It’s now time to stop complaining about Roman Reigns and catch up on the latest mixed martial arts news. This is the latest edition of the MMA News Roundup courtesy of MMANews.com. As always we have three major stories from this week, so lets get to it:
3. Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes Set For UFC 225
Heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes will collide on June 9 at UFC 225 in Chicago. In his last outing, Overeem suffered a crushing knockout loss to Francis Ngannou. “The Reem’s” hopes for a title rematch with Stipe Miocic slipped a bit further from becoming a reality. As for Blaydes, he earned the biggest win of his career by defeating Mark Hunt at UFC 221.
Overeem still finds himself holding the number two spot on the official UFC heavyweight rankings. An impressive win could move him into another number one contender spot. As for Blaydes, a victory could shoot him up straight to a title opportunity.
2. Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington Official For UFC 224
So much for Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes, at least for now. MMA News’ own Damon Martin reported that Nunes vs. Pennington was in the works for UFC 224. This week, the UFC made the bout official. Nunes will defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title on May 12.
There was plenty of buzz regarding a potential “super fight” between Cyborg and Nunes. At one point, the two were even in negotiations. Those talks stalled, but if Nunes successfully retains her title then don’t rule out the bout.
1. Marijuana And Drug Testing In MMA
Positive drug tests for marijuana in MMA has become a hot topic recently. What sparked the most recent debate was Cynthia Calvillo’s six-month sanction from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Calvillo can reduce her suspension to three months and her sanction is retroactive to Dec. 30.
MMA News’ own Adam Martin questions why weed is still being tested despite the lack of proof of its effectiveness as a performance enhancer. In addition to that, inconsistencies with commissions and USADA on the allowed dosage have raised red flags.
That’ll do it for this week’s MMA News Roundup. There are no major MMA events taking place this weekend, but be sure to stick with MMANews.com for the latest content.
