Tag: UFC

Brock Lesnar Re-Enters USADA Testing Pool

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Brock Lesnar showed up at UFC 226 this past Saturday and was invited into the Octagon by Daniel Cormier. Lesnar proceeded to shove the new UFC Heavyweight Champion and cut a promo ripping the UFC Heavyweight Division.

“I walked into this building and watched the Heavyweight disasters from the beginning,” Lesnar said. “Ngannou’s a piece of s–t, Miocic, the piece of s–t, DC… I’m coming for you motherf–ker.”

After the incident, UFC President Dana White said that the company was “definitely going to make that fight.”

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that Lesnar has re-entered the USADA testing pool in preparation for another fight. According to MMAJunkie.com, Lesnar re-joined the USADA testing pool on July 3rd. Lesnar still has around six months remaining in his suspension after failing a pair of drug tests following his UFC 200 fight against Mark Hunt. Lesnar had defeated Hunt via unanimous decision, however the result was changed to a no-contest. He will be eligible to fight again on or after January 8, 2019.

Lesnar is still WWE Universal Champion and has one match left on his contract, according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer. His next match has yet to be officially announced by WWE.

Source: WrestlingINC

Dana White ‘Definitely’ Making Brock Lesnar Vs. Daniel Cormier, Video Of Confrontation At UFC 226

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The UFC is going full-steam ahead with plans of putting Brock Lesnar and Daniel Cormier together inside the Octagon. After Cormier defeated Stipe Miocic Saturday night at UFC 226 to become the heavyweight champion, he called out Lesnar, the reigning WWE Universal champion. Lesnar had sat Octagon-side as “DC” knocked out Miocic.

The two became involved in a brief shoving match before officials separated them. Lesnar, according to White, will need six months of clean testing in the USADA pool to become eligible to fight, meaning the bout is likely for early 2019.

“We’re definitely going to make that fight,” White said. “He’s going to pop up (in the USADA testing) here Monday or Tuesday.”

Cormier, who is also the current UFC light heavyweight champion, mentioned during his post-fight press conference a desire to fight again this year before concluding his career in 2019. That could mean a title defense of his 205-pound belt before facing Lesnar for the heavyweight championship.

“I fight Brock Lesnar, I get paid,” said Cormier, who added he is only interested in big fights to finish his career.

Source: WrestlingINC

Below is video of the confrontation between Cormier and Lensar after Cormier called Lesnar out.

UFC 226 Miocic vs. Cormier Fight Card 7/7/18

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MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • (C) Stipe Miocic (242.5) vs. Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier (246) – Heavyweight Title Fight
  • Derrick Lewis (264.5) vs. Francis Ngannou (253)
  • Paul Felder (170) vs. Mike Perry (170.5)
  • Michael Chiesa (157.5)* vs. Anthony Pettis ()
  • Khalil Rountree (205) vs. Gokhan Saki (206)

PRELIMINARY CARD (8 p.m. ET)

  • Paulo Costa (185.5) vs. Uriah Hall ()
  • Raphael Assuncao (136) vs. Rob Font (135.5)
  • Drakkar Klose (156) vs. Lando Vannata (156)
  • Max Griffin (170.5) vs. Curtis Millender (170.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Gilbert Burns (155.5) vs. Dan Hooker (155.5)
  • Jamie Moyle (116) vs. Emily Whitmire (116)

*Chiesa missed the lightweight limit by 1.5 pounds

Ronda Rousey Inducted Into UFC Hall Of Fame Last Night

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UFC has posted a highlight of last night’s Hall of Fame ceremony in Las Vegas, which featured the induction of former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and current WWE star “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey to close the ceremony last night.

UFC President Dana White inducted Rousey into the Hall of Fame on Thursday, talking about her contribution to the sport of MMA and breaking barriers.

“She proved that women could headline big Pay Per View events, sell out the biggest arenas. She broke barriers, smashed records and put together the most dominant run by any athlete that anybody had ever seen in combat sports at the time.”

MMAFightingonSBN posted highlights from the 2018 UFC Hall of Fame ceremony, including highlights of Ronda’s acceptance speech.

WWE posted a quick clip of Rousey after her induction speech, noting she was getting ready to leave Las Vegas to head to a WWE live event in Philadelphia this weekend.

Joe Rogan Feels That CM Punk ‘Doesn’t Have Any Physical Talent’

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Joe Rogan discussed CM Punk’s UFC 225 loss to Mike Jackson on his recent The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. While calling Punk a nice guy and a hard-worker, Rogan feels that he “does not have athletic talent.” Rogan added that Punk was a showman in the WWE and “allowed to say, ‘I am the f–kin’ man!’, and WWE had it scripted so that Punk was the man.”

Rogan believes that Jackson had “zero fear” of Punk, and could have stopped him at any point in the fight. As a result of Jackson’s showboating, Dana White has kicked him out of the company, and said that he will never fight in the UFC again, despite winning the fight. Rogan feels that if Jackson would have stopped the match earlier, he would have still been fighting in the UFC. Rogan thinks everything about CM Punk in the fight was weird.

“The whole thing was very weird,” said Rogan. Like, right away, when you see CM Punk holding his hands up and moving stiff and throwing kicks, [I’m like], ‘oh Jesus.’ Like, I don’t like that being on pay-per-view. I understand that they are selling pay-per-view cards, but pay-per-view in the UFC should be the elite fighters.”

Instead of Punk vs. Jackson, Rogan felt that Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes should have been on the main card. In addition, he felt that Punk’s sparring videos were “crazy,” and “it was like a guy you just showed how to spar.”

He added, “it’s like you took a dude [with] no wrestling background, no nothing, and you go, ‘alright, this is what I want you to do. This is a jab. This is a right hand. When you throw a kick, I want you to pivot your hips. Go in there and spar. I mean, he just doesn’t have the ability to move his body right. There’s a lot of guys that you could take out there—track and field guys, or football players, and you could get them to fight better than him in a couple of weeks. Easily. Because they’re athletes. They’re athletes. They would understand how to shift their weight, [and] throw a punch… he doesn’t have any talent. That’s all it is. He just doesn’t have any physical talent. For whatever reason. Whether it’s his approach, his intensity. It’s not his coaching. He’s with Duke f–kin Roufus.”

Rogan feels that Roufus did all he could do, but he has to have something to work with. He stated, “If Duke just grabbed some dude from a gas station that has been drinking beer and smoking cigarettes his whole life, and had him in a fight in six months, how much can you possibly expect?”

Sources: The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and WrestlingINC

UFC Announces Ronda Rousey Will Be The Next Inductee In The UFC Hall Of Fame On July 5

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During UFC 225 PPV in Chicago, it was announced that former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on July 5 airing live on UFC Fight Pass.

The announcement took place after CM Punk’s second loss to Mike Jackson at UFC 225.

You can check out the video announcement below courtesy of UFC.

 

CM Punk Loses Second UFC Fight By Decision

cm punk loses ufc 225

Ex-WWE star CM Punk went the distance during his second UFC fight, but failed to pick up a win.

Punk was defeated by Mike Jackson via unanimous decision following the third round at UFC 225 in Chicago. He was not interviewed in the octagon after losing.

Announcer Joe Regan commended the former WWE champ’s heart, but was pretty harsh for most of the fight on commentary — once criticizing Punk for not being able to do basic white belt maneuvers.

During the post-fight press conference, Dana White seemed less than pleased with the performance of Mike Jackson and said he regretted not putting these two competitors on the fight pass card.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2, CM Punk On Fight Card 6/9/18

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DATE: June 9, 2018
LOCATION: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

MAIN CARD

UFC Middleweight Championship
Robert Whittaker (c )vs.Yoel Romero

Welterweight: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington

Featherweight: Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson

Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs.Tai Tuivasa

Welterweight: CM Punk vs. Mike Jackson

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1)

Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes

Women’s Strawweight: Cláudia Gadelha vs. Carla Esparza

Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas vs. Mirsad Bekti?

Heavyweight: Rashad Coulter vs. Chris de la Rocha

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS)

Light Heavyweight: Rashad Evans vs. Anthony Smith

Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez vs. Sergio Pettis

Lightweight: Clay Guida vs. Charles Oliveira

Featherweight: Mike Santiago vs. Dan Ige

CM Punk And Colt Cabana Win Defamation Lawsuit Filed By A WWE Doctor

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Jurors sided with CM Punk and Colt Cabana on Tuesday — clearing the pair in a defamation lawsuit filed by a WWE doctor upset with comments Punk made during a controversial 2014 podcast.

The decision came down around 4pm Chicago-time in Cook County Circuit Court, according to Wrestlezone, capping off a libel trial that lasted one week.

Over five days of testimony, Punk and Cabana’s lawyers tried to prove Punk believed what he said during the interview about Dr. Christopher Amann. Ultimately, Amann’s side had trouble proving any real monetary damage occurred. The doctor was seeking $4 million dollars (one dollar per each podcast stream) and additional punitive damages.

In the November 2014 podcast interview conducted by Cabana, Punk recalled his medical issues and treatments in the months leading up to him walking out of WWE following the Royal Rumble. Though he was rarely mentioned by name in the podcast, Amann felt Punk’s claims directly damaged his reputation and caused distress.

Amann told jurors he was harassed and humiliated by fans and that the podcast hurt his standing with patients. However, the WWE ringside physician couldn’t point to any monetary damages and he remains employed by the company.

Much of the testimony centered around a lump on Punk’s backside which Punk felt made him ill over an extended period. Punk contended Amann didn’t properly treat it. Amann claims he never saw it. His attorneys showed numerous texts and emails regarding Punk’s health and at no point did Punk put anything in writing with WWE doctors about the lump.

In the podcast, Punk said the lump ended up being a staph infection that ultimately could’ve cost him his life. It was shown it court that the lump was diagnosed by a physician’s assistant as a lump. Even so, the P.A. who treated Punk labeled it a possible staph infection — but never tested it.

Punk said the podcast was his way to “set the record straight for my fans” and tell his story. He told jurors he wouldn’t change anything about the interview.

At the end of the day, jurors didn’t see enough to prove Punk and Cabana legally defamed Amann.

With this trial now behind him, Punk has four days to get mentally prepared to step into the octagon. His second UFC fight is set for Saturday in Chicago against Mike Jackson.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

ESPN Outbids FOX To Secure UFC TV Rights With $1.5 Billion Deal

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On the heels of FOX closing in on a five-year deal with WWE’s SmackDown Live brand worth over $1 billion, ESPN has reached a second agreement with UFC, Fortune reports.

Last October, the exclusive negotiating period between UFC and FOX expired, giving the brand an opportunity to shop their television rights package to other companies. WWE started talking with FOX around that time, as executives from both parties initially met at the close of 2017. For WWE, NBC Universal decided to retain their partnership with the Raw brand, while FOX commenced a billion-dollar five-year deal to acquire SmackDown.

Just a few weeks ago, Disney’s new Direct-To-Consumer & International segment along with ESPN reached a $150 million per year agreement to exclusively air 15 full-card events on their ESPN+ platform, effective January 2019. ESPN has now struck a second $150 million five-year deal with UFC to broadcast and stream more than 30 fights a year.

According to USA Today, the broadcast deal will include 10 full UFC cards along with the preliminary card for a dozen UFC pay-per-view shows. Combined with the April agreement, the deal is said to be worth $1.5 billion. Both deals begin on January 1st.

Source: WrestlingINC