UFC 143 Drug Tests: NSAC Confirms ?At Least One? Positive Test

Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer has just issued a statement regarding administered drug tests following Saturday's UFC 143 in Las Vegas. Amidst speculation of a possible rematch between main event opponents Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, the rematch has since been canceled due to an unannounced situation.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27558/ufc-143-drug-tests-nsac-confirms-at-least-one-positive-test/

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Yahoo! MMA video: Iole talks about GSP casting a large shadow over UFC 143

LAS VEGAS -- Gone is the polite Georges St-Pierre. He's been replaced by a guy who has demons in his head.

If anything shows St-Pierre means business about wanting to rip Nick Diaz's head off down the road it was the fact that he sat down with the media for close to an hour on Wednesday. That's when St-Pierre dropped the demon line and talked about having lots of street fights in his past. Diaz is the only bad egg in the UFC's welterweight division.

Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole joined me today at Mandalay Bay to discuss the big storylines for UFC 143.

You can watch UFC 143 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/yahoo-video-iole-talks-gsp-casting-large-shadow-060324242.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish Added to UFC on Fox 3

A lightweight matchup between Danny Castillo and New Jersey native John Cholish has been added to UFC on Fox 3 on May 5 in East Rutherford, NJ. UFC on Fox 3 is headlined by lightweight contenders Nate Diaz and Jim Miller and also features heavyweights Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27528/danny-castillo-vs-john-cholish-added-to-ufc-on-fox-3/

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Fouls lead to an Alex Caceres loss while Matt Brown is back on track at UFC 143

LAS VEGAS -- Twice, Alex Caceres landed kicks to Edwin Figueroa's groin that looked like he was attempting to nail 60-yard field goals. But they cost him an extra point and the decision in their bantamweight bout on Saturday at UFC 143.

Caceres landed his first kick early in the first round at Mandalay Bay, which sent Figueroa rolling across the mat in agony. Referee Herb Dean issued Caceres a "strong warning" after Figueroa signaled he was able to continue.

The rest of the first round was wild, as Figueroa connected with a head kick and nearly finished the fight, but Caceres rallied and went for several submission attempts late in the round.

Midway through the second, Caceres struck again. This time, Dean took the highly unusual step of docking the fighter two points for the infraction as the fight continued.

Figueroa won round three on all three cards. The scores were 28-27 across the board, two for Figueroa and one for Caceres. If there had been a standard one-point deduction, the bout would have been a majority draw, with two 28-28 cards and a 29-27 for Caceres.

"I felt like it was a hard earned paycheck," said Figueroa. "He was a good fighter. I had to dig deep for this one.  He came out and landed a few shots early.  It was a tough fight but I came out the winner."

The loss was the third in four fights for Caceres, the former "TUF" standout. Figueroa was won two straight.

"Immortal" Brown back on track.

Matt Brown may or may not be "Immortal," as his nickname suggests, but he sure has managed to hang around in the UFC's welterweight division.

Brown has grinded his way through 11 UFC fights since 2008, showing promise, but never quite building enough momentum to break through. But he's hoping to turn the page in 2012 after scoring a knockout victory over Chris Cope at UFC 143 Saturday.

"That's exactly what I need to be doing," said Brown (13-11) "I got away from who I am."

Brown controlled the action in round one against a tentative Cope (5-4), but never got an opening to do serious damage. That changed early in round two, when he feigned a left, followed with a big right hand that connected, then floored Cope with a left hook. He landed a few more shots on the ground before referee Kim Winslow stopped it at 1:19.

The win came as a relief to Brown, who had lost four of his previous five fights. "I've got a right hand to knock out anybody, I hope to see more of that."

Follow Dave Doyle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/davedoylemma

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/fouls-lead-alex-caceres-loss-ufc-143-025033949.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

With AKA split, Jon Fitch vs. Josh Koscheck could happen says Dana White

Dana White has said it for years, the fight game isn't a place for team camaraderie in the long run, The fight game will eventually will split up even the best of friends.

The heat between former teammates Jon Jones and Rashad Evans has been palpable for over a year and now we could see two guys, who appeared to be even closer, fighting in the future.

Josh Koscheck is done with American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Ca. That could mean the roadblocks are gone for a Koscheck match against Jon Fitch.

As teammates they said they'd never fight each other unless it was for a title. That always drove their boss nuts. Now that Koscheck is on his own, would they pass up a chance for a title shot if it meant they had to fight?

Koscheck gave a cryptic answer when conversing with White during the UFC 143 postfight press conference.

"That's what I whispered to him," White told the media. "I said, 'Now I'm doing the Jon Fitch fight.' He said, 'Good luck with that.'"

Koscheck gave no details as to why he split from the camp. He first indicated things were on shaky ground during the week when he said he was fighting for "Team Me" not "Team AKA."

He confirmed things during the postfight.

"I'll be training out of Fresno for now. I'm no longer affiliated with some of the people at the gym that I've been training at. I'm going to do my own thing," said Koscheck.

What happened at AKA? Koscheck wouldn't even mention the gym by name.

Koscheck barely squeaked by Mike Pierce and admitted his motivation to fight was less than stellar. Between the drama of leaving his longtime team and Pierce not being a huge name, the veteran UFC star produced a lackluster performance.

"Josh looked flat tonight. I expected Josh to have the faster hands. He didn't really let his hands go tonight," White said. "He looked flat."

Maybe a Fitch fight, with the winner getting a title shot, is exactly the energy Koscheck needs. For now White said he's not planning on Fitch-Koscheck, but he's open to it.

"No. I'm just [expletive] with him. If the fight made sense ... because there was a time when those two were [at the top of the rankings] ... but if the fight made sense, yeah, I'd try to make it. I wouldn't do it just to do it," said White.

Fitch needs to get back in there as soon as possible. Knocking on the door for a second title shot for the last three years, Fitch's chances got crushed when he was knocked out in just 12 seconds at UFC 141 against Johny Hendricks. In the USA Today/Bloody Elbow 170-pound rankings, he dropped all the way down to No. 7.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/aka-split-jon-fitch-vs-josh-koscheck-could-080034026.html

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Roy Nelson is tough as hell, but it?s not enough to compete with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143

LAS VEGAS -- Roy Nelson is slowly shedding the blubber around his midsection, but he still has a ways to go. Fabricio Werdum showed that tonight.

The Brazilian, fighting for the first time in the UFC since 2008, actually picked apart Nelson on the feet to cruise to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three cards.

"Roy is very tough and can endure a lot of beating, but I found his weak spots," said Werdum.

With a giant belly and a mullet, Nelson is the everyman, and the crowd at Mandalay Bay roared in approval of the Las Vegas native. He came into the fight at just 246 pounds, his lightest weight in years. But even minus the extra 20 pounds he used to fight with, Nelson was still taking big deep breaths midway through the second round. He was a sitting duck.

Werdum is generally regarded as one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists in the division, but no one's ever raved about his striking. He beat the heck out of Nelson on the feet. The 6-foot Nelson played perfectly into the 6-5 Werdum's gameplan of working head control to throw knees. Werdum opened a huge gash on Nelson's forehead.

"This fight was important to me. I trained hard every day for this fight. I had a good strategy going into the fight but the main thing for me was to come out with a victory," said Werdum. FightMetric had Werdum outlanding Nelson 91-26.

Nelson (16-7 , 3-3 UFC) took a beating to the chin and body along the cage over the first five minutes. It just got worse from there. An exhausted Nelson tried to throw the home run overhand right for the next 10 minutes. In doing so, he moved forward and kept ducking his head. Werdum landed more knees and pounded Nelson to the face with his jab.

Reality is that Nelson is a tweener. If he really got in great shape, he'd probably still weigh 220 pounds. That's too small for heavyweight and way too big for the 205-pound division. Werdum is a massive guy, but still quick enough to avoid the plodding Nelson.

"I never really dwell on losses. I think it makes you a better fighter depending on how you look at it. Yeah it sucks, but I'll get back in the gym and get better."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/fabricio-werdum-triumphant-ufc-return-ufc-143-050710778.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung Booked for UFC on Fuel TV 3 Main Event

Before the first UFC on Fuel TV event takes place next Wednesday in Omaha, the third installment, UFC on Fuel TV 3, now has a main event, as rising featherweights Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung will battle in the main event of the May 15 card in Fairfax, Virginia.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27570/dustin-poirier-vs-chan-sung-jung-booked-for-ufc-on-fuel-tv-3-main-event/

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

UFC 143 video: The confusing words of Nick Diaz

LAS VEGAS -- Nick Diaz is saying, but he's not saying.

The UFC interim welterweight title challenger showed up for his first round of media duties yesterday in Las Vegas. Our videographer Silton Buendia did a beautiful of piecing together what he could.

On the topic of being the favorite in his UFC 143 fight against Carlos Condit:

"We have a really even sort of record. One of us might ha fought harder opponents. I can't say that I have. I just figure that one of us, with all those fights, one of us has had harder opponents in there," Diaz told the media at UFC 143 workout day. "I know that everybody I've fought has been really, they've been really tough. I've never been fed any squids."

So Condit's resume is less impressive, right? That's exactly what Diaz said, or did he?

On the subject of Georges St-Pierre's ACL injury, Diaz has his doubts yet he doesn't.

"Who knows? Maybe Georges isn't really hurt. Anybody seen any pictures of surgery because I haven't. I don't know, maybe they are everywhere and everybody knows. I just haven't seen it. I want to see some photographs or video," Diaz said. "I'm not saying 'Georges ain't hurt.'  I don't know. You're working out already?"

These comments came on the heels of Diaz saying he would never pull out of fight yet less than a minute later he questioned why GSP is showing fortitude and coming back so quickly.

Diaz also seemed to suggest that the UFC was making him fight too often ... but they're not.

"I don't know, sometimes I wonder if they like me out here, they don't like me? They think I'm an exciting fighter, they don't I'm an exciting fighter? I don't know these sort of things," Diaz said. "I wonder sometimes, are they just trying to beat me down."

Diaz was asked if he wants some time off.

"Not necessarily. I'd like to get credit and get paid. I'd like some acknowledgment. [...] I don't like to fight. I don't like to do this. This is a job," said Diaz.

Diaz, tabbed the No. 1 contender by the UFC, will battle Carlos Condit for the interim title. He could take the interim strap with a rousing victory, get a big ovation from the crowd and a postfight bonus from the UFC, but with Diaz he'll probably react by asking why they didn't give him the real belt. In fact, mark it down.

You can watch UFC 143 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-143-confusing-words-nick-diaz-184356197.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John AlessioÂ