UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot VS Mir – Sunday, February, 22, 2015 on Fox Sports 1
Main Card on Fox Sports 1, 8PM/5PM ETPT – Prelims on Fox Sports 1, 6PM/3PM ETPT & Early Prelims on UFC Fight Pass, 5PM/2PM ETPT.
Heavyweight: #8 Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (18-6, 1NC) VS #13 Frank Mir (16-9)
Lightweight: #6 Edson Barboza (15-2) VS #12 Michael Johnson (16-8)
To see the full card go to UFC.com.
In the wake of Anderson Silva’s 3 failed drug test for PED’s followed by a failed drug test by Hector Lombard, the UFC had no choice then to take action.
A press conference was held this afternoon where UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Feritta discussed the matter.
White had this to say at the press conference. “”What happened was we started spending half a million dollars on out of competition testing,” White said. “And I think when a guy like Anderson Silva gets caught, it definitely sends a message. I think that shocked the entire MMA community and the sports world. It shocked me. We were pretty blown away by it. And now we’re going to dig in.”
Feritta later echoed Dana’s statement by saying this. “We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” “We’ve been in conversation with third parties for at least six or seven months. We made a lot of progress.
“What the Anderson Silva thing has prompted us to [do is] come out and address these issues, to make sure we’re speeding up the process. We don’t have the luxury of kind of sitting back and being academic and debating all these legal points. We just got to go. And however the cards fall they’re going to fall. But we’re going to make sure that fighters are being tested, and the results will be what the results will be.”
Epstein added that the UFC still supports Silva, who is entitled to his due process with the Nevada Athletic Commission, and that his they would continue to do so as things unfold.
“Regardless of what happens, Anderson Silva has been a great champion and he’s been a great representative of the sport,” Epstein said. “If something bad happened here, the Nevada Athletic Commission will handle that. But, he does have, he had a great career, and we’ll continue to honor that and stand behind him regardless of what happens with the athletic commission.”
It was also said that from this point forward every single fighter on the roster would be tested for PED’s and if it cost extra the UFC wok be willing to cover the cost. Dana also pretty much said “if you’re using PEDs your going to get caught” he went on to say that if you need PEDs to fight then maybe you shouldn’t be here” it was also said that if champions fail test that they would be stripped of their title.
I think this is a positive step for the UFC. Now maybe the sport will start gaining the respect of the naysayers. What do you guys think of this ground breaking announcement? Do you agree or disagree?
The audio from the press conference can be heard here http://youtu.be/I8B6wKg5gT8
-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)
Anderson Silva failed second drug test administered by Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) following victory vs. Nick Diaz on Jan. 31 at UFC 183. Silva tested positive in post-fight urine test for steroid drostanolone, same banned substance found in system during out-of-competition test Jan. 9, as well as anti-anxiety medication Oxazepam and Temazepam, which is used to treat sleep deprivation.
Source: Fox sports 1
With Brock Lesnar’s contract coming to an end after WrestleMania there is speculation that the beast in carnet will return to the Octagon. After all Dana White has went on record saying that he would welcome Lesnar back.
With the rumors of Lesnar’s return comes the potential of another return. That return could be none other then “the Warmaster” Josh Barnett. The last time we saw Barnett in the octagon was at UFC 168 in December of 2013. He was finished early by Travis Browne which came as a surprise especially after making quick work of Frank Mir with a deviating Knee months prior. Following the lost to Browne Josh underwent successful knee surgery in April of last year.
Since Josh has been MIA from the MMA scene he has went on to capture the Metemoris Heavyweight title by defeating Dean Lister; someone who hasn’t been submitted in 19 years!, He was picked up by NJPW to do English commentary and started his own podcast (which since then has been put on a hiatus.) Before all that though Josh gained a collective number of wins in the UFC, strike force and PRIDE.
Barnett was recently a guest on the MMA hour and he expressed interest in returning to the octagon as soon as possible. His opponent in mind? None other then the current WWE world Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Barnett had this to say about the potential match up.
“For me I think of it as the business side of things. Not the business side of oh, I’m going to make so much money, but the business side of two pro wrestlers, the styles, seeing the two of us go out it is because people will find interest in it and the fight will be interesting itself. Not just in ‘Hey, I’m some guy who’s going to bully some other guy who’s got less experience, and then I act like I’m king shit of turd mountain.’”
One thing is Forsure if this bout does indeed happen it is sure to be a good wrestling match up of sorts between two former heavyweight champions. It should be noted the even if Barnett vs Lesnar doesn’t happen Barnett still wants to make a return sometime soon.
Are you excited about the possible match up of the beast vs the Warmaster? If not Lesnar who else would you want to see Barnett face? Further more do you think the 37 year old catch wrestler still has one more ufc world Heavyweight title run in him? If the match up between Lesnar and Barnett happens will the Warmaster be the one to defeat the 1 in 21-1? Or will Lesnar conquer Barnett just like everything else?
All these questions and more will soon be answered. Stay tuned.
-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)
Once upon a time we lived in a world where WMMA was unknown and a time where UFC president Dana White Said women would NEVER fight in the UFC.
The year is 2015 and man have times changed. On February 28th at UFC 184 for the first time in history BOTH the co main and main event feature women! In the co main event you have a debuting Holy Holm who’s a former boxing champion taking on one of the standouts in the women’s Battwmweight division Raquel Pennington. I’m going to make a prediction and say this is going to be a slug fest between two future title contenders.
Then of corse you have the main event that features two undefeated athletes. One who’s defeated the likes of Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes both by KO to earn herself a 9-0 record. Cat Zingano has proved she’s a fighter both in the cage and in her personal life. However on the 28th she faces the biggest challenge yet in trying to take down the reigning defending undisputed women’s Battemweight Champion Ronda Rousey. A women who holds a professional fight record of 10-0, 4-0 in the UFC and 13-0 overall record, a women who medaled in the Olympics, a women who’s also overcome personal issues and a women who if you watch all her fights back to back the running time would be around 35 mins!
Wether you’re expecting an upset and wanting Zignano to take the title or rooting for Rousey’s dominance to continue this bout should be one for the ages and a treat for all fight fans.
It seems that 2015 is the year of the ladies. On the 27th Invicta fighting championship will be holding their 12th event in LA where the card will be headlined by a returning Chris Cyborg defending her title against Charmaine Tweet. Let’s not forget the numerous women bouts announced for this year.
Carla Esparza will defend her newly won strawweight title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 on March 14th. On March 21st WMMA pioneer Shayna Baszler is set to return to the octagon to face a Brazilian standout in Amanda Nunes, on April 4th at UFC fight night 63?Liz Carmouche will take on Lauren Murphy; plus on that same card the winner of TUF18 Juliana Pena returns after suffering an ACL injury to face Milana Dudieva. Thats not all for April because on April 11th at UFC fight night 64 TUF 20’s Asling Daily will square off against Claudia Gadelha. On April 18 two fan favorites in the strawweight division Felice Herrig and Paige VanZant will face off against one another at UFC on Fox 10. Then on April 25th at UFC 186 we have two WMMA bouts. One featuring a returning Jessica Rekozy as she competes in the strawweight division for the first time against Valerie Letourneau and then we get what should be an epic battle between two fellow Canadian veterans as Sara Kaufman and Alexis Davis clash in the octagon
And those are just the fights that have been officially announced! I’m excited that these women are finally getting their time to shine and I look forward to see what Dana and company have in mind for future WMMA bouts.
Are you happy with these upcoming fights? I know that the wmma fan in me is. Further more are there any ladies you want to see fight this year? For me it’s Jessamyn Duke, she’s coming off a hand injury from July and there’s a bunch of potential opponents.
Let me know how you feel about the ladies leading the pack and what you look forward too in the comments below.
-Vanessa (GreatLove91)
Fox Sports 1 Main Card – 10PM/7PM ETPT
Welterweight: Benson Henderson (21-5) VS Brandon Thatch (11-1)
Featherweight: #13 Max Holloway (11-3) VS Cole Miller (21-8)
Welterweight: Neil Magny (13-4) VS Kiichi Kunimoto (18-5-2, 1NC)
Middleweight: Dan Kelly (8-0) VS Patrick Walsh (5-2)
Lightweight: Michel Prazeres (18-1) VS Kevin Lee (9-1)
Flyweight: Ray Borg (7-1) VS Chris Kelades (8-1)
Fox Sports 1 Prelims – 8PM/5PM ETPT
Featherweight: #8 Nik Lentz (27-6-2, 1NC) VS Levan Makashvili (9-1)
Lightweight: Efrain Escudero (23-9) VS Rodrigo de Lima (8-2-1)
Featherweight: Chas Skelly (13-1) VS Jim Alers (13-1)
Flyweight: #10 Zach Makovsky (18-5) VS #11 Tim Elliott (10-5-1)
UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims – 7:30PM/4:30PM ETPT
Lightweight: James Moontasri (7-2) VS Cody Pfister (11-3-1)
MMAJunkie.com reports that Anderson Silva failed an additional drug test for his UFC 183 comeback fight against Nick Diaz. A date of the failure or any other additional details have not yet been revealed. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has not confirmed this.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has overturned Anderson Silva’s victory or Nick Diaz in his comeback fight at UFC 183 following Silva’s positive test for performance enhancing drugs in a pre-fight screening.
NSAC tested Silva for banned substances January 9th, but only received the results of the failed drug test the day after the UFC 183 pay-per-view fight.
NSAC executive director Bob Bennett the news to Brazilian outlet Fohla:
“It will be ruled a NC (no contest). I don’t know if he will receive the win bonus after this change. That’s UFC’s call, but a percentage of his purse will be held because of this episode.”
Source: MMA mania
Bantamweight Standout Urijah Faber has been pulled from the Rio de Janeiro card on March 21st.
After the withdrawal of his original opponent, Raphael Assuncao — who was still recovering from a broken ankle and would not be ready in time for the March event — Faber has been pulled from the card entirely and will not be given a new bout on the show.
Faber vs. Assuncao meant to put two of the best Bantamweight fighters up against one another and it was safe to say that the winner would have been in line for a title shot. It is being said with Faber being pulled from the card he will get an entirely different opponent on a different card.
The new main event and fight order for Fight Night 62 has yet to be announced but more then likely we will see Maia vs. LaFlare as the new main event.
Only time will tell. Stay tuned for more details:
-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva has denied ever taking performance enhancing drugs after testing positive for two of them in a pre-fight test for his comeback fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 183. Silvs tested positive for Drostanolone metabolites and Androstane metabolites.
Silva released the following statement through manager Ed Soares:
“I’ve been competing in this sport for a very long time. This is my nineteenth fight in the UFC. I have been thoroughly tested many times and I have never had a positive drug test.
I have not taken any performance-enhancing drugs. My stance on drugs is and will always be, the same. I’m an advocate for a clean sport.
I’m consulting with my advisors right now to explore all of my options and intend to fight this allegation and clear my name. I will not make any further comments until my team advises me to do so.”
Wrestling News Blog 