TUF 23 Finale Tonight – 7/8/16

The finals for The Ultimate Fighter 23 are now set, as Khalil Rountree meets Andrew Sanchez and Amanda Cooper battles Tatiana Suarez. The card takes place Friday night and airs live on FOX Sports 1.

Rountree (4-0) and Sanchez (7-2) will square off in the co-main event in a light heavyweight contest, while Cooper (1-1) and Suarez (3-0) tangle in a strawweight finale. Both winners will be crowned Ultimate Fighters and earn a contract with the UFC.

The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale features a strawweight championship match between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha.

For the full card go to UFC.com

Anderson Silva replaces Jon Jones for UFC 200 bout against Daniel Cormier – DC issues statement On Silva

Source: TheGuardian.com

The UFC was able to salvage its signature event on Saturday by matching Daniel Cormier with the former middleweight champion Anderson Silva on Thursday evening. Silva replaces Jon Jones, whose light heavyweight fight with Cormier was suppose to headline UFC 200 until Jones was pulled from the card because of a failed drug test suspected to be for a performance-enhancing substance.

The fight will be three rounds and is not a title bout.

Silva gives the card a legitimate bout despite the face he is 41. In fact, a Silva-Cormier fight might actually be more interesting than Jones-Cormier. Jones looked sluggish in his return to the octagon this spring after a year’s absence due to a 2015 suspension following a hit-and-run incident. Silva lost a non-title fight to Michael Bisping in February in London and a 2015 victory over Nick Diaz was wiped out following a positive PED test.

Silva has always fought well when he has moved up to light heavyweight, but he is older now and has not been training for this bout. His last heavyweight victory was against Stephan Bonnar in a 2012 first-round knockout.

Earlier on Thursday, Jones tearfully apologized for his positive test in a press conference and said he did not knowingly take a banned substance. One of the card’s other top names, Brock Lesnar, called Jones’s positive test “unprofessional”. Nick Diaz’s brother Nate, when asked about the Jones suspension, said: “Everybody is on steroids.” Jones denies any wrongdoing.

Jones-Cormier was supposed to be the top fight of UFC 200, a continuation of their 2015 bout that Jones won in a unanimous decision. The two fighters have sniped at each other publicly. Silva-Cormier will not bring the same kind of rage, especially given the way Silva is saving the card by agreeing to fight.

Silva has not trained seriously for a fight in the two months since he had his gallbladder removed in the spring, which raises some concerns about the kind of fight he will have with Cormier and whether he should be fighting at all.

Miesha Tate v Amanda Nunes has now been promoted to the main event slot, while Lesnar is making his heavyweight comeback against Mark Hunt.

 

Cormier comments on facing Silva at UFC 200:

“I am honored to share the Octagon with the one of the greatest fighters of all time,” Cormier said in an exclusive statement to MMA Fighting. “This is a very tough fight for me, and I have to fight smart and to do my best in order to win this fight. Thank you Anderson for stepping up, and thanks to Dana White and the UFC for making this happen. Now let’s go do this.”

 

 

Lesnar vs Orton At SummerSlam

It was announced last night on SmackDown that Brock Lesnar will face Randy Orton at SummerSlam in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday, August 21st.

WWE.com issued the following:

The summer of dream matches continues Sunday, Aug. 21, when Randy Orton returns to the ring to lock horns with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. The blockbuster encounter was made official on tonight’s SmackDown.

Despite being two perennial main eventers who trained side-by-side during their formative years at onetime WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, The Apex Predator and The Beast Incarnate have only competed against each other once before in a WWE ring.  It happened in September 2002, when both were still WWE rookies. Lesnar, already a month into his reign as WWE Champion, took the victory that night.

Much has changed since that lone, fateful bout, of course. Lesnar has since emerged as a true world-beater and the conqueror of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak, a fearless, 286-pound juggernaut who packs dynamite, and bad intentions, in his fists. One of the most dangerous men in combat-sports history, Lesnar remains the only individual to have ever captured the WWE Championship, UFC Championship and NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship.

The Viper, meanwhile, bears little resemblance to the gifted, if inexperienced, shaggy-haired Superstar who stood across the ring from Lesnar 14 years ago. Since his one and only match against The Beast, Orton has gone on to win an incredible 12 World Titles, establishing himself as one of the most decorated Superstars of his generation. Orton has also exhibited on more than one occasion a disconcerting ability to turn sinister at a moment’s notice. Such a dark, remorseless attitude may prove invaluable against a monster like Lesnar.

Adding further intrigue to the clash is that it is Orton’s first match since injuring his shoulder late last year. Having been out of action since November, Orton is assuredly interested in reasserting himself as WWE’s Apex Predator. There may be no better way to accomplish that goal than by taking down The Beast Incarnate. Yet, the question remains: Will Orton’s shoulder end up being a weakness against Lesnar?

Watch this historic showdown in its entirety when SummerSlam airs live from Brooklyn, N.Y., on the award-winning WWE Network Sunday, Aug. 21, at 7 ET/4 PT.

Brock Lesnar Opens Up About Returning To The UFC

In an exclusive interview Brock Leanar sat down with Megan Olivi to discuss his return to MMA.

The last time we saw Lesnar compete inside of the Octogan was at UFC141 in 2011 when he lost to Aliatar Overeem via TKO in the first round.
In the interview Lesnar explains that his last fight took place took place just 4 months after his surgery to correct his diverticulitis.

He says that he didn’t take enough time to recover and that diverticulitis defeated him, but in the 5 year layoff he was always hungry for returning to the Octogan.

What was the co main event is now the main event as Brock Lesnar will be taking on Mark Hunt in a 3 round heavyweight bout.

Lesnar is still under contract with the WWE and will be making his return to the company as part of the WWE Draft when smackdown goes live on Tuesday July 19th

You can check out the full interview below and to see Brock Lesnar take on Mark Hunt you can order UFC 200 live on PPV.

UFC 200 takes place live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and it also fetuses two title fights as Miesha Tate defends her battemweight title against Amanda Nunes and Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo go to war for the 2nd time as the interim featherweight title is up for grabs.

All of this and more goes down this Saturday July 9th 

Jon Jones Comments On His Removal From UFC 200 For Possible Failed Drug Test

Source: WrestlingINC

Jones made his first public appearance Thursday, addressing his removal from UFC 200 due to a possible failed drug test. The USADA informed the interim light heavyweight champion that his June 16 test came back for a violation of the policy.

Despite his past, this failed drug test was not due to recreational drug use, as it was an out-of-competition one that does not fall under the recreational banner.

Jones was asked by Chael Sonnen during the press conference in Las Vegas about the test in question, stating, “I would never take anything that would enhance my game. I wouldn’t cheat.”

A possible two-year ban from MMA stands in front of Jones if he is found guilty of using a banned substance. He stated that he would return to fighting even if given the suspension.

SmackDown Preview: 7/7/16

Source: WWE.com

Who will battle Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam?

Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho

Is The Architect building a plot for vengeance?

How will The Club respond to being turned S-A-W-F-T?

Zack Ryder vs Sheamus

TNA Impact Wrestling Possibly Moving To Thursdays

Source: WrestlingINC

This was expected by many when WWE announced that SmackDown goes live on Tuesday nights but Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that there is lots of talk about TNA moving Impact Wrestling back to Thursday nights.

TNA begin airing on Spike TV back in 2005 on Saturday nights and later moved to Thursdays in April 2006. They briefly moved to Mondays in 2010 and Wednesdays in 2014 before moving to Friday nights on Destination America, beginning in 2015. Impact moved to Wednesdays in June of that year before returning to Tuesday nights on POP TV this year.

The move back to Thursday nights has not been confirmed but there are definitely talks going on as Impact will likely take a hit in the ratings due to SmackDown, beginning July 19th with the WWE Draft show.

 

John Bass – WrestlingNewsBlog

In my opinion, TNA & Pop TV must move Impact Wrestling off of Tuesday Night, or they will get killed in the ratings going against WWE SmackDown Live. TNA cannot afford to take a big hit in their already low ratings.

Matt Hardy ‘Deletes’ Jeff Hardy

Source: WrestlingINC

To keep up with the gimmick of Jeff Hardy being “deleted” after their “Final Deletion” battle this week, Matt Hardy has taken over Jeff’s social media accounts. He tweeted the following from Jeff’s account:

Here is the Hardy vs Hardy Final Deletion – full video as seen on Impact Wrestling:

Breaking News: Jon Jones Out Of UFC 200

It what is being called the biggest card in the UFC to date, it seems that it’s taken a major hit.

The anticipated rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title is now off due to the USADA flagging him for a possible dopping violation.

The UFC has issued this statement on the situation.

The UFC organization was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.
However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Las Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout and therefore the fight has been removed from the fight card. As a result, the three-round heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will become the UFC 200 main event.
Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Ticket refunds available upon request at primary point of purchase.

Does this news surprise you or did you see this coming? Weigh in on the comment section below.

WWE Cruiserweight Classic Bracketology Special 7/6/16

Scheduled at 9PM ET tonight on WWE Network is a Bracketology special for the Cruiserweight Classic tournament that begins next week with hosts Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo looking at the first round match-ups, plus an interview with WWE COO Triple H about the tournament.