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UFC on Fox 7 Drug Tests All Return Negative Results

The California State Athletic Commission has returned the drug test results from UFC on Fox 7, recently held in San Jose on April 20. According to California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster in an email sent to Bleacher Report o…

The California State Athletic Commission has returned the drug test results from UFC on Fox 7, recently held in San Jose on April 20.

According to California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster in an email sent to Bleacher Report on Tuesday, it was confirmed that all six fighters tested on the card returned negative results for the drug tests performed.

The testing includes any performance enhancing drugs as well as any drugs of abuse such as marijuana or cocaine.

The six fighters tested included the four main event fighters from the evening’s card, which were UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Daniel Cormier and Frank Mir.

Two other fighters were tested at random as well with their tests coming back negative according to the commission.

One interesting note about the drug testing performed is the inclusion of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

In 2012 it was revealed that Mir had been prescribed testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) by his doctors and was approved for a therapeutic use exemption by the Nevada State Athletic Commission prior to his last fight in the state.

Foster told Bleacher Report following the conclusion of UFC on Fox 7 that, due to medical laws in the state of California, he could no longer disclose if a fighter had been approved for, or was using TRT when fighting in his state.

With Mir being one of the six fighters tested, it appears that his testosterone levels remained in legal range for his fight against Cormier, assuming he was still undergoing the treatment.

UFC President Dana White recently instituted additional drug testing for any fighter undergoing TRT treatments, and confirmed that the promotion has already started to conduct the additional procedures.

UFC 159 main event fighter Chael Sonnen has been a prescribed user of TRT for several years, and White stated that he was tested numerous times throughout his camp and all test results were normal.

“He was tested,” White said about Sonnen after the end of UFC 159. “Made sure that his levels were on leading up to this fight. Everything was great.”

While Mir’s use of TRT does not have to be disclosed publicly by the commission, it’s likely that the UFC tested him in the same manner as Sonnen if he was still undergoing the procedure leading up to his fight.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Josh Thomson Makes ‘Bitch Ass Lady Sounds’ When He Fights, According to Nate Diaz

(“OMG THOSE SHOES ARE FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS!!!!” / Photo via Sherdog)

If you thought Nate Diaz was going to accept his UFC on FOX 7 loss to Josh Thomson gracefully, then brother, you just don’t know what it means to be a Diaz. Nate was a guest on BJPenn.com Radio yesterday, where he squeezed enough sour grapes to make a fine red whine. (I’m not even going to ask if you saw what I did there. I know damn well that you saw it.) Here are some of the highlights, as transcribed by MMAMania and MMAFighting:

“[Thomson] didn’t come in there and put no ass whopping on me. You know what I’m saying? He didn’t come in there and make anything happen. I have never fought somebody before who had ever wanted out of a fight so bad. I expected a fight. I expected him to grab me and try to hold on to me or throw some kicks and move and throw some punches and move but that motherfucker was straight running and I had to chase him down. I was chasing him the whole fight. I was the aggressor. I was restless, you know? How can you not be when a guy is running scared shitless for his life? I’m over aggressive trying to get a hold of him and that’s why I got hit, because I’m over aggressive. I’m trying to meet the criteria to win these rounds…

“[He] was scared shitless when I was fighting him. It’s unbelievable how scared he was in there. He was running for his life…He was making bitch ass lady sounds and that’s not bullshit. I’m not here talking shit on him, this is reality. He was making woman sounds. He was running out of the clinch. I hit him in the face and he was going ‘Oh, oh, ehh’ making woman sounds I’ve never even heard out of a man before during a fight. I’m hearing his corner telling him to smile and I’m like, ‘Yeah, smile mother fucker’ and not a single smile came out of his mouth. He had a look of panic the whole fight. You have to be in there to fight these guys to know that. This is how it went. I’ve seen him in other fights, he was smiling at the other guy, bouncing around. He didn’t have no time for that against me. He was frantic and trying not to get his ass whooped…

(“OMG THOSE SHOES ARE FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS!!!!” / Photo via Sherdog)

I don’t really want to credit him too much for that fight, you know? I don’t think that he should get too much. I think it was more a negative on my part than a positive on his part. I think he might have just capitalized a little bit. I think, I know it’s because I fought and everything, but I think the stop was premature, but, I didn’t want to cause a scene at the time. I didn’t know how it went or how it looked. I was in there fighting and the guy jumped in stopped the fight and I was like, ‘what the fuck is going on here? Why are you stopping the fight?’ I didn’t think I was damaged anymore better or worse off than I had been in my prior fights. I thought I was good to go, but I didn’t want to make a scene. Maybe I got caught with some combos and it looked worse. I think it looked worse than what was really going on in there.”

As for the towel that his corner threw in to stop this alleged non-ass-whooping? Diaz said they did that because they are his “real people” who care about his health and don’t want to see him take any more punches to the head than necessary. But it was a totally premature stoppage, okay? And maybe Nate and Josh Thomson can rematch for the 163-pound UFC on FOX Sports 1 heavy-lightweight title one day to settle this once and for all. Blugh.

6 Fights for Frank Mir After UFC on Fox 7

After a unanimous decision loss to the United States Olympian Daniel Cormier, Frank Mir has found himself on the receiving end of back-to-back defeats and out of immediate title contention. At 33 years old, Mir needs to re-establish himself in the heav…

There are certain opponents that can yet again place Mir back into contention. He is going to need a mix of veterans and contenders along the way to establish himself as a title contender again. Also, Cain Velasquez could help Mir out by clearing out the competition and retaining his title.

Mir is a big name in the heavyweight division which always makes his road to a title shot a little bit easier, but this will be his last run if he can string together the necessary wins.

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UFC on Fox 7 Final Ratings Return Good Results Without NFL Support

The final ratings for UFC on Fox 7 have been returned with the numbers coming in slightly higher than initial reports for the card featuring lightweight champion Benson Henderson successfully defending his title against Gilbert Melendez. According to a…

According to a report emailed to Bleacher Report from Nielsen Ratings, UFC on Fox 7 averaged 3.7 million viewers over the broadcast that kicked off at 8 p.m. ET last Saturday night. The show’s initial ratings were reported as 3.31 million viewers, but information hadn’t been returned from the main event, which went well past the 10 p.m. cut off time for the show.

The show peaked during the main event between Henderson and Melendez with 4.7 million viewers according to a press release from Fox sent to Bleacher Report. The UFC on Fox 7 broadcast also ranked No. 1 overall in the coveted 18-49 demographic as well.

The ratings for UFC on Fox 7 are down from both of the last two UFC cards held on Fox despite the perception of the show being a stronger line-up from top to bottom in terms of overall talent. UFC on Fox 5 last December averaged 4.4 million viewers, and that was followed up by UFC on Fox 6 in January that pulled in 4.2 million viewers.

UFC on Fox 5 also featured lightweight champion Benson Henderson as well as former title holder B.J. Penn, while UFC on Fox 6 showcased a flyweight title fight and the final Octagon appearance of former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

While those two shows did feature established stars like Penn and Jackson, the real difference for UFC on Fox 7 is the fact that there was no promotional help from Fox’s biggest sports entity—the NFL.

When the UFC has had NFL games ongoing while promoting their upcoming event, the numbers have always ended up higher than other shows. UFC on Fox 3 (held in May 2012) and UFC on Fox 4 (held in August 2012) were the two lowest rated shows for the promotion since coming to the network giant in 2011.

UFC on Fox 3 had an average of 2.4 million viewers while UFC on Fox 4 had 2.44 million viewers.

The biggest positive for UFC on Fox 7 is the fact that it pulled in 3.7 million viewers with no support from the NFL on Fox broadcasts that would routinely advertise the upcoming cards. The card pulled much higher numbers than the previous two shows without NFL support for the UFC on Fox.

The next UFC on Fox card will take place on July 27 from the Key Arena in Seattle, Wash. While a few bouts have been named for the card, no main event has been announced by the promotion as of yet.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

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UFC on Fox 7: CSAC Executive Defends Judge Selection for Henderson vs. Melendez

One of the more interesting storylines coming out of UFC on Fox 7 was that one of the judges for the title bout between Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez had connections with Cesar Gracie.Despite speculation, California State Athletic Commission Ex…

One of the more interesting storylines coming out of UFC on Fox 7 was that one of the judges for the title bout between Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez had connections with Cesar Gracie.

Despite speculation, California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Foster told MMA Junkie that he’d choose Wade Vierra to judge the contest if given another chance.

“I’m picking people who know what they’re looking at,” Foster said. “I will not pick state workers again to judge these fights in California. I had two brown belts and a purple belt judging a world title fight, and they all have striking experience. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Vierra has instructed at an affiliate of Gracie before, and given that Melendez trains with the guys under his banner, it would appear Vierra would not have been a wise choice to be picked for the main event.

Foster knew of Vierra‘s past but believed other things were more important:

It’s more important for me to get the score right than to hire some state worker and get the score wrong. We have a problem with incompetence in this sport, and when you hear people say, ‘We need to use fighters; we need to use people that train.’ Well, if we do that, they’re going to trace back in some respect. You can make a connection anywhere.

Even more puzzling was when Vierra‘s scorecards were revealed. Vierra scored rounds one, four and five for Melendez, which is in stark contrast to the general consensus of Henderson winning the final two rounds and Melendez winning the early rounds.

While I agree with Foster that by choosing fighters and people who train as judges, I have to believe there were better choices for judges than a guy who instructs at an affiliated school. Vierra wasn’t considered for the Nate Diaz-Josh Thomson bout because he said he knew Diaz so why should he be allowed to score a fight with another Gracie fighter just because he doesn’t know him personally?

I agree it will be tough to pick fighters and coaches who have zero affiliation to the fighters in the cage but some degree of separation has to be present. In this case, and given the controversy involved, I believe the CSAC could’ve made a better choice.

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In No-Man’s-Land After Latest Loss, Nate Diaz Calls for Intermediate Weight Classes

(“…and I’m just saying, in this new 163-pound division, maybe motherf*ckers shouldn’t be allowed to kick you in your damn neck so much.” / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)

Even before he lost his second consecutive lightweight fight to Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 7, Nate Diaz was eyeing a return to welterweight — a division he’d already bounced out of in 2011, following back-to-back losses to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. So what’s a guy supposed to do if he’s not powerful enough to deal with the beasts at 170, and cutting to 155 is no longer worth the misery? Call it sour grapes if you will, but Nate floated the following suggestion on twitter yesterday:

@ufc more weight classes ASAP?? 163,178,193 More super fights more champion vs champion, closer to weight better fights more potential …

Obviously, that 163-pound division would be tailor-made for the younger Diaz brother, so it makes sense that he’d support it. But self-interest aside, there’s some logic to the idea. While UFC president Dana White has been looking to smaller and smaller fighters as the future of the promotion — 115-pound dudes? seriously? — the UFC already has a deep roster of talented, popular contenders who have suffered from being “in between” weight classes, either ruining their bodies through massive weight cuts to stay competitive, or giving up tremendous size disadvantages to compete at a more “natural” division.

(“…and I’m just saying, in this new 163-pound division, maybe motherf*ckers shouldn’t be allowed to kick you in your damn neck so much.” / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)

@ufc more weight classes ASAP?? 163,178,193 More super fights more champion vs champion, closer to weight better fights more potential …

The UFC turns 20 years old this year, and despite all the evolution that the sport has seen along the way, we’re still at the point where there are 15- and 20-pound gaps between the lightweight and light-heavyweight classes. There’s something primitive about that, and Diaz’s tweet highlights it. Instead of creating more divisions that are ten pounds lower than the last one, intermediate weight-classes might be the best next step as the sport progresses. It would create more champions — always a good thing in terms of promotional value — and many of those champions would already be established stars with some name recognition.

Maybe Lyoto Machida is a future champ at 193? Maybe Hector Lombard could make something of himself at 178? And maybe Nate Diaz could make a run at the 163-pound title? Isn’t that a better idea than letting good fighters fade into irrelevance, and trying to sell your audience on brand-new strawweight talent that they never asked for?