(“HYPOGONADISM BITCH, ALL DAY!” / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)

Though his job appeared to be safe following his UFC 157 decision loss to Brendan Schaub, pissing dirty for steroids turned out to be the kiss of death for heavyweight Lavar “Big” Johnson. In light of his failed drug test, Johnson has been cut by the UFC. In addition, the California State Athletic Commission has hit him with a nine-month suspension, as well as a fine of “around $1,250″ that reflects the cost of the two tests the CSAC used for his drug screening.

MMAJunkie adds some more surprising details about what led to Johnson’s PED bust:

An elevated testestosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio of 6.6-to-1 triggered a carbon isotope ratio (CIR) test that confirmed Johnson had testosterone in his system that was “was consistent with the administration of a steroid.” Johnson, though, admitted he was undergoing testosterone replacement therapy in a recent conversation with the California State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the Feb. 23 pay-per-view event at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and suspended him based on the results of his test. Johnson failed to disclose TRT on a pre-fight medical questionnaire. A rep for AKA said the fighter may seek an exemption for the treatment.

Here’s how you know TRT is nothing more than a bullshit cheating-method — when a dude who looks like this claims to need it, and then avoids mentioning it during his pre-fight medicals. Ah well. You can’t say the UFC didn’t warn you. In other UFC drug-bust aftermath news…

“Wait…a ham sandwich walked into a bar? How is that even possible?”

New years often mean new beginnings. For Bellator, this means cutting ties with former bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky.

Makovsky took to his Twitter account yesterday to confirm his release, tweeting “Honestly shocked but thank you for the opportunity @BellatorMMA @BjornRebney.”

A former D1 wrestler for Drexel University, Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky was the face of Bellator’s bantamweight division since the beginning, becoming the inaugural bantamweight champion at Bellator 32 with a unanimous decision victory over Ed West. A pair of non-title fights saw him knock out Chad Robichaux and choke out Ryan Roberts, improving his Bellator record to a flawless 6-0, and the future was wide open for Fun Size.

(The punch may have missed, but Dillishaw’s stank bref definitely found its mark.) 

It is not a good time of year to be a struggling UFC fighter, Potato Nation.

Just a day after it was made public that Charlie “Big Hair” Brenneman (nickname pending) had been released from the UFC following a pair of losses to Kyle Noke and Erick Silva, the UFC has announced that four more UFC fighters will have to significantly cut back on their children’s wish lists this Christmas. Spoiler alert: Most of the names will not surprise you, unless you were unaware that some of them were fighting in the UFC in the first place, or even a person at all, which is likely the case with a couple of these guys.

And the nominees for saddest fighter of the day are…

-Michihiro Omigawa: Following an 0-2 stint in the octagon between 2007-2008, the DREAM and DEEP veteran reentered the UFC in February of 2011. Unfortunately for him, his second run didn’t go much better than the first. He would drop his first fight to future title challenger Chad Mendes by way of unanimous decision at UFC 126 and get absolutely screwjobbed out of a victory in his second fight against Darren Elkins at UFC 131. A UD victory of his own over Jason Young at UFC 138 would be his first and his last under the Zuffa banner, as he would suffer back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Iuri Alcantara and former WEC featherweight title challenger Manny Gamburyen at UFC 142 and UFC on FOX 4, respectively. Omigawa’s record currently stands at 13-12.

(True story.)

As a wise man once tweeted, “everyone likes surprises.” Nevertheless, Miguel Torres probably didn’t enjoy the surprise he got recently when he found out that he had been cut for the second time by the UFC. Torres confirmed on his official website that he was handed his walking papers following his first-round knockout loss against rising star Michael McDonald at UFC 145. The firing follows a temporary release in December, which Torres caught for rape-joke-related offenses.

At one point the most dominant bantamweight in the history of the sport, Torres ends his UFC stint with an underwhelming record of 2-2, including decision wins over Antonio Banuelos and Nick Pace, and losses to McDonald and Demetrious Johnson. Prior to that, Torres spent three fruitful years in the WEC, where he won the promotion’s 135-pound belt and successfully defended it three times before a pair of stoppage losses to Brian Bowles and Joseph Benavidez permanently dethroned him.

(We’ll give “The Robot” this, he never left a *victory* in the hands of the judges.) 

Of all the fighters to be kept around by the UFC for longer than they should have, the story of Steve Cantwell‘s inexplicably long run with the promotion is perhaps the most confounding. That is not a knock on Mr. Cantwell, but more of a general observation. After defeating Brian Stann at WEC 35 to win the WEC’s last Light Heavyweight championship (not to mention a bit of redemption), Cantwell kicked off his UFC career in memorable fashion, snapping Razak Al-Hassan’s arm and then gloating over it like a serial killer at UFC: Fight for the Troops back in December of 2008. Unfortunately for “The Robot,” the win would be both his first and last while under the UFC banner.

Cantwell’s next fight would be an entertaining three round kickboxing match with Luiz Cane, a fellow light heavyweight prospect who has fallen on hard times as of late, at UFC 97. It was shortly thereafter where those following Cantwell (including Joe Rogan) began to notice a change in Cantwell’s character, at least when he stepped into the ring. His next four losses, which came to Brian Stann, Cyrille Diabate, Mike Massenzio, and Riki Fukuda, respectively, were marked by an all but total lack of striking defense on Cantwell’s part, who seemed as if he was literally trying to absorb as much damage as possible en route to defeat. All four of those losses came by way of unanimous decision, and all four would see Cantwell fail to engage with any sense of urgency on the feet while having his face put through a meat grinder in the process. None of his fights were incredibly memorable, and most of them took place on the undercard, yet Cantwell stuck around for as long as he possibly could.

Like we said, we’re not here to kick a man while he’s down, but rather to wish him the best at wherever he may land in the future. We just wish we could have seen a little more of that sociopathic fire in his eyes over the last couple years.

News of Cantwell’s release comes amidst a plethora of UFC firings, the complete list of which awaits you after the jump.

(Now Mo, you’re going to have to be more original than that if you expect to get paid on the streets.) 

Quinton Jackson must be seething with rage right now. As you may recall, following his January 7th second round TKO victory over Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for Drostanolone. Shortly thereafter, Mo acquired a particularly brutal case of staph infection that nearly took his life, but the bad news wasn’t over yet.

King Mo appeared before the Nevada State Athletic Commission yesterday to receive his punishment, which was rather standard — a 9 month suspension, a 30% fine of his $80,000 purse, the surrendering of his win bonus, and his bout with Larkin being overturned to a no-contest. However, things took a weird turn after chairperson Pat Lundvall, when referring to the information Lawal knowingly falsified on his pre-fight medical documents, called into question that of Lawal’s ability to read and understand English. Needless to say, Mo was rather insulted by such an accusation, and took to Twitter, where he promptly screwed himself royally.

Follow us after the jump for the full story. 

Via ArielHelwani:

“Dana says Torres is back. Torres has donated money to local rape centers, visited them. Dana says Torres was very remorseful…Dana says Torres handled his business like a man and no one told him to do it. Torres very emotional.”

In the latest example of Dana White releasing fighters in a fit of anger before changing his mind (see also: Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan), the UFC president confirmed at today’s “Lesnar vs. Overeem” press conference that Miguel Torres‘s tweet-related firing was more like a three-week suspension. Torres apparently did enough to get back in White’s good graces after his rape-joke-gone-awry, and can now return to his rightful place in the UFC bantamweight division.

We’re glad this story got a happy ending. Now can Gerald Harris and Natasha Wicks get some love or what?

(Torres following his unanimous decision loss to social media. / Photo via ESPN)

Update: Torres has released a statement about his release. Check it out at the bottom of this post.

Miguel Torres — former undisputed WEC bantamweight champion and die-hard fan of rape jokes — has been released by the UFC. Dana White confirmed the firing yesterday evening, telling SI.com, “his career with us now is over.”

The reason for Torres’s release was a tweet that reportedly read, “If a rape van was called a surprise van, more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises.” Torres later removed the tweet and replaced it with an edited version. White was informed of the tweet second-hand by Michael Landsberg and made the decision to fire Torres shortly after.

So why is Torres being made an example of, when Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans made similar off-color statements recently? Basically, it’s because he didn’t have a good enough explanation.

(Props: HDNetFights)

That thumping sound you just heard? That’s the other shoe dropping. Inside MMA breaks the awful news:

“Sources close to the situation have told Inside MMA that the company [Strikeforce] has exercised its right to eliminate his one remaining fight on his contract, effective July 22nd…Also according to the source, Overeem has been dealing with more serious injuries than originally reported, including a broken toe, and rib and elbow problems…Another issue that Strikeforce officials had regarding Overeem’s participation in the [Heavyweight Grand Prix] tournament is he had only one fight left on his current contract, and he would have had to fight twice to win the grand prix.”

Damn. Did Alistair Overeem really just lose his job because he wouldn’t compete earlier than he was originally asked to? Can’t wait to hear how Zuffa spins this debacle. We’ll update you when we know more…

(Don’t give him any money. You know he’ll just spend it on N.O.-Xplode. Photo courtesy of Myron Watkins.)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

This week, our nation’s attention has been captured by redneck birds and the Golden Voice Hobo, only one of which has a happy ending. (No, not that kind…the other kind. Yes, there is another kind.) The rags-to-riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches tale of fortune for Ted Williams is the polar opposite of that of many fighters lately. In the last two weeks, Zuffa has cut six fighters and suspended one more. The economy is still in the can and homeboys gotta eat, so if Strikeforce or Bellator don’t come calling soon, this is where you’re going to see ‘The Expendables’ next:

Brandon "The Truth" Vera: Some believe the number 13 to be unlucky, and for Vera it was. After exactly that many fights in the Octagon, his days in the spotlight are over. From now on he’ll be slinging dinuguan [Ed. note: Eww.] with a side of balut  [Ed. note: *barfs*] at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant, Manila Good-Ha, in L.A.’s Koreatown. It’s a match made in heaven for Vera because he’ll never have to worry about getting punched in the nose again — that is, unless he back-talks his wife Kerry. He’s just gotta make sure Jon Jones’s order is just how he likes it.

Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis: The former TUF 2 contestant will grow out his hair and learn how to drop flying-elbows off the top turnbuckle. Davis will join forces with Samoa Joe, the man he trained back in 2008, to form the world’s most obscure tag-team since The Oddities. At some point Marc Mero, also a former boxer, will come out of retirement to challenge The Irish Hand Grenade to a Caribbean Strap Match for bragging rights as the best ‘real’ fighter in TNA. Dan Hardy will interfere and cost him the match leaving him to reconsider life in some barn with his ex-Army sniper friend.

(Above: Brandon Vera gets smashed up by Jon Jones in March. Below: Marcus Davis does his best Abobo impression during his fight with Nate Diaz.)

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee lost their jobs, there was no way that the axe wasn’t going to drop again on UFC 125‘s other repeat-losers. Here’s the latest…

Brandon Vera: The Truth has been released from his UFC contract after his shutout decision loss to Thiago Silva, which represented Vera’s third consecutive defeat, and sixth loss in his last nine outings. Due to the nasty broken nose he suffered last weekend, Vera won’t be able to compete anywhere until March 3rd at the earliest.

Marcus Davis: The Irish Hand Grenade has also been bounced out of the Octagon. Davis’s knockout loss against Jeremy Stephens was his fifth loss in his last eight attempts, and second-straight defeat by stoppage. The TUF 2 vet was hoping to re-invent himself as a lightweight, and had controlled Stephens in the first two rounds before having his lights put out in the third. Davis is one of only eight UFC fighters who have earned five or more performance bonuses.

Instead of piling on the abuse, let’s remember Vera and Davis for the dangerous, exciting fighters they used to be before their luck abruptly ran out. Video proof is after the jump…

(Oh boy. This is really going to affect his position as "baddest N-word on the planet." / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

“I feel like I’m the Muhammad Ali of MMA. I feel like I’m the Don King of MMA. I feel like I’m the Tupac Shakur of MMA. I’m the mouth, the talent, the brains, and I’m also the business side. Where does that put me? That puts me as one of the all-time greatest black mixed martial arts fighters.” — Antonio McKee 

"I feel sad for the opponents, you know? I hope maybe they’ll just let me submit them, because I really don’t want to hurt them. What are they going to do, stop me from taking them down? Stop me from ground-and-pounding them? Stop me from hitting them with the elbows? Come on, you serious?" — Antonio McKee 

"GSP needs to be compared to *me*." — Antonio McKee

"You’re fucking fired." — Dana White

(The beginning of the end for the Predator…)

From #1 contender to castoff in three fights — such is the fate of Patrick Cote, who confirmed today that he has been cut by the UFC following his decision loss to Tom Lawlor at UFC 121. As Cote wrote, "I had a little hope but finally got the release word from the UFC. Its been a awesome experience! Ill be back!!"

The TUF 4 middleweight finalist lost his first four official matches in the Octagon (including his TUF 4 finale fight against Travis Lutter), but then went on a monster run in 2007-2008 that saw him score five consecutive victories over Scott Smith, Jason Day, Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries, and Ricardo Almeida.

(David Loiseau waits for the merciful hand of the referee against Mario Miranda at UFC 115. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

After taking a rather ugly TKO loss against Mario Miranda during the UFC 115 preliminary card earlier this month, Canadian veteran David Loiseau has been officially released by the UFC. The firing represents the fourth time that Loiseau has parted ways with the UFC since 2003, as well as his fourth-straight defeat in the Octagon — a losing skid that began with his unsuccessful shot at Rich Franklin’s middleweight title at UFC 58.

Following UFC 115, Dana White was openly disappointed with the way Loiseau performed: "David’s been in this sport a long time, and again tonight he got dominated on the ground. That’s his problem…I’m sure (UFC matchmaker) Joe (Silva) is probably going to cut him after this fight, and David will probably have to work his way back up again…He’s been around the game a long time, like I said, but he keeps getting dominated on the ground." 

(That’s the fight game, Jens. You turn your back for one second, and your wife has her hands all over Monte Cox’s enormous stomach. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

For the second time in his 11-year fight career, Jens Pulver‘s relationship with Zuffa has ended. Dana White confirmed over the weekend that Pulver has been released by the WEC, following five consecutive losses over the last two years. Though there were rumors that Lil’ Evil would be taking over color commentary duties for the organization in the wake of Frank Mir’s departure, that’s not the case either. "We had talked about Jens being a part of the WEC somehow, but he’s not broadcasting," White said. For the WEC’s upcoming "Varner vs. Shalorus" event (June 20, Edmonton), the fighter-commentator spot will be filled by Kenny Florian.

Unfortunately, Jens isn’t one of those guys who can simply retire. A father of two children, he needs to fight to make a living. As he told CagedIn: “I’m a fighter. Fact is, I’ve been around a lot longer than these guys today, and I don’t make as much money [as] them. I’m 0-5, and that’s something I’ve got to fix with me, but I can’t take a year off to work on it. I’ve gotta fight.” The first 155-pound champion in UFC history, Pulver’s sole victory in the last four years was his quick choke-out of Cub Swanson at WEC 31 back in December 2007.

(Momma said there’d be days like this. Photo courtesy of Spike.)

Well, this is never easy, but unfortunately we have to deliver some bad news — the services of TUF 8 veteran Eliot Marshall and Shannon Gugerty will no longer be needed in the Octagon. Though both fighters suffered defeats on the preliminary card of Sunday’s UFC on Versus event, Marshall’s firing is somewhat surprising, since his split-decision loss to Vladimir Matyushenko followed three straight wins over Jules Bruchez, Vinny Magalhaes, and Jason Brilz. But his loss to the Janitor isn’t the first time that Marshall has put in a dull performance, and he could have been released simply because he isn’t exciting enough. Naturally, Marshall isn’t happy about it:

As for Gugerty, his submission loss to Clay Guida was his second straight loss, and dropped his overall UFC record to 2-3. Have Chase Gormley and Paul Buentello somehow escaped this round of layoffs, or will we be hearing about their firings in the near future? Stay tuned.

Speaking of UFC on Versus…

("Don’t worry about it, Rolles. Listen, why don’t you stick around Vegas for a while and learn the casino trade?" Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following his ugly loss to Joey "The Mexecutioner" Beltran last Saturday at UFC 109, Rolles Gracie has reportedly been cut from the UFC, joining Mark Coleman, Phillipe Nover, Tim Hague, and Frank Trigg in the list of fighters who didn’t make it out of that show with their jobs intact.

It’s not a common occurrence for a new UFC fighter to immediately get cut if they lose their debut, but Rolles wasn’t just any prospect — his last name gave him a lot to live up to. Whether the pressure came from Dana White or the fighter’s humiliated uncle, there may have been concern about Rolles tarnishing the Gracies’ UFC legacy with any more godawful performances. As a 3-1 fighter, his story is by no means over. But he’ll need a little more seasoning before he makes a return to the bright lights and high pressure of MMA’s biggest stage.

(Well, it was fun while it lasted. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

According to multiple reports, veteran middleweight Denis Kang has been released from his UFC contract following his second-round TKO loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 105, officially making him the UFC’s Biggest Bust of 2009. Once considered a top-ten middleweight due to his impressive performances in PRIDE and Spirit MC — including an epic 23-fight stretch in 2003-2006 where he didn’t lose a single match — Kang has now lost five of his last nine attempts, including two out of three in the UFC. The dismissal is somewhat surprising since Kang hadn’t lost two in a row, and his scrap with Bisping earned UFC 105′s Fight of the Night. Still, his employers didn’t see a future with him in their organization, and he’s on the free market again. According to MMA Fanhouse, Kang is currently in talks with several promotions in the US and abroad.

Other recent UFC firings include…

("No Love" has "No Job." Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Now that the country is losing jobs at a rate of almost 20,000/day, it was only a matter of time before the UFC’s contracted fighters began to feel the crunch. FiveOuncesofPain reports that the following fighters have been released from their contracts — and will now enter the worst job market since World War II:

— Rich Clementi was dropped shortly after tapping to a guillotine choke in the first round of his match with Gleison Tibau at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 17. It was his second-consecutive loss in the Octagon, following a previous decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 90. This is actually the third time that the UFC has given Clementi his walking papers; he was also dropped after losing his first UFC fight to Yves Edwards in 2003, and again after going 1-2 following his stint on TUF 4 in 2006-7.

— Luigi Fioravanti was also cut after UFC Fight Night 17. Though he was able to score a decision win over Brodie Farber at "Fight for the Troops" in December, his first-round TKO loss to Anthony Johnson on Saturday was his fourth loss in his last six UFC appearances.

(Photo courtesy of ryanmcfadden.com)

Yeah, about that Fitch/Gono fight: It’s not going to happen because Jon Fitch, the UFC’s former #1 welterweight contender, and one of only three fighters to ever achieve eight consecutive wins inside the Octagon (the other two being Royce Gracie and Anderson Silva), has been fired. MMA Mania breaks it:

Jon Fitch was today handed his walking papers for refusing to sign an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness…

Christian Wellisch — who also didn’t ink the paperwork — was also released. Others who do not sign the agreement could also be let go in the future…

Fitch was apparently approached about the issue when he turned in his signed bout agreement to fight Akihiro Gono at UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2? on January 31. And when he and his representatives attempted to negotiate the video game deal it was all or nothing. He didn’t sign it and was terminated shortly therefafter.

Give us the exclusive right to use you in video games forever, or you’re fired. Let that sink in for a moment. Wellisch may not have been going anywhere in the UFC’s heavyweight division, but Fitch is a top-five welterweight — an enormous asset for any MMA organization — and to drop him over something so ultimately trivial is pure insanity.

Kevin Iole adds that Dana White no longer wants to work with American Kickboxing Academy fighters or anyone represented by DeWayne Zinkin and Bob Cook, which includes Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez:

“We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny,” White said from Honolulu, where he flew Wednesday from Toronto to hold a news conference to announce the B.J. Penn-Georges St. Pierre fight for UFC 94 on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas.

“Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”

With the UFC dropping fighters like bad bean pies and more roster cuts on the horizon, you can bet that there are more than a few guys in the Zuffa stable who are feeling pretty nervous right about now.

It used to be just the fighters who put on a supremely bad performance got cut from their contracts, but not so anymore. The UFC is trimming the fat, which means plenty of able bodies may be getting the old ‘let’s just be friends’ speech from the UFC. But how will you know if you’re about to be the next one on the bread line?

Being the helpful jerk that I am, I’ve come up with a handy list of warning signs that it may be time to start looking for a new job (I’m looking at you, Marvin Eastman). Somewhere there is a strip club that’s about to get an influx of bouncer applications.

1. Someone keeps leaving a book on conversational Japanese in your dressing room.

2. The UFC begins paying your fight purses in change, and your post-fight bonuses in cases of Xyience and 40 oz. bottles of Mickey’s.

3. Every time you try and call Dana White’s cell phone, he suspiciously “can’t talk right now” because he’s just about to hop in the shower.

4. They take away your parking space and give it to Diego Sanchez, while giving you Kalib Starnes’ old spot. When you complain about how it’s all the way at the other end of the lot, they tell you not to worry because it’s “only temporary.”

5. When you show up to film your pre-fight shadow boxing montage, the crew doesn’t even bother to make it look like it’s raining.

6. Joe Silva schedules you for a fight with the new “Ultimate Fighter” winner. Before the current season is over.

7. Instead of giving you a Hummer after a victory, you get a bus ticket and a thermos of coffee.

8. When you pass “Rampage” Jackson’s trainer in the hallway and ask him how it’s going, he pats you on the shoulder and says, “Everything happens for a reason, son.”

9. Dana White keeps talking up this night class on air conditioning repair down at the technical college, insisting that it “never hurts to learn a trade,” before leaving you with a pamphlet and a forty-dollar check made out to the Registrar’s office.

10. You’re a wrestler whose fights always go to a judges’ decision.

-Ben Fowlkes