The MMA Update For Friday June 15th, 2007
Written by Chris Howie
Intro
Welcome back to the MMA Update. I haven't been around much this week because I've had some things going on but fear not I have returned. There has been some interesting news in the last few days in the world off MMA so lets get to it.
Royce Gracie Fails Drug Test
I personally had to take a double look when I seen this but it is in fact true, Royce Gracie has failed his drug test for Dynamite!! USA and has been suspended one year by the CSAC. The drug that Royce tested positive for was Decadurabolin, a steroid also known as Nandralone. I find it hard to believe one of the legends of the sport would go as low as using steroids. Maybe Royce was worried he wouldn't be able to compete with Sakuraba. I don't know why Gracie would do this. Unfortunately it will leave a black mark on the career of one of the greatest mixed-martial artists of all time. If nothing else I guess Sakuraba is still the “Gracie Killer”.
Bisping vs. Hamill For UFC 72?
On the description for UFC 75 on ticketmaster it says that one fight has been confirmed for the event and that is Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill. The UFC has yet to confirm this one but it has been a rumour circulating around the internet as of late. I for one have wanted to see this fight since both were on The Ulimate Fighter 3. The UFC will easily be able to market Bisping in London and many fans have wanted to see this fight since the show. Bisping received a huge ovation from his hometown crowd at UFC 70 so I'd expect more of the same at 75.
TUF Finals Set
Last night the finals for The Ultimate Fighter 5 were set as Manny Gamburyan defeated Joe Lauzon and Nate Diaz won his fight against Gray Maynard. This will definitely be a hot finals as both fighters did extremely well on the show and it would be hard to pick a winner. They both have a lot of talent and both have the heart of lions. Manny was the underdog in all of his fights on the show but in each and every fight he impressed. With this fight on a card with BJ Penn vs. Jens Pulver II next Saturday night on Spike TV, it will for sure be a show you will not want to miss! The card as it stands looks like this:
-B.J. Penn vs. Jens Pulver
-Nate Diaz vs. Manny Gamburyan
-Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evas
-Leonard Garcia vs. Allen Berube
-Thales Leites vs. Floyd Sword
Shinya Aoki vs. Pedro Akira This Sunday
Shinya Aoki will be fighting Pedro Akira this weekend at the next DEEP X event. At first this was going to be a grappling match but was instead changed to MMA rules. DEEP was trying to land Marcelo Garcia to fight Aoki in a grappling match but due to the fact K-1 swept him up Akira will be stepping in. This will definitely be a good one.
Outro
Well, it's time to wrap up another week and going into this week there is some good MMA action to see. UFC 72 will be live on PPV tomorrow afternoon with a replay in the usual time slot tomorrow night. Monday I'll be back with a recap of the show along with the latest news and of course the MMANews.com weekly awards. The mail bag will also make a return next week with A LOT of questions that need to be answered from this week. Make sure to check back and if you have any questions of your own, send 'em on in to [email protected].
Also, MMANews.com will have full coverage tomorrow of the UFC 72 event from Ireland so check in with us for all the latest. We'll be covering it live on the site starting 2:00PM ET (with prelims) and through the live PPV starting at 3:00PM ET. Be here!
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