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Check out the best photos from Jon Jones’ unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ unanimous decision win over [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] at UFC 247 at Toyota Center in Houston. (Photos by Thomas Shea, USA TODAY Sports)
Journey Newson isn’t going to challenge his UFC 247 marijuana suspension – but that doesn’t mean he thinks Texas’ ruling makes sense.
[autotag]Journey Newson[/autotag] isn’t going to challenge his marijuana suspension – but that doesn’t mean he thinks it makes sense.
A UFC bantamweight, Newson (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) picked up his first promotional victory with a powerful 38-second knockout of Domingo Pilarte at UFC 247 in February.
The official decision, however, was short-lived. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation overturned the win to a no contest after Newson showed levels of marijuana in his system that exceeded the state’s regulatory limit. Additionally, Newson was suspended 30 days.
“I was kind of surprised, but yeah, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Newson recently told MMA Junkie. “It already happened. It really doesn’t matter too much to me. I’m not about my record. I’m not trying to focus on a perfect record or anything. I’m just trying to make a good living out of this and build my assets off of it.
“It’s not like I was down in town smoking up and down town. I took two weeks off from smoking. With the weight cut and everything, I figured it would all be out of my system by then. It wasn’t. We ended up getting popped for it. It’s fine. It happens.”
As a result of his UFC 247 experience, Newson said it’s unlikely he accepts another fight in Texas. He’s already informed his manager, Jason House, such.
“I told my manager that I probably won’t fight in Texas because of it,” Newson said. “Their laws are pretty stupid and they’re pretty slow. We have a lot of states here, especially my state here in Oregon, that are legalizing weed. The fact that they’re still sitting back and they have all these prohibitions on it, it kind of sucks.”
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Relatively laid back about the situation, Newson can’t wrap his mind around one thing. How does marijuana improve his performance inside the cage? If it doesn’t enhance his abilities, why is marijuana detection a suspendible offense?
“I’m not real sure how this boosts my performance,” Newson said. “I’m not quite sure how this really boosts my performance. I’d like to talk to someone or if you know anything, about how (marijuana) boosts your performance. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
While Newson thinks the Texas commission’s way of handling marijuana is outdated, he sees his failure and suspension as a blessing in disguise. The loss could’ve been much worse had he been awarded a $50,000 performance bonus, had his suspension come at a time other than a global pandemic, or had he not received a medical suspension overlapping his drug suspension.
“We’re kind of at a pause right now,” Newson said. “Days are just kind of going and going and going. This is good for me. I was already suspended because of the jaw injury. I had a fracture up here, so I was suspended for that. Now that the days are going and we’re taking a pause, it definitely is (a) blessing in disguise that I’m sitting here on a three-month suspension.”
Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Newson in the video below.
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While many are trashing Jon Jones after his recent arrest, Valentina Shevchenko opted to defend her fellow UFC champion.
At a time when trashing [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is the popular move, [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] is going against the grain and coming to the defense of a fellow UFC champion.
Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) made headlines for all the wrong reasons Thursday when he was arrested in Albuquerque, N.M., on multiple charges: driving under the influence, negligent use of a firearm, possession of an open container and no proof of insurance.
Run-ins with the law are a recurring issue for the light heavyweight champion, and after the arrest many within the MMA community reveled in Jones’ latest issue. Shevchenko (19-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), the women’s flyweight titleholder, wasn’t one of those people, though. Instead, she tried to lift up Jones by sharing her personal experience with him from when they shared February’s UFC 247 card and both successfully defended their belts (via Twitter):
So sad the modern world is all about hype!
Now many people starting to insult Jon Jones without knowing his real situation!
Fighting on the same card , I could see he is kind and noble man !
Him being in all that difficult times – he will be back Stronger ! 💪🏻— Valentina Shevchenko (@BulletValentina) March 26, 2020
So sad the modern world is all about hype!
Now many people starting to insult Jon Jones without knowing his real situation!
Fighting on the same card , I could see he is kind and noble man !
Him being in all that difficult times – he will be back Stronger ! 💪🏻
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Jones retained his 205-pound belt in the UFC 247 main event when he edged Dominick Reyes in a hotly contested decision at Toyota Center in Houston. Just prior, Shevchenko kept her 125-pound strap with a third-round TKO of Katlyn Chookagian.
It was the first time Jones and Shevchenko shared a card together, and it appears they had some bonding time that allowed “The Bullet” to form an opinion on “Bones” that is likely to earn her some blowback.
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At UFC 247, Journey Newson added his first UFC victory to his record – but it’s since been taken away.
At UFC 247, [autotag]Journey Newson[/autotag] added another win to his record – but it’s since been taken away.
UFC 247 took place Saturday, Feb. 8 at Toyota Center in Houston. According to a document posted by the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration, Newson’s first-round knockout of [autotag]Domingo Pilarte[/autotag] has been overturned to a “no decision,” also referred to as a “no contest” by some commissions.
While no reasoning was listed in the official documentation, ESPN reported Wednesday a failed drug test is responsible for the overturned decision. According to the report, Newson’s manager, Jason House, says a positive marijuana test is to blame.
The victory at UFC 247 was Newson’s first with the promotion. The fight was even in the eyes of the oddsmakers, but Newson (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made quick work of Pilarte, dispatching his fellow UFC sophomore in 38 seconds. The fight was Newson’s second with the promotion after losing a short-notice, unanimous decision to Ricardo Ramos in June 2019.
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After filing an appeal, Manager Jason House is confident that James Krause’s loss to Trevin Giles at UFC 247 gets overturned.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]James Krause[/autotag]’s manager is confident that his client’s most recent loss will be overturned.
Krause stepped in on just 24 hours’ notice to face [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag] at February’s UFC 247 in Houston in a middleweight bout, losing a controversial split decision.
But it wasn’t losing a tightly-contested bout that Krause’s team had an issue with; it was the fact that one of the Texas judges, Joe Soliz, had a potential conflict of interest in the bout.
Soliz previously trained at Elite MMA under Eric Williams, who cornered Giles in the fight. Soliz earned a black belt at the academy before leaving in 2010.
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Soliz scored the bout in favor of Giles and was the only judge who awarded him Round 1, which saw Krause control much of the action on the floor. Giles won the bout 29-28 on two of the judges’ scorecards.
Krause’s manager, Iridium Sports CEO Jason House, decided to file an appeal and said he’s confident it will result in the fight getting overturned.
“I’m very confident that we will get this fight overturned,” House told MMA Junkie. “The conflict of interest that existed between the judges and our opponent is pretty crystal clear, and I’m hoping that once the Texas commission takes the time to review all the facts and evidence regarding the situation that they will see that it should be a no contest.”
The loss snapped Krause’s six-fight winning streak.
To hear more from House, check out the video above.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from February 2020.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from January 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Fight of the Month” award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Trevin Giles def. James Krause at UFC 247
A wild turn of events saw [autotag]James Krause[/autotag] (27-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC) go from not being booked to fight in Houston to winning “Fight of the Night” in an entertaining middleweight affair with [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, .
Krause, who typically fights at welterweight, stepped up a weight class and onto the card on roughly 30 hours notice. He went one to war with Giles, and while many believed he won, the split decision went in favor of Giles after a back-and-forth 15-minute affair.
High level defense on display! 👏@TrevinGiles not going out easy! #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/EHQhArELEe
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
Jon Jones def. Dominick Reyes at UFC 247
[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] did it again successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight title against challenger [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag], earning an unanimous decision nod by scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
It wasn’t without controversy, though, because many believe Reyes did enough to win. He pushed who many consider the sport’s all-time great to the limit over five rounds, but in the end the judges didn’t score it in his favor and Jones gave Reyes his first career loss.
Scott Holtzman def. Jim Miller at UFC on ESPN+ 25
[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] (31-14 MMA, 20-13 UFC) is one of the most durable competitors in the history of MMA. If you doubt that, consider that his fight with [autotag]Scott Holtzman[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) was his 33rd in the UFC and that he holds the company’s record for lightweight wins at 19.
Holtzman, however, is starting to demonstrate that he, too, has staying power – and that here in his fifth UFC year, he’s coming into his own. “Hot Sauce” scored an impressive win, figuring out the pace in the opening round and then turning things on over the final two to earn a unanimous decision.
Dan Hooker def. Paul Felder at UFC on ESPN+ 26
[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] (20-8 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and [autotag]Paul Felder[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) delivered on their promise to deliver a memorable bout when fighting on a main event stage for the first time, producing the “Fight of the Night” in Auckland.
The pair of lightweight contenders went back-and-forth over the course of five rounds, battering each other with every ounce of their fiber. Hooker got the split decision nod in the end, but Felder certainly made a strong case that he was deserving, as well. Both men earned each other’s respect, though, and shared a post-fight moment in the hospital.
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Joseph Benavidez at UFC on ESPN+ 27
[autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) earned the biggest victory of his career when he scored a second-round technical knockout of [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] (28-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) in a bout that was supposed to crown a new 125-pound champion.
But Figueiredo missed weight, coming in at 127.5, two-and-a-half pounds over the championship weight limit. As such, while Benavidez, who made weight, would have won the title with a victory, Figueiredo earned the victory, but not the belt, as the title remained vacant.
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Hooker is a lanky lightweight who uses his range to maximum efficiency. Felder is a buzzsaw who likes to bite down on his mouthpiece, close the distance and throw down.
That’s what made the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 26 in Auckland, New Zealand, so intriguing on paper, and the fight delivered exactly what it promised.
For five grueling rounds, the duo put on a display that was equal parts skill and grit, as the duo pieced each other up.
In the end, Hooker, who trains out of Auckland’s City Kickboxing, earned the hometown victory at Spark Arena via split decision. Hooker got the better end of two out of three 48-47 scorecards in a fight every bit as close as the scores indicate.
After the fight, Felder indicated retirement might be in the cards.
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“I knew it was close,” he said. “I feel like I hurt him a lot in the fight, but he got the takedowns, which is smart. He busted me up pretty good. That might be it for me.”
The opening round saw Hooker, who had a four-inch reach advantage, utilize his range. He kept Felder at bay with front kicks and kicks to the lead leg. When Felder landed, however, he did so with authority, as he rocked Hooker with a pair of left hooks during the round, portending things to come.
By Round 2, Felder’s right eye was swollen shut, but he pressed forward. Hooker continued to play matador, continued to land kicks, and left Felder flustered.
In the third round, however, Felder managed to figure out how to close the distance and engage, even with one eye closed, and the fight’s momentum changed. Hooker never did have an answer for Felder’s powerful, well-placed lefts, and the damage started to add up.
In the fourth, the Roufusport standout continued to turn up the heat, and there was a sense Felder could win the fight after all. What had been a rowdy crowd at the fight’s outset grew nervous as the two exchanged, with Felder getting the best of things.
Both competitors went for the win in the fifth. What might have been the deciding moment came late, when Hooker parried a charging Felder and turned it into a takedown. Felder did his best to break free, but Hooker’s poise in the last-minute scrambles spelled the difference.
WOW! 👏
🇳🇿 THE HOMECOMING IS COMPLETE! #UFCAuckland pic.twitter.com/SUUHdM9NSo
— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2020
While there was high tension between both men in the buildup to the bout, Hooker was conciliatory after Felder hinted at retirement.
“An honor,” Hooker said of sharing the octagon with Felder. “He’s a tough son of a gun.”
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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from February 2020.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from February 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Khaos Williams def. Alex Morono at UFC 247
A short-notice replacement for injured welterweight Dhiego Lima, [autotag]Khaos Williams[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) entered enemy territory and trucked Alex Morono (17-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) as a massive underdog.
Williams came out fists-a-flying, winging punches at the Fortis MMA product. Morono retreated, but his back hit the cage, and he couldn’t escape Williams’ heat. Eventually Williams landed a hard combination that crumpled Morono. Follow-up shots added insult to injury before the referee pulled Williams off the fallen Texan after just 27 seconds.
KHAOS IS SCARY 😱 Quite the UFC debut for @Khaoswilliams #UFC247
▶️ https://t.co/o0wWlKxpbj pic.twitter.com/1YZF7KVxH5
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 9, 2020
Jan Blachowicz def. Corey Anderson at UFC on ESPN+ 25
[autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC), who has been on the list of contenders at 205 pounds for quite some time but never quite made it to the top, knocked Corey Anderson (13-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) cold in the opening round of their rematch.
With champ Jon Jones closely watching, Blachowicz earned the knockout just over three minutes into the fight when he connected with a wicked right hand that found the home. Anderson went down in a heap, and Blachowicz got revenge for a decision loss in the first fight back in 2015.
Timothy Johnson def. Tyrell Fortune at Bellator 239
Based on betting odds alone, [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) pulled off one of the great upsets in Bellator history when he shocked top heavyweight prospect Tyrell Fortune (8-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) in the first round.
Merely seen as the next name on Fortune’s flourishing resume, Johnson had other plans when he found the chin of his opponent early in the fight. Fortune couldn’t handle the clean shot, and was knocked out upon impact for the stunning result.
😱😱😱@tbeartim drops a bomb! We are LIVE on @paramountnetwork!
5 postlims on YouTube right after! #Bellator239 pic.twitter.com/OB05hbe31e
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 22, 2020
Jake Childers def. Nate Togbah Richardson at LFA 82
Undefeated featherweight [autotag]Jake Childers[/autotag] (8-0) kept his perfect record intact with a first-round victory over Nate Togbah Richardson (7-2), and while the result wasn’t necessarily a surprise, the way it ended certainly was intriguing.
Working from the clinch in the opening frame, Childers wrapped the body and elevated Richardson in the air before slamming him to the canvas. The impact was enough to render Richardson unconscious, and Childers was awarded the knockout victory.
WOW! KO via slam!! #LFA82 pic.twitter.com/jVVvPZnHLI
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) February 22, 2020
Priscila Cachoeira def. Shana Dobson at UFC on ESPN+ 26
In desperate need of a win after dropping three consecutive fights to begin her UFC tenure, [autotag]Priscila Cachoeira[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) came through big with a brilliant first-round knockout of Shana Dobson (3-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC).
Cachoeira wasted no time getting into the fight. She was aggressive from the outset, and Dobson clearly wasn’t ready for it. The Brazilian caught Dobson with an uppercut in the opening seconds, putting her down and wrapping the fight up in a mere 40 seconds.
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Fortune raised eyebrows during Bellator 239 fight week by proclaiming himself the best heavyweight in the world. However, Johnson had something to say about that when they got into the cage together.
Veteran Johnson, who was previously winless in Bellator, used a hellacious right hand to knock Fortune cold in the opening round of their main card bout. The knockout came at the 2:35 mark of the round.
There wasn’t much going on up until the fight’s climactic moment. The duo stalked one another and tried to figure out their ranges.
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Johnson plainly found his first, as he flicked a left and then landed his bomb flush on the jaw. Fortune was out by the time he hit the mat and the fight was waved off.
The Las Vegas-based competitor had been in a bad way in recent outings, dropping five off his past eight and losing his first two bouts after leaving the UFC for Bellator. It’s almost needless to say he was thrilled with the result.
“It feels weird – it’s been a while since I’ve been in the win column,” Johnson said after his sixth career KO/TKO victory. “That was definitely what I needed. I needed to come out and make a statement.”
Fortune, whose entire career has been with Bellator, was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten.
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That fiery speech in between rounds at UFC 247 wouldn’t work with all of the Xtreme Couture coach’s fighters.
LAS VEGAS – Despite his fine work behind the scenes, Eric Nisick hasn’t been one to chase the spotlight.
However, at UFC 247, Nicksick found himself in the national spotlight. Cornering UFC featherweight contender [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] against Mirsad Bektic, Xtreme Couture frontman Nicksick gave a fiery speech in between rounds. The dialogue caught many viewers’ attention.
“Hey, five (expletive) minutes out of you,” Nicksick told Ige after giving technical advice. “Five (expletive) minutes out of you, Dan. He does not want it more than you. He does not want that (expletive) more than you. Do you understand me? What do you do in Round 3?”
“(Expletive) him up,” Ige responded, on cue.
While the speech was captured on camera, the corner work wasn’t out of the ordinary, Nicksick told MMA Junkie. The attention the clip received is a testament to the understanding he shares between himself and his fighters.
“That particular moment came out well because it got its shine,” Nicksick told MMA Junke. “The cameras were on, and the mics were on. (There) was a human element behind it. Having Dan’s dad in the corner, he’s a motivational man as it is. We were just very pumped all week long. We didn’t get the respect we thought we deserved.
“Everything was tailored to fighting a Tristar guy and, ‘What’s it like fighting this top contender?’ Really nothing was being said much about Dan Ige. Nothing much was being said about Xtreme Couture. I think we were kind of the red-headed stepchild in the situation. It was bulletin board material for us, and it fired us up.”
Every fighter operates differently, Nicksick said. A coach’s responsibility is to understand which buttons to push and when. In that moment, Ige needed to be fired up – so that’s what Nicksick did.
“Dan and I have been together for nine fights now,” Nicksick said. “There’s a lot of sweat equity involved in that. What was said in the corner was something very intertwined between Dan and myself. Something I say to do might not work for Francis (Ngannou) or another fighter. That’s kind of a product of us being so close and so on each other’s same wavelength. I know what he needs to hear, when he needs to hear it and vice versa. We push each other very much. He’s made me a better coach, and I think I’ve made him a better fighter.”
Check out MMA Junkie catch Nicksick “off guard” in the video above – and check out a clip of Nicksick’s UFC 247 corner work below:
Dan Ige and Eric Nicksick in the corner before round the 3 at #UFC247: pic.twitter.com/YGjnJWQ5fa
— Dan Tom (@DanTomMMA) February 9, 2020
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A TSN report revealed judge Joe Soliz has a connection to the fighter he ruled a winner over James Krause, and Krause is having none of it.
A judge in a controversial decision at UFC 247 had potential conflict of interest issues with one of the fighters involved, and the competitor on the wrong end of the scorecard is none too pleased.
Controversial Texas judge Joe Soliz scored the bout on Feb. 8 in Houston between [autotag]James Krause[/autotag] and [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag] in favor of Giles, helping sway a split decision in Giles’ favor.
Tuesday, TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter reported that Soliz had a connection with Giles’ gym, Elite MMA. Soliz trained under Eric Williams — who cornered Giles at UFC 247 — and earned a black belt at the academy before leaving in 2010.
While all three judges scored the second round in Giles’ favor, Soliz was the only one who scored a first round widely believed to be all Krause in Giles’ favor.
That made the difference as Giles won the middleweight fight by split decision, getting the better end of two out of three 29-28 scores.
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The appearance of bias was enough to enrage Krause, who accepted the bout on a single day’s notice due to a late fallout by Antonio Arroyo.
And Krause let loose via Instagram on Tuesday:
If this isn’t the most frustrating (expletive) for me in the world I don’t know what… how is this not a conflict of interest?
Training at someone’s gym for 10+ years and receiving a black belt from the coach corner my opponent.
You can read his full post here:
Jason House, Krause’s manager, informed TSN they plan on appearing the decision with the Texas commission.
“I was informed that one of the judges of the James Krause versus Trevin Giles bout had a close previous relationship with one of Giles’ coaches,” House told TSN. “If true, this is deeply concerning. These athletes risk and sacrifice too much for there not to be a fair playing field. As we are currently in the appeals process, we are withholding further comment. It is our hope that the appeals process will work as designed and uphold the integrity of our sport.”
Giles vs. Krause was far from the only fight for which Soliz was criticized: His 49-46 score in favor of Jon Jones over Dominick Reyes in the evening’s main event was also the subject of much discussion.
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