Issue 144
August 2016
Penn Comeback Delayed Again
BJ Penn is still waiting to make his return after his fight at UFC 199 was scrapped for a violation of the promotion’s anti-doping policy. ‘The Prodigy’ was flagged for using an IV during training camp, which he said he didn’t realize was against the rules. “I was so focused on USADA’s banned substance list that I never gave any thought to the IV,” he offered.
The former UFC 155 and 170lb champion, now training out of Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico, once described IV use as “the biggest joke ever”, and maintains his stance, explaining he used one during tests for vision, motion sickness and vertigo. “Of course they are for wimps when the IV is being used to rehydrate a fighter who has nearly killed himself cutting weight so that he can fight a smaller man.”
Kimbo dead at 42
Mixed martial arts lost one of its biggest stars on June 6th when Kimbo Slice – real name Kevin Ferguson – died of heart failure in Florida. The former bodyguard rose to fame as a street-fighting viral-video sensation, before embarking on a pro MMA career. He fought in the main event of EliteXC: Primetime, which was the first mixed martial event on network television and attracted 6.51 million viewers – a record for the sport at the time.
Slice later appeared on The Ultimate Fighter before fighting for the UFC. He last appeared in Bellator MMA. The organization’s president, Scott Coker, said: “Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport. Outside of the cage he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo’s friends, fans, and teammates.”
On the radar
Emerging talent with big potential
Adam Proctor (UK)
He may be young at 20, but this Brit has gone 5-0 in his short 18-month career already. His dominant grappling game is eye-catching, but watch out for his technical standup and high in-cage IQ too.
Benito Lopez (USA)
Undefeated at 5-0 with his last win via eight-second KO. If that’s not enough to get hyped about this 22-year-old ‘Golden Boy’, know that he’s another Team Alpha Male member with its trademark killer instinct ingrained in him.
Valdines Silva (Brazil)
The Pitbull Brothers representative is undefeated since his 2013 loss to Thomas Almeida and pulled off a big upset to claim the Jungle Fight 145lb title from Jonas Bilharinho. With Team Nogueira behind him, he’s a big-show shoo-in.
Hot Potato
Seeing as no one seems to be able to hold onto mixed martial arts’ biggest prize for long, FO asked its followers who they think will be heavyweight champion at the end of 2016?
38%
Stipe Miocic
35%
Alistair Overeem
19%
Cain Velasquez
8%
Other
Alan Sealy
I see Cain being champ.
Paea N Macca Lukitau
The Reem will get reemed!!!
Kevin West
Stipe will hold the belt for awhile. At least until Cain gets back to form.
Will Andrews
STIPE KEEPING THE BELT!!!
Freddrick Michael Burrin
Most likely Stipe because I don’t think Reem’s chin will hold up. But it wouldn’t be shocking if Reem did win, it’s heavyweight after all.
Arsalan Ahmad Fawad
if reem fights the way he did with JDS cant see him losing to Stipe.
Bruce Bana
Stipe is going be champion a long time.
What's Hot
In the nude
Conor McGregor is the latest MMA representative to strip for the ‘Body Issue’ of ESPN The Magazine. Ronda Rousey also posed wearing only her smile.
Nasty by name…
One Championship’s Timofey Nastyukhin is back with his fastest KO yet – he flattened Rob Lisita with punches and a soccer kick in six seconds.
Back from the dead
His military service is almost at an end, he’s training again and it’s almost time for ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung to return to the Octagon.
What's Not
Off the scale
Troubled Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller looked surprised when he blew weight by 24lb for his comeback fight with Venator FC, but most people weren’t.
Road safety
Note to fighters – stay away from two-wheeled transport. Wanderlei Silva is the latest to require surgery after he was knocked off his bike by a car in Brazil.
Snoozefest
You’d think a fight between Melvin Manhoef and Rafael Carvalho would guarantee action, but the Bellator 155 main event put us all to sleep.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Blackzilians to honor Parsons
The founder of Boca Raton, Florida’s Blackzilians has revealed plans to launch a foundation to honor the memory of former Bellator fighter Jordan Parsons, who died in May when he was the victim of a hit-and-run. Glenn Robinson says the charity will help underprivileged youths, support anti-bullying campaigns and fund scholarships to train at the team’s JACO Hybrid Training Center.
160lbs
Former bantamweight Renan Barao’s weight in the week before his 145lb debut.
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