MMA talk hits national airwaves on a football Monday! Rome mocks Sonnen

Monday's Jim Rome show was another example of "be careful what you wish for MMA" when it comes to media coverage. Now that more media big boys are on board, they'll often latch onto the negative stories before the positive ones. It was a bit shocking to hear the national radio host talking MMA on a Monday that didn't follow a fight card weekend, but the Chael Sonnen saga was simply too good for Rome to pass up. The Premiere Radio and ESPN television host became very familiar with Sonnen right before UFC 117. Rome did a nice job of pressing Sonnen on his over-the-top comments about Lance Armstrong cheating, taking steroids and "giving himself cancer." Sonnen denied making the comments and then denied it again even upon hearing the audio. He was an easy punching bag on Monday when Rome discovered that the fighter himself tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Rome did bring up a good point. In the end, are there really any long-range repercussions for the sport? Will Sonnen getting nabbed scare anybody? Rome says no, because the penalties can never match the potential windfall from taking PED's, winning and moving up the rankings. Rome also found time to play some drops (5:45 mark) from Sonnen's Q&A last week at Ultimate Fight Night 22. Sonnen said he'd like to stab Brock Lesnar (video -- 5:25 mark). At least he's got no worries about any disciplinary action for that stupid comment; Sonnen more than overshadowed it with his positive test. More details are slowly trickling in about the drug-test results in California. Sonnen is looking at a year suspension and minimum fine of $2,500. George Dodd from the California State Athletic Commission told SI.com's Josh Gross that Sonnen admitted before the Anderson Silva fight that he'd taken something."He only indicated that he was taking it but he never indicated why," Dodd said. "[Sonnen] just let me know he was taking [something] and that's when I called over an inspector to get it documented. But when you do take it you still have to show a medical reason."Sonnen's urine sample first tested positive on Sept. 2. A second test was done at UCLA's Olympic Drug Testing lab and produced the same result. The scheduled February rematch between Sonnen and Silva appears unlikely. Unless he wins an appeal, Sonnen's suspension will run through Sept. 2, 2011. In a press release, the UFC stated that the Yushin Okami-Vitor Belfort fight at UFC 122 is now a No. 1 contender fight in the middleweight division. Thanks to The Jim Rome Show and FoxSportsRadio920 for the audio

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UFC drops middleweight Tomasz Drwal

After a six-fight stint in the world's top promotion and just a year removed from an impressive three-fight win streak in the organization, Tomasz Drwal now finds himself a free agent.

UFC officials cut ties with him after this past week's UFC Fight Night 22 loss to Dave Branch, the fighter's camp today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.

Drwal is now looking to get another fight "as quickly as possible," a representative said.

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UFC: Koscheck claims GSP is a fake as TUF 10 series gets under way on Sky Sports

The Ultimate Fighter series comes to Sky Sports tonight with leading welterweight GSP and Josh Koscheck looking to score psychological points.
Koscheck claims GSP is ?a fake?, admits to goading the UFC welterweight champion, and believes he has spotted mental weaknesses in his rival.
The two leading welterweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship ? incumbent champion Georges [...]

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Roller coaster of fights: Ups and downs of Frank Mir

With an MMA career that spans nearly 10 years, Frank Mir has seen many ups and downs. Check out the mountain range of his life.Hill: A young Frank Mir starts his career with the UFC with a bang, spending just over two minutes in the Octagon in his first two fights. He submitted Roberto Travern at UFC 34 then Pete Williams at UFC 36. Valley: The young phenom stumbles, losing by TKO to Ian Freeman at UFC 38.Head-Stompin' hill: Mir rebounded with a 46-second toehold submission of Tank Abbott, then a disqualification win over Wes Sims after Sims stomped Mir in the head at UFC 43. At UFC 46, Mir knocked Sims out, earning a title shot at Tim Sylvia.Mt. Arm Snap: Mir won the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 48 by breaking Tim Sylvia's arm. Just three years into his pro MMA career, Mir was at the top of the world.  Valley of the Motorcycle Crash: Mir's worst valley came not in the Octagon, but on the road. On September 17, 2004, he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that tore up his leg. He was unable to defend his belt, and was stripped of his title.Valley of the Unprepared: The Frank Mir who submitted his way to the top of the UFC heavyweight pile was nowhere to be seen when he returned to the UFC 57 in February of 2006. In his first fight after his motorcycle accident, Mir was TKOed by Marcio Cruz. He pulled out a decision over Dan Christison, but was then TKOed by another UFC phenom, Brandon Vera, at UFC 65. I'm Back Hill: Mir needed a win. He had been unimpressive in three fights, and then had to postpone a bout with Antoni Hardonk because of a shoulder injury. He did win, quickly submitting Hardonk. He then had another quick win over some guy named Brock Lesnar. Mt. Interim Champion: After coaching against him for the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," Mir beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92. Mir won in a second round TKO, winning the interim belt and earning a shot at Brock Lesnar. The winner would unify the belts.Valley of UFC 100: At the biggest and most publicized UFC event in history, Mir's match with Lesnar was the main event. The two trash talked for months before the fight, but Lesnar easily won by TKO. Lesnar controlled Mir on the ground, then pounded him out for the win.French Fighter Hill: Mir got back on track with a win over Cheick Kongo that saw Mir return to his grappling roots. He won by a guillotine.Not Another Big Wrestler! Valley: Mir couldn't sustain his winning ways, getting knocked out by Shane Carwin at UFC 111. This leads us to Mir's match-up with MMA legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 119 this Saturday. Will this bout be a hill or valley for Mir?

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After whooping Evander Holyfield, Manny Pacquiao could be next for Telegraph challenge

As one of my esteemed colleagues at the Telegraph Media Group has already pointed out, I will be boring people for years about the day I whooped Evander Holyfield in a three-pronged challenge.
Beating the great two weight-world champion, and four-time�world heavyweight champion, at cards (namely, snap) and stone-paper-scissors will�remain as one of the highlights of [...]

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Former heavyweight champs Barnett and Rodriguez employed again

Someone call the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez are both employed by MMA promotions again. Strikeforce announced today that they have signed Josh Barnett to a multi-fight deal.“Strikeforce is the home of the best heavyweight division in the world and I’m proud to be able to call it my home now,” said Barnett via a Strikeforce press release. “I’m looking forward to competing amongst the greatest fighters in the world and fighting my way to another world title.”This is a shot at redemption for Barnett, a fighter with a checkered history. Despite being talented enough to win to UFC championship in 2002, Barnett was stripped of the belt immediately after because he tested positive for a banned substance. He played a major role in the downfall of Affliction's fighting promotion by being denied a license for a bout with Fedor Emelianenko because he tested positive in a pre-fight drug test. Since then, he's failed to show up for hearings about getting his license back. As of April, the issue of his license in California is still unresolved.   Barnett has continued to fight in promotions overseas, and hasn't lost since a 2006 PRIDE bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. His last win was with Australia's Impact FC over Geronimo dos Santos, a first-round TKO.No fights have been scheduled yet for Barnett, but maybe now fight fans
will get to see the Barnett/Fedor Emelianenko bout that never happened
because of Affliction's demise. Rodriguez's second chance During Thursday evening's broadcast, it was announced that Rodriguez signed with Bellator. He will face Dave Herman on Sept. 30 in Lake Charles, La.Rodriguez beat Randy Couture in 2002 to win the UFC heavyweight belt, but lost it in the next fight to Tim Sylvia. After a stint on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and ballooning up to 330 lbs., he has become refocused on training. This year, he has fought six times, and won six times.  Herman will be a much tougher test for Rodriguez. He has 19 wins, and not a decision among them.  

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SeatGeek, with the help of MMAmania.com, once again takes a look at the average ticket prices for...

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