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Cody McKenzie gets a 4-year NAC suspension for fake urine sample
At a meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission on Wednesday, which the fighter did not attend, former UFC welterweight Cody McKenzie received a four-year suspension after it was ruled that he attempted to cheat a drug test ahead of a bout scheduled for Sept. 14. McKenzie was asked to submit a sample and he refused, saying he would return to his room and provide one later. When he did submit a sample, officials determined that it was abnormal and McKenzie confessed that it came from a “bottled urine substitute”. He allegedly wanted to avoid the test due to recently smoking marijuana. Because no proper sample was collected, the NAC committee could not rule out that McKenzie was attempting to hide performance-enhancing drugs and not just a drug of abuse. A pair of motions were passed to determine that McKenzie should receive a two-year suspension from competition for “aggravating circumstances” and an additional two years for avoiding the drug test altogether and showing a “disregard for protocol.” H/T MMA Fighting
Rogan names the best heavyweight he has ever seen
“With the 265-pound weight class and the consensus thought seems to be that somewhere around 240 pounds is the magic number ... the amount of weight that you have where you’re strong enough that you can knock out any man but you have more endurance than a man that maybe weighs 265 or heavier and cuts down to 265. ... Cain Velasquez, in my humble opinion, when I look at all of the different heavyweights that I’ve personally seen fight, Cain stands out as the best. The reason why Cain stands out as the best is because he has superhuman endurance and his ability to put a pace on guys. You would see these guys just wilt under the pressure. I think with Cain - and this is where it gets really interesting - what did him in is also brought him to the top: his mental toughness. His body started breaking down. He started having all these back injuries. He needed back surgery, multiple back surgeries, shoulder surgery, knee surgery, everything was getting f***ed up and I think it was getting f***ed up because he was working through pain and he has the ability to tolerate pain that most people don’t have. He’s just a f***ing animal but that’s also probably what led to him having this insane endurance. It’s the same kind of mental toughness.” H/T MMA Fighting
Gina Carano joins ‘Star Wars’ spinoff series
Gina Carano has joined Pedro Pascal in the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian; the series will debut on Disney’s streaming service Disney+. Synopsis is thus: "After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic." H/T Hollywood Reporter
White responds to tinfoil hatter who thinks UFC 229 bus attack was arranged (2:44 mark)
Sijara Eubanks calls out Mackenzie Dern
Coming soon: Khabib's autobiography
Patricky Freire is not impressed with T.J. Dillashaw
What Ray Borg truly cares about and it's not missing a fight due to health issues
Cowboy and Perry meet post fight
Neil Magny won't act like a 'douche' to get eyeballs
Neil Magny is the UFC's #8 welterweight' it's arguably the UFC's toughest division. He's probably not as well known as some lesser-skilled mouth runners in the league, and it is what it is. "I don't come across as the douche in the sport. There's a lot of guys like Matt Brown or Colby Covington who tend to go into foreign territory and let their presence be known in a negative way. Matt Brown flipping off the Brazilian crowd and then you have Colby Covington with his whole filthy animal comment down in Brazil. I don't come across as that guy. Whatever state, city or country I go to, the fans can expect me to go in there be super respectful, work my butt off and give them a show. ... When guys are climbing up on top of the cage and going crazy to celebrate a win, it's like did you not expect to win? Why are you so excited? You put the work in, you should expect to win. Why are you acting surprised about it? I go in there, I work for it and I expect the outcome when I go in there to fight." On Saturday Magny fights Santiago Ponzinibbio in Argentina; win or lose, he will show class, in a sport that needs it. H/T MMA Weekly
Al-Selwady vows to dominate Lucas Mineiro and become Brave champion
On Friday 'The Pride of Palestine' Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady fights veteran Lucas 'Mineiro' in the main event of Brave 18, for the lightweight undisputed title; at the press con he made a promise: "I've trained to fight five rounds, just in case I have to go for 25 minutes. I'm ready to dominate my opponent for all rounds. Lucas is a well-rounded fighter, so I can see the fight staying on the feet, going to the ground. Regardless of that, I plan to dominate. I've been training very hard. Some call it conditioning, I call it hell (laughs). I know I have to be in my best shape to be dominant for five rounds. This is just the beginning for me. It isn't the top of the mountain yet, but I'm climbing."
PVZ meets Stephanie McMahon
Paige VanZant is in Portugal attending a conference Web Summit, where WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon is one of the other main speakers, and the pair talked. “I’m not ready to leave the UFC just yet," she said. "I love being a professional fighter and I still have a long career ahead of me. I also think the WWE is an amazing organization and it’s a very athletic entertainment industry which would suit me. There’s probably huge potential for a crossover down the line and of course I’m a big fan of what they do, so it would be great to be a part of. I got the opportunity to talk to Stephanie for a little bit on Tuesday which was great.” That is then, now is UFC on ESPN+ 1 vs. Rachael Ostovich at flyweight. H/T MMA Weekly
Why ‘Shorty’ Torres feels disrespected by the UFC
Jose Torres was one of the first fighters released with the apparent end of the flyweight division; onAriel Helwani’s MMA Show he was not impressed: “When we talked to [matchmaker Mick Maynard], he said they would bump some guys up, so I said cool. I was the Titan FC Bantamweight champion, half of my professional career, four of my eight wins are in the bantamweight division, two world championships as an amateur ... So I have shown I can compete with some of the best. So he said, ‘Nah, your last fight you lost. It’s okay, we don’t want you.’ I was not given the option and it sucks because I have worked so hard to be able to accomplish some of the things that I have, and I get no, in a sense, respect for it. Frustration sets in because I have accomplished so much at both divisions and that is something I wanted to do in the UFC, possibly be a double weight class champion.” Torres is currently at Brave International Combat Week 2018. H/T MMA Mania • Watch
Where did the term mixed martial arts come from?
The first documented use was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic and Los Angeles Times writer Howard Rosenberg in 1993; term gained popularity when newfullcontact.com hosted and republished the article. The first use by a promotion was in September 1995 by Battlecade Extreme Fighting CEO Rick Blume, just after UFC 7. Former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling Jeff Blatnick and referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy proposed the name “MMA” at the UFC 17 rules meeting in response to increased public criticism; it had formerly been referred to as Ultimate Fighting and NHB; the latter term distinguished it from the open-handed "Pancrase rules" also widely in use. H/T My MMA News
Cowboy hinted at 'big fight' now says he's waiting on McGregor
Al Selwady vs. Mineiro Brave 18 main event: There can only be one king
Liddell defends against charges that he's slow
Chuck Liddell has been criticized for training clips for the Tito Ortiz trilogy fight on 11/24, during which he doesn't look like he used to; however, Liddell defended the most recent: “They put out a video of me warming up my legs right when I got in the gym. Out of all the video they took, why they would choose to put that out, I have no idea. I challenge anyone talking trash about it to take one of those kicks anyway; they’re not that soft.” H/T MMA Weekly • Watch
Tito believes Liddell is sandbagging
A series of Chuck Liddell training clips have emerged in which 'The Iceman' looks like a 48 year who partied a lot. Ahead of their trilogy fight on 11/24, Tito Ortiz isn't buying it: “ think he’s sandbagging, in the fact that I don’t think he’s that slow. I hope he’s not that slow. It’s going to be a short night for him if he’s that slow. I’ve watched it and I had to take a step back and kind of think of the promotion side of it, think back to the physiological side of it. Is he trying to make sure he slows down a little bit to make me think he’s that slow? But at the same time I’m ready for him to be super faster. ... His job is to try to knock me out the first round. Go ahead, prove that. I’m willing to see if he can try to prove that, because I’m going to prove I’m going to knock his ass out. ... I don’t think about what I watched that Chuck Liddell did. I think about the Chuck Liddell that beat me the first and second time. That’s the Chuck Liddell that I’m ready to fight.” H/T MMAjunkie
Perry: Arm is damaged but not broken
Gaethje vs. Pettis in the works
The 10 latest UFC fights and fight changes
Zak Cummings vs. Trevor Smith at FOX 31 on 12/15
Louis Smolka vs. Sumudaerji at UFC Fight Night 141 on 11/24
Suman Mokhtarian vs. Sodiq Yusuff at UFC Fight Night 142 on 12/2
Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 on 2/9
Tom Duquesnoy out vs. Nathaniel Wood at UFC 232 on 12/29 with rib injury
Alexander Hernandez in and Islam Makhachev out vs. Francisco Trinaldo at UFC 233 on 1/26
Tom Breese out, Ian Heinischof in vs. Cezar Ferreira at UFC Fight Night 140 on 11/17
Glover Teixeira vs. Ion Cutelaba at UFC on ESPN+ 1 on 1/19
Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Moreira at UFC on ESPN+ 1 on 1/19
Joseph Benavidez vs. Alex Perez at TUF 28 Finale on 11/30
DLH interested in putting MMA on DAZN
Oscar De La Hoya did a deal with DAZN for his Golden Boy Promotions boxing events, but hope to get MMA streaming as well, once he has proof of concept with Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 on 11/24: “Once this fight card takes place, I’m going to have some serious talks with [former ESPN president turned DAZN executive] John Skipper. If I’m serious about promoting future MMA cards, I’m very positive and certain DAZN will back us 100 percent. I want to see how (Nov. 24) turns out. I want to see if the card turns out good. I want to see what the PPV numbers are. I want to see if Chuck and Tito were happy the way I promoted them. And then we’ll take it from there.” H/T MMAjunkie
