UFC News: Conor McGregor's chilling message, Novitzky on Jones, Nick Diaz’s future
UFC NEWS - Express Sport brings you the latest headlines from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Jon Jones, former UFC light-heavyweight champion
Conor McGregor sends a message to his rivals
Conor McGregor has warned those wishing to welcome him back to the UFC that he will be better than ever when he next steps inside the Octagon.
“2018 I may go back to the back pages instead of the front pages again but I have a feeling these journalists now just want me in the obituary pages so we shall see,” McGregor said in a recently-deleted Instagram post.
“I will be ready for whatever comes.
“Be sharp and be fast this year because I am sharper and I am faster.”
On the surface of things, at this point in the game with that type of information out there, it wouldn’t indicate intentional use.
Jeff Novitzky discusses Jon Jones failed drug test
The UFC's Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky believes the circumstances surrounding Jon Jones' failed drug test suggests his second anti-doping violation may have been unintentional.
“It would not make a lot of sense for an individual, a UFC athlete, especially a championship contender like Jon Jones who knew, ‘I’m tested quite regularly in this program’ – it would not make a lot of sense that that would be your drug of choice if you’re trying to cheat,” Novitzky said during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.
“I think it’s come out after the fact that USADA did another test on Jon a month or two months after his positive test, and he was negative.
“So that would be indicative that the prohibited substance entered his system sometime after July 7th or 8th, and that was likely a pretty small amount and that cleared his system pretty quickly.
“Again, who knows where it plays out? But on the surface of things, at this point in the game with that type of information out there, it wouldn’t indicate intentional use. That could be wrong.
“I don’t know that definitively, and we’ll see how this plays out."
Jon Jones walks out of an emotional press conference prior to UFC 200
Nick Diaz is still interested in fighting
Former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz still wants to fight in the UFC, according to Novitzky.
“Nick was our first fighter that ran into the whereabouts issue,” Novitzky said during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.
“So he got three whereabouts failures in a rolling 12 months, so he’s currently going through that process. It’s a tough one.
Nick Diaz still wants to fight, according to Jeff Novitzky
“I think he does (want to fight). I think he does. I’ve sat down with him over the past couple months trying to resolve this whereabouts issues.
“The unfortunate thing there is, look, the whereabouts failures are there to catch people that are cheating and trying to avoid testing.
“I just think Nick’s lifestyle led to those three whereabouts, not that he was trying to avoid testing. We’re trying to work through that.”