Daniel Cormier: 'once again I'm the UFC champion'

UFC bouts aren’t for the faint-hearted, so beware, The Takedown features photos and footage of violent fight scenes.

It’s official. Daniel Cormier has been reinstated as the UFC light-heavyweight champion. In effect, his knockout loss to Jon Jones at UFC 214 never happened after the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) ruled the bout a no contest.

Cormier confirmed the news on FOX Sports’ weekly UFC show, UFC Tonight late on Wednesday night.

That’s because Jones failed a USADA drug test on weigh-in day, with confirmation arriving on Wednesday that the B sample also tested positive for the same banned substance, the anabolic steroid Turinabol.

As a result, the CSAC overturned the result and ruled the bout a no contest. It means the UFC title will now return to Cormier, while Jones faces a battle to save his controversial UFC career.

Previously, Jones was banned after testing positive for a banned substance ahead of UFC 200 bout, and if the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) rules that the 30-year-old was guilty of taking a banned substance on this occasion, he could find himself banned for up to four years.

Jones’ team is fighting the case, saying their man never knowingly took a banned substance, and are currently investigating the possibility he may have ingested a contaminated supplement. But even that outcome wouldn’t stop Jones being handed a ban of some description.

Incredibly, it now means Jones has been stripped of the UFC light-heavyweight title THREE times.

That’s not the sort of hat-trick you want on your record.

That’s gotta smart

When former lightweight star Gilbert Melendez weighed in at his new class of featherweight ahead of his bout at UFC 215 last weekend, hopes were high that the former Strikeforce world lightweight champion could experience something of a career renaissance. But hard-hitting Jeremy Stephens had other ideas.

Featherweight contender Stephens is known for his ‘come-forward, throw punches’ approach to bouts, but he’s more than capable of doing damage with his legs too, as Melendez found out to his cost.

Stephens battered Melendez’s left leg with thumping kicks throughout the 15-minute contest, which somehow made it all the way to the scorecards.

Stephens took the decision victory, and Melendez ended up with a very nasty-looking left leg as the judges’ scores were read.

His leg looked even worse after the bout, as Melendez’s wife Keri (who’s also an MMA fighter) tweeted pics of her hubby’s painful looking peg.

Sorry, Mariah…

Light-heavyweight prospect Tyson Pedro raised more than a few eyebrows on Saturday night when he danced on his way to the octagon to Mariah Carey’s hit Fantasy.

Unfortunately he wasn’t able to deliver too many big hits of his own as he lost out to Swedish powerhouse Ilir Latifi, who handed Pedro the first defeat of his professional career.

But the amiable Australian wasn’t too upset afterwards. He congratulated his opponent in an Instagram post, hailing Latifi’s toughness and explaining how he’d benefit from the defeat in the long run.

“I learnt more in this one loss then in my last six wins,” he wrote.

“On to the next and thank you to all those people who sent me messages.”

And he used the post to deliver an apology to the songstress whose music he’d chosen for his walkout tune.

“Please don't be disappointed @mariahcarey I'll make it up to you!”

UFC goes big for Madison Square Garden

Saturday 4 November looks set to be one of the biggest UFC nights of the year, with three world title fights confirmed for UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Britain’s very own UFC world champion Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping is set for action in the main event as he puts his undisputed middleweight title on the line against UFC legend and former all-conquering welterweight champ, Georges St-Pierre.

The Canadian is making his long-awaited comeback after a four-year hiatus, and he’s jumping straight into a title fight with Bisping, who will set a new record as the fighter who has made the most appearances in UFC history, with 28.

Meanwhile, if St-Pierre can dethrone the Brit and claim the UFC middleweight title, that would see him equal the record for the most wins in UFC history, with 20.

The current holder of that record? Michael Bisping.

The co-main event sees bantamweight world champ Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt take on rival T.J. Dillashaw in a hotly-anticipated grudge match, while the women’s strawweight title is on the line in the night’s third world championship bout as dominant champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk takes on Rose Namajunas.

Johnson v Borg is back on

If you’re wondering what’s going to happen to Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg after their main event bout was cancelled the day before UFC 215 last weekend, fear not. It’s just been rescheduled to take place at UFC 216 on October 7 in Las Vegas.