Details On UFC "Special Announcement," Anderson Silva Update, Bellator Fighters Fined
- The UFC's special announcement for November 17 was revealed on Wednesday, as officials will be joined by many top champions during an event later this month. The event will take place at The Smith Center for Performing Arts in Las Vegas and stream live online.
UFC champions Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Ronda Rousey will be joined by UFC president Dana White, Conor McGregor, Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz and others during the event. The day will feature the unveiling of the entire 2015 calendar of events, along with another special announcement that was teased during the media release.
- Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva sent a scare through the MMA world when he went down with numbness in his legs. Silva, though, has been released from the hospital and his doctor recently told UFC.com that the issue has nothing to do with his previous leg surgery.
Silva (33-6) broke his leg in December during a loss to Chris Weidman for the title. Marcio Tannure, who performed surgery for the injury, believes this lately issue will not keep him from returning in January to fight Nick Diaz.
"He has felt this pain before," Tannure said. "It has nothing to do with the surgery."
- The California Athletic Commission has fined and suspended four fighters from the Bellator 127 card who failed post-fight drug tests. Two were for elevated levels of testosterone, one for marijuana and one unknown at this time.
Robert Emerson was fined $2,500 and suspended 270 days, Nik Moghaddam received a $1,000 fine and 300-day suspension for elevated levels, as did Keith Berry, who was given 300 days and a fine of $2,500. For marijuana in his system, Fernando Gonzalez received a 30-day suspension and fine of $315.
Previously, Bellator president Scott Coker addressed the matter, releasing a statement that read "I want to make very clear that under new management, Bellator will simply not stand for performance enhancing drugs inside our cage. We fully support the California State Athletic Commission in their process and standby any disciplinary action handed out by Commissioner Andy Foster and the CSAC. Fans, media and our athletes need to have a clear understanding that drug use will simply not be tolerated by Bellator."