Around the UFC: Vera Back, Bisping Punished, White On Teammate Vs Teammate

Added on Mar 15, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Dana White Confirms Vera Is Back

After a streaky at best string of performances, Brandon Vera was cut from the UFC roster after he loss to Thiago Silva. Weeks later, Thiago was pulled out of an upcoming fight he had, and we learned that his “A-sample” was positive and his B sample is being tested as we speak. No word has come back on Thiago Silva’s second sample, but it sounds like the UFC isn’t going to wait around. Dana White confirmed it to MMAFighting “Yes, he is back. Brandon Vera is back in the UFC.” “The Truth’s” match against Silva is still officially listed as a ‘Loss,’ however could get overturned to a ‘No Contest’ depending upon the result of Silva’s second sample.

Michael Bisping Has Been Punished

Dana White has made good on his promise to penalize Michael Bisping for his actions during and after his fight with Jorge Rivera. White said “Other fighters know what this means, and know how serious this is. Bisping wasn’t given any bonuses for his fight. He didn’t even try to defend his actions, He knew not to go there with me. I told him what he did was wrong, and I told him what we expected from him in the future.”

Before his fight with Rivera, there was tons of trash talking back and forth. During the fight, Michael Bisping landed an illegal knee to the head of Rivera, and the strike was deemed intentional by the UFC. To make matters worse, After the fight Bisping proceeded to spit at Rivera’s corner-men. Chael Sonen, who is still suspended himself, has called out Bisping in response to this incident. White said of the possible fight “Chael has his own issues to work out first.”

“I Think It Could Be The Camps Telling Them Not To Fight”- White

I don’t necessarily agree with Dana White on this point, but he does make an interesting point. Dana White says he thinks this trend of team mates not fighting each other is financially driven. Typically when two fighters from the same camp have fought, One of the fighters leaves camp and trains at another gym, but I think it may just be welcomed side effect. White says “The reality is Rashad Evans hasn’t known Jon Jones that long to call him a brother. What I really believe, Rashad didn’t tell me this, Jon Jones didn’t tell me this, this is just something I came up with in my head. This has to be coming from the camp. Which if you look at it, whether it’s Greg Jackson’s idea or the others guys who are up in Colorado, whoever the coaches are up there, why would they want these guys to fight each other? Because if they do, one guy is going to leave the camp and they make less money on that deal. If a Jon Jones or a Rashad Evans, or this guy-that guy leaves, that’s not good for business. That’s bad for business. But the reality is, this isn’t a team sport.”