February 2020 – culturesink

Former UFC title challenger Jessica Penne suspended 20-months for second USADA violation

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Zane Simon in Drugs and PEDs, Front Page, UFC News, Women's MMA

Back in 2017, Jessica Penne’s once-notable MMA career stopped dead. The former UFC title challenger – and former Invicta atomweight champion – failed a drug test, and was handed an 18-month suspension from competition.

In February of 2019, she looked set for her MMA return, against Jodie Esquibel. But an injury on the day of the fight scrapped her bout. Two months later she failed a second drug test. And, after almost a year of investigation, Penne announced that she was now facing a 4-year suspension, one that would effectively end the 37-year-old’s time as a professional fighter.

Despite that claim, USADA released their own statement shortly afterward—saying that Penne had claimed her right to arbitration and, essentially, that no final decision on her potential suspension had been made. Now, however it appears the final verdict has been rendered. The drug testing agency announced on Friday, February 28th – via a press release on their website – that Penne had accepted a 20-month suspension for her second drug test failure.

Penne, 36, tested positive at trace levels for two metabolites of stanozolol, 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 3′-hydroxystanozolol, as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample she provided on April 8, 2019. Stanozolol is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.

USADA determined that a reduction to the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility was appropriate in this case due to the totality of circumstances, including the complexity of issues, as well as Penne’s participation in discussions with USADA following her initial public comments in January. Furthermore, under the current UFC Anti-Doping Policy, USADA did not pursue an enhanced sanction for a second violation because USADA determined that Penne was not intending to cheat when she committed her first violation, as her use of the prohibited anabolic agent dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in a dietary supplement was based upon the recommendation of her physician related to a medical issue.

The statement added that, despite Penne’s claims that she was able to trace the source of her postitive Sanozolol test to a tainted supplement via a third-party testing agency, “USADA determined that the initial results from the third-party lab did not adequately establish a source of the positive test due to the lab’s testing protocol.” Thus she is still on the hook for 20-months rather than any further reduction in punishment.

From her April 8th, 2019 suspension date, Penne will be eligible to return in early December of this year. That will still make it more than three-and-a-half years since her last fight in the Octagon. But, it’s a far cry from the four year suspension she might have been facing.

Report: Amanda Nunes to defend featherweight title at UFC 250

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News, Women's MMA

It looks like the UFC has added a little late notice narrative to this week’s card in Norfolk, VA. The 5-fight main card is set to feature a pair of women’s featherweight bouts, with former Invicta champions Megan Anderson and Felicia Spencer taking on Norma Dumont and Zarah Fairn respectively.

Those two bouts, in reality, make up the entirity of the 145 lb women’s division in the UFC, outside of champion Amanda Nunes. So, with that in mind, it makes sense that the UFC would use these fights to determine the next challenger to Nunes’ belt. To that end, Combate’s Raphael Marinho reports that the UFC is planning for Nunes to defend her featherweight title at UFC 250 on May 9th—against a challenger to be determined following this Saturday’s fight card.

The May PPV event will take place in Sao Paulo Brazil, and is currently expected to be headlined by the bantamweight title fight between champion Henry Cejudo and longtime featherweight GOAT Jose Aldo. Fabricio Werdum’s return from USADA suspension has also been penciled in for the fight card, as well as a trilogy bout between ‘Shogun’ Rua and ‘Lil’ Nog’ Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Nunes will enter the fight on a 10-bout winning streak, stretch all the way back to 2014. Most recently she defeated former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245. Assuming the bouts in Norfolk go as expected, Felicia Spencer seems like she’d be the likely front-runner for the next title shot. But, in the MMA world, it’s always a good idea to plan for potential chaos.

Korean Zombie undergoing eye surgery, unlikely to return before summer

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Health and Science, UFC News

Fresh off his first round starching of Frankie Edgar at UFC Busan, in South Korea last December, Chan Sung Jung seemed like a potential front-runner for a second shot at the UFC featherweight title. Talk of a rematch between the recently dethroned Max Holloway and newly minted champ Alexander Volkanovski was the driving narrative from the UFC, but it had been more than six years since the ‘Korean Zombie’ battled Jose Aldo for the belt. A fight between TKZ and Volkanovski would be not just a fresh matchup for fans, but a chance for an all-action favorite to once again prove he’s the best fighter in the world at 145 lbs.

Unfortunately, whether or not the bout was ever one the UFC was interested in considering, it seems fate has had other plans. Jung has been dealing with vision problems for some time now, and MMA Junkie reports that – after consulting multiple specialists – he’s finally decided to undergo surgery to repair his double vision.

“Recently, it has been more important for me to figure out my double vision issue,” Jung told MMA Junkie. “It took a long time to get medical exams done and there was a difference with diagnoses between doctors in Korea and Phoenix.”

“Finally, I decided to get the surgery done in Phoenix soon,” Jung said. “I am sure I will be able to get back to the cage around July or August because the surgeon says it is not a big surgery.”

For the UFC’s part, Dana White recently revealed that the promotion plans to push ahead with the rematch between Holloway and Volkanovski. And while Jung told Junkie he’s still targeting a fight with the champ when he returns, it seems very likely that the winner of a reported upcoming battle between Brian Ortega and Zabit Magomedsharipov could end up streaking past him for the claim of no. 1 contender. Rough luck for the Fight Ready athlete, who has previously seen his career sidelined by shoulder and knee injuries, as well as a stint of required military service. All of which have seen him compete just four times in the last seven years.

Hopefully Jung’s surgery and recovery will all go exactly to plan and fans will see the Korean Zombie back in the title hunt before fall.

UFC Auckland: Felder vs. Hooker – Fights to make

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Editorial, UFC Results

Depending on your view of the main event scoring, UFC Auckland went off without a hitch. Which is to say that a card booked for excitement over narrative on paper, delivered all the thrills. Dan Hooker and Paul Felder put on an absolute show, Yan Xiaonan introduced herself as a potential future title contender, and Brad Riddell is well on his way to carving out a slot as a must-see action lightweight.

So, can Hooker really goad Justin Gaethje into a taking him on? Is there any reason not to run Xiaonan up the strawweight division as fast ass possible? And how many more times can Angela Hill get booked in 2020?

I’ll be answering all those questions – and one or two others – using the classic Silva/Shelby method from years past. That means I’ll be pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, that means at least a few of the fights I’d like to see are actually fights the UFC will end up booking sometime in the not-too-distant future. Now, let’s get to the bouts!

DAN HOOKER

I’m sure being in front of a hometown crowd didn’t hurt Hooker with the judges, but I’d hardly call this any kind of gift decision. It was a good close fight. And especially when he not only took Felder down, but pulled him back down as Felder struggled up to his feet – late in the fight – it just felt like that was the kind of work judges were going to reward heavily. Even if there wasn’t a lot of damage done for the trouble. The fact that every judge scored the fight different just underscores what a tough bout it was to decide. Either way, Hooker walks away with the big win, and made a huge call-out in the aftermath.

Justin Gaethje isn’t a fighter many people are lining up to throw down with, but Hooker made it clear he wants to go to war with the ‘Highlight’. Only problem? Gaethje is currently campaigning to get a title shot with the winner of Khabib vs. Ferguson. If Gaethje is willing to sit out long enough, then Hooker vs. Poirier would be an obviously great fight—as would a scrap against the winner of Kevin Lee vs. Charles Oliveira. But, ultimately, if Gaethje isn’t going to get the title shot he wants, then Hooker vs. Gaethje is a top quality battle.

PAUL FELDER

Will Felder hang ‘em up? I can’t blame him if he does. His fighting style is all about putting his body on the line, no less the case in this fight. If, however, Felder does recuperate, gather himself, and decide he wants to keep going, there are still great lightweight bouts out there for him. Win or lose to Charles Oliveira, I’d love to see Felder fight Kevin Lee. And a fight against Al Iaquinta would absolutely be a bout I have to see. Of course there are always newer fighters on the rise, like Carlos Diego Ferreira or Gregor Gillespie (Lee loss notwithstanding), but it’s hard to see Felder wanting to take any real steps back at this point in his career. End of the day, that Al Iaquinta fight just feels like a bout that we should have already seen by now. And most like a fight that’d be great to see before Felder walks away from the sport. Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta would be another strong lightweight classic, if Felder’s still interested in competing.

JIMMY CRUTE

An outstanding and unexpected performance from Crute here. And as he said himself, afterward, he knew that Oleksiejczuk was too dangerous to fight standing and crafted a rock solid wrestling game to neutralize that. He then called for a rematch with Misha Cirkunov. And while I don’t doubt that he could win that, it’s not a fight that makes a whole lot of sense right now. Bouts with Da Un Jung or Devin Clark would both be rock solid. I’d also love to see him against the winner of Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba. Lots of strong, fun options at 205 right now. But with Clark un-booked for the moment, lets make Jimmy Crute vs. Devin Clark. It’s a chance for Crute to really put together a win streak, and for Clark to continue proving that he’s a strong gatekeeper to the top 15 at light heavyweight. Crute vs. Clark should be a banger.

YAN XIAONAN

An outstanding performance form Xiaonan, who clearly had Kowalkiewicz injured early and just poured a constant stream of offense onto her opponent. Her striking looked more powerful and accurate than before, her takedowns looked fantastic, and she did well not to slow down too much over the distance. Now 5-0, she should be in line for a real step up. Unfortunately almost all the top 15 is booked, so Xiaonan will likely have to wait for a potential upcoming winner. To that end, fights against the victor of Randa Markos vs. Amanda Ribas, Tecia Torres vs. Mizuki Inoue, and Claudia Gadelha vs. Marina Rodriguez would all be solid. Heck, even the winner of Esparza vs. Waterson doesn’t feel like a bridge too far. Of all those, I think the winner of Gadelha vs. Rodriguez would be the most fun. If Gadelha won, she’d likely want something higher profile, but it’d be a huge opportunity for Xiaonan to step into the contention. And if Rodriguez won, it’d be good battle of fast-rising prospects. The winner of Markos/Ribas might be more likely, but I’d love to see Xiaonan against the winner of Gadelha/Rodriguez.

MARCOS ROGERIO DE LIMA

‘Pezao’ only seems to have two setting: first round KO win or second round submission loss. This was one of the former. And in that kind of performance, he always thrills. Just a nonstop output of heavy, heavy leather as Sosoli stepped into the pocket again and again. I dunno what Todd Duffee is up to right now, but Duffee vs. de Lima is a must-see mess of a heavyweight battle. If Duffee isn’t around, then a fight against the winner of Ben Rothwell vs. Gian Villante also feels like it would have a certain air of absurdity to it that can’t be missed. Still, if Duffee is there, and waiting for a fight, then Todd Duffee vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima is a fight the UFC needs to make ASAP.

BRAD RIDDELL

Riddell is in kind of a weird place with the UFC lightweight division. He called for a top 15 opponent next time out, in Alexander Hernandez, but his resume isn’t exactly deep. Of course, Hernandez caught lightening in a bottle with his debut against formerly top ranked Beneil Dariush, and a followup win over Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Still, having just beat Francisco Trinaldo, it feels like Hernandez is a step further than makes sense coming off an upset win over Magomed Mustafaev. But what’s the next fight out there for Riddle then? Don Madge? Rafael Fiziev? David Teymur? I think there’s one fighter that’s also just made a huge splash early in his division that would be the perfect matchup instead. Arman Tsarukyan took a tough loss to Islam Makhachev in his debut, but did great against OAM the next time out. He’s a remarkably complete and experienced fighter for a relative newcomer, and should provide another all-terrain test of Riddell’s skills. And for Tsarukyan, this would be a major step forward in terms of striking ability from his first two opponents. Riddell vs. Tsarukyan would be a fascinating lightweight fight.

ZUBAIRA TUKHUGOV

A fantastic performance from Tukhugov this time out, after struggling badly with a UFC newcomer in his last bout. Exactly the kind of win he needed to reassert his position as a real threat in the featherweight division. After Dan Ige’s last big win, I kinda feel like Ige should deserve a bigger fight. But, if he’s not about to get one, the Tukhugov vs. Ige would be absolutely wild. Since I do think ‘Dynamite’ will get a top 15 ranked opponent, however, then the fight to make is Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Hakeem Dawodu. Dawodu has been a high-output striking machine so far in the UFC, but has had trouble putting his opponents away. A battle with Dawodu would give the Chechen plenty of time to land dangerous single shots, or to bring his wrestling into play. And for Dawodu it would be a chance to show he can fight smart and out-hustle a dangerous opponent who can take the fight anywhere. Tukhugov vs. Dawodu is an excellent featherweight fight.

KAI KARA-FRANCE

A strong win for Kai Kara-France at home. One of flyweight’s more entertaining action-fighters, he’s always fun to watch—win or lose. And while his divison is incredibly thin on options, the fact that the UFC needs to keep making flyweight bouts means he should get any sensible fight on the table. And right now, there’s a pretty obvious next bout for Kara-France: Alex Perez. Perez is coming off a strong win over Jordan Espinosa, and has been something of a physical force at 125. A bout against France would really test the Kiwi’s ability to constantly stuff shots and keep his output up. And for Perez, it’s an opportunity to take on another busy boxer with a bit of pop in his hands to see if he can keep his momentum rolling. Kara-France vs. Perez should be a fast-paced battle.

ANGELA HILL

A fantastic performance from Hill, who started out with great pressure and volume, and kept landing the bigger strikes and controlling the clinch throughout the bout. She’s looked like she’s really turned a corner with her boxing lately, and her willingness to fight anyone at any time has kept her in fun action fights. Most likely, she’ll just be fighting again whenever someone gets hurt, but – if she wants to target a specific bout – Alexa Grasso is one of the few ranked strawweights she hasn’t faced yet. Grasso is coming off a loss, but it was a debatable majority decision to Carla Esparza. Hill vs. Grasso would be a surefire thriller. Otherwise, the winner of Tecia Torres vs. Mizuki Inoue would be pretty great. Hill does have a loss to Torres already, but that was five years ago, so a rematch would hardly feel undeserved if that’s the way it played out.

OTHER BOUTS: Michal Oleksiejcuk vs. Klidson Abreu, Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Syuri Kondo, Ben Sosoli vs. Jake Collier/Tom Aspinall loser, Magomed Mustafaev vs. Nasrat Haqparast, Kevin Aguilar vs. Julio Arce, Jalin Turner vs. Claudio Puelles, Joshua Culibao vs. Jonathan Pearce, Jake Matthews vs. Rustam Khabilov, Emil Weber Meek vs. Michel Pereira, Song Kenan vs. Dwight Grant, Callan Potter vs. Cole Williams, Tyson Nam vs. Jordan Espinosa, Loma Lookboonmee vs. Virna Jandiroba, Priscila Cachoeira vs. Yanan Wu, Shana Dobson vs. Nadia Kassem

The MMA Vivisection – UFC Auckland: Felder vs. Hooker Main Card picks, odds, & analysis

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Podcasts, UFC Gambling

The bout order for the UFC’s trip to Auckland is a bit weird, but the simple truth is that the main card should be non-stop action top to bottom. Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker is an exceptional Fight Night main event, and the supporting bouts beneath it are all action bouts between fighters almost entirely known for their striking prowess. Expect some violence.

The prelims are a little more tame, by comparison. But, if you’d like to dive deeper into the undercard, check out the PRELIMS Vivi right here.

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by Combat Wombat, makers of combat sports themed artwork featuring MMA’s legendary fighters and legendary fights. Visit chrisrini.com for the latest pieces and commissions. Get your Combat Wombat themed Vivi t-shirts today! cottonbureau.com/products/dr-wombat

Here’s a look at the UFC Auckland main card as it stands right now:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 7PM/4PM ET/PT
Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker – 5:05, Odds 24:47
Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk – 25:34, Odds 33:27
Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli – 34:51, Odds 40:42
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Xionan Yan – 42:16, Odds 47:30
Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell – 48:13, Odds 58:41
Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Kevin Aguilar – 1:00:37, Odds 1:08:37

Be sure to follow Zane on twitter @TheZaneSimon, follow Connor, @BoxingBusch, and follow @BloodyElbow for all the latest in MMA happenings.

If you enjoyed our show, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

Report: Guru warned commission about Diego Sanchez’s Stone Cold Stunner-like death move

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, Technique

Joshua Fabia has been in the news a lot lately. In fact, the head instructor of Albuquerque’s School of Self Awareness, has been the narrative focal point for much of the MMA news cycle coming out of the UFC’s most recent event in Rio Rancho, NM—for his seemingly unorthodox training and corner work surrounding longtime UFC veteran Diego Sanchez.

Sanchez picked up a DQ win over Michel Pereira in a fight he was largely losing on Saturday, February 15th. However, he was not so fortunate the last time he stepped into the cage with Fabia beside him. That came at UFC 239, against Michael Chiesa, and – as MMA Junkie recently revealed – Chiesa’s dominating win could have occurred, in part, because the commission warned Sanchez against performing what Fabia seems to have claimed was one of his fighter’s most devastating techniques.

Junkie reports that Fabia was approached by the Nevada State Athletic Commission ahead of his bout with Chiesa, with some concerns over Sanchez’s pre-fight preparation. In the course of their discussion, however, Fabia told officials that he and the ‘Nightmare’ had been working on a technique Fabia had picked up from paramilitary groups in South America. A technique so powerful that Chiesa could be killed. Asked to demonstrate the move, sources – who asked that their identity be kept anonymous – say that it approximated something like a “Stone Cold Stunner”—with Sanchez starting in guillotine position, before rotating his oppoent’s neck over Sanchez’s shoulder and then dropping down with the intention of potentially breaking the neck.

The revelation apparently almost resulted in the cancellation of the fight, with officials speaking to the UFC about their concerns for fighter safety. Ultimately, however, it appears they decided that the chances of Sanchez landing such a thing were incredibly low.

Chiesa won the fight 30-26 on all three judges scorecards. Whatever unknown fatal techniques Sanchez may have been working on, that’s the bottom line.

Marc Goddard talks death threats and fan anger in wake of UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Interview

On the surface, Marc Goddard’s stoppage of Colby Covington at UFC 245 seemed simple enough. Covington had noted that his jaw may be broken earlier in the fight. Visibly exhausted, he was knocked down hard twice late in the fifth round, where he began eating punches and struggling to regain his composure. The ref stepped in, the fight was over.

The aftermath, however, has not been so simple.

Aside from his later revelation that his jaw wasn’t broken, Covington was quick to complain about the stoppage following the bout. The welterweight challenger quickly took to twitter to tell fans that Goddard “robbed” him of the opportunity to “kill or be killed.” And that he “robbed the people of a fair fight.”

Those comments, among others, only added to the regular wave of backlash that comes with being a longtime MMA ref—often including death threats and allegations of fight fixing, as Goddard revealed in a recent interview with UFC commentator Dan Hardy.

“You’re entitled to your own opinions (I don’t actually subscribe to that school of thought), but you’re not entitled to your own facts,” Goddard told Hardy. “You’re not, are you? Everybody wants an opinion on a fight, I’m more concerned about a reasoned opinion—if you give me a balanced, educated opinion. Look, if you’re driving a bus and I run alongside you at a traffic light and go, ‘You fucking dickhead, you’re driving the bus like a prick. Why are you doing that?’ Because that’s my timeline on Twitter and Instagram for two weeks. That’s my timeline. And, ‘You’re gonna die,’ and you’re this and that, ‘Kill yourself.’ ‘You’re scum,’ ‘You’re betting on fights,’ ‘You’re a cheat,’ you’re this. Mate, and I’m talking not one or two or 50 of that—hundreds. Literally hundreds. But, you know, that’s the life of a ref.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I? 20 years later. But, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know. I don’t know is it worth it?” Goddard said, reflecting on the abuse he’s taken online. “You know, when something like that happens, it’s weird because… like I said with other sports, everybody saw Colby’s reaction and when he’s calling me this and that. It’s one thing to have an opinion, disagree with a stoppage, that’s one thing. When you’re calling me a ‘cocksucker’ and calling me a ‘cheat’–‘Don’t come back to America,’ ‘I’m gonna slap you’–and all of that, that’s a different thing, Dan Hardy. That’s a different thing altogether.”

Still despite all the backlash he’s faced, not just for his stoppage of Covington, but over the length of his career. Goddard made it clear that he feels it’s important to not stoop to arguing with those who disagree with him.

“And people will go—obviously that fight: ‘Why did you stop Colby in that fight?’ Well, I think I’ve just articulated that pretty concisely,” said Goddard, after walking through his view on the final moments of the bout. “And if you don’t agree with me? So be it. As a fighter I can take that. Some of the fat—like I said mate, I’ve seen the abuse. I’m talking—because Colby was directly tagging me in these social media posts. Am I gonna rise to that? No, I’m not. You know, because I’m better than that. And I’m a professional and I’ll try and deal with it in a better way.”

For his part, however, Covington doesn’t sound like he’s about to let his feud with Goddard pass, telling Ariel Helwani earlier this month, “I knew he had it out for me the second he came out of the locker room… He’ll never ref one of my fights as long as I live, I promise you that.”

Diego Sanchez and coach fire back at ‘smear campaign’: ‘Don’t worry about our code talk’

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News

Jan Blachowicz may have fought his way into a title shot in the main event of UFC Rio Rancho on Saturday, but the most notable narrative of the evening belonged to the co-main event. That’s where longtime fan favorite Diego Sanchez took on high-flying wildman Michel Pereira.

The bout would eventually end in a DQ loss for Pereira, the result of an illegal knee. And while there’s been plenty of talk as to the merits of the stoppage and the commission’s decision, there’s been just as much talk about Sanchez’s new-found fighting style and cornering from coach Joshua Fabia. Fabia heads up the ‘School of Self Awareness’ in Albuqueque, NM, which has seemingly become something of a home-base for Sanchez after his split from longtime camp Jackson-Wink.

During Sanchez’s fight with Pereira, Fabia gave plenty of general advice. Things like “get on top,” or “if it gets sticky, take him to the ground.” But there were seemingly few specific instructions. And lines like “Bee drill. Bee drill. Think of the shadow,” seemed to leave the commentary more confused than anything for much of the fight.

“Listening to that last corner work was very strange,” said color commentary analyst, and longtime MMA coach, Trevor Wittman during the fight. “I mean, I don’t know if it was code, or what, but he was talking about being ‘tight’ and ‘sticky,’ ‘keep the movement,’ but ‘don’t keep the movement’? Like, this is—I’ve know Diego for a long period of time. This is just very strange to me.”

Fellow play-by-play analysts Daniel Cormier and Brendan Fitzgerald largely seemed to agree. But, while Joe Rogan wasn’t on the call that evening, it seems he’s enough of the embodiment of UFC commentary to be the target of a response from Fabia over the criticism coming from the booth.

“It’s really awesome you and @Joerogan know how to talk shit without saying my name
But make sure it’s in metadata to be connected and found in search engines,” Fabia wrote on Instagram, apparently in response to an MMA Junkie post highlighting his cornering work.
“You think you’re slick
I am aware of what you are doing and you will be exposed for your biases
Very classy smear campaign
You guys are real gentlemen
Got tell you I really feel the love”

Sanchez also responded to the Junkie post, telling the site, “Don’t worry about our code talk It’s for us not you,” and then went on to give a more thorough response to the criticism in his own Instagram post:

“When the media is bullying don’t allow them to get away with it, call them out on there shit publicly!” Sanchez wrote, tagging Junkie with a #fakenews label.

It doesn’t seem that Sanchez’s faith in his new coaching team is about to be shaken by any outside critique. And that means that fans have something interesting to watch for, the next time Sanchez fights.

The MMA Vivisection – UFC Rio Rancho: Anderson vs. Blachowicz 2 MAIN CARD picks, odds, & analysis

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Podcasts, UFC Gambling

This week’s UFC event in Rio Rancho definitely feels like the card a promotion puts on when they expect everyone to still be basking in the radiance of a massive PPV. It feels like an even made to be overshadowed. Corey Anderson rematching Jan Blachowicz isn’t a bad fight, but it’s not a fight to get many people’s blood pumping either. And, despite all the weirdness that is Michel Pereira vs. Diego Sanchez, or the expected wildness of Lando Vannata vs. Yancy Medeiros, much of this event just doesn’t leap off the page.

For those looking to dive deeper into the undercard, however, check out the PRELIMS Vivi. There we break down all the early ESPN+ fights, from Tim Means vs. Daniel Rodriguez down to Mark De La Rosa vs. Raulian Paiva.

Here’s a look at the UFC Rio Rancho main card as it stands right now:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 8PM/5PM ET/PT
Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz 2 – 2:10, Odds 19:49
Diego Sanchez vs. Michel Pereira – 20:05, Odds 30:36
Montana De La Rosa vs. Mara Romero Borella – 31:11, Odds 40:11
Brok Weaver vs. Rodrigo Vargas – 40:46, Odds 43:52
Ray Borg vs. Rogerio Bontorin – 45:28, Odds 55:17
Yancy Medeiros vs. Lando Vannata – 56:01, Odds 1:09:08

Be sure to follow Zane on twitter @TheZaneSimon, follow Connor, @BoxingBusch, and follow @BloodyElbow for all the latest in MMA happenings. If you enjoyed our show, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

The MMA Vivisection – UFC Rio Rancho: Blachowicz vs. Anderson 2 PRELIMS picks, odds, & analysis

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Zane Simon in Front Page

Not exactly the best offering the UFC has ever put together, especially considering how much of their talent is based in and around New Mexico, but this card has also been a little bit snake bit by injury trouble—on the prelims at least. Tim Means was supposed to take on Ramazan Emeev, and now will face newcomer Daniel Rodriguez. Dequan Townsend is in on short notice to face Devin Clark. And Shanna Young has been called up from Invicta to replace Nicco Montano against Macy Chiasson. Still, Miller/Holtzman, Kenney/Dvalishvili, & De La Rosa/Paiva all should be fun, so it’s not a total loss.

Here’s a look at the ESPN+ Prelims as they stand right now:

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 5PM/2PM ET/PT
Tim Means vs. Daniel Rodriguez – 5:05, Odds 13:07
John Dodson vs. Nathaniel Wood – 14:37, Odds 26:12
Jim Miller vs. Scott Holtzman – 26:25, Odds 33:46
Devin Clark vs. Dequan Townsend – 34:05, Odds 36:24
Casey Kenney vs. Merab Dvalishvili – 36:52, Odds 46:45
Macy Chiasson vs. Shanna Young – 47:30, Odds 50:45
Mark De La Rosa vs. Raulian Paiva – 51:35, Odds 1:01:00

Watch for our MMA Vivisection MAIN CARD show at 2pm CST, Thursday, February 13th, 2020. Be sure to follow Zane on twitter @TheZaneSimon, follow Connor, @BoxingBusch, and follow @BloodyElbow for all the latest in MMA happenings. If you enjoyed our show, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.