Cris Cyborg Flagged For USADA Violation And Offers Explanation

Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino was notified by the USADA that an out-of-competition drug test provided in December has come back positive for a banned substance. The collection came on December 5 and is a “potential anti-doping violation.”

The UFC released a statement Thursday afternoon:

The UFC organization was formally notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on December 5, 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.

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.

Cyborg’s boyfriend and representative, Ray Elbe, posted a message on “The Underground” in an attempt to clear up the situation.

“Not for a steroid, and she has a prescription as part of the post fight therapy she’s been receiving due to the severe weight cut,” Elbe wrote. “This has been known for a few days, and Cris’ doctor has been in direct contact with USADA turning over all the necessary patient files to document the reasons Cris needs the medication.

“Cris had issues with her kidneys and blood pressure, and that’s part of a prescription she’s been seeking for therapy. Cris doctor works with several Olympic and UFC athletes who are also under USADA testing and this was part of the treatment given to her the Monday after the weigh-ins.

Source: WrestlingINC

Missouri Athletic Commission Overturns Evinger VS Kunitskaya Bout 

If you’re a Tonya Evinger or a member of TeamFilthy then today’s a good day for you. If you’re however Yana Kunitskaya or anybody in her team not so much.

On November 18th InvictaFC hosted their 20th event. It was a stacked card with what should’ve been a stellar main event for the bamtamweight title. It was however tarnished when it ended it a controversial way.

If you watched the fight you would know that it ended at 1:58 of the first round when Kunitskaya applied an armbar to Evinger getting the submission victory.
However Evinger appealed the decision of the bout earlier this month due to misinterpretation of the rules by referee Mike England. The defending champion used a perfectly legal defense of the armbar by pushing her foot on the face of Kunitskaya to gain leverage for an escape. This was deemed illegal by the referee and in forcing her to move Kunitskaya was able to sink the amber in deeper.

The only way the defense by Evinger would’ve been illegal is if she would’ve striked Kunitskaya with her foot while she was down but at no point did that happen.
So what does this all mean? Well now that the bout has been overturned  Evinger is still the champion and further more her five year undefeated streak is still intact. Here’s what she had to say about the situation.
It is no surprise that this decision is already receiving some backlash. What do you guys think was the right call made? Let us know. One can only assume it’s a matter of time before we see Evinger and Kunitskaya squaring off again.?

Yana Kunitskaya upsets Tonya Evinger at InvictaFC20 but not without controversy

Many MMA fans were left speechless Friday night (November 18th,2016) as a relatively unknown Yana Kunitskaya submitted Tonya Evinger in the first round of the main event of InvictaFC20

Prior to this bout Evinger had been on a 10 fight winning streak, she hadn’t lost in five years and was invicta’s longest reigning Batemweight  champion.

So to say Kunitskaya  win was an upset would be the understatement of the century. 

Kuntitskaya stopped the former champion via standing armbar in the very first round. The win though is laced with controversy and here’s why.

While in the submission Evinger proceeded to step on Kuitskaya’s face in attempt to break free from the submission. Although not an illegal move referee Mike England made Evinger switch positions despite the fact that she was actively defending. 
The feeling is that once  Evinger was forced to switch positions this gave Kunitskaya the leverage she needed to cinch in the submission leaving Evinger no choice but to tap.

Evinger’s manager Jerod David Phillips and head coach Aaron Pena both stated that they will be challenging the referee’s call in hopes that Evinger will get an immediate rematch. It should be noted that Evinger used the very same technique in 2013 against Sarah D’alelio and it was never stopped.

Earlier in the night Mike England was criticized of making a bad call by stopping the fury in the Alexa Conners vs Stephanie Eggers fight to reset the mouthpiece of Eggers. Typically things like that should be done when action is at a stand still. Although Conners walked away with the split decision win, it’s believed she would’ve got the TKO victory had it not been for the mishap.

Regardless of what you feel about the main event though one thing is for sure. We have a new Batemweight champion in invicta and her name is Yana Kunitskaya.

Let us here your thoughts. Was Kunitskaya’s win a fluke? Should Evinger get an  immediate rematch? Was it just a bad call by the referee or was everything justified. Weigh in on the comment section below.

InvictaFC’s Alexa Grasso Set To Make UFC Debut

Some pretty exciting news for MMA fans this afternoon. It was announced jut moments ago via the official Facebook of Alexa Grasso that she will be making her UFC debut on November 5th, 2016 against Heather Jo Clark

Grasso is currently signed with Invicta Fighting champions and is without a doubt one of their top athletes.  Just this past month  Grasso returned to the cage after a 16 month layoff due to a hand injury to take on Jodie Escabal at InvivtaFC18

It was an all out 3 round war and Grasso showed no signs of ring rust. Many people believed with her dominating win she would be next in line to challenge strawweight champion Angela Hill at the next invicta. Whether that’ll happen remains to be seen.

It’ll be interesting to see if she’ll be signed under both banners much like battemweight fighter Jessamyn Duke or Perhaps  Grasso’s invicta days are behind her?

All of these questions should be answered over time but one things for sure, Alexa Grasso will fit right in with the ever growing strawweight division of the UFC

InvictaFC signs Tiffany Van Soest 

  Tiffany Van Soest, one of the top female Muay Thai fighters and kickboxers in the world, has signed a deal with Invicta FC, sources told MMA Fighting on Thursday. Van Soest has long spoken about crossing over to MMA and now she’ll do so with Invicta, with her debut likely coming this summer.

Van Soest is the former Lion Fight super bantamweight and featherweight champion. The karate black belt also held the WBC Muay Thai international super bantamweight title. Van Soest hails from Southern California, but now lives and trains in Bali
The news comes on the heels of Van Soest signing with GLORY kickboxing, which MMA Fighting reported Wednesday.

Van Soest, 27, is a huge pickup for both promotions, which coincidentally have broadcast deals with UFC Fight Pass. “Time Bomb” will make her GLORY debut at GLORY 30 SuperFight Series on May 13 against Jeri Sitzes in a rematch of their 2012 Muay Thai fight, sources said. The fight will air live on Fight Pass.
Sorce: MMAFighting.com 

Michelle Waterson signs with UFC

 The UFC strawweight Division just keeps getting better and better. A little less then an hour ago the UFC announced the signing of Michelle “the karate hottie” Waterson.

Waterson who is (12-4) was one of InvictaFC’s biggest standouts. Waterson is a former atomweight champion under the invictaFC banner. She dropped her title back in December to Herica Tiburcio.

Waterson is expected to make her UFC debut sometime this summer against an unnamed opponent (Ariel Hawani of MMA fighting confirms)

What do you guys think about this announcement? I’m personally ecstatic and think the Karate hottie will do the UFC proud. Sound off in the comments and let us know

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

Stephanie Skinner out of Invicta 12 

 

In the sport of MMA and any sport in general injuries are a part of the game. When they happen though they leave athletes and fans alike feeling down but as fans it’s our job to keep the support strong.

This morning the announcement was made by Stephanie Skinner’s opponent Cassie Rodish that Stephanie injured herself Sunday pulling her out of the InvictaFC 12 card that was set to take place this Saturday April 24th. You can read what Cassie said here

 https://www.facebook.com/crodish1/posts/10206528680561927

As said in the status no replacement was found for Cassie to take on so the bout has been scrapped all together.

Stephanie had this to say about her injury as well https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.skinner.180/posts/933844126646116

We here at WrestlingNewsBlog wish Stephanie a speedy recovery and can’t wait till she has the opportunity to get back in the invicta cage. We would also like to inform our followers that the contest to win Stephanie’s signed fight banner will still take place on April 24th the night of invicta. It will be announced on our Twitter feed so if you’re not already following @WrestlingNewsBlog you’re going to want to.

Again here’s to hoping for a speedy recovery for the scrapper 

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

WrestlingNewsBlog teams up with Stephanie “the scrapper” Skinner

Skinner MMAAre you a fan of WMMA? Will you be watching InvictaFC 12? Are you a fan of Stephanie the scrapper Skinner? Do you like winning prizes? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you’re going to love this announcement.

Thanks to the awesome people at Sangre Mgmt & Lubmma this is being made possible. The people who paid $25 to have their Twitter handle on Stephanie’s banner will be entered into a raffle. The person selected during the raffle will win Stephanie’s fight banner signed by the scrapper herself.

Now here’s the catch. The winner will be announced right here exclusively on WrestlingNewsBlog so you’ll have to be following us on Twitter @WrestleNewsBlog. The announcement will be made the night of invictaFC 12 on April 24th, 2015

Stephanie Skinner who is (4-5) will be making her InvictaFC debut against Cassie Rodish (5-4) in an atomweight bout.

InvictaFC 12 will take place live from unicipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. InvictaFC will be available for viewing live on UFC fight pass.

The full InvictaFC 12 fight card is as follows 

Strawweight Title: Katja Kankaanpää (10-1-1) vs. Livia Renata Souza (7-0)
Flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi (17-11) vs. Vanessa Porto (17-6)
Featherweight: Amanda Bell (3-2) vs. Faith Van Duin (4-1)
Bantamweight: Ediane Gomes (10-3) vs. Raquel Pa’aluhi (4-4)
Featherweight: Peggy Morgan (3-2) vs. Latoya Walker (4-0)
Strawweight: Lacey Schuckman (10-8) vs. Jenny Liou (3-1)
Atomweight: Cassie Rodish (5-4) vs. Stephanie Skinner (4-5)
Strawweight: Delaney Owen (3-1) vs. Sharon Jacobson (2-1)
Flyweight: Shannon Sinn (1-2) vs. Maureen Riordon (0-1)
Flyweight: Roma Pawelek (1-0) vs. Sijara Eubanks (0-0)

We here at WrestlingNewsBlog are extramlu excited about this

Partnership. We would also like to take a moment to thank Juan Lanza for coming together with us and allowing us to use the site as a platform for this contest.

 

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)