The Ultimate Fighting Championship today announced the reinstatement of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Jones had been suspended since an April hit-and-run case, coming a few months after a cocaine test positive a well as a late night car crash.
Dana White had said previously that if Jones was reinstated, he could immediately challenge for the championship that he never lost. The title is currently held by Daniel Cormier, who Jones defeated via decision on Jan. 3 in one of UFC’s biggest pay-per-view shows of recent years. A Cormier vs. Jones title match would be expected next on the agenda.
Jones pleaded guilty to one felony charge and was given 18 months probation and 72 appearances for either charity of speaking with children, which was meant to be one per week during his probation period.
The UFC released this statement this morning.
“Following a review of the plea agreement reached by Jon Jones and officials in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the judge’s decision, UFC announced today the formal reinstatement of Jones to the UFC roster. Effective immediately, Jones is eligible to return to competition. As such, UFC expects Jones to meet all the terms of his plea agreement, including mandatory community service, as a condition of his reinstatement.
UFC is currently discussing with Jones a potential date for his return to the Octagon.
`We’ve made it clear to Jon that this new opportunity to compete in UFC is a privilege and not a right, and that there are significant expectations we have regarding his conduct moving forward,’ said UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. `We’re happy to read and see reports that he has embraced the terms of his plea agreement and is using this experience to grow and develop as a person.’
`I am thankful to be able to do what I love once again and I look forward to proving myself as a champion in and outside of the Octagon,’ Jones said.”
Jones also said on Facebook: “It took me losing almost everything I had worked for to realize how much I had.”
Jones, who has a 21-1 record, is generally considered the most talented fighter in the history of the sport. In his 22 pro fights, he won every one of them handily with the exception of a close decision win over Alexander Gustafsson. His lone loss, to Matt Hamill, was via disqualification in a one-sided fight where he had destroyed Hamill the entire fight.
At 24, he was the youngest champion in UFC history when he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to win the title. With eight title defenses, he was on the verge of Anderson Silva’s record of ten when the title was stripped from him due to his suspension.
“Congrats to Jon `Bones’ Jones on his reinstatement to the UFC,” wrote Cormier on Facebook. “For MMA fans, this is a good day. A guy that has shown to be one of the greatest fighters of all-time is back. As a competitor, there could be no other outcome and this is the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Jon has said the right things and his actions are backing his words up. We all hope this is the last time we have to deal with anything like that. And lastly, as a fan, you get to see two of the best fighters compete against each other. With that being said, I can’t wait to compete against him again.”
Episode 17 of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out has arrived just in time for a MMA double-shot weekend which is why Josh brought in MMA Weekly associate editor Erik Fontanez to help preview the action and find a bright spot amid a devastated UFC Fight Night Card, evidenced by Ben Rothwell’s awesome PhotoShop work.
Josh and Erik rapped for over an hour, giving hot take after hot take on the following:
– What he did for Back To The Future Day (yes, this matters)
– His start in MMA writing and the scene in SoCal
– What happened when he approached Joe Rogan out of the blue for an interview
– His toughest interviews
– The fan reaction to both Joe Duffy and Dustin Poirier this week
– What he’s looking forward to watching at UFC Dublin
– A look at Bellator Friday night and all that is Michael “Venom” Page
– A game of Optimistic or Pessimistic featuring Georges St. Pierre, CM Punk, and more
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 76: Holohan vs. Smolka weigh-ins from the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland kicking off at 11 AM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on UFC Fight Pass at 4 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 1:15 PM eastern time. This is the UFC’s third trip to Dublin, selling out this event in just under five minutes.
This event has undergone some big changes in the weeks leading up to the event. The main event was originally scheduled to be Dustin Poirier taking on Joseph Duffy, but Duffy was not medically cleared to compete earlier this week after suffering a concussion late in his training camp. That followed the previous cancellation of the original co-main event, which was to be a heavyweight bout between Stipe Miocic and Ben Rothwell. With all of these changes, the main event is now a three-round flyweight bout as Paddy Holohan takes on Louis Smolka. It marks the first time a flyweight bout not including Demetrious Johnson has been featured in a main event.
Everyone made weight with no issues. There was a heated confrontation between Norman Parke and Reza Madadi. Parke threw a purse at Madadi and they had to be separated by Dana White and other security members. Madadi is returning from being out of action for 30 months, and spent 14 months in jail for aggravated burglary- for stealing purses.
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 4 PM ET/1 PM PT):
Paddy Holohan (126) vs. Louis Smolka (125) Norman Parke (156) vs. Reza Madadi (156) Nicolas Dalby (170) vs. Darren Till (171) Neil Seery (125) vs. Jon Delos Reyes (125)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 1:15 PM ET/10:15 AM PT):
Stevie Ray (155) vs. Mickael Lebout (155) Aisling Daly (115) vs. Ericka Almeida (115) Scott Askham (184) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (185) Cathal Pendred (169) vs. Tom Breese (171) Darren Elkins (145) vs. Robert Whiteford (145) Bubba Bush (185) vs. Garreth McLellan (185)
Ultimate Fighter last night did 585,000 viewers, putting it in third place behind the Mets-Cubs game and a preseason NBA game, when it came to sports programming last night in the time slot.
For Destination America, TNA Impact had another weak night, doing 264,000 viewers for the first show and 63,000 for the second show, for a combined 327,000 viewers, tying last week for the third lowest since moving to the channel.
ROH fell 24 percent going against the Mets game, doing 132,000 viewers.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and TOM LAWLOR~! returns today with tons to talk about including the concussion that caused him to pull out of his next UFC fight and why he made this decision, plus, yes, THE TEN HOTTEST SUPERSTARS IN WWE. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of thoughts on the UFC card this weekend with likely the weakest main event in history, Smackdown, Tyler Breeze, Hell in a Cell and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The UFC returns to Ireland this Saturday for UFC Fight Night 76 at the 3Arena in Dublin, the third time the UFC has visited the venue. The last time the Octagon graced Dublin, it was one of the most memorable shows not just of 2014, but in company history, with a rabid crowd chanting all night long ending with Conor McGregor scoring a big win in front of his country on his way to winning the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship. UFC Fight Pass will provide exclusive coverage of the event with a main card start time of 4 PM eastern time, and preliminary card action kicking off at 1 PM eastern time on Saturday.
The event will be headlined by a five-round bout in the UFC’s lightweight division as former featherweight contender Dustin Poirier looks to continue to climb the 155-pound rankings when he takes on Irish standout Joseph Duffy, who looks to improve on his 14-1 MMA record and score his third straight UFC win. Poirier had some trouble when he last fought an Irish fighter, when he took on McGregor at UFC 178 in September 2014, and the Irish crowd certainly won’t let him forget about it. Other Irish standouts will be on the card, including Paddy Holohan, Aisling Daly and Cathal Pendred. Let’s take a deeper look into the card and find five storylines to keep an eye on when UFC Fight Night 76 takes place on Saturday.
1. Can Dustin Poirier score the win in front of the rabid Irish crowd?
There can be one thing said about the fans in Ireland- they are loud and they cheer their home country fighters with a lot of passion. Dustin Poirier is coming into hostile territory in the headline bout when he takes on Joseph Duffy in a five-round bout. Poirier has fought in front of a hostile, dominant Irish crowd before when he took on Conor McGregor at UFC 178 in Las Vegas. Duffy isn’t the type of personality that McGregor is, and doesn’t talk trash like McGregor, and isn’t going to get into the head of Poirier like McGregor did. However, the Irish fans will likely make Poirier remember the fight against McGregor, and they will look up the noise level in favor of Duffy when the two men step inside the Octagon.
Poirier is fighting for the third time since moving up to the lightweight division following his loss to McGregor. He has scored first-round knockout wins over Carlos Diego Ferreira and Yancy Medeiros since moving up, and Duffy is his biggest test since the transition. Poirier was a legitimate contender at 145 pounds, with his only losses coming to McGregor, Cub Swanson and Chan Sung Jung, fighters who have either fought for the title or been on the cusp of fighting for it. He has a chance to be a title contender at 155 pounds as he gets more adjusted, and not making the big weight cut down to 145 pounds has to make life easier. He is ranked at #13 in the lightweight rankings, but he comes in as the underdog for this fight. He has the overall skillset to score the win over Duffy, and it would be a big victory if he is able to do so.
2. Can Joseph Duffy break into the lightweight rankings with a win over Dustin Poirier?
Joseph Duffy will be stepping into the Octagon for the third time on Saturday night, and he is already in a main event spot when he takes on Dustin Poirier. Duffy is from Donegal, Ireland, and he will have the support of the crowd behind him. Duffy puts his four-fight win streak on the line, and he is 14-1 in his career. He also holds the distinction of being the last man to defeat Conor McGregor, and many think a rematch between the two could be the biggest fight they could put on in the country of Ireland. Duffy is by no means looking towards that, partly because they are fighting in different divisions (though that could change), but mostly because Duffy has higher aspirations- winning the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Duffy has scored two first-round stoppage wins in his two UFC fights, wins over Jake Lindsey and Ivan Jorge. Poirier is obviously a huge step up in competition, but Duffy is ready for it. Out of his 14 wins, 13 have come by stoppage, and he trains with one of the best camps in the sport- the Tristar camp in Montreal. Duffy is also undefeated in his professional boxing and kickboxing careers, and he has excellent ground skills as well. He has yet to go 25 minutes in a fight, and he had to weather some early trouble in his fight with Jorge. Poirier is one of the best finishers in the sport when he has his opponent in trouble, so Duffy will need to be on the offensive early. It is a big spot for Duffy to prove he is a contender, and a win would certainly send the Irish crowd home happy.
3. Who wins the co-main event between Paddy Holohan and Louis Smolka?
The night’s co-main event was originally scheduled to be a heavyweight bout between Stipe Miocic and Ben Rothwell that had big title shot implications on the line. However, Miocic was forced out of the bout due to injury, and Rothwell was pulled from the card in response, and this fight card ended up with a flyweight bout between Patrick Holohan and Louis Smolka being bumped up to the co-main event slot. It’s far from being the highest-profile co-main event fight, but it is one that has the potential to be the best fight on the card as Holohan and Smolka bring it inside the Octagon every time they step in it.
Holohan has just one loss in his professional career, and has won two straight fights. Smolka is also on a two-fight win streak and has just one loss in his professional career as well. Both men are exciting fighters who come to finish, and Holohan will have the Irish crowd solidly in his corner. Smolka will draw some vitrol from the crowd as he is coming off a win over another Irish flyweight in Neil Seery at UFC 189 in July. Smolka has excellent striking skills and some solid submission prowess. Holohan is a finisher by submission, with 67% of his wins coming by submission, but his last two wins have come by decision. Both are tall flyweights and have the same reach. They are evenly-matched, but I like Smolka to score the win in this one.
4. Will Norman Parke snap his two-fight losing skid when he takes on Reza Madadi?
Norman Parke is a former winner of The Ultimate Fighter, winning the lightweight tournament on TUF: The Smashes. He went unbeaten in his first five UFC bouts, and if it weren’t for a point deduction for grabbing the shorts of Leonardo Santos when they fought, he would’ve been five-for-five in his first five fights. However, he has seen a recent string of tough luck come his way as he enters Saturday night having lost his previous two bouts. Both were split decision losses, coming to Gleison Tibau and Francisco Trinaldo, and both were close enough fights that a few swings in the action during the bouts and Parke could still be unbeaten in the UFC. Regardless, he finds his back against the wall coming into Saturday night’s bout against a tough opponent in Reza Madadi.
Madadi is fighting for the first time since April 2013, when he scored a submission win over Michael Johnson, who is now a top-five ranked fighter at 155 pounds. Madadi has spent the past two years in lots of legal trouble, and spent 14 months in jail for aggravated burglary. He has claimed his innocence, and the UFC decided to re-sign him after he was released. With 30 months out of action, there is no question he will suffer from some cage rust. He is 8-1 in his last nine fights, but with missing that time and being 37-years-old, who knows what he brings to the table these days. It seems controversial that the UFC re-signed him after the arrest, but they must have faith that he was innocent despite the conviction. It will be a tough fight for Parke, but I see him scoring the win on Saturday.
5. What else is there to look out for on Saturday?
With this being an event airing exclusively on UFC Fight Pass and being in Ireland, it isn’t exactly loaded with star power, but there are a lot of promising fighters on the card. Nine fighters on the card have one loss or less in their careers, and some will be fighting for their spot on the UFC roster. The final main card bout is an interesting battle of unbeatens as Nicolas Dalby takes on Darren Till. Both men fight inside the Octagon for the second time, and Till is an interesting prospect at 22-years-old, and with eleven finish wins in his 13 career bouts.
On the preliminary card, Stevie Ray looks to go 3-0 inside the Octagon after two stoppage wins in his first two UFC bouts. Scott Askham and Krzysztof Jotko will each be looking to score their second straight UFC win when they square off. Cathal Pendred looks to get back into the win column after his first UFC loss when he takes on the undefeated Tom Breese. This is a big spot for Pendred as if he loses in yet another boring fight, he could be on his way out of the organization as roster cuts are being made. Also on the prelims is veteran Darren Elkins, who will be fighting in the UFC for the 13th time. He worked with the Team Alpha Male camp for this fight and he takes on Robert Whiteford, coming out of the American Top Team camp and is looking to build on his two-fight win streak.
Full UFC Fight Night 76 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 4 PM ET/1 PM PT)
Lightweights: (#13) Dustin Poirier vs. Joseph Duffy Betting Odds: Poirier (+200), Duffy (-240) Prediction: Poirier by knockout in round 3
Flyweights: Patrick Holohan vs. Louis Smolka Betting Odds: Holohan (+100), Smolka (-120) Prediction: Smolka by decision
Lightweights: Norman Parke vs. Reza Madadi Betting Odds: Parke (-280), Madadi (+240) Prediction: Parke by decision
Welterweights: Nicolas Dalby vs. Darren Till Betting Odds: Dalby (-135), Till (+115) Prediction: Till by knockout in round 2
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 1 PM ET/10 AM PT)
Lightweights: Stevie Ray vs. Mickael Lebout Betting Odds: Ray (-550), Lebout (+425) Prediction: Ray by knockout in round 2
Flyweights: Neil Seery vs. Jon Delos Reyes Betting Odds: Seery (-155), Reyes (+135) Prediction: Seery by decision
Middleweights: Scott Askham vs. Krzysztof Jotko Betting Odds: Askham (-135), Jotko (+115) Prediction: Askham by knockout in round 2
Women’s Strawweights: (#15) Aisling Daly vs. Ericka Almeida Betting Odds: Daly (-135), Almeida (+115) Prediction: Daly by decision
Welterweights: Cathal Pendred vs. Tom Breese Betting Odds: Pendred (+220), Breese (-260) Prediction: Breese by submission in round 2
Featherweights: (#14) Darren Elkins vs. Robert Whiteford Betting Odds: Elkins (-145), Whiteford (+125) Prediction: Elkins by decision
Middleweights: Bubba Bush vs. Garreth McLellan Betting Odds: Bush (-260), McLellan (+220) Prediction: Bush by submission in round 3
It’s a whole new season and Conor McGregor is the reason, as he and Urijah Faber go toe to toe as coaching foes on The Ultimate Fighter. They won’t duke it out after the season is done, but there’s still pride on the line, not to mention Conor’s reputation as the newest badass on the block.
Join us each episode for “The Notorious Quote of the Week” as Conor puts his mouth where UFC’s money is! We’ll also spice things up with some predictions for week two about who could go all the way this season – two “Fighters to Watch” for each recap.
The Notorious Quote of the Week is about TJ Dillashaw: “Where’s the little snake? Where’s the little weasel? That’s how people do – they just run over you.”
Saul Rogers won the second fight in a row for Team Europe on last week’s show. Conor McGregor picked ‘The Sultan’ Mehdi Baghdad to face Julian Erosa this week – we’ll see if Baghdad can make it three in a row.
Erosa is not taking it well that Baghdad promised to beat him up in the face off last week – and Faber is telling him to feed off those “fighting words” and get more pumped. Baghdad is ALREADY pumped. He talks about his K-1 kickboxing credentials, and brags he’ll “cut him like I cut my filet mignon” with his elbows. McGregor says the only thing Baghdad can do to get better is improve his footwork.
T.J. Dillashaw is here to help out the U.S. team train following his most recent title fight. Faber talks about Duane Ludwig leaving after being with Team Alpha Male for a year getting Dillashaw to the world title, and Dillashaw following him to Colorado. Except at this point in the filming he hasn’t QUITE left. He and Faber are chummy and all Dillashaw will say is “Faber and Ludwig don’t see eye to eye” and that he has a close bond with Ludwig.
Weigh-in time! Baghdad is 155.5 and Erosa is 156. Ryan Hall says Erosa is one of the toughest guys on their team. Dana White says his style is “unorthodox and weird” but says Baghdad is a world class muay thai striker. Both teams are sitting around waiting for a photo shoot and Conor McGregor starts talking smack about Dillashaw again. “Little snake in the grass he is. He’s a little snake in the grass.” Faber: “I think you just don’t want to fight either of us.” He accuses Faber of cutting down Chad Mendes in the process when Faber says he wouldn’t get tired fight McGregor. Faber immediately corrects him “on TWO WEEKS notice” but McGregor is having none of it. “Maybe you’re all snakes!” Then things get HOSTILE right before the commercial.
The extended cut after the commercial break has a lot of four letter words and a lot of pull-aparts and a lot of words bleeped out as coach Cody Garbrandt from Faber’s camp finally got ticked off and one of them walked over and shoved McGregor in the chest! Good thing it was a coach and not a fighter because a fighter would have been kicked off the show for it. Dillashaw was off getting coffee when the whole thing went down. McGregor can’t resist stirring the pot some more even after everybody gets settled down and tries to create some hostility between Dillashaw and Faber. Dillashaw stays cool as a cucumber: “I don’t need your fake ass belt.”
I know he’s only a coach and not one of the competitors but I’m designating Garbrandt as a Fighter to Watch this week. He’s currently undefeated at 7-0, having won his first six fights by KO or TKO, and he racked up a lot of those wins BEFORE coming to Team Alpha Male. This is a bantamweight who could end up fighting T.J. Dillashaw somewhere down the line.
After the break Baghdad puts on his headdress and says he’s representing all Arabic people as well as his country of France. He’s my other Fighter to Watch as a former RFA Lightweight Champion and K-1 France Champion. Faber is reminding Erosa to be the guy to strike first and control every position the fight goes to. Baghdad is 11-3 and Erosa is 14-2, so we’ve got two very experienced guys going into this fight.
Lightweight: Mehdi Baghdad (Europe) vs. Julian Erosa (USA)
Erosa is in the blue and Baghdad the gray. Baghdad is trying to pressure and Erosa has no problem with it, popping Baghdad with jabs. Baghdad does catch him with a good right hook though. You can really see where the “unorthodox” comes from with Erosa – he’ll lean his body one way and then strike from the opposite side. It would be really confusing to stand in front of him and figure out where the shots were coming from. He’s not just a power puncher too – he’s also got some crisp leg and head kicks, and he lands a sneaky knee when Baghdad tries to clinch. It’s a fairly even fight through the first three minutes, but slowly leaning toward Baghdad due to him being the aggressor. Baghdad lands really hard shots when he does close the distance and pin Erosa against the cage, but he just can’t keep him there for long.
As in the first round Baghdad is trying to be the man who comes forward early and wins Octagon control, but it still seems like Erosa is giving as good as he’s getting from my vantage point. McGregor is screaming at Baghdad to let his hands go two minutes in. If anything it seems like Erosa’s striking is getting better the longer the fight goes, but Baghdad’s right hook is really nasty. Erosa lands a nice kick to the face in the last minute and Baghdad responds with one in kind. It’s a shame there won’t be a third round with only 8 minutes left. Dana says Julian probably landed more but Baghdad probably hit harder – and this is why you don’t leave it to the judges in a fight. Faber gives McGregor a pair of American sandals.
20-18, 19-19, 20-18 for the winner by majority decision – Julian Erosa.
Faber announces his picks for next week’s fight is Thanh Le (USA) vs. Martin Svensson (Europe). Come back to see what happens next week and if McGregor can stir the pot up a little bit more!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today with a packed show! Tons to talk about including a full hour on the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame talking historical candidates with Matt Farmer, then tons of discussion on WWE ratings, Smackdown ratings and the future of the show, Lesnar shooting star press update, tons of MMA notes and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The UFC just announced that Saturday’s Joe Duffy vs. Dustin Poirier main event in Dublin is off the card due to a training injury suffered by Duffy.
The new main event will be Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka, which will be a three-round fight. Both men had been training for three rounds and anything else would be unfair to them at this point.
The company issued a statement saying:
“Having learned that Duffy received a strike to the head during training earlier this week, UFC sent him for medical tests in Ireland for precautionary purposes. The results determined that Duffy suffered a mild concussion and due to the proximity of the fight this Saturday, UFC will not permit him to compete. The health and safety of UFC athletes will continue to be the top priority for the organization. As such, UFC has respected athletic commission regulations, which recommended a medical suspension from competition as a result of the concussion.”
UFC is offering refunds to the fans in Dublin, who can get them at Ticketmaster or at the point or purchase.
