LESNAR AND JONES FINALLY KNOW WHEN THEY FIGHT AGAIN
The Nevada Athletic Commission has finally handed down official suspensions for two huge drug test failures and one headline-grabbing incident from this past summer.
Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar, both of whom failed drug tests surrounding their respective fights at UFC 200, were handed one year suspensions. Jones failed for Letrozole and clomiphene and was pulled from the event just three days before his scheduled bout with Daniel Cormier. Lesnar failed pre- and post-fight tests for Hydoxy-clomiphene, but in his case, was able to fight on the show as the test results took a few weeks to come in. Lesnar won a unanimous decision over Mark Hunt that will now be overturned to a no-contest.
Nate Diaz was issued a $50,000 fine and 50 hours of community service for his part in the water bottle throwing fiasco prior to UFC 202 in August. Diaz’s fine was less than the $75,000 Conor McGregor received for the same incident but works to be the same percentage of his disclosed purse.
Jones and Lesnar will be free to fight in July, while Diaz is free to fight presumably once he pays his fine.
Hiscoe’s Analysis: It’s always good to get these things done and put them behind us as the process can be very drawn out. Jones will likely fight as soon as he’s eligible; it’s just up in the air whether it will be for the title or not. I would advocate for a fight with Anthony Johnson, regardless of whether it’s a title fight or not. Lesnar’s future is very questionable as he is 39 and tied contractually to WWE. If he wants to fight again, he will find a way but it will be more of a special attraction type matchup. Diaz is likely to wait out a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor.
THURSDAY NEWS & NOTES
The official weigh-ins for both “Bellator 169: King Mo vs. Ishii” and “BAMMA 27” took place this afternoon at the 1878 club inside 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Everyone made weight. The fight card, headlined by King Mo vs. Satoshi Ishii, airs on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET in the United States.
-CageSport, based out of the Pacific Northwest, returns to Tacoma, Wash. at the the Emerald Queen Casino on Saturday as Brian Halquist Productions presents CageSport 43. Headlining the nine-bout card will be a 5-round main event for the CageSport Interim Lightweight Championship between Bryan Nuro and Bobby McIntyre. Also fighting at the event will be Drew Brokenshire, Patrick Benson, undefeated Rafael Brewster and Anthony Zender, who will look to extend his winning streak to eight. Tickets are available through the EQC box office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Preliminary bouts start at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. “We have had a great 2016 so far and this card is the perfect way to close out the year,” Halquist said. “Nuro and McIntyre are two of the most exciting fighters on the West Coast. Either one is deserving of this championship.”
-Chuck Liddell told TMZ that anyone betting on Ronda Rousey to beat Amanda Nunes should be “shaking in their boots.” He said the mental aspect of Rousey concerns him. “It’s going to be an interesting to fight to see where her head is at,” he said. “All the stuff after (her loss) and the way she handled it, I’d be nervous.” He said he doesn’t have any inside information and he’s not her coach or anything so he doesn’t have insight. He said, though, if he was her coach he’d have recommended a warm-up fight for her to get her head straight before taking on someone the caliber of Nunes. Watch the video interview HERE.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ROUND-UP
-The following fights have all been made for UFC 208 on Feb. 11 from Brooklyn:
-Derrick Lewis vs. Travis Browne
-Jim Miller vs. Dustin Poirier
-Nik Lentz vs. Islam Mahachev
-Wilson Reis vs. Ulka Sasaki
-Luis Henrique vs. Marcin Tybura
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Amanda Nunes vs. Miesha Tate from UFC 200: CLICK HERE
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