3+ hour, 16+ min ago (216+ words) Unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly returned an adverse analytical finding for the banned substance meldonium in a Voluntary Anti-Doping Assocation (VADA) test conducted on Nov. 15. Alimkhanuly, who held the WBO and IBF middleweight titles, was scheduled to face WBA champion Erislandy Lara in a three-belt unification bout on Saturday's Lamont Roach vs. Issac "Pitbull" Cruz co-feature, but the fight has now been cancelled. The Kazakh responded to the news on social media: "I have always supported clean sport you know this well. I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don't know what happened with the second test, so I requested a retest." Alimkhanuly stopped Danny Dignum to win the WBO interim title in May 2022 and was upgraded to full…...

5+ hour, 18+ min ago (195+ words) Tom Aspinall's fighting future remains unclear. Aspinall has provided regular updates on his recovery'and fired back at critics, including UFC CEO Dana White'and on Monday, Uncrowned shared footage of Aspinall discussing his next move with eye specialist Dr. Aws Al-Hity. Watch a clip below, courtesy of UFC on TNT. "And then what he's going to do if he's in a fight situation, he's not going to be dealing with it. He doesn't want the ache in the eye, and he also doesn't want to have double, so what he's going to do is tilt his head." For now, Aspinall isn't even sure when he'll be permitted to fully train again, much less fight. "It's a long road ahead, but the prognosis is guarded at the moment," Al-Hity told Aspinall. "I would recommend that you wouldn't fight until your double vision…...

8+ hour, 33+ min ago (101+ words) Join The Ariel Helwani Show live as Ariel and the Boys in the Back keep the week rolling with another stacked combat sports lineup. Tuesday's rundown can be seen below: 1 p.m. ET: Ariel and the gang kick off the show by answering all your questions in the latest On The Nose. 2 p.m. ET: UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall joins for his first interview since UFC 321. 3 p.m. ET: Sean O'Malley previews his UFC 324 return against Song Yadong. 3:30 p.m. ET: Arnold Allen looks ahead to his UFC 324 showdown against Jean Silva....

8+ hour, 38+ min ago (296+ words) The UFC can count on Brandon Moreno to fight for the UFC flyweight title this weekend, should he be needed as a late-notice backup. Moreno (23-8-2 MMA, 11-4-2 UFC) competes this Saturday on the main card of UFC 323, where the UFC flyweight title will be contested in the co-main event. The Mexican star takes on Japan's Tatsuro Taira in the fight before Alexandre Pantoja's title defense against Joshua Van. UFC 323 (pay-per-view, ESPN2/FX/Disney+, ESPN+) takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Injuries, weight misses and other things have gotten in the way of title bouts hours before they happen. Should any issue arise with Pantoja or Van, Moreno has no problem being a backup, which is why he plans on making championship weight at Friday's official weigh-ins. "For the belt, I'll do anything," Moreno told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "It wouldn't…...

9+ hour, 18+ min ago (157+ words) Join "The Ariel Helwani Show" live on Uncrowned and YouTube at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. UK time as Ariel and the Boys In The Back keep the week rolling with another stacked combat sports lineup. Tuesday's rundown can be seen below. 1 p.m. ET: Ariel and the gang kick off the show by answering all your questions in the latest On The Nose. 2 p.m. ET: UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall joins for his first interview since UFC 321. 3 p.m. ET: Sean O'Malley previews his UFC 324 return against Song Yadong. 3:30 p.m. ET: Arnold Allen looks ahead to his UFC 324 showdown against Jean Silva. Catch all new episodes of "The Ariel Helwani Show"liveevery Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET on Uncrowned and The Ariel Helwani Show's YouTube page. To listen to every episode, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes....

10+ hour, 18+ min ago (513+ words) Sean O'Malley was as confused as many fans when UFC 324's title fights were announced. White's halftime segment was brief and he went on to hype up several other newly official bouts on Instagram Live, but overall the reception to the news didn't exactly shake up the MMA community. On his YouTube channel, O'Malley criticized the quality of the announcement and theorized it was because the matchmakers actually wanted to pair Pimblett with lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. "I was so disappointed in the announcement. " The No. 1 fight promoter in the world absolutely brings the energy when he goes on live on Insta or YouTube, he brings the energy," O'Malley said. "This one felt weird. My theory is it was supposed to be Paddy vs. Ilia, that's what was supposed to happen and they were really trying to get that fight…...

13+ hour, 11+ min ago (298+ words) Katie Taylor vs. Ronda Rousey could be more than just a rumor. Following BoxingScene's report that a bout between Taylor, a legend in boxing, and Rousey, a legend in MMA, is in the works, the publication spoke to Taylor and the 39-year-old Irishwoman confirmed there is interest on her side in making a cross-over fight happen. "[Rousey's] an iconic figure herself in female sport," Taylor told BoxingScene. "She has an amazing mentality. You don't get to the position she's in without a fantastic mind, without a fantastic mentality. "It's just a very interesting fight. Seeing all the headlines this morning, I was thinking, "OK, I'm up and ready for this fight." In her fighting prime, Rousey was a dominant force in the UFC's bantamweight division and a consistent box office draw for the promotion. She recorded six straight title defenses…...

14+ hour, 35+ min ago (725+ words) Tom Aspinall may be sidelined longer than expected. After losing a year of his career to circumstances outside the cage, the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion returned to a nightmare scenario against Ciryl Gane. Their UFC 321 headliner in October ended abruptly in Round 1 when an accidental double eye-poke left Aspinall unable to continue. The bout was ruled a no-contest, and the champion was taken directly to a nearby Abu Dhabi hospital. Speaking to media afterward, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the hospitalization and said a rematch would happen. But what truly bothered Aspinall was White's claim that he chose not to continue " and that the two had spoken. "Slightly disappointing, because he hadn't spoke to me," Aspinall told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" Tuesday in his first interview since UFC 321. "He was already giving updates on my health, and he had…...

15+ hour, 51+ min ago (260+ words) That was Michael Bisping's advice to Tom Aspinall, who's in the middle of dealing with heavy criticism from many UFC fans. This week, Aspinall went public with some receipts, posting a doctor's assessment of his injury in his first comment since the incident in October. Bisping advised Aspinall to stop trying to prove his case. "Sure, say Ciryl Gane did it on purpose. Call him a pussy because you're going to set foot in the octagon, and you're going to fight the guy. Say, 'I'm going to absolutely marmelize you. I'm going to make you pay for being the cheating bastard that you are.'" Bisping, who's now retired but in his heyday was a popular and polarizing fighter, knows a thing or two about how the MMA fan base works. He thinks that Aspinall is trying to be liked, but…...

21+ hour, 17+ min ago (108+ words) Lerone Murphy is back to react to the announcement of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2, express his disappointment with not getting the title shot and potentially missing out on fighting Volkanovski before he retires, answer the callouts of Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling, give his prediction for the Volkanovski-Lopes rematch, and more. Lerone Murphy is back to react to the announcement of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2, express his disappointment with not getting the title shot and potentially missing out on fighting Volkanovski before he retires, answer the callouts of Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling, give his prediction for the Volkanovski-Lopes rematch, and more....