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Renzo's Gracie's younger brother Robson Jr with brilliant armbar
Yaozong Hu receives 10 month suspension for doping violation
Yaozong Hu, 24, of Beijing, China, has accepted a 10-month sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for androsta-3,5-diene-7,17-dione (arimistane) and its metabolite 7β-hydroxy-androst-3,5-diene-17-one as the result of a urine sample provided out-of-competition on March 9, 2019. Following an investigation into the circumstances of Hu’s case, USADA concluded that Hu’s positive test was caused by his use of a dietary supplement and that he was eligible for a minor reduction to the otherwise applicable one-year period of ineligibility for a doping offense involving a Specified Substance. The minor reduction is based on Hu’s cooperation throughout the results management process and efforts made to investigate the safety of the supplement prior to use, even though he subsequently realized that the product listed a prohibited substance on the label. Hu’s 10-month period of ineligibility began on March 9, 2019, the date his positive sample was collected. h/t USADA
Why Khabib Nurmagomedov vows to never fight in Las Vegas again
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Everybody see what happen in Vegas, victory on my side, we smash [McGregor], we smash all his team. I don't want to fight in Vegas anymore because they take his [McGregor's] money and they take my money - ten more times his money. This is not about money this is about how all process going, I don't want to fight in Vegas. If some great fights happens in Vegas I'm going to go and just watch, but I don't want to fight anymore in Vegas." ... Right now I'm not interested [in a rematch]. Why do I need the rematch, for what? Money is not bad but when you have too much money, it's no good." h/t The Express
The Story of a Little Boy and the UFC Heavyweight Champion
Four reasons you should start watching Combate Americas
In 1993, a relatively unknown Art Davie called up Campbell McLaren as a representative of Rorion Gracie and made his pitch for a ‘War of the Worlds’ style tournament. McLaren upon hearing the concept, started envisioning a Mortal Kombat style fight night and went on to green-light and produce the idea. Mixed martial arts was born. Since leaving the UFC, McLaren has slowly been building up a new MMA empire with Combate Americas; two things make Combate so unique. The first is the fact that it’s the only real MMA promotion in Latin America, a marketplace were boxing has usually dominated, yet MMA is a new breath of fresh air. The second is that Combate has put a real focus and emphasis on the idea of fighting for national pride, as the multiple nations compete against each other for bragging rights, similar to what would happen in soccer. Here's 4 reasons you should watch: 1. Truly amazing fights, 2. It’s on at good times and the pacing is good, 3. It’s on DAZN; 4. The more people watch, the freakier their fights and production will get. h/t StipeTapped
Alexander Volkanovski to Henry Cejudo: Stay in ya lane
Champ champ and Olympic champ Henry Cejudo recently expressed the desire to enter the featherweight division as well. Given that some fans good-naturedly saddled Cejudo with the Cringe Champ title, if successful it would make him a sort of champ champ champ champ champ. Top 145er Alexander Volkanovski is not entirely impressed: “Stay in your lane, Henry. Come on mate. Honestly, what he’s done is unbelievable. It was good on him. I actually picked him to win. I didn’t expect him to have so many problems earlier. I knew the guy was powerful. Maybe the ankle was why was he was sort of cowering to the kicks a little bit, if you know what I mean. ... So for him to overcome that and get it done, good on him. Him coming to 145, you gotta be quick in this division, but we’re still quick and we’re just a whole another powerful type of beast. And we’re a stacked division, a lot of very tough guys in our division that I don’t think he’ll want any of that. But maybe he’ll give it a crack, maybe UFC will let him do it. But yeah, that will change quick.” h/t Listen to Submission Radio
Brave CF: London Calling 7/25 is INVITE ONLY
The moment Francis Ngannou felt little
Dana White: Conor McGregor doesn't turn down fights, period
Bellator 222 weigh-ins highlights
Inaugural UFC Academy Combine announced
The UFC will launch UFC Academy Combine, the company’s first-ever talent evaluation event; it will offer athletes a platform to showcase their skills and abilities for a potential career in MMA. The inaugural UFC Academy Combine will take place in Shanghai, China on Monday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 18, in conjunction with the opening of the new 93,000 square foot UFC Performance Institute in the city’s Jing’An district. The event will be invite only and host approximately 50 athletes. Athletes from the UFC Academy Combine will also have the opportunity to receive a scholarship into UFC Academy, an MMA talent development program created and managed by the UFC Performance Institute. The inaugural Combine will be a two-day showcase in which a total of 72 individual metrics will be collected from the participating athletes. Each test will sit within one of 12 categories, including anthropometry; clinical evaluation; cognitive evaluation; grappling; striking; wrestling; alatic energy production; mechanical power; strength; lactic energy production; combat agility; and reaction/cognitive processing. h/t UFC
Rory MacDonald felt pressure to keep fighting in Bellator welterweight GP
After advancing in the Bellator welterweight grand prix via a draw vs. Jon Fitch, division champ Rory MacDonald said he was unsure he was willing to continue. Five days later Scott Coker said MacDonald would indeed move forward in the draw, vs. Neiman Gracie; they fight is Friday. MacDonald would have had to give up his belt and a shot at the $1 million prize: "They basically were like, ‘You’ve got to fight, or you’re not in the tournament.' I wasn’t really willing to do that. I would have got the boot. So I’m going to go in there and show that, when they put pressure on me, I’ll come back harder and show that I’m the champion.” h/t MMA Junkie
Rogan: “Everybody is juiced up in the submission grappling world”
“The submission grappling world is very strange because there’s no real drug testing to speak of. Everybody kind of knows everybody is juiced-up in the submission grappling world. It comes into play, especially in nogi – well, in gi too. It’s a physical thing: you have one guy on juice and one who isn’t then there’s an advantage for the guy juicing if they’re on the same technical level.” h/t BJJEE
Scott Coker down for Bellator killers vs. UFC killers cross promotion
“Listen, it’s not their business model to do that, but if they want to get it on, let’s do it. We would not be opposed to that. Absolutely. I mean, c’mon. We got some killers in this league. If they want to get it on, let’s do it.” h/t MMA Junkie
PVZ's arm mid surgery is terrifying
Chael Sonnen: I win a world championship, or I'm a quitter, a failure
Chael Sonnen won the Danger Zone and Gladiator Challenge light heavyweight titles, but then failed to win WEC, UFC, and Bellator MMA (heavyweight) belts: “It is a lot of pressure. … I will either win the championship, or I will be a failure. I believe that wholeheartedly. I was told when I was 17 years old by Matt Lindland, we were both on a wrestling quest at that time, but he told me, ‘You cannot retire unless you win a world championship; you can only quit.’ I don’t want to be a quitter.” Sonnen fights Lyoto Machida in the co-main of Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden on Friday, live on DAZN. h/t MMA Junkie
The Story of the Fight for Legalization in NY State
Paul Gift publishes paper on the consequences of cage size
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of a change in cage size on fighter performance outcomes in Zuffa-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotions. Variation in cage size is observed through different events over time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). Results suggest that smaller cages lead to more fight finishes (knockouts and submissions) and higher rates of distance knockdowns and choke attempts, all exciting outcomes for viewers. But they also lead to a higher proportion of time with fighters pressed against the cage, a position some viewers may dislike. Since MMA promoters compete with other forms of entertainment, findings have strategic implications for promoter cage-size decisions. h/t Journal of Applied Sports Management
Combate Americas announces return to Fresno
Combate Americas today announced its return to Fresno, Calif. with another Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) extravaganza, live on television, on both Univision (12 a.m. ET/PT) and UDN (12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT), from Save Mart Center on Friday, 8/2. In the flyweight main event, former world champion and superstar Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto will square off with three-time Central American Judo champion, Reina Cordoba.
Urijah Faber would 'love' to fight Henry Cejudo
The UFC is often faulted for being not a real sport, because the #1 contender often does not get the title fight, which instead can go to the fight that will sell the most PPVs. It's akin to the two teams that get the best ratings earning Superbowl spots. A bill was even introduced into Congress to take over matchmaking in elite MMA. If you earn a UFC belt, you might want not the best fight, but the highest paying one. Upon becoming champ champ, Henry Cejudo called out Cody Garbrandt, Dominick Cruz, and Urijah Faber. 'The California Kid' is the latest to respond positively: “They call him ‘The Cringe’ because of the goofy stuff he does but you can’t deny that he’s got a mindset that is champion to the utmost. Gold medal as young as he did in the Olympics and then becoming a two-time champion, two different weight classes, two of the toughest weight classes - incredible. ... I would love to do a matchup. There’s nothing in the world that excites me more than fighting someone that could possibly be the best of all time in combat sports. How exciting is that for somebody who has got their own goal to do that? Then Dominick Cruz, you can never count that guy out. He’s a champion of champions as well. So I liked his callouts and I would love to see a fight with myself or Cody, or Dominick Cruz for Henry.” Meanwhile, Faber fights Ricky Simon at UFC on ESPN+ 13on 7/13 in Sacramento. h/t MMA Fighting • Listen to the Jim Rome podcast
Report: UFC parent co Endeavor in talks to buy Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions
UFC president Dana White has spoken for nearly two years about getting into the boxing business, most recently saying "after the summer." The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger said in a Q&A that Endeavor seeks to buy PBC: “Rumors are true,” Coppinger wrote. “Al held several meetings with Ari Emanuel about a potential deal where Al would still be majorly involved the same way Dana is with UFC following that deal with Endeavor. There’s a ton more to write about this; something I’ll cover in the coming weeks with a full-length story on the site.” h/t The Atlantic • BE
