The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday announced that UFC No. 4 ranked women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington has been suspended for six months for violating the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.

Colorado Springs, Colo. (January 28, 2021) – USADA announced today that Raquel Pennington, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has accepted a six-month sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.

Pennington, 32, self-reported the use of two prohibited substances – 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064 – to USADA on November 17, 2020. As the result of the declaration, USADA collected an out-of-competition urine sample from Pennington, and subsequent analysis was consistent with her declared use of 7-keto-DHEA.

7-keto-DHEA (7-keto-dehydroepiandrosterone) is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and AOD-9064 is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances, and Mimetics. Both substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List. 

During her self-report, Pennington provided information that she was prescribed and provided 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064 by a doctor to help treat a medical condition. After using the substances for a short period of time, she conducted research and learned that they were prohibited substances and immediately came forward about her use to USADA. Pennington was eligible for a reduction to the period of ineligibility based on her forthright declaration prior to sample collection and for her Full and Complete Cooperation.

Pennington’s six-month period of ineligibility began on November 17, 2020, the date she declared the use of prohibited substances and her positive sample was collected. She will be eligible to return on May 17, 2021.

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Raquel Pennington suspension follows roller coaster ride in the Octagon

Currently ranked No. 4 in the UFC women’s bantamweight division, Pennington challenged champion Amanda Nunes in May of 2018. She lost the bout.

Pennington followed with a loss to Germaine de Randamie, currently ranked No. 1 in the division, before getting back on the winning track. She defeated Irene Aldana in July of 2019.

Her success was short-lived, losing to Holly Holm in January of 2020. Pennington again rebounded when she returned in June of 2020 to defeat Marion Reneau.

The suspension means Pennington will have been on the sidelines for nearly a year before she is eligible to return in May.

Flashback UFC 246 Official Weigh-Ins: Raquel Pennington vs Holly Holm

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-title-contender-raquel-pennington-suspended-for-anti-doping-violation

In case you haven’t been on Twitter, Jake Paul has the ability to really get under people’s skin just by his mere existence – but especially when he talks trash. Ben Askren, though, is the kind of guy to take it all in stride.

Case in point: During his interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Tuesday (which I hate to admit I watched the whole thing), Paul had an all-time cringey moment when he was asked why he follows only the official Triller account and Askren’s wife, Amy, on Instagram.

“She thicc, bro,” Paul said.

“She’s what?” responded Helwani.

“She’s thicc, with lke two c’s – t-h-i-c-c,” Paul repeated. “Thicc like she’s real thicc. So, I don’t know, like, I just thought she’s bad. I don’t know. I mean, maybe after I beat Ben. I don’t know.”

It was one of those moments where you feel so embarrassed for the person, and that seems to be how Askren also took it. On Wednesday, he shared the perfect response by quote-tweeting the clip, which you can check out here:

This is laugh out loud awkward!!! But yes @jakepaul I find my wife very attractive also LOL. https://t.co/hNOFIchPa7

— Funky (@Benaskren) January 27, 2021

This is laugh out loud awkward!!! But yes @jakepaul I find my wife very attractive also LOL.

Bringing up significant others is Paul’s thing apparently. He also invoked Conor McGregor’s fiancee, Dee Devlin, in one of his recent trash-talking videos by insulting her looks – which was just cheap and childish, but whatever. This is what you can expect.

Stuff like this is bound to ramp up as we get closer to April 17, when Paul and Askren fight in an eight-round boxing match. Brace yourself.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ben-askren-laughs-jake-paul-talking-about-wife

UFC 257 came and went, two lightweights at the top of the card had spectacular finishes, and … champion Khabib Nurmagomedov still isn’t interested in coming back for a 30th fight.

That’s not how UFC president Dana White originally said things would shake out, though.

Prior to UFC 257, White told us that Nurmagomedov would consider coming out of retirement to fight whomever did something truly impressive in either of the two headliners. Well, that happened as Dustin Poirier finished Conor McGregor by second-round TKO in brutal fashion and Michael Chandler made a huge statement in his promotional debut with a first-round finish of Dan Hooker. After the event, though, White indicated he wasn’t confident in Nurmagomedov’s return after talking to him about the two fights.

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” we debated bold statements, asking if they were overreactions or on the money. So … The Khabib sweepstakes were just a hoax, and it was all about setting up Khabib vs. McGregor 2. Overreaction or on the money?

Watch the video above to hear Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and Nolan King weigh in.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-khabib-sweepstakes-hoax-to-set-up-mcgregor-rematch

More than a year and a half since its last show, Italian promotion The Golden Cage is ready to kickstart the latest chapter of its development as the organization prepares for its debut event on UFC Fight Pass.

TGC 3 will take place Feb. 6 in a studio at the Heaven Fight Arena in Rome, and will feature a welterweight title fight in the headline slot.

Italian 170-pound rivals Leonardo Damiani and Marco Saccaro will do battle in a rematch for the vacant 170-pound strap.

In his last outing, Damiani (9-2-1) scored an impressive victory with a split-decision win over Welsh welterweight Aaron Khalid at Cage Warriors 118. That victory took his unbeaten streak to five fights, with the 30-year-old going 4-0-1 since his January 2018 defeat to former UFC competitor John Maguire.

He’ll take on Saccaro (6-2), whose last appearance saw him snap a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Ismael Foscarini in December 2019. Previously, Saccaro lost out on the scorecards to Damiani in their first meeting at an Italian Cage Fighting (ICF) event in October 2018. Now the pair will face off for a second time with championship gold on the line.

The night’s co-main event will feature a battle between unbeaten welterweight prospects Franc Agalliu (3-0) and Wisem Hammami (4-0), and the promotion’s vacant featherweight title is also on the line on the main card, as Italy’s Michele Baiano (3-0) takes on Tunisia’s Nizar Ben Amara (4-0).

Confirmed bouts for TGC 3 include:

• Leonardo Damiani vs. Marco Saccaro – for vacant welterweight title
• Franc Agalliu vs. Wisem Hammami
• Michele Baiano vs. Nizar Ben Amara – for vacant featherweight title
• Danilo Belluardo vs. Dragan Pesic
• Walter Cogliandro vs. Greg Shestakov
• Fabio De Luca vs. Mohammad Walid
• Carlo D’Ambrosio vs. Dylan Hazan
• Dumitru Girlean vs. Simone Patrizi
• Emanuele Sabatino vs. Enzo Tobbia
• Domenico Coluccini vs. Giuseppe Ruggeri

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/the-golden-cage-3-welterweight-title-fight-to-headline-italian-promotions-ufc-fight-pass-debut

Former Pride FC champion and current Bellator fighter Fedor Emelianenko has reportedly been released from the hospital in Russia as he recovers from a bout with COVID-19.

Fedor was being treated at Clinical Hospital No. 52 in the Russian capital, according to RT Sport. His release comes less than a week after having been admitted.

No details have been released about his condition, but his release from the hospital is obviously good news.

While he was in the hospital last week, Fedor issued a statement on Instagram, saying, “Thank you all who are sincerely worried about my health. I am feeling well now, I am on the mend. I am grateful to the doctors and medical staff for their care and your hard work.”

Fedor hasn’t set foot in the cage since December of 2019, when he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, which kicked off what is essentially his retirement tour.

Fedor’s retirement tour and notable omission from fighting in the UFC

After losing to Ryan Bader in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, Fedor, 44, in partnership with Bellator president Scott Coker, decided to fight a handful of bouts that would lead to his retirement.

His tour stalled out in 2020 because of the global coronavirus pandemic that causes COVID-19.

Pending Fedor’s recovery from COVID-19, Coker has been hoping to have him continue his retirement tour, culminating in a marquee bout on his home turf in Russia.

Fedor got his start in the famed Rings tournaments in the early 2000s before becoming one of the most dominant figures in mixed martial arts history with his run in Pride FC in Japan.

He has fought for numerous other organizations following Pride’s purchase by the UFC. Fedor flirted with fighting in the Octagon on numerous occasions, most notably when there were potential bouts opposite Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar on the table.

A deal with the UFC never came to fruition after Fedor’s team and UFC officials failed to come to satisfactory terms form him to fight in the Octagon.

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Flashback Fedor takes out Rampage

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/fedor-emelianenko-released-from-hospital-following-covid-19-battle