Suspensions, Referee Errors, Firings and Major Changes Mark Busy Couple Months for UFC

By Aman Sehdev

It was announced on Tuesday 17th January that the Ultimate Fighting Championships will begin mandatory performance-enhancing drug screenings for prospective new signings to the roster.

This follows two steroid test failures in the space of 11 days by two Strikeforce stars. Zuffa - parent company of both the UFC and Strikeforce announced two weeks ago that Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos tested positive for the banned substance Winstrol - an anabolic steroid used by athletes to maintain strength and muscle mass when weight cutting. She had the drug in her system during her 16 second battering of Hiroko Yamanaka to retain her title at a Strikeforce event last month. She was subsequently stripped of her championship and suspended from competition for one year.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal - a former Strikeforce Light heavyweight champion followed suit with a test failure of his own. “King Mo” has also been suspended for one year after testing positive for another steroid used to retain muscle mass and strength - Drostanalone after his TKO victory over Lorenz Larkin at a Strikeforce event earlier this month.

"The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority," UFC president Dana White said in a press release. "We've seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we're going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and Strikeforce. Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field."

All current fighters will continue to be tested before and after fights.

Anthony Johnson fired

After missing weight for the third time in his last 10 fights, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was cut by the UFC with president Dana White brandishing Johnson as “unprofessional”.

Johnson weighed in at 197 pounds (12 pounds over the 185 pound weigh-in limit before a middleweight bout) for his fight with Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last week. The bout went ahead, with Johnson surrendering 20% of his earnings for the fight to Belfort (Belfort submitted Johnson in the first round to earn the win).

The reason “Rumble” moved up a weight class was to avoid missing weight. As a welterweight he regularly entered camp at 220 pounds and would have a massive weight cut on his hands to make the 170 pound limit where he would fail to make weight twice.

Those in his camp said he was well on his way to making weight, but while dehydrating (a popular form of weight cutting amongst athletes) during training for the fight, he collapsed and Doctors insisted he rehydrate his system with liquids and that was the reason he weighed in over the limit.

Where Johnson goes from here is interesting. Bellator Fighting Championships will begin televised live events on Spike TV in 2013 and will be looking for name fighters to supplement their roster of young, talented fighters. “Rumble” would most likely be locked into a multi-year deal if he signs, blocking a possible return to UFC which hasn’t been ruled out by Dana White if he can get his weight cutting issues sorted out.

“I don’t dislike the guy. I like him very much actually. He’s a good guy”.

Refereeing blunders cast shadow over inconsistent officiating

Referee Mario Yamasaki came under heavy criticism for wrongly ordering a disqualification to Erick Silva in his bout against Carlo Prater at UFC 142.

Silva knocked Prater down and landed multiple punches on the ground, with only one hitting the back of the head. Yamasaki called the fight with everyone expecting a TKO win for Silva. However Yamasaki deemed multiple shots hit the back of the head and instructed announcer Bruce Buffer to call it a disqualification.

Yamasaki was shown the replay right after the fight and insisted to Joe Rogan in the cage that there were multiple blows to the back of the head - which the replay clearly indicated there weren’t.

Normally a blow to the back of the head constitutes a point deduction for the offending fighter, which is why the disqualification was even more baffling. If Silva was repeatedly warned about strikes to the back of the head and had continued to defy the rules then it would have been grounds for a disqualification. As it was Silva wasn’t warned and most of the shots were to the side of the head anyway. Despite the decision Silva was still paid a win bonus by Dana White.


The topic of referee decisions built up steam during the “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Jardine” event on January 7th. Two errors were made by referee Kim Winslow. First during the Gian Villante vs Trevor Smith bout, Smith was on the ground taking unanswered shots, as he attempted to reverse his position the fight was stopped by Winslow and a TKO finish awarded to Villante. After the fight Smith angrily claimed Winslow had “no business being in the sport”. Smith was intelligently defending himself and even attempted to improve his position on the ground so he was right to be disappointed with the decision.

Perhaps troubled by her early stoppage, Winslow would go on to stop the Muhammed Lawal-Lorenz Larkin bout late. Larkin was limp at one point and took many more unnecessary shots before the fight was stopped. Despite winning the fight, Lawal was extremely critical of Winslow during the post-fight press conference.

"She said backstage, 'If I hear 'Ow' or 'Ouch' or 'Ooh,' I'm going to stop the fight,'". "Man, this dude was cussing. I hit him, and he's like, 'Oh, [expletive].' I was like, 'Uh, ref?' I looked at her, so I kept on hitting him. I was like, 'Man, she needs to stop this thing.' I heard people in the crowd yelling, 'Stop it!' Then she jumps in all late."
There will always be referee errors in sport that will be debated on. However over the last few weeks they have been cropping up at an alarming rate. Referees need to be briefed on all the rules and regulations of a fight and need to use their judgements sensibly to avoid more unnecessary controversies.

Changes to UFC on Fox 2 lineup

The lineup of the UFC’s second foray onto network television on Fox has undergone a dramatic change for the better.


Mark Munoz was scheduled to take on Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping to face Demain Maia on January 28th in Chicago on Fox. Munoz pulled out, due to injury and it was announced Sonnen will now battle Bisping for the right to face pound for pound king and current UFC middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva. Maia will now face talented wrestler and undefeated Chris Weidman instead.


Many had wanted Sonnen and Bisping to square off, due to the duo’s bravado and ability to promote a fight. It will be interesting if Sonnen can use his superior wrestling to ground Bisping or if Bisping can keep the fight standing and look for the knockout.


The smack talk has already begun, with Bisping being quoted as saying “Chael’s biggest weapon is his mouth – but this ain’t no kissing contest and he isn’t going to talk me to death. Unlucky for him he can’t hurt me with his mouth in the Octagon and I am going to crush him. I’m in my prime and this is my time”.


With Light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans taking on Phil Davis in the main event, it is scheduled to be an exciting night of fights in Chicago.