Junior dos Santos has been pulled from UFC 215 and is facing a suspension. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holder was set to take on Francis Ngannou inside the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta on Sept. 9. Instead, Ngannou is left without an opponent although a replacement search has begun. An Aug. 10 […]
Junior dos Santos has been pulled from UFC 215 and is facing a suspension. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holder was set to take on Francis Ngannou inside the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta on Sept. 9. Instead, Ngannou is left without an opponent although a replacement search has begun. An Aug. 10 […]
It appears that former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos’ attempt to rise back up the ranks has been temporarily halted by a potential USADA violation. The UFC announced on their website this afternoon that dos Santos had been flagged from an out-of-competition test on August 10, resulting in his withdrawal from his anticipated showdown […]
It appears that former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos’ attempt to rise back up the ranks has been temporarily halted by a potential USADA violation.
The UFC announced on their website this afternoon that dos Santos had been flagged from an out-of-competition test on August 10, resulting in his withdrawal from his anticipated showdown with rising contender Francis Ngannou at September 9’s UFC 215 from Edmonton:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Junior Dos Santos of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on August 10, 2017. Because of the proximity to Dos Santos upcoming scheduled bout at UFC 215 in Edmonton, Canada against Francis Ngannou, Dos Santos has been removed from the card and the UFC is currently seeking a replacement.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Dos Santos. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
The 33-year-old former champ was attempting to rebound from his first-round loss to champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of May’s UFC 211 by beat Ngannou, the rapidly-rising No. 5 prospect who has won all five of his UFC matches by stoppage.
Dos Santos was once revered as one of the most fearsome knockout artists in the UFC, but has fallen on inconsistent results since losing the belt to Cain Velasquez in late 2012. He’s won three and lost three since then, with all three losses coming by TKO. Dos Santos will have a chance to plead his case like any other UFC fighter facing a potential USADA violation, but nonetheless, it will rate as a significant setback for the former champion.
In the meantime, the UFC will look for a replacement heavyweight to fight the steamrolling Ngannou on just three weeks’ notice, a proposition unlikely to be a popular one versus arguably the most dominant and fearsome rising force in MMA today.
Nick Roehrick is facing a suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Roehrick is a light heavyweight on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster. He made his debut for the promotion back in July. He was finished by Jared Cannonier in the third round. The UFC has released a statement revealing Roehrick’s possible violation of […]
Nick Roehrick is facing a suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Roehrick is a light heavyweight on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster. He made his debut for the promotion back in July. He was finished by Jared Cannonier in the third round. The UFC has released a statement revealing Roehrick’s possible violation of […]
Marcos Rogerio de Lima finds himself facing a suspension after being flagged for a potential drug violation. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) recently informed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that de Lima has been flagged. As a result, de Lima has been pulled from his bout at UFC Rotterdam against Saparbek Safarov. Below is a statement […]
Marcos Rogerio de Lima finds himself facing a suspension after being flagged for a potential drug violation. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) recently informed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that de Lima has been flagged. As a result, de Lima has been pulled from his bout at UFC Rotterdam against Saparbek Safarov. Below is a statement […]
To the bewilderment of mixed martial arts (MMA) fans and media members across the world, tomorrow’s (Sat., July 29, 2017) stacked UFC 214 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, appears to be poised to go off without a hitch (fingers crossed), something that unfortunately hasn’t been the norm for a Jon Jones-headlined card in recent […]
To the bewilderment of mixed martial arts (MMA) fans and media members across the world, tomorrow’s (Sat., July 29, 2017) stacked UFC 214 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, appears to be poised to go off without a hitch (fingers crossed), something that unfortunately hasn’t been the norm for a Jon Jones-headlined card in recent years.
The all-time great, who was only beaten by himself and his outside-of-the-cage problems with drugs, will have yet another attempt at a comeback when he meets archrival Daniel Cormier, the stalwart champion who has won four fights in “Bones’” absence but was still beaten by the troubled ex-champ, in the UFC 214 main event. The co-main event features a closely-matched welterweight title affair between power slugger Tyron Woodley and peerless grappling whiz Demian Maia, why consensus women’s No. 1 pound-for-pound star Cris Cyborg meets former Invicta champ Tonya Evinger for the women’s featherweight belt in the event’s third title fight.
The fighters weighed in according to California’s increasingly strict weigh-in standards this morning, the results of which can be seen here. Now, the fighters will square off in the final media event of the UFC 214 build-up when the ceremonial weigh-in begins shortly at 8:00 p.m. EST. Watch the video streaming live right here:
It’s no secret that the UFC is having a tough run in the first seven months of 2017. After a banner year in 2016 with multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events eclipsing the coveted one-million buy threshold, new owners WME-IMG are finding out just what it’s like to run the world’s biggest MMA promotion in a time […]
It’s no secret that the UFC is having a tough run in the first seven months of 2017.
After a banner year in 2016 with multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events eclipsing the coveted one-million buy threshold, new owners WME-IMG are finding out just what it’s like to run the world’s biggest MMA promotion in a time of downward-trending PPVs without flagship stars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey anywhere close to the octagon.
True, McGregor will return to the ring against Floyd Mayweather, on August 26, but that could be hurting the UFC’s actual numbers more than helping them. We’ll get to that shortly.
Regardless, both the preliminary card television ratings and pay-per-view buyrates for July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas were recently revealed, and the numbers ultimately amounted to some of the most dismal overall viewership turnouts the UFC has ever seen. Now, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes’ extremely late withdrawal from her championship bout versus Valentina Shevchenko most definitely caused the lack of buys, but the numbers are concerning nonetheless.
Things didn’t get better two weeks later when UFC on FOX 25 aired live from the Nassau Coliseum on July 22. Despite former middleweight champion Chris Weidman securing an emotional headlining win over Kelvin Gastelum in his hometown, the card had the lowest-ever ratings for a UFC on FOX event in overnight ratings, a number that rose to “only” the third-worst of all-time when the time slot spillover numbers for the main event were factored in.
That continued a disturbing decline for big FOX-aired cards in 2017, but those numbers are also simply indicative of the overall trend of the year, where pay-per-view rates have went down drastically in addition to TV-aired events and PPV prelim numbers.
There are several big underlying factors for this sharp and disturbing decline. On the eve of the biggest pay-per-view of the year, let’s take at the five most impactful.
Promoting Only McGregor & Rousey:
The UFC enjoyed their most lucrative two-year stretch in history from 2015-2016, a time when their biggest-ever crossover stars in Rousey and McGregor were winning big fights in dominant fashion. Rousey was being called the most dominant fighter in MMA, and McGregor won both the featherweight and lightweight titles while becoming the sport’s biggest star.
But that time period simply couldn’t be sustained, as Rousey infamously lost the belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193, following it up with another unsuccessful title fight in her 48-second loss to Nunes at 2016’s UFC 207, after which it appears Rousey may never fight in the UFC again.
McGregor is not gone; at least not in the same sense as Rousey. He’s obviously involved in his hyped-up boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, and while the UFC will obviously get a ton of attention and hype from that massive spectacle, it brings up one vital, overarching point – the UFC simply promoted only their top two stars in recent years, and while it clearly worked in that regard, it left them much too dependent on McGregor and Rousey for success, because their other fighters just aren’t bringing in any numbers at all.
If they ever want to get back to the level where they have their big draws and their mid-level stars; say in the time of dominant champions Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre where mid-level stars like Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson could still sell an in-between card for 350-400,000 buys, they’re going to have to diversify their promotional strategy.
