This week hasn’t been without drama in the MMA world, MMA fans across the world were shocked to hear the newsthat UFC Champion Jon Jones had failed his drug test and that he checked into rehab, after testing positive for Benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine in early December before his fight Daniel Cormier. I am sure I don’t need to inform you of this news, if your social media is anything like mine it is all you have seen over and over to the point your head is about to explode. In the wake of the news and while we await the post fight drug test results and what will be the ramifications of the situation will be there was plenty of other exciting news this week, so I decided to give it all in one place in case you missed it.
Before we move off the Jon Jones subject, he has not only been in the news for his win over Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier and the failed drug test, but also now the Nevada deputy attorney general is reviewing whether or not Jones perjured himself under oath at the hearing NSAC disciplinary hearing in late 2014 to answer for his role in the UFC 178 media day brawl in Las Vegas. The Nevada deputy attorney general is reviewing whether or not Jones perjured himself under oath at the hearing.
Bob Bennett said that “The commission is aware of Jones comments prior to UFC 182 and the matter has been sent up the ladder they’re considering it for review,” Bennett said. “It’s nothing new to us… It would be concerning if anyone lied during testimony.”
We will watch both the Jon Jones stories and keep you updated as they come in, now to move on to what else is happening in MMA this week.
The UFC has had a busy this week making lots of exciting match-ups for us this week and I will Start off with the announcement that was made yesterday, two Middleweights contenders are slated to fight on UFC FOX 15 in April. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (22-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) is set to take on former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in 5 round main event. FOX 15 takes place April 18 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card will air on FOX after the prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Since Luke Rockhold (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) lost to Vitor Belfort in May of 2013 he has looked nothing but spectacular finishing all of his three opponents, with his latest victory being a submission over Michael Bisping.
Lyoto Machida (22-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) had a heart breaking loss in the title fight against Champion Chris Weidman he has got back into the win column with a TKO win over C.B Dolloway.
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fought last week at UFC 182 with a dominating performance winning against Myles Jury. Leaving the fight unscathed, Cerrone told the UFC he wasn’t leaving until he got another fight and he got exactly what he wished for. With only 2 weeks’ notice Cerrone stepped in for the injured Eddie Alvarez and will now face Benson Henderson at UFC Fight Night 59 takes place on Jan. 18, 2015 at Boston’s TD Garden. This isn’t the first time these two have fought in fact this will be their third. Benson handed Cerrone a pair of losses in the WEC. However, a lot has happened since those days both men have grown immensely.
Donald Cerrone (26-6 MMA, 13-3 UFC) has won six straight fights in UFC and seems will take on anyone anytime it is very hard to say anything bad about this guy and always bring an exciting fight for the fans. He has racked up wins over the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller, Edson Barboza and Myles Jury to name a few.
Benson Henderson (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) will be hoping to get back on track; he was on a 2 fight win streak with wins over Josh Thompson and Rustam Khabilov. However, Henderson streak was ended when he went head to head with Rafael Dos Anjos back in August, where Dos Anjos served him a quick KO punch knocking him out midway through the first round.
With the injury bug hitting Glover Teixeira, UFC had to cancel his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC Fight Night 61 due to a knee injury. We now have a new main event featuring a Heavyweight matchup between Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Frank Mir. The event will take place on Feb. 22, 2015 inside Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Antonio Silva against Frank Mir was originally booked for UFC 184 on Feb. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif., however they will take over as event headliner at UFN 61.
Next we have another Heavyweight matchup with two UFC veterans Alistair Overeem (38-14) will take on Roy “Big Country” Nelson (20-10) in a heavyweight bout as part of UFC 185 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Fan favorite Roy “Big Country” Nelson (20-10) has lost 3 of last 4 fights most recently losing by a devastating knock out by the hands of Mark Hunt, before his loss he managed to get a quick first round knockout over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Alistar Overeem (38-14) has alternating win loss record lately however he got back into the win column at UFC FOX 13 in December handing Stefan Struve loss with a knock out at the end of the first round.
Next the UFC announced a pair of Bantamweight bouts added to UFC Fight Night 61 takes place Feb. 22 at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Hailing from Brazil Jessica Andrade (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will meet Marion Reneau (4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Also we will see Cody Gibson (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will take on Brazil’s Douglas Silva (22-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Also this week the UFC announced the signing of the 26 year old Irish man Joseph “Irish Joe” Duffy (12-1). Duffy is most known for beating the infamous Connor McGregor and beating Norman Parke. Duffy left his MMA career behind to pursue a boxing career in 2012, but he has since returned to the cage last year. Since then he has racked up finishes in his two fights, including a 30-second, flying-knee KO of Julien Boussuge on Nov. 15th in Cage Warriors.
Also in the news former 2 time Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia announced his retirement from the sport after failing to get clearance for a Super Heavyweight fight against Juliano Coutinho under Reality Fighting banner. Tim Sylvia who was listed as 38 of Sherdog.com, was discovered to be actually 40 and in turn that required a whole new battery of tests.
“The commission didn’t realize Tim was over 40 until three days before the event,” Cox told ESPN.com. “There were some things on the MRI that weren’t on another MRI we had on file from 2003, meaning something happened over the course of the last 11 years. A neurologist said it could be something or it could be nothing.
“I think it’s the end. He had gotten to a point where his body, through all the wars, just wasn’t able to get in the kind of shape he used to,” Cox continued.” Obviously, you could see that in his weight. He just can’t get into competitive form. I think [retirement] is good. With this MRI, why go on, when you’re only getting paid a fraction of what you’re worth?”
“He can go back and get another MRI in a year, but basically what they’re saying is there’s damage from blunt force trauma,” Cox told ESPN.com. “He’s got damage there. Does it affect his everyday life? Not so far. Not that he can tell — but it’s certainly something to pay attention to.”
After 42 professional fights and record of (31-10) he will always be a legend in the sport and it is sad to see him go, however sometimes it is best to move on especially when your health is involved.
In addition to Tim Sylvia, another UFC veteran had some news to announce on his website Wednesday. The 50 year old Ken Shamrock announced that he would be taking on the James Quinn a bare knuckle legend in the UK. Not a lot more details are released on this at this point but, we will keep you updated as this story develops.
Canadian fans had some good news this week when the UFC announced it return to Canada with two events UFC 186 will be held in Montreal on April 25th, however no headliner has been announced for the pay-per-view card yet. There will also be an event on August 23rd in Canada that will most likely be on FOX Sports 1. Toronto and Calgary are being considered as possible locations.
After UFC 182, UFC also released the payouts of the event and all the medical suspensions this week. You can review the salaries click here and the all the medical suspensions by clicking here.
In other MMA news Bellator released the full line up for their first card in 2015 that feature a main event between Pitbull vs. Straus, which will take place next Friday at the Pechanga Resort and Casino. To check out the full card and detailsclick here.
Make sure to check back with us for breaking news daily..
Duffy Image provide irishmma.com
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