Brock Lesnar shouts out American police, preaches unity

Brock Lesnar sure knows how to endear himself to the fans and use his platform for a good cause.

The uber-popular fighter defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 200 on Saturday in Las Vegas via unanimous decision. After the fight, he gave a special shoutout to the service men in the United States.

Brock also preached unity among all people.

Lesnar "one day at a time… Says, "one nation under God, all nationalities, we've got to stand together people." #UFC200

— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 10, 2016

Lesnar: America, shoutout to all the men & women who protect this country. From sea to shining sea. From one white boy to all nationalities.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 10, 2016

Lesnar’s shoutout comes days after five Dallas police officers were killed by a sniper attack while protecting those peacefully protesting. In the ensuing days there were other attacks on police officers. Prior to that, two black men were killed by police.

Though Lesnar represented Canada for his fight, the U.S. was still front and center on his mind, as were people of all races and nationalities. That’s why fans love him.

Daniel Cormier booed by fans at UFC 200

The fans at UFC 200 did not treat Daniel Cormier too kindly on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Cormier was booed heavily during his win over Anderson Silva. He was booed after snuffing out some strikes by Silva, and he was booed even more after winning the fight by unanimous decision.

The reason for the boos is hard to say, but we can take a stab at why fans were not positive about Cormier doing well.

First off, fans were probably upset about what they were watching because it was not the fight they were supposed to so; they were supposed to see Cormier against Jon Jones, but that plan was changed during the week due to Jones failing a pre-fight drug test.

Secondly, maybe fans felt Silva was not a good replacement and that he was out of shape, therefore they thought the fight stunk.

Third, maybe the fans were so pro-Silva they didn’t like watching him lose.

Lastly, it could just be that the fans in attendance were anti-Cormier. Cormier is a self-professed “heel,” so it could just be that the fans don’t like him. His fighting style of hugging might also not have appealed to them.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t seem like Cormier deserved to be booed so heavily.

Anderson Silva steroids history makes him odd replacement

The UFC was in a bind with UFC 200 after Jon Jones failed an out-of-competition drug test last month and needed a replacement fighter to face Daniel Cormier. That fighter turned out to be Anderson Silva, who has a history of using steroids, making his selection an odd one.

At one point considered a phenom and perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Silva has seen his stardom dim lately. A winner of an incredible 17 straight fights, Silva seemed invincible. That was until he met Chris Weidman.

Silva was surprisingly knocked out by Weidman while clowning around in the octagon at UFC 162. In their rematch at UFC 168, Silva broke his leg on a kick and lost the fight.

And then the steroids happened.

Silva, who had beaten several fighters who all tested positive following their bouts — Stephan Bonnar, Chael Sonnen, Forrest Griffin and James Irvin to name a few — it was Silva’s turn to test positive. The Spider failed a prefight and postfight drug test after his win over Nick Diaz at UFC 183. The pre-fight was out of competition, during which time Silva tested positive for two steroids. He tested positive for one of those same steroids again after the fight.

Following a year ban, Silva then lost to Michael Bisping. Silva enters his fight with Daniel Cormier having lost three of his last four fights. The fourth turned into a no-contest due to his positive test and Nick Diaz testing positive for marijuana.

If the whole point of replacing one fighter who tested positive because you don’t want banned substances, why choose a guy who is coming off a year ban for steroids to replace him? That doesn’t make much sense.

Anderson Silva sparks rumors with UFC 200 Instagram post

Anderson Silva sparked rumors that he may be the replacement for Jon Jones against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 this weekend with a post he made on Instagram Thursday afternoon.

The Spider posted a photo that contained the words, “It’s Time for Spider,” along with the UFC 200 logo. He also wrote Vegas here we come:

He posted his caption in Portuguese, but here is the Google Translation of what he wrote:

“It pays to be a winner? Maybe, maybe not. Obviously everything has a shelf life. The improvement requires self-awareness to know when to speed up their efforts and when to just park them. But here in MUAY THAI COLLEGE In the train until it is impossible to go wrong. And we never parked, because life is like water, if you stop it rots Is a tip !! Vegas here we come”

Silva’s post adds to what Combate reported about an hour earlier. They said the Brazilian fighter was going to be the replacement to fight Cormier.

Gegard Mousasi, Michael Bisping and Cowboy Cerrone are among the other names who have been mentioned in conjunction with the fight. The UFC has not yet announced a replacement. They could be waiting for Silva to pass his medical exams/tests before confirming the fight.

Silva taking this fight would seem like a risk considering he pulled out of his fight with Uriah Hall in May to have gallbladder surgery. There would also be something uncomfortable about a guy who was banned due to a positive steroids test replacing a fighter who just got pulled from a title fight due to a positive test.

Jon Jones says he ‘can’t even pronounce’ substance he tested positive for

Jon Jones faced the media on Thursday to discuss the failed drug test that has resulted in his UFC 200 fight against Daniel Cormier being called off. The UFC interim light heavyweight champion fought back tears during the press conference, at one point leaving briefly to gather his emotions.

Jones denied knowingly taking any banned substances and said he cannot even pronounce the name of the metabolite he tested positive for.

Jon Jones is emotional as he addresses the media. pic.twitter.com/V4SPFLZ5fX

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 7, 2016

“Supposedly they found something in one of my samples that I have no clue what it is. I don’t even know how to pronounce it,” Jones said. “There’s a few things that have nothing to do with performance that I’ve tried. Like I said, whatever it is, I can’t even pronounce it.”

Jones said he is against using performance-enhancing drugs and has taken mostly the same supplements throughout his entire MMA career.

“I wouldn’t cheat,” he said. “Being labeled as someone who would cheat hurts me more than anything else I’ve ever been through in my career.”

Malki Kawa, Jones’ manager, said he is “1,000 percent positive” that Jones did not take a performance-enhancing substance. Kawa also expressed confidence that the situation will be resolved, though the chances seem slim.

The USADA does not ban recreational drugs out of competition. The same is true of narcotics like morphine or amphetamines, so the positive test was in all likelihood triggered by some sort of PED. Many were quick to jump to conclusions because of Jones’ admitted history with drug use, but the circumstances are different this time.

Either way, Jones is facing a two-year ban.

Conor McGregor’s trainer trolls UFC after Jon Jones failed drug test

With the news that Jon Jones has been removed from his scheduled fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 because of another failed drug test, you have to wonder if Dana White wishes he went easier on Conor McGregor a couple of months ago.

If you remember, McGregor was originally supposed to have a rematch against Nate Diaz but was booted off the UFC 200 card for refusing to fulfill his promotion obligations. Shortly after word surfaced that Jones failed a drug test, McGregor’s trainer trolled the UFC on Twitter.

I wonder if there's any regret taking him off the card over a press conference now?

— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) July 7, 2016

Jones failed an “out-of-competition” test. You can read about what that means in further detail here.

McGregor’s battle with White and the UFC back in April was very public, with the Irishman unloading on the organization and its demands in this infamous Facebook rant. UFC 200 is supposed to be the biggest event in the history of the sport, and now two headline fights have been nixed.

No one can predict the future, but you have to assume White wishes the McGregor-Diaz fight was still going to be the main event.

Jon Jones’ failed drug test likely not due to cocaine

UFC 200 was thrown into a frenzy on Wednesday night when it was revealed that Jon Jones failed an out-of-competition drug test, leading to the UFC to remove him from his scheduled fight against Daniel Cormier on Saturday.

Jones’ failed test stemmed from a June 16 sample collected by USADA. The sample was taken three weeks ago and considered “out-of-competition,” which is different from in-competition. Typically in-competition samples are regarded as ones taken the day of or week leading up to a fight. The range of products that could trigger a positive sample for an in-competition drug test is much greater than out of competition tests.

USADA does not ban recreational drugs such as cocaine, heroine, marijuana etc out of competition. Nor do they ban narcotics like morphine or amphetamines like ritalin out of competition.

That means a positive test was likely triggered by something like a steroid, hormone, diuretic, IV or anything else associated with performance-enhancers.

Now why would people think cocaine when it comes to a failed drug test for Jones? He tested positive for coke a month before his last fight against Cormier in Jan. 2015 and ended up going to rehab (for a day). Some are speculating that his positive test could have been triggered by a tainted supplement.

Glove touch to Bloody Elbow