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Tito Ortiz and Alberto El Patron get pushy
Daniel Pineda PED test flagged, $1 million PFL final fight in jeopardy
Daniel Pineda, who reached the featherweight playoff final, has failed a Nevada Athletic Commission-administered drug test. Without being overturned, the test likely will knock him out of his $1 million featherweight final against Lance Palmer on 12/31. The exact substance or reason for Pineda’s test failure is not known. It’s also unclear who would replace Pineda in the tournament final if he’s not allowed to compete. Pineda’s manager plans on appealing the decision. And the fighter tweeted that “no steroids or drugs” were found in his system. h/t MMA Junkie
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Horiguchi out of RIZIN main event on NYE
Liddell clarifies remarks about beating Mike Tyson
The Prelim Primer: UFC Sao Paulo
The Prelim Primer is the one and only podcast dedicated to the curtain jerkers. Catch host Daniel "Gumby" Vreeland, who is joined this week by Drake Riggs from FanSided MMA and The Body Lock, as they break down all of the prelims of UFC Sao Paulo.
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Jorge Masvidal wants that boxing $
10 LATEST: UFC Fights, today's in bold
•Frankie Edgar vs. Cory Sandhagen in BW debut at UFC event on 1/25 in Raleigh, NC
•Andrea Lee vs. Lauren Murphy at UFC event on 2/8 in Houston, TX
•Curtis Blaydes vs. Junior Dos Santos headline UFC event on 1/25 in Raleigh, NC
•Maycee Barber vs. Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246 on 1/18 in Las Vegas, NV
•Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann at UFC event on 2/8
•Carlos Condit OUT with detached retina vs. Mickey Gall, replacement sought for UFC on ESPN 7 on 12/7 in Washington, DC
•Ryan Benoit vs. Heili Alateng at UFC on ESPN+ 23 on 12/21 in Busan, South Korea
•Kyung Ho Kang vs. Pingyuan Liu at UFC on ESPN+ 23 on 12/21 in Busan, South Korea
•Makhmud Muradov IN with Alonzo Menifield OUT vs. Trevor Smith at UFC on ESPN 7 on 12/7 in Washington, DC
•Veronica Macedo IN with Priscila Cachoeira OUT vs. Ariane Lipski at UFC on ESPN+ 22 on 11/16 in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Khabib Nurmagomedov: I don't like hurting opponents, but Conor ...
“At the beginning, when you’re just starting out and winning fights, it brings you some sort of pleasure. You enjoy it. Recently I haven’t had that. In the last couple of years, I’ve gone out there and won and it doesn’t bring me any real joy, to be honest. Well, with the exception of one fight, let’s say. In that fight I beat that guy with pleasure, I’ll tell you. I had fights in my career where I understood that I could hurt my opponent more, but I’d talk to him, tell him to give up so that I don’t beat him too hard. For example, if I had a painful hold where I could break something, I wouldn’t tighten it all the way, it’d just fix it so that the opponent would tap out. Because I have no aim to hurt anyone in this sport. Yes, we compete in a very brutal combat sport, but it’s never my goal to inflict a lot of pain on my opponent. If I understand that I’m winning, I don’t aim to hurt someone bad. Well, except for one fight.” h/t LowkickMMA • Watch RT interview (2:18)
Chuck Liddell: I'd beat Mike Tyson in a street fight
“In a street fight, I’d win. I mean, he’s got a puncher’s chance. He’s got a chance to catch me coming in. But other than that, it’s over.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch Ed Mylett interview
Titan FC BW title defense on 12/20
Brazil's Rudson Caliocane won the then-vacant Titan Fighting Championship bantamweight belt with a unanimous decision victory over Edir Terry at Titan FC 52 on 1/25. Caliocane was granted permission to fight outside the organization, and lost a decision to Matheus Mendonca at Future FC on 10/19 in Sao Paulo; post-fight Caliocane was diagnosed with a brain stem hemorrhage, which he attributed to an extreme cut, and vacated the belt. Titan CEO Lex McMahon established a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses. Titan interim champ Irwin Rivera was bumped up to undisputed champ, and will defend vs. Danny Sabatello at Titan FC 58 on Friday, 12/20 at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Helen 'Hellraiser' Harper: MMA saved my life
“MMA saved my life. I was in the lowest of lows, in an abusive relationship, and a few people plus MMA saved me. That was only eight years ago. But now I’m here in Bahrain, in the first-ever women’s pro bout here, and everything is so awesome. So hopefully I can inspire someone to do the same through martial arts. No matter the situation they’re in, there’s always hope. For me it was MMA. If a single person is inspired by my journey, it’ll all be worth it. BRAVE 29 on 15, headlines the historical 2019 BRAVE International Combat Week and also counts with the prestigious KHK World Title, a one-night, four-man Openweight tournament awarding the winner US$ 100,000 and the provisional possession of a 14-pound solid-gold belt, the most expensive prize in sports.
Legacy Fighting Alliance and UFC Fight Pass reach agreement
UFC FIGHT PASS and Legacy Fighting Alliance have entered a multi-year streaming agreement in which UFC FIGHT PASS will serve as the exclusive global streaming provider for LFA events. The inaugural event under this deal, LFA 78, will take place on Friday, 11/15, live from the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, TX, at 9 p.m. ET. UFC FIGHT PASS will live stream two remaining events in 2019, 20 events in 2020, and 24 events in 2021. UFC FIGHT PASS subscribers will also have access to the entire LFA event library starting in 2020. Historically, a total of 176 LFA athletes have transitioned to UFC, including champ champ Henry Cejudo, welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, and women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. CEO Ed Soares: "I couldn't be more excited about partnering with UFC FIGHT PASS. With LFA being the industry leader in developing talent and UFC being the industry leader in our sport, it's a partnership that has all of the ingredients for success."
No RIZIN title shot for Ryan Bader, who targets Bellator LHW defense next
Bellator LHW and HW champ Ryan Bader aimed for a RIZIN title shot at the co-promoted “The Land of the Rising Sun” card on 12/29, but isn't getting it: "We tried hard but looks like fighting for the Rizin belt isn’t going to happen next. Just couldn’t come to terms where it made sense. I’m looking to return to the @bellatormma cage sometime in February. LHW" h/t Twitter
Tyson Fury responds to Stipe Miocic callout
“Stipe says he wants to box me, that would be a good fight for sure. After I get [Deontay] Wilder out of the way, I’ll fight Stipe in a boxing match if he wants it. It would be a big crossover fight like Mayweather and McGregor. I’m open to that fight so he should come and see me. It would be the same outcome for any of them, they’ll all get smashed. It was exciting training [MMA] with Darren Till and we get on like a house on fire. He put me through a hard training session and it was really good.” h/t MMA Fighting
Keith Lee: Firas Zahabi is a genius
Keith Lee, younger brother to Kevin, recently joined his bother at Tristar in Montreal: “Coming from Firas’ camp, I honestly think that it made a huge impact in me, and him. You could see it with him, but when I get the opportunity, I will show it. Firas is a genius, he had so many different game plans and so many different ways of thinking, that I’ve never seen before, and for a young guy, I’m only 23, I have a lot of experience in this game and I’ve never seen anybody that thinks like him, or that can process information how he does and you can see the difference that it made just in one fight with Kevin. I think I’m going to do the rest of my camps out there.” h/t MMA Junkie
Derek Anderson out of Bellator Europe 6 main event vs. MVP
Bellator Europe 6 is in need of a new main event matchup after one of the headliners needed to drop out. Derek Anderson, who was slated to face Michael Page in the welterweight main event of the Nov. 23 card in London, had to pull out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. The company confirmed it is seeking a short-notice replacement to meet Page for the card at SSE Arena, Wembley. h/t MMA Junkie
A tearful Shorty Torres pulls out of Friday's title fight
Jose "Shorty" Torres made a terribly difficult decision, to fight Marcel Adur for the inaugural BRAVE CF Flyweight title on Friday in the promotion's biggest event of the year, after losing his father a little more than a month ago. However, the strain of the tragedy was too much to handle and Torres surprised the hundreds of people assembled at the Oasis Mall by pulling out of the fight: "I apologize to the people that supported me and support me, people that came to the Kingdom of Bahrain to watch me fight. To BRAVE CF, I wanted to be your first Flyweight world champion, and to Marcel. I wanted him to have the best version of myself in front of him, but I can't fight." Afterward, Adur once again extended his condolences to "Shorty", but did say he would rather have heard the news earlier, as he had already made weight. Marcel continued by saying he would like to fight as soon as possible for the belt.
Ngannou: It’s no secret that Alexander Volkov is dodging me
“Just for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice. One was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me. The UFC have made it clear for everybody that I’m who you have to fight if you want to fight for the title. But how about me fighting for the title? It doesn’t seem to be in the talk, so that’s exactly what the UFC has made me appear, to be the gate holder. And, yeah, I think Volkov is dodging me clearly. That’s not a secret that he’s dodging me.” h/t MMA Junkie
Gil Melendez statement on release
“It was a fun ride with the UFC that I really enjoyed,” Melendez told ESPN. “I feel I gave them one of the most entertaining fights in their history (against Diego Sanchez), and I appreciate all they’ve done. They have done a bunch of cool stuff for all of their fighters. That said, I do feel this release is mutual. I was ready to move on. I feel like, if I were to fight again, I would like to do it on my terms and steer my own ship. The UFC is a fantastic organization, but they have their agenda, and unless you’re a champion or a super strong needle mover, you don’t have as much say in your career. If I do get back in the cage, I want it to be with a company that agrees with the path that I want to be on. But I’m leaving the UFC on great terms”. h/t ESPN
