(UFC 200: Road to the Octagon)

Khabib Nurmagomedov Remains on UFC on FOX 19 Card With Short-Notice Opponent (MMAJunkie)

UFC 199 Headliners React to New CSAC Weight-Cutting Rules (MMAFighting)

Kenny Florian Set to Compete at IBJJF NY Open (BloodyElbow)

Cat Zingano vs Julianna Pena Official for UFC 200 in July (MMAMania)

(via Getty.)

Following her shocking upset win over Holly Holm at UFC 196, the general consensus seemed to be that she would defend her title against rival Ronda Rousey next, despite the fact that Rousey a) had not competed since her loss to Holm at UFC 193 and b) still had not offered a timetable for her return. Regardless of the UFC’s plans, Tate told reporters shortly after the fight was announced that she didn’t foresee Rousey returning to the octagon anytime soon.

“She’s obviously said that she’s so emotional to the point where she’s considering crazy things and it’s like this is a broken woman,” said Tate during an appearance on The Jay Mohr Show. “I don’t know if she’ll ever come back the same.”

For the time being, it appears that Tate might be onto something. Last night, it was announced that Tate would be making her first title defense at UFC 200, and the opponent was probably the last person you’d expect…

(Unless he plans on actually using that sledgehammer, this is going to end poorly.)

Vince Lombardi was once famously quoted as saying that “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up” that is the true measure of a man. Then again, he also died of stupid butthole cancer because he was too proud to get a proctoscopic exam, so what the f*ck does he know?

What we’re getting at is, there comes a time in everyone’s life where throwing in the towel doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re refusing (or unable) to get up. In the combat sports world especially, we’ve seen countless fighters place ego above all else and continue fighting well beyond the point that their bodies have told them to stop, and to what end? (More often than not,  few wholly unnecessary concussions.

So if you were, say, a 38-year-old guy who nearly died from kidney failure while competing in your first MMA fight in 5 years, you’d probably hang up the 4 oz. gloves for good and thank your God for bringing you out of that coma you were in, right? Well, not if you’re Dada 5000 you wouldn’t!

(Wait, it was the *other* guy who got injured for once? You’re kidding…)

For close to a week now, we’ve been hinting that a great rash of injuries was set to befall the UFC. Chalk it up to our well-documented knack for predicting the future, chalk it up to the series of Rube Goldbergian traps we placed in the homes of several prominent MMA fighters, but we haven’t help but shake the feeling that 2016 will bring with it an injury curse that makes the injury curse of 2012 look like a series of bumps and bruises.

The Great Injury Curse of 2016 — henceforth to be known and referred to as the #PotatoCurse by *all* MMA media entities — got off to a promising start last week, claiming Daniel Cormier just weeks out from his highly-anticipated title fight rematch with uber rival Jon Jones. Last night, the #PotatoCurse claimed its second victim in the form of lightweight Tony Ferguson, forcing him out of his #1 contender bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov and destroying the second straight UFC main event in as many weeks.

Details after the jump.

(“For those that think it’s that easy to matchmake.” via the Jackson-Wink Twitter)

With the UFC set to hold two of the most stacked cards in promotional history in the coming weeks – UFC 198 and UFC 200 — there’s been an overwhelming feeling that shit was all but destined to hit the fan in one capacity or another. “Conor McGregor suffers another ACL tear.” “Nate Diaz shot backstage at Snoop Dogg concert.” “Fabricio Werdum retires amidst actual prostitution scandal.” These were all headlines that we could have seen coming over the weekend, because this sport is nothing if not an unpredictable circus.

What you might not expect, however, is that the bad luck that always finds its way to MMA would trickle down to an unrelated fight card, like say, UFC 197. Which, with the MMA Gods being the vengeful, sadistic asshole that they are, is of course what happened.

(Jon Jones’ full probation hearing, via UFC Fight Pass…er…FancyMMA)

Jon Jones Must Attend Courses, Get Approval to Drive After Probation Violation (MMAFighting)

Bellator 155: Marloes Coenen to Face Julia Budd for Women’s Featherweight Title (Bleacher Report)

In Age of ‘Needle-Movers,’ does UFC Contender Neil Magny Still Have a Path to the Top? (MMAJunkie)

(Wait, the same people who designed this travesty are capable of making this? AIN’T. BUYING. IT.)

Regardless of how we all felt when rumors first started swirling that the UFC would be booking an immediate rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz for UFC 200, the one thing we could all agree is that we WOULD TOTALLY WATCH THAT SH*T AGAIN. Whether the fight was contested at welterweight, lightweight, Franklinweight, or Moneyweight, there wasn’t a red-blooded MMA fan alive that wouldn’t fork over sixty bucks or the password to the illegal streaming website with which they watch all pay-per-views to see this rematch.

As such, the UFC announced this morning that a welterweight rematch between McGregor vs. Diaz II would in fact be headlining UFC 200. But that’s not all, not by a long shot…

(A fittingly memorable photo for a fittingly memorable fighter. Farewell to thee, Jeremy Rosewall.)

Because some of you fans (and to be fair, some of us in the media) are still convinced that MMA is a sport and not a form of entertainment, there has been a bit of a reaction to the firing of UFC heavyweight Jared Rosholt — if “(*wanking motion*)” counts as a reaction nonetheless.

The history of UFC fighters appearing on Dancing With the Stars has been a brief but painful one. Chuck Liddell was the first to break the mold in Season 9, getting axed after the 4th week and finishing in 11th place (out of 16) overall. His old rival Randy Couture was next to appear some ten seasons later, but met a similarly swift end. Big Nog and Denis Kang also appeared in the Brazilian and Korean versions of the show, respectively, but failed to make it past the first few rounds. Who would think that professional fighters would have such notoriously terrible footwork?

Enter UFC strawweight Paige VanZant, who announced earlier this month that she had signed on to join the 22nd season (!) of the hit ABC competition show following her hard-fought loss to Rose Namajunas last year. Given VanZant’s athleticism and background as a former dancer, it seemed as if she would be the first MMA fighter to actually excel on the show, and she’s done nothing short of that thus far.

Last night, VanZant overcame a last-minute injury (of her dancing partner, Mark Ballas) to claim the highest score of the season, a 24, by dancing the tango alongside replacement partner Alan Bersten. Check out the video of her performance above.

After the jump: VanZant’s debut performance from the first episode of the season.

(Jon Jones: Turning the entire world into Daniel Cormier fans, one police officer at a time.)

We may be relatively early into the new year, but at this point, it would be safe to declare that Jon Jones might have The “Really? You’re Just Gonna Keep Doing That Shit That Gets You in All That Trouble?” Award a.k.a. “The Koppenhaver” locked up for this year’s Potato Awards.

Seemingly not satisfied with the pair of DUI-related car accidents he’s already been involved in, the former light heavyweight champion was nabbed yet again for speeding and driving without a license, registration, or insurance at the beginning of the year. While most of us would have probably accepted our shortcomings as a driver and hung up our keys by this point, Jon Jones is not most of us. As such, “Bones” was cited YET AGAIN last week for a handful of vehicle-related offenses, then proceeded to verbally berate the officer who pulled him over.

Video after the jump.