Leon Tabbs, legendary cutman who worked UFC 1, dies at 86
(https:)Leon Tabbs, the first official cutman for the UFC, died Friday evening in Atlanta. He was 86.
Tabbs’ son, Bruce, told MMAjunkie that his father passed away after struggling with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
“Our father is our hero,” Bruce said in a statement to MMAjunkie. “He lived a simple life enjoying it to the fullest and deserved all he earned, and more, and earned all he received. Family, boxing, and friends and laughter were his life.”
Tabbs, who got his start in boxing, worked UFC 1 and served as the promotion’s cutman for 19 years. He retired from the fight game in 2012. In 2013, Tabbs received a lifetime achievement award at the Fighters Only World MMA Awards.
Rafael dos Anjos reacts to UFC 225 loss to Colby Covington: ‘Bad guys win sometimes in real life’
(https:)Rafael dos Anjos had the chance to join the club of fighters who managed to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, but was defeated by Colby Covington for the interim welterweight belt in the co-main event of UFC 225 in Chicago in Saturday night.
Two days after the defeat, dos Anjos’ first loss since moving up from 155 pounds, the Brazilian released a statement on his social media, promising to bounce back a better fighter, like he did after his 2014 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and losing to one of the “bad guys” in Chicago.
USADA suspends Michal Oleksiejczuk one year for testing positive for clomiphene
(https:)Michal Oleksiejczuk now has his complete sanctions.
USADA suspended the UFC light heavyweight for one year after his positive test for clomiphene in December, the UFC’s anti-doping partner announced Tuesday. Oleksiejczuk was already suspended one year in March by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) and his win over Khalil Rountree was overturned to a no contest. The suspensions will run concurrently.
X-ray shows hand injury suffered by Robert Whittaker at UFC 225
(https:)Robert Whittaker scored another decision victory over Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC 225 in Chicago, but it was a costly win.
“The Reaper”, who won a close split decision win in a five-round non-title bout Saturday night, fractured his right thumb early in the opening round, and his team released the X-ray on social media.
Michael Bisping’s on-air beef with Colby Covington was untimely (and unnecessary)
(https:)It’s exceedingly easy to hate on Colby Covington, especially after he vowed to take his newly won interim belt to the White House for Donald Trump to run a cold finger over. But it’s quite another to dress him down on a post-fight show right after he wins that belt, which Michael Bisping did late on Saturday night. If you expect high-road professionalism from Bisping in his role as an analyst, five words spring immediately to mind.
Good luck with that, booday.
In fact, the whole segment — which lasted five minutes and aired live on Fox Sports 1 after UFC 225 — took on the complexion of an SNL skit, with Covington on one half of the split screen sporting shades, his belt and his trademark smug smile, and Bisping on the other, taking umbrage at how Covington called the panel out for doubting his chances against Rafael dos Anjos. It was uncomfortable, weird, comical, even a little mortifying — and sometimes all of those things at once (like when poor Michelle Waterson forgot her question).
It was also untimely. Check it out for yourself.
Dana White says Rashad Evans told him that he’s retiring from MMA
(https:)Rashad Evans’ 53-second loss at UFC 225 could turn out to be the final Octagon appearance of his legendary career.
Evans suffered a nasty first-round knockout loss to Anthony Smith on Saturday night at UFC 225, a setback which extended his current losing streak to five straight. Afterward, UFC president Dana White said that he spoke to Evans in the aftermath of the Smith fight, and he indicated that Evans could be at the end of his 13-year run with the promotion.
Dana White: UFC working with commissions to get rid of early weigh-ins
(https:)With more and more frequency, it seems fighters missing weight has become an issue in MMA.
And on several occasions, it’s been more than a mere nuisance that a fighter has come in off the mark. In the UFC, in particular, it’s not been a rarity for a fighter to be pulled from an event altogether because of a weight-cut that has gone awry at the 11th hour. In some cases, fighters have been hospitalized because of it.
On the latest edition of the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast with hosts Matt Serra and Jim Norton, UFC President Dana White said he believes the early weigh-ins the promotion moved to in 2016, in partnership with most state athletic commissions, are to blame for more fighters missing weight than should be expected.
But White also said the UFC is making an effort to do away with the early weigh-ins and go back to the previous format – which was a late afternoon public weigh-in event for the fans the day before the fight card, usually at 4 p.m. local time. In the new format, fighters weigh-in during a two-hour window, typically between 9-11 a.m. local, and then at many events return for a ceremonial weigh-in for the fans in the afternoon.
UFC 225's Joseph Benavidez happy to return from long layoff, unhappy being 'buried' on UFC Fight Pass
(https:)As he prepares to return from an an 18-month-long layoff, Joseph Benavidez has a few reasons to be happy.
But then there are others in which Benavidez isn’t all that happy.
Benavidez, the No. 2 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, meets No. 6 fighter Pettis in a meaningful fight for the division. In fact, should he beat Pettis and add a seventh win to his current streak, Benavidez thinks it will be hard to deny him a third stab at champ Demetrious Johnson.
Despite its possible ramifications, the flyweight bout is only the third fight of the evening and will be featured on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed preliminary card at Chicago’s United Center. Asked about it, Benavidez makes no secret of his feelings on the card placement.
Andrea Lee’s husband, coach Donny Aaron apologizes for Nazi tattoos, won’t get them removed or covered
(https:)Andrea Lee’s husband has addressed the recent controversy surrounding him.
Donny Aaron, husband and coach to the UFC flyweight and former LFA champion, issued a public apology Sunday morning via his Instagram account regarding Nazi tattoos he has on both arms.
The tattoos came to light Friday when Lee tweeted a photo at a lake that showed a swastika tattoo on Aaron’s left arm. Later, people on social media dug up a photo of Aaron’s other arm, which has a tattoo of a Nazi SS bolt symbol. Both are considered Neo-Nazi hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League.
In his statement, Aaron apologized to everyone that was offended by his tattoos and said he got them during his time in prison. Aaron says his tattoos are symbols of his past, but not of his present or future, claiming he’s now a changed man.
Aaron says he won’t cover the Nazi tattoos with other tattoos nor will he get the tattoos removed, as those are not “options” for him. Aaron did say that he will wear keep wearing long-sleeve clothing in public to cover the hate symbols.
Video chronicles Darren Till’s brutal weight cut before UFC Liverpool
(https:)Darren Till missed weight last weight by 3-1/2 pounds. But certainly not from lack of trying.
Till’s weight cut ahead of his fight with Stephen Thompson at UFC Liverpool was chronicled in a video released Thursday by his sponsor Paddy Power. Till can be seen unable to stand up in sauna. And at one point he told his coaches he could not see, prompting them to stop the weight-cutting process.
Kelvin Gastelum to make his studio analyst debut at UFC Utica
(https:)Add Kelvin Gastelum to the list of fighters giving the commentary game a go.
FOX Sports announced Thursday the middleweight contender and former TUF winner will make his debut on the studio desk commentary team for UFC Utica on Friday night.
Gastelum will be joined in studio for the FS1 card by Kenny Florian, Brandon Fitzgerald, and in an interesting twist, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
Khabib Nurmagomedov now targeting first UFC title defense sooner than expected
(https:)After winning the UFC lightweight title with a five-round decision over Al Iaquinta at UFC 223, Khabib Nurmagomedov said he wasn’t planning to return to fighting until November or December of this year. But now it looks like the champ will be back sooner than anticipated.
Speaking with his fans during a live chat Tuesday, Nurmagomedov announced that his team had begun talks with the UFC about returning to action this fall, either for the September or October pay-per-view event.
Sara McMann announces pregnancy
(https:)Baby number two is on the way for Sara McMann.
On Wednesday, the one-time women’s bantamweight title challenger announced on Instagram that she is three-months pregnant.
Darren Till re-weighs in at 187.3 pounds, UFC Liverpool main event vs. Stephen Thompson is on
(https:)The main event of UFC Liverpool is a go.
A potential disaster for the UFC was averted as officials announced that Darren Till was able to make 187.3 pounds at a scheduled weigh-in around 1 p.m. local time in Liverpool, England, making him eligible to face Stephen Thompson in the main event of Sunday’s show at the Echo Arena. Till was required to hit the scales again after failing to make the welterweight limit (171 pounds for a non-title bout) at Saturday’s official weigh-ins, where he came in heavy at 174.5 pounds.
Georges St-Pierre opens up about Nate Diaz fight that didn’t happen, future UFC plans
(https:)Earlier this month, UFC president Dana White announced that a blockbuster fight between Georges St-Pierre and Nate Diaz was in the works for Aug. 4 at UFC 227. Momentum for the matchup even reached a point where betting odds were released and Diaz responded to the rumblings with a very Diaz-like Facebook post accusing St-Pierre of steroid use and accusing White of selling “wolf tickets” to fight fans.
Ultimately, that was the end of it though. The matchup never came to fruition.
However, speaking Wednesday during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, St-Pierre revealed that discussions of a potential UFC 227 return against Diaz were very much a real thing, and that “GSP” and his team at Tristar actually contemplated the idea.
Ex-champ Chris Weidman targets fall UFC return after second hand surgery
(https:)Things are beginning to look up for former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman.
Weidman (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) hasn’t seen action since a submission victory over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC on FOX 25 in July. He’s had left hand issues that taken multiple surgeries to fix, but according to the former titleholder, the worst of it is behind him.
According to Weidman, 33, who spoke about his injury during a Tuesday “EA UFC 3” Twitch stream, the most recent surgery on his thumb went well and he could be cleared for training as soon as this week.
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