UFC interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit won a tough 5 round decision against Nick Diaz at UFC 143. A week later he was ready to do it all again, agreeing to rematch Diaz while they waited for champ Georges St. Pierre to recover from ACL surgery.

Unfortunately Diaz failed his drug test after UFC 143, coming up positive for marijuana use.

Condit spoke to Sports Illustrated about the Diaz situation:

"I don't care (about Diaz using marijuana before the fight)," Condit said. "The thing about it is, it's something they test for. It's against the Nevada [State] Athletic Commission [rules]. I don't really consider it to be a performance-enhancing drug, but the fact is, they're testing for it. And you know they're testing for it. Whatever you do in between camps, if you know they're testing for this stuff then you've got to figure something out. In the past, he's said, 'Oh, I can smoke and I can pass these tests no problem.' That attitude kind of came back and bit him in the ass."

Now Condit is expected to wait for GSP to recover from surgery so they can put on a title-unification bout in the fall. Condit was originally going to face St. Pierre last fall at UFC 137, but GSP strained his left knee and had to bow out of the bout.

More On Nick Diaz
In Defense of Diaz's Weed Habit | Diaz Is to Blame, But So Are Meaningless Marijuana Tests | Diaz Should Be Released By The UFC | Diaz' Drug Test Failure Was Inevitable |White: 'I Am Beyond Disappointed' | Fighters React to Diaz's Positive Drug Test | Nick Diaz Tests Positive For Marijuana

Condit was next scheduled to face Josh Koscheck at UFC 143 but got bumped up to the main event against Diaz when GSP tore his right ACL.


SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

Recently, it was revealed that Stephen Thompson would follow up his impressive head kick KO win in his UFC debut by facing long-time UFC veteran Matt Brown at UFC 145. It was surprising news because, while not a world beater, Brown is talented, tough and versatile in a way that usually goes beyond what you'd put a blue chip prospect in the cage with.

Thompson is no combat neophyte though, having achieved high levels of success in kickboxing endeavors. But to Brown, Thompson's successes in situations such as the World Combat League simply don't matter.

Via MMA Weekly:

Middle Easy transcribed the quote:

Name me one guy that he fought. I can tell you the guys I train with [have fought] Saenchai, Malaipet, and Joe Schilling; guys that are well known in the kickboxing/Muay Thai world, on a world level… I’m not too concerned with this guy’s kickboxing. I can go 100-0 beating a bunch of idiots, but that’s not my style.

It's starting to sound like we may see a slightly more chippy version of Matt Brown than we're used to in the lead up to a fight.

More SBN UFC 145 coverage

Last week former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua tweeted that he has parted ways with his long-time manager Eduardo Alonso: "I would like to tell that I no longer work with Eduardo Alonso, we still friends, as usually."

Shogun spoke to Sherdog and elaborated a bit more on why he is parting with Alonso after five years together. The first reason Rua mentioned was his desire to have a separate coach, media team and business manager but he also made this very revealing comment:

There are some different people helping me with this part right now; I'm still thinking. The UFC has made it clear that we don't need a manager; all negotiations are conducted by the athletes themselves. A manager today is not like in the Pride days. At that time, they had much more weight. I am in favor of a manager, that's not the reason that I separated from Eduardo. I want to work with people nearby: Eduardo works in Sao Paulo and I'm in Curitiba. But, this is not the only reason. There are others, like I said.

Zach Arnold at Fight Opinion commented:

The UFC's stance about guys not needing agents is not anything new if you've followed what Dana White has said online for a while now. What is new is that you have several top Brazilian fighters all of a sudden abandoning their managers/agents after UFC picks up major steam in Brazil w/ the help of uber-rich Eike Batista. Amazing how fast attitudes are changing now that UFC has found their dream money man in a dream money market to attract major-league talent & run big shows at.

Everyone has a right to proper & good representation. Unfortunately, often times we see horrible representation for fighters and promoters can easily take advantage of said reps or dismiss the fighter(s) altogether. But let's call a spade a spade here - if Shogun and other top Brazilian fighters believe that they don't need a quality representative or agent/manager, then that's just plain stupid. It's also incredibly dangerous and eliminates any kind of leverage a fighter has in negotiations.

For an example of the way the UFC goes around fighter management, look no further than the confusion around the Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz rematch that seemed briefly imminent. The last person to know about the fight agreement was apparently Condit's manager Malki Kawa.

In a related note Alistair Overeem's former management team Golden Glory has gotten another court order to garnish his pay from UFC 141. More on that after the jump.

SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

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Wednesday, February 15th marks the UFC on Fuel TV event from Omaha, Nebraska. Hometown welterweight Jake Ellenberger meets Diego Sanchez in the headliner and heavyweights Stefan Struve and Dave Herman assume the co-main slot.

The main card festivities begin at 8 p.m. ET and will be preceded by a five-fight preliminary lineup that will stream on the UFC's Facebook page. The lower-echelon of the undercard is once again punctuated by new names and fresh talent:

Ivan Menjivar vs. John Albert
Jonathan Brookins vs. Vagner Rocha
Buddy Roberts vs. Sean Loeffler
Anton Kuivanen vs. Justin Salas
Tim Means vs. Bernardo Magalhaes

Ivan Menjivar (23-8) vs. John Albert (7-1)

Bantamweights will captain the undercard, as veteran Ivan Menjivar meets TUF 14 entry John "Prince" Albert. On the show, Albert submitted his way into the house but fell short by decision to eventual winner John Dodson. He carried a 6-1 record into the competition and thoroughly dominated Dustin Pague at the live finale for his seventh and most significant victory.

Menjivar has over a decade of experience under his belt against esteemed competition, most of which was contested at lightweight. Each of his eight career defeats were dealt by highly reputable opposition and he's only been finished twice with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre responsible for one (TKO in 2002). Shortly after incurring back to back losses -- the first to Caol Uno in the Hero's 2006 Lightweight Grand Prix, the second a split decision to Bart Palaszewski in the IFL -- Menjivar disappeared for a few years and then re-emerged in the WEC as a bantamweight.

He lost a unanimous decision to the feisty Brad Pickett at WEC 53, but reinvigorated his reputation with a rousing TKO of Charlie Valencia in his Octagon debut that was ignited by a brutal horizontal elbow in the clinch. In his last foray, Menjivar took on Nick Pace at UFC 133 and survived the rising phenom's third-round comeback to notch a unanimous decision, though "The Pride of El Salvador" missed weight and the bout was contested at a catchweight of 138-pounds.

Gifs and analysis in the full entry.

SBN coverage of UFC on Fuel TV

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This is a guest editorial by Jonathan Tweedale, Commissioner with the Vancouver Athletic Commission.

Nick Diaz's recent post-fight positive test after UFC 143 for marijuana has caused many fight enthusiasts to ask: "Why do they test for marijuana anyway?"

The answer to that question, along with a review of Nevada's applicable regulatory provision, suggests that there is no basis for disciplinary sanction of Mr. Diaz unless he administered or used marijuana immediately prior to or within several hours in advance of his fight.

Cannabinoids as Prohibited Substances

Cannabinoids are prohibited substances for fighters licensed in Nevada by virtue of NAC 467.850(2)(f), which incorporates by reference all prohibited substances on the current Prohibited List published by the World Anti-Doping Agency ("WADA").

More On Nick Diaz
In Defense of Diaz's Weed Habit | Diaz Is to Blame, But So Are Meaningless Marijuana Tests | Diaz Should Be Released By The UFC | Diaz' Drug Test Failure Was Inevitable |White: 'I Am Beyond Disappointed' | Fighters React to Diaz's Positive Drug Test | Nick Diaz Tests Positive For Marijuana

Cannabinoids - specifically, natural (e.g. cannabis, hashish, marijuana) and synthetic delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as well as cannabimimetics - are included on WADA's Prohibited List. The status of cannabinoids as either legal or illegal under applicable criminal law - or, e.g., ‘legal with a doctor's note' - is immaterial. The determinative fact for fight licensing purposes is that cannabinoids are included on WADA's Prohibited List.

Cannabinoids are only prohibited "in competition". WADA expressly permits the use of marijuana and other cannabinoids outside of competition. Nevada is no different. A random, out of competition positive test for marijuana should not engender disciplinary sanction under the NAC's regulations.

More after the jump.

SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

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UFC president Dana White revealed on Twitter this morning that a very interesting middleweight bout has been added to the May 5th UFC on Fox 3 card in New Jersey, as Brazilian leg-mangler Rousimar Palhares will meet Louisiana's own Alan Belcher:

Alan Belcher vs Rousimar Palhares fight added to FOX card!!!!!!

Many fans had called for this match-up given the recent successes of both men and their positioning in the upper echelon of the UFC's 185 lb. ranks. Belcher returned in September after over a year spent battling a potentially career-ending eye injury, and he quickly dispatched of the always-game Jason MacDonald. Although he's shown a solid ground game in addition to his dynamic muay thai, Belcher will want to avoid the ground at all costs against Palhares, who is one of the most feared submission artists in modern MMA, given his brute strength and penchant for crushing leg locks, along with his ability to snatch them from seemingly any position.

Alan "The Talent" Belcher (17-6)
W Jason Macdonald (submission - punches) - UFN 25
W Patrick Cote (submission - RNC) - UFC 113
W Wilson Gouveia (TKO) - UFC 107

Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares (14-3)
W Mike Massenzio (submission - heel hook) - UFC 142
W Dan Miller (unam. decision) - UFC 134
W Dave Branch (submission - heel hook) - UFC on Versus 3

Here's how the UFC on Fox 3 card is shaping up:

-Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller (5-round main event)
-Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks
-Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares
-Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson
-John Dodson vs. Darren Uyenoyama
-Anthony Ferguson vs. Dennis Hallman
-John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss
-Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish
-Louis Gaudinot vs. John Lineker
-Mike Massenzio vs. Karlos Vemola

UFC on Fox 3 coverage

UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta isn't generally a guy that breaks a lot of news. But during a late-night twitter Q&A with fans last week, he was a goldmine of information. One of the biggest pieces of information he dropped was when he was asked by a fan who was next for former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. He answered with just one word:

Cain.

That, of course, is former champ Cain Velasquez, who dropped his title to Junior dos Santos at UFC on Fox 1 back in November. Fertitta didn't mention a timeframe for the bout, but the yearly Memorial Day event (UFC 146 on May 26th) and Independence Day event (UFC 148 on July 7th) seem like solid fits. There will be a Fan Expo at the July event, so it is likely to have a stacked card.

Mir is coming off his second victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140, which was one of the best submissions of 2011. He has now won three bouts in a row, and has quietly crept back into contention for a title shot. Fabricio Werdum has been angling for a fight with Mir on twitter lately, but it looks like he will have to wait in line. The bout could possibly serve as a number one contenders matchup.