it’s now up to the CSAC. It should also be noted that Jones will also undergo another arbitration with USADA in addition to the CSAC hearing.

So the latest chapter in the sad saga of “Bones” has a date, and it’s once again up in the air as to when or if the MMA great will return. Does he deserve another chance to fight in the Octagon?

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Manager: ‘95 Percent Chance’ Jon Jones Returns In 2018

Jon Jones second failed USADA test was certainly a massive hit to his career, but to hear his manager tell it, he could be back this year as long as USADA is “a respectable organization.” Jones’ manager Malki Kawa revealed this most recent update on The Luke Thomas show (via MMA Mania): “By the end […]

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Jon Jones second failed USADA test was certainly a massive hit to his career, but to hear his manager tell it, he could be back this year as long as USADA is “a respectable organization.”

Jones’ manager Malki Kawa revealed this most recent update on The Luke Thomas show (via MMA Mania):

“By the end of this month I think we get some clarity on the issues. We have a hearing with the California State Athletic Commission and we’re hoping to get the investigation with USADA wrapped up by then, as well.”

“Hopefully it all works out that way. I got to assume that by the end of March, for a fact, we will get this resolved and get an idea of what it’s looking like. I’d like to say about a 95-percent chance (he fights in 2018).”

Jones had recaptured the light heavyweight belt with a stunning third-round knockout of longtime foe Daniel Cormier at July 2017’s UFC 214, but once again was stripped of his title after failing an in-competition test again.

But despite all of Jones repeated issues, Kawa claims Jones never used Turinabol and that USADA will find he did not willingly take any PED:

“If USADA is a respectable organization, which I think that they are, and they take all the information they compiled, all the interviews that they’ve done and all the things they’ve seen, they know for a fact that Jon Jones was not cheating and he was not intentionally taking any kind of substance. I think they know that and everybody can come to that conclusion based on the circumstances of his situation. That’s the most I am going to say at this point because it is obviously on-going.”

Jones has been relatively silent about the matter until Kawa’s most recent update regarding the adjudication of his USADA case. Jones’ other infractions include positive tests for cocaine metabolites and estrogen blockers, making his most recent failed test simply another on a growing list of issues outside of the cage.

Meanwhile, Cormier was reinstated as champion and defended the title against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220, leading to him getting a super fight with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at July’s UFC 226.

Do you expect to see Jones fighting again anytime soon?

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Justin Gaethje Blasts Joanna Jedrzejczyk For ‘Weak-Minded’ Excuses

After losing the title to Rose Namajunas at last November’s UFC 217, former dominant UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk began a veritable media tour explaining why a botched, drastic weight cut was to blame for her first-round knockout loss to ‘Thug.’ She detailed her experience of having to cut 15 pounds in only 14 […]

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After losing the title to Rose Namajunas at last November’s UFC 217, former dominant UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk began a veritable media tour explaining why a botched, drastic weight cut was to blame for her first-round knockout loss to ‘Thug.’

She detailed her experience of having to cut 15 pounds in only 14 hours before the fight, leading to her experiencing numbness in her legs and ultimately firing her nutritionists, Perfecting Athletes.

But that wasn’t all.

Yesterday, Jedrzejczyk doubled down on the blame game by claiming that her doctor had failed her before the fight, creating a web of finger pointing that really could not be quantified, and also one that was a moot point by now. Jedrzejczyk will meet Namajunas again in an immediate rematch at April 7’s UFC 223 from Brooklyn and will have her chance to quiet her doubters by winning back her coveted belt.

Until then, however, her detractors are going to keep doubting her blaming. One such person is UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje, who, as a friend of Namajunas, may be a bit biased but also knows the ins and outs of the fight game himself. “The Highlight” recently discussed Jedrzejczyk’s recent blaming with MMA Fighting, noting that cutting weight is simply part of a fighter’s job, making the blame fall solely on her at the end of the day.

To him, it was weak-minded to publicly bring it up:

“I don’t know her or what happened to her, so I can’t judge her for it. I think she’s weak-minded for saying it, even if it is true. It’s her own business. And no matter what, it could be true to the core and you could have proof, who’s going to [care]? Like, I’m not going to support you. Okay, whose fault was it? At the end of the day, whose fault was it? It was your fault. Do you have a scale at your house? Then you get to step on the scale every single morning, just like every single one of us do. We worry about our weight the whole camp, and I’ve never had a nutritionist help me in my entire life.

“I made weight in college eating McDonalds every day. It’s willpower. You either f*cking do it or you don’t do it. Like, the nutritionist does not cut the weight for you. And yeah, it could be detrimental to your performance, so if she did cut a tremendous amount of weight, then I’m sure that she suffered tremendously, and I am excited to see Rose fight the best Joanna whenever she doesn’t f*ck up and f*ck her weight cut up.”

Gaethje clarified his stance on the matter, adding that Jedrzejczyk knew Namajunas had cut and made weight, ultimately making whatever reason for her miss an excuse:

“Because she knows that Rose cut weight. She knows that Rose made weight. And at the end of the day, it is an excuse. Even if it’s fact, it’s still an excuse, because it was still her fault. So, I mean, as a wrestler — I’m not calling Joanna weak-minded, I’m saying that statement is weak-minded.”

Fans will see whether or not Jedrzejczyk’s insistence on passing the blame is real or not when she rematches Namajunas in just over a month. While Gaethje acknowledges her skill as one of the best in her class, he also believes Namajunas will prove her first win was no fluke because she has the former ‘Joanna Champion’ figured out:

“It’s a fight. [Jedrzejczyk] is one of the highest-level fighters in that weight class in the world,” Gaethje said. “Anybody in the top-five can beat each other on any given night in this sport. So I think she has a possibility (to win), but I don’t think — she can’t just go and change her whole (style). She can’t change the way her feet move. And Rose beat her because of the way her feet move, because she could time the way her feet move, and Rose is going to do the same thing with her feet.

“She’ll get her reaching, and then she’ll get her overreaching, then she’ll come in while she’s overreaching and capitalize. There’s no other way for it to go.”

 

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UFC 221 Shows Rough State Of The UFC In 2018

Tonight (Sat., February 10, 2018), the UFC will trudge forward with its packed early 2018 schedule, this time offering UFC 221 live on pay-per-view from Perth, Australia. It’s an event that has been largely derided by the majority of MMA media as one of the lesser pay-per-view cards the promotion has put on for some time, […]

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Tonight (Sat., February 10, 2018), the UFC will trudge forward with its packed early 2018 schedule, this time offering UFC 221 live on pay-per-view from Perth, Australia.

It’s an event that has been largely derided by the majority of MMA media as one of the lesser pay-per-view cards the promotion has put on for some time, and indeed, the card has dubious potential to join the list of the worst pay-per-view cards of all-time, at least on paper.

That’s not to say that the Australian fighters on the card won’t show up and put on a night of exciting bouts for the home crowd; they most certainly could and assuming otherwise would be foolish and disrespectful to the athletes who have worked so hard to get where they are in the sport.

And it certainly didn’t help that the main event saw a late-notice change of the worst form when middleweight champion and nearby fan favorite Robert Whittaker was forced from his main event bout with Luke Rockhold thanks to a host of frightening injuries, a fact that was only dampened by Romero missing weight and being unable to contend for the interim title. But overall, the fact that the UFC was even in that position due to the overall shallowness of this card just shows the tough state the promotion is in during 2018.

Attempting to put on an event every single weekend with little to no name value and maybe even less promotion or time to promote it is only helping their FOX TV schedule, and it shows just how much the promotion has simply spread itself thin under new owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG).

As many in the media such as MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas have noted during the week leading up to UFC 222, they don’t have the roster depth to keep up this breakneck pace and maintain interest. And Deadspin’s Patrick Wyman succinctly dissected that their insistence on believing the product will sell just because it has the UFC brand attached to it is a foolhardy assumption.

Neither is sustainable for long-term success in the fight game, and it would seem Endeavor is rushing head-first into booking the biggest spectacles they can without much concern for the consequences soon to arise.

Making Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather in the octagon is a perfect example of this cash-grab-and-go strategy, as is making Tyron Woodley vs. Nate Diaz in a farcical welterweight title bout. Last-minutes changes, weight misses, and injuries ruining main events are unpredictable sets of circumstances that certainly don’t help, but the UFC’s seeming insistence on making both FOX-aired and pay-per-view cards as shallow and uninspiring as possible is why offerings like tonight’s cannot recover from losing a huge bout.

It was most likely happening for years if we’re honest – but the outright deluge of viewers and fans brought in by crossover stars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey truly masked the clear evidence that this plan was not working. With their million buy-ability now gone, nearly every metric measuring the UFC’s success or lack thereof proves it is not – pay-per-view buys are way down, and big FOX ratings have hit an all-time low.

With a new TV deal on the horizon, that’s the worst news Endeavor could hear, so they appear ready to pull out the stops and book the most ‘superfights’ they can in order to drum up interest. They’re major players in Hollywood, so that’s no surprise. It might even work in the short term as it drums up some mainstream attention (‘might’ is the key word there, though).

If it actually gets a major network to pay the reported outlandish figure the UFC is asking is a different story altogether, however, and with figures falling to atrocious levels as the UFC is no longer a special event with watered-down events every weekend, it may turn out they can’t.

What’s clear is that something has to change, however, as tonight’s Rockhold vs. Romero main event is a great fight to be certain, but also one that had been repeatedly discussed for a FOX or Fight Night event, and now the UFC is forcing fans to pay $65 to watch it without any real meat on the undercard to boot.

That fact proves just how out of touch the UFC is with their fans right now, and they’re quickly losing the full backing of many fighters due to low pay and mounting issues over treatment. Something has to change, and it’s unclear when or if anything ever will.

If the new owners (who aren’t so new anymore) want the numbers to pick up in any or all facets of measurable success, they’re going to have to adapt, and serving up a pay-per-view like tonight’s is the exact opposite of doing just that.

Maybe they have something up their sleeve, and it will most likely involve the return of McGregor. A return to the previous glory days of the UFC could be rapidly moving out of reach for the world’s biggest MMA promoters, however, and their insistence to badly water down the schedule while assuming the fanbase would blindly follow the UFC brand are two major reasons why.

Do you envision a bounceback from the UFC this year, or are they digging themselves into an even bigger hole?

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Tyron Woodley Wants To Punch Dana White In The Face

Recently UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been in a public war of words with UFC president Dana White. While it’s far from the first time we’ve seen a similar scene unfold, this time, the drama centers on White calling Woodley ‘full of s**t’ when he revealed he had been offered a title fight versus […]

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Recently UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been in a public war of words with UFC president Dana White.

While it’s far from the first time we’ve seen a similar scene unfold, this time, the drama centers on White calling Woodley ‘full of s**t’ when he revealed he had been offered a title fight versus supposedly returning fan favorite Nate Diaz.

‘The Chosen One’ wants to clear the situation, so he addressed it on his ‘Hollywood Beatdown’ segment on TMZ Sports, clarifying that he didn’t say he had received a contract to face Diaz yet, just that the fight had been discussed in December and once again now:

“I don’t want people to think that I’m full of sh*t, as my boss said. And that I’m making this sh*t up. That a fight with me and Nate was never talked about in December and has never been brought up since then — that is bullshit. It has. Did I get a contract to fight Nate? No, I did not. So, if I’m not thinking about the highest prize as a prizefighter, I am a complete idiot. I should suicide slap myself.”

The discussion stemmed from an interview with ESPN where Woodley stated he thought Diaz would be his next fight, eliciting the harsh reaction from White. But Woodley said he was merely stating his thoughts, and never claimed anything resembling an official agreement had been made – just initial opening negotiations. From there, the champ said, things got a little blown out of proportion:

“I’m entitled to think whatever the hell I want to thin. I didn’t say, ‘Hey, the UFC has a bout agreement, we’re in the process of negotiations, Dana White called me and offered me the fight.’ So everyone took that and they ran through the roof with their perception of what that meant.”

Finally, Woodley said in a somewhat joking segment that he wanted to punch White in the face and wasn’t the only fighter in the UFC who wanted to sock the brash frontman:

“Let’s punch Dana White in the face. I know so many fighters on the UFC roster may have been wanting to do this for a long time.

“You gotta get these hands. Can’t hide behind the black suit and the promotion anymore. You gotta get this right hand.”

Woodley’s clash with White is only the latest in an ever-growing, never-ending list of fighters who have an issue with the longtime president under new owners Endeavor.

With each passing event, White seems to be throwing more fighters under the bus, a baffling instance of counterproductivity considering he’s trashing the athletes who he’s supposed to be promoting and also the athletes responsible for aiding Endeavor in making back their $4.2 billion investment.

Fighter morale seems to be at an all-time low in the UFC as of right now, and Woodley is one of the biggest-name fighters to make his discontent public, although he’s far from the only one. Will White continue to stand in his own – and Endeavor’s – way?

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