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The week that went by was a rather eventful one in the world of MMA. Pregnancies were announced, former UFC Champions were pitted against each other and Dana White ran his mouth — as usual. So, without any further ado, let's get to our weekly round-up.
Robbie Lawler vs Rafael Dos Anjos is set to headline UFC on Fox 26 in Winnipeg, Manitoba
In case you haven't heard, two former champions are set to square off with a title shot on the line. Robbie Lawler, the former Welterweight champion, is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Donald Cerrone at UFC 214 and looking to retain the belt he lost at UFC 201 back in July of 2016.
Former Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos has gone 2-0 since moving up to the 170 lb division as he has earned big victories over former (and final) Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine and Neil Magny.
For Lawler, this will be his first five round fight since he lost his title to Tyron Woodley.
Also announced for UFC on Fox 26 is a rematch between former UFC and WEC Featherweight champion, Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas along with a Welterweight battle pitting Santiago Ponzinibbio against Mike Perry.
Even though she's pregnant, Julianna Pena's already planning a comeback
Current #3 ranked Bantamweight Julianna Pena made it public last week that she is eight months pregnant. Prior to this knowledge, she made it clear that she had an interest in dropping down to the UFC's new 125 lbs Flyweight division.
Pena appeared on last week's instalment of UFC Tonight and reiterated that she still has an interest in doing so despite feeling that she still has some unfinished business at 135 lbs.
Pena also mentioned that she still hopes to fight Ronda Rousey some day.
"Uncle Creepy" has been granted his UFC release and is ready to compete in the Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix
Former UFC Flyweight top contender and former Tachi Palace Flyweight world champion Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall was recently granted his release from the UFC after negotiations for a new contract couldn't find any middle ground.
Many things factored into McCall's quick decision to jump into the Japanese promotion's Bantamweight GP, but none of them sounded like they made it a hard decision when he spoke to BJPenn.com:
“Japan was appealing for a lot of reasons: the fact that I’ve never fought in Japan, the tournament, the money… and I never got to fight in PRIDE. I never had those days. I was too young. I was about 18, but I was too young and small to be fighting in PRIDE, so I never got to. So this is kind of my chance to make my own little version of PRIDE. They’re promoting flyweights – or bantamweights at least.”
McCall's first bout of a potential three in two days will be the 7-1 German Manel Kape. The craziest part about this possibility is the fact that McCall hasn't fought a single time in the last three years, having since had six cancelled bouts for various reasons.
UFC President Dana White believes Jon Jones is "the biggest waste of talent in all of sports"
By now, if you don't know the Jon Jones' story and you follow MMA, you either live under a rock or...not following MMA at all. Jon Jones was the once ruler of the UFC Light Heavyweight division and looked to be on the fast track to going down as one of if not the best ever. But recurring troubles with the law and several drugs have since kept him out of action for a majority of the recent years.
Jones wound up coming back to retain his title at UFC 214 but was soon after stripped for failing another drug test. Dana White surely isn't the only one who believes Jon Jones has been the biggest bust in sports history.
"Ever. Ever. In all of sports," he said of Jones. "The guy is so talented and gifted, God knows what he would be doing now if he had never gotten in trouble. He could possibly be the heavyweight champion and have the defense record that couldn't be broken. The list goes on and on of what could've been with Jon Jones."
White continued on telling TSN MMA Show:
"Whatever happens, happens," White said. "Believe me, I'm not mentally or emotionally invested in that anymore."
Cyborg's call out of Holly Holm for lack of USADA testing backfires
It has been no secret who UFC Featherweight champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino has set her sights on for her first UFC title defence. She has made countless social media posts promoting a potential fight between herself and former UFC Bantamweight champion Holly Holm, despite the fight not being official.
Cyborg recently decided to up the ante and claim that Holm wasn't being tested enough ahead of the date that she wants the fight to happen at. Again...despite the fight being unofficial. Holm's response can be seen at 1:02 of the video below:
Not only has Holly Holm been tested more than Cyborg this year, but she has also been tested more than anyone else. Ever.
Holm has also never tested positive.
Fighters looking to rebound and advance closer to a title shot are scheduled to meet once again
The "Karate Hottie" Michelle Waterson is coming off of her first UFC loss and is set to take on Tecia Torres at the big UFC 218 card in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The two were previously set to clash back at UFC 194 but Waterson was forced out of the bout due to a knee injury.
Both women's lone UFC losses have come to the next Strawweight title challenger, Rose Namajunas.
For Torres, her fight with Namajunas came two fights ago. She has defeated Bec Rawlings and Julianna Lima since then. Waterson lost to Namajunas in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 24 in April earlier this year.
Is Khabib Nurmagomedov close to returning...?
For months now, top 155 lbs contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has been requesting a fight for December and it appears he may have got it. But has he really...?
Fellow top contender Edson Barboza was asked about a potential fight with Khabib when speaking to MMA Fighting last week. Here's what he had to say:
“They offered me this fight and I accepted it. I said I’ll be ready for December 30, and it’s on him now. We’ll see what he does. I saw an interview with him yesterday and he said he’ll fight me if Conor (McGregor) fights (Tony) Ferguson, and Dana White already said that fight will happen, so I believe my next fight will be against Khabib."
All we can do now is wait and see what happens. One thing we know for sure is that it would be a great fight.
Vitor Belfort has announced his retirement bout against Uriah Hall
Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort has had a very long and storied Mixed Martial Arts career. Spanning over twenty-one years, Belfort has been fighting since he was just 19 years old starting back in 1996.
Belfort claimed his final bout would potentially be his most recent which was a victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 212 in his home country of Brazil. That obviously is not the case now...
Belfort announced his bout with Uriah Hall on his Instagram page saying:
Hall recently earned a big victory to snap a three-fight losing streak when he defeated Krzysztof Jotko by round two TKO at UFC Fight Night 116 last month.
A former champion is making her way onto the big stage
Former Invicta FC Strawweight champion, Livia Renata Souza has been signed by the UFC. Souza broke the news on her Instagram page on Friday.
Souza holds an 11-1 professional record and is currently riding a two-fight win streak that includes a KO victory over current Invicta 105 lb Atomweight champion, Ayaka Hamasaki.
Souza's lone loss came against current top UFC Strawweight Angela Hill. Souza is already regarded by many as a top 10 fighter worldwide, so it was only a matter of time before she got the call-up to the big show.
Lil Nog makes some history, but not the good kind
Twin brother of UFC Hall of Famer and Heavyweight legend Rogerio Nogueira has become the most recent victim of USADA after testing positive for use of a diuretic.
This positive testing will remove him from his scheduled bout Jared Cannonier at UFC on Fox 26. The UFC has yet to find a replacement for Cannonier.
Now here's the crazy part... According to Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports, "Nogueira officially has as many cancelled fights as he has had actual fights in the UFC. A 5-5 record with 10 fight cancellations."
Yikes. Not a good accolade to have.
Rogerio Nogueira had this to say in a post on his Instagram page:
Today I was surprised by the USADA anti-doping organization announcement that a diuretic substance was found in one of my tests. I am here to try to clarify because we do not have all the explanations yet, but from now on we will investigate this situation in depth. I have told all of you that I am confident in my innocence and will actually find out what happened, and defend myself in a timely fashion.
I’ve always played the rules, I’m a veteran fighter and I’ve been in the sport for a long time; and I want to always set an example for the younger ones who mirror the career I built and would never get involved with something unlawful to improve my performance or gain any advantage.
I have never needed to take a diuretic, everyone who accompanies me, mainly my coaches, know that I never had any difficulties to lose weight and this is the function of the diuretic. As soon as the UFC marks my fight, I start a process of diet and training for precisely, at the end of the camp does not suffer with the weight loss.
It is very difficult going through this, for me I have always been honest, and especially with my work, that I dedicated myself and still dedicate myself with much love. On account unfortunately my fight was canceled, I was very sad about it all, but I hope as soon as possible to clarify this misunderstanding and give spectacular fight to all of you.
Thank you all for your support and respect for
Cummins is out and Saint Preux is in
Due to a "mutant staph infection", UFC Light Heavyweight contender Patrick Cummins has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 217 bout with Corey Anderson.
In for Cummins steps Ovince Saint Preux, who recently scored a first-round submission victory over Yushin Okami in the UFC Fight Night 117 main event.
That didn't stop Anderson from questioning Cummins decision with this post on Instagram:
Whereas Cummins responded on Twitter:
Patrick Cummins last bout came during the Summertime in July at UFC on Fox 25 — where he defeated Gian Villante by split decision, putting him on a two-fight win streak.
Anderson has not fought since March when he lost via KO to Jimi Manuwa in the UFC Fight Night 107 main event. Perhaps if Anderson can get by Saint Preux, this fight will get rebooked. It would actually be more logical matchmaking if it does indeed happen that way.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below and follow me on Twitter: @Dre_Kriggs
