#ufc200
by Gautham Nagesh
FormerUFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones is out of the UFC 200 main event this Saturday after he was informed of a potential anti-doping violation on Wednesday night by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Food and Drug Administration agent Jeff Novitski said the potential violation stems from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 16th. Jones was scheduled to fight Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 for the light heavyweight title. Novitski said there will be full legal review process available to Jones, but there isn’t sufficient time for that review before Saturday’s card.
The news is a huge blow to the UFC, which had expected this Saturday’s Pay Per View to be one of the biggest cards in its history. As a result, the three-round heavyweight fight between Mark Hunt and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar will become the main event of UFC 200.
There is no word yet on what substance Jones tested positive for. He previously tested positive for cocaine before UFC 182. Jones was stripped of his light heavyweight title last year after a hit-and-run incident. He returned to the octagon in April with a win over Ovince St. Preux, his first fight since beating Cormier by unanimous decision in January 2015.
UFC boss Dana White said he received the news during “a pretty brutal phone call" and said he hasn’t spoken to Jones since. White said Jones still has the option to have his B sample tested, with a representative present if he desires.
During a brief press conference after Novitski’s announcement, White recalled a recent interview he gave to sports talk host Jim Rome this week where he said he believed Jones had learned from a tumultuous 18 months and gotten his life on track.
“It’s weird to say, but [last year’s suspension] might be the best thing that ever happened to Jon Jones…and then boom, this happens,” White said.
by Dr. Octagon, J.D.
Fantastic night of fights tonight and some really unexpected results at UFC 199. In the main event, Michael Bisping knocked Luke Rockhold out in the first round.
That’s right, Michael Bisping, for whom the received wisdom has always been that he has great cardio but not a lot of punching power, finished Rockhold easily as a late replacement. Rockhold has never had great defense and Bisping caught him with a left hand as he was coming in, then followed up with another perfect punch to leave Rockhold unconscious against the cage at 3:36 in Round 1.
It was great to see Bisping finally get the belt after so many years. I’m now wondering if Rockhold was left slightly chinny by the cyclone kick that he took from TRT-era Vitor Belfort.
While there were lots of unexpected results tonight, the Uriah Faber-Dominick Cruz rubber match went pretty much as expected, with Cruz generally dancing around Uriah while doling out punishment to win a clear decision. Cruz rocked Uriah few times, but Uriah is still super tough and was able to avoid being finished on a few occasions.
Max Holloway looked super sharp against Ricardo Lamas. The biggest surprise of the fight was how effective Max’s takedown defense was. The fight ended with both fighters agreeing to stand in the middle of the Octagon and swing wildly. Great fight.
In the most heart-warming moment of the night, 45-year-old Dan Henderson KO’d Hector Lombard in the second round. Henderson landed a head kick, and then after Lombard caught his leg, Dan landed a quick elbow that put Lombard out. Dan then dropped another two elbows on the unconscious Cuban.
This was following a first round where Dan was almost knocked out himself. Dan even sort of considered retiring in his post fight speech. I wonder if he’ll change his mind now that Bisping, who he once beat decisively, is now the middleweight champion of the world.
Dustin Poirier continued his hot streak with a knockout of Bobby Green in the first round via a straight left.
In other news, Brock Lesnar is back for UFC 200 with an opponent to be determined. That should guarantee absolutely monstrous Pay Per View numbers no matter who the opponent is, and absurd numbers if they can talk Fedor Emelianenko into the fight.
Fedor is fighting June 17 on FightPass against Fabio Maldonado though, so I doubt they’d announce his next fight before that fight even happens. Other possibilities include Josh Barnett and Todd Duffee,whoAriel Helwani reported are both lobbying for the fight, as well as Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve, who are both available.
Big surprise (sarcasm), Conor McGregor will not be fighting Floyd Mayweather, the currently best boxer on Earth, after McGregor was outboxed by Nathan Diaz in his last fight. We remain amazed that so-called legitimate reporters were hyping that farce.
Conor’s fighting Nate in a rematch at UFC 202 in Las Vegas and posted a video slapping UFC boss Dana White on Instagram to celebrate getting paid.
Undercard results courtesy of Wikipedia since I’ve been drinking since noon and am going to pass out.
FeatherweightBrian Ortega def.Clay Guida by KO (knee) at 34:40
LightweightBeneil Dariush def.James Vick by KO (punch) at 14:16
Women’s Strawweight Jéssica Andradedef.Jessica Penne by TKO (punches) at 22:56
FeatherweightAlex Caceresdef.Cole Miller by decision (unanimous) 30-27, 29-28 (twice)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
WelterweightSean Strickland def.Tom Breese by split decision 29-28 (twice), 28-29
Light Heavyweight Luis Henrique da Silvadef. Jonathan Wilson by TKO (punches) at 24:11
MiddleweightKevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic (split draw) 29-28, 28-29, 28-28
LightweightMarco Polo Reyes def. Dong Hyun Kim by KO (punches) at 31:52
