(Eh…Overeem did it better.)

Judging by the comments section on our TUF 17 Finale Aftermath, the majority of you felt that Travis Browne’s victory over Gabriel Gonzaga should have an asterisk next to it. Early in the fight, Gonzaga pressed Browne against the cage looking for a takedown. Browne unleashed a series of elbows to Gonzaga’s head that knocked him out just one minute and eleven seconds into the first round and earned Browne the Knockout of the Night bonus. However, as many fans have pointed out, it appeared that the elbows that ended the fight hit Gabriel Gonzaga directly in the back of the head.

Shortly after the fight, Gabriel Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan, took to his Facebook page to inform fans that he would be appealing the outcome. Via Facebook:

Guys Gabriel Gonzaga is ok, thanks for the messages.
I need to review it to count how many illegal elbows but Its a fact that it was illegal.
I contacted Keith Kizer head of Nevada Athletic Comission and he told me to file a complaint and he would review it.
I true believe it was illegal. I never complaint about a losses who knows me know that I handle it good but illegal we can not accept.

In a follow-up post, Alvan also expressed his interest in setting up a rematch against Travis Browne:

(“I don’t really get what this whole TRT debate is even about, Vitor. As if my thyme-roasted tilapia is the sole ingredient behind your success.”) 

Although testosterone replacement therapy hasn’t been a topic of debate for all that long in the MMA world, it has more than worn out its welcome with the sport’s fans and more than a few fighters to boot. It’s been criticized so much that even Dana White has flip-flopped on the issue, now vowing to “test the shit” out of fighters on TRT out of fear that they will abuse it. The general dislike for this newfangled “therapy” is only intensified when it involves past steroid abusers like say Vitor Belfort, who tested positive for 4-Hydroxytestosterone following his Pride 32 loss to Dan Henderson in 2006.

As you surely recall, Belfort was granted a TUE for TRT prior to his UFC on FX 7 victory over Michael Bisping. Although most of us were willing to give “The Phenom” a pass for that event because he was able to shut up Michael Bisping for a minute or two, it looks like NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer will not be so lenient should Belfort and past dopers like him fight in Nevada any time soon:

I don’t see Vitor Belfort getting a TRT exemption from us. I really don’t and I feel kind of bad for him in some ways because if he has learned from his mistakes and now he’s trying to do it the right way and his levels are low with the treatment good for him and I hope he is doing that. 

(We now return to your regularly-scheduled maulings. / Photo via MMAWeekly)

Due to the comically-elevated levels of testosterone he produced during a random drug test last March, Alistair Overeem has spent the last nine months unable to re-apply for licensure with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Overeem’s time-out came to an end this morning, when the Dutch heavyweight appeared at a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing to seek the re-instatement of his license, and was unanimously approved, making his scheduled UFC 156 bout against Antonio Silva official.

What’s particularly interesting is what Overeem had to accomplish to make that happen. Here’s MMAWeekly with the details:

According to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer, in the last nine-plus months, Overeem has submitted a total of five drug tests of his own accord, all of which came back negative. In addition, the commission tested Overeem randomly on Nov. 16 and Dec. 21, 2012, with those tests also returning negative results.

“I’m ready to get my life back on track,” said Overeem when speaking to the commission.

Following his failed drug test last year, Alistair Overeem denied that he used performance-enhancing drugs and claimed ignorance, blaming his high T-levels on an “anti-inflammatory medication that was mixed with testosterone,” prescribed by his doctor to treat a rib injury. Though Overeem wasn’t subject to the standard fine and suspension that he would have received from the NSAC if he pissed hot for steroids, the Reem lost out on an imminent UFC heavyweight title shot against Junior Dos Santos, and was forced to do appearances in Gainesville, Florida as penance. Jesus. Who says the UFC isn’t hard on cheaters?

(Photo via FightMedicine)

By Elias Cepeda

No one likes the guy who can put you in the corner — the disciplinarian. As such, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer gets the brunt of any and all criticism from fans, fighters, coaches and promoters with almost anything related to boxing and MMA.

Despite the target on his back from being the chief regulator of the most important fight commission in the world, Kizer never seems to shirk away from questions and accountability. Long one of the most accessible major figures in combat sports, Kizer furthered this reputation by sitting down for nearly two hours with The Conversation to discuss a wide range of topics, from his life and career to controversies in sport regulation.

Kizer may be the public face of your favorite fighter getting suspended for weed or roids or what have you, but he also, for example, was instrumental in putting together the rules that helped make MMA legal. Always thoughtful and deliberate, even when disagreeing with you, Kizer also never takes himself too seriously despite his position.

Whether you love or hate the NSAC, or if (gasp) you simply want to learn more about fight regulation and the people who do it, chances are you’ll get something out this week’s episode of The Conversation. We hope you enjoy it after the jump.

(Note: Sorry for the gap in episodes. We’ve been a bit under the weather for the better part of a month. Check back tomorrow for another episode where Phil Nurse — the Muay Thai coach of Georges St. Pierre, Frankie Edgar and Jon Jones — visits The Conversation for the most in-depth interview of his career.)

(As you can clearly see, there’s no way I could have smoked any weed before UFC 143 because I had not picked even a single nugget yet. I rest my case.)

Since he tested positive for marijuana metabolites after his UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit and was suspended for a year and fined nearly $80,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), Nick Diaz has fought the punishment in just about every place he could, and continued Wednesday by filing a Memorandum of Points and Authorities to support his petition for judicial review. So far, Diaz and his high-profile legal defense team have struck out in appealing to the Nevada State Attorney General and the NSAC itself in a hearing.

The NSAC has thirty days to respond and after that a judge will hear Diaz’ petition. Luke Thomas and MMA Fighting spoke with a member of Diaz’ legal team:

The Commission needs to understand that it cannot act with impunity in the exercise of its authority…In Diaz’s opinion, while fighters must respect the lawful authority of state athletic commissions, they should not accept unjust and unlawful disciplinary action. Further, Diaz finds it bizarre that the Commission is vigorously policing legal marijuana use outside competition while at the same time endorsing and sanctioning the use of steroids and testosterone — which has a direct effect on fighters and their opponents in competition. The Commission needs to refocus itself on protecting fighters and the fairness of the combat sports they regulate. Diaz believes this legal proceeding may provide the Commission a helpful push in the right direction, for the benefit of all fighters and the reputation of the sport itself.

Diaz’s petition has some interesting and seemingly compelling parts to it, including his lawyers’ contention that marijuana metabolites are not, in fact, banned substances. But they also continue to stretch out some arguments.

(Alistair, we don’t want to question your lawyer’s advice, but we don’t think a ‘pose-off’ with Keith Kizer is really the solution to your problems.)

We’re not sure how much UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem is paying for his legal advice and representation but hopefully he’s getting a discount. The unlicensed fighter recently went on MMA Uncensored and revealed that he hoped to appear in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) soon to reapply for a license early.

He’s been campaigning to fight champion Junior Dos Santos for the title in December, but wouldn’t realistically be able to do so unless he was licensed months prior to fight, in order to allow the UFC to promote the bout. After all, in just one fight with the UFC, The Reem has been great at either making the UFC nervous that he would blow a huge fight or in fact blow a huge fight because he has trouble taking and passing urine tests.

“I’m able to reapply for my license in December a couple days before the fight. But we have a strategy,” he said.

“We’re going to go in front of the commission sooner with the argument of good behavior. We have been doing random tests on our own. They were all witnessed by an independent doctor. In the hope of getting a license sooner. I think we will get it sooner. Maybe a conditional license that I have to appear and do some random tests.”

“We have a set date this month. Nothing confirmed, we’re gonna try and get it. Hopefully we will.”

Upon seeing Anderson Silva’s weigh-in shoulder strike, Keith Kizer had a Dana White moment.

Even though it doesn’t appear that Anderson Silva will be punished for striking Chael Sonnen with his shoulder at the UFC 148 weigh-in, Nevada State Athletic Commission Head Keith Kizer made it clear that he is very disappointed with the UFC middleweight champion. In fact, he’s so disappointed that he told “The Spider” that another such incident would get him banned from competing in Nevada. According to MMAJunkie.com, these were Kizer’s exact words to Anderson Silva:

“Look, if you ever, despite your previous record with us as a good licensee, if you ever do anything like this again, that’s it for you in Nevada. You’ll be fighting your fights elsewhere.”

So if the NSAC is so upset with Silva, then why isn’t he getting fined for his actions? Ironically – or perhaps fittingly – it was Chael Sonnen playing The Voice of Reason.

…and we specifically asked for AquaDeco to go with those brown M&Ms!

Well, that didn’t take long.

After appearing genuinely humbled after losing the second round his middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 148, none of us were buying the idea that Chael Sonnen had been humbled by the loss and accepted the outcome. For starters, we literally saw the exact same thing happen after UFC 117. On top of that, since Saturday night there have been countless debates both on and offline over vaseline, shorts-grabbing and ‘illegal’ knees that potentially cost Chael P. Sonnen a victory against Anderson Silva. In other words, if Chael Sonnen could come up with excuses to justify his “victory” over Anderson Silva at UFC 117, it was obvious that he would have an excuse for his loss in the rematch now that there’s actually some kind of controversy surrounding the fight.

Earlier today, it was reported that Chael Sonnen’s camp filed an appeal with the Nevada Athletic Commission to overturn the result of the his bout against Anderson Silva at UFC 148 to a no-contest. As first reported by Jonathan Snowden on The MMA Show:

“Scott McQuarry, the head coach of Chael Sonnen, says they’ve started the process to file an appeal with Keith Kizer and the Nevada Athletic Commission. They believe the knee Anderson Silva threw was illegal, that the intent was to knee the face, that it did it in fact strike Chael in the face, that he got eight stitches and that he bit his tongue. They also say Anderson grabbed the cage at the point of impact. They are intending to appeal and have the fight ruled a no contest.”

(“I feel bad for the fighters and the judges for being a part of perceived controversy, and I feel bad for Arum being falsely accused…but I’m glad there are passionate fans out there.”)

The June 9th boxing title fight in Las Vegas between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley ended in controversy after Bradley was awarded a split decision despite being routed in nearly every round. Last Saturday many more fans got to see the fight when it was replayed for free on HBO. The sanctioning body for the match’s title belt, the WBO, has announced that they are reviewing the fight, and promoter Bob Arum called for the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to be investigated after he himself was accused of somehow being involved in corrupting the judges decision.

Basically, it’s another mess for boxing and its beleaguered fans to sort through. We thought it would be a good time to check in with the Executive Director of the NSAC, Keith Kizer, to discuss judging in boxing, the controversial decision itself, how he saw the fight and what, if anything, the state commission is doing to review the fight.
- Elias Cepeda

CagePotato: Thanks for taking time to discuss judging in the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley bout. Before we get into that fight specifically, let’s set up some general context. Can you describe how judges are selected in Nevada? Not for specific assignments but overall. How does someone become a judge in Nevada?

Keith Kizer: There are three different ways, basically. Sometimes we bring in outside judges for events. For example, on that very card we had several judges from California. What happens in those instances is I’ll call [California State Athletic Commission Head] George Dodd and ask him to give me a couple names of great judges. He is really good about doing that for us. So what happens after that is I have those judges included on the list that I give to the sanctioning bodies and fighter camps, as I did with this event.

But we also have a regular roster of judges. Another way that people can become Nevada judges is when there might be somebody who is a world class judge but lived elsewhere and moved to Nevada. That doesn’t guarantee that they would be added to our roster, but when there is an opening sometimes they are chosen.

(Negative side effects of TRT: Bacne. Positive side effects: Falcon Punch.) 

My God, today’s NSAC meeting, which determined both Chael Sonnen’s future ability to continue legally injecting steroids testosterone replacement therapy and Nick Diaz’s minimum retirement length was like watching Lawrence of Arabia, twice, minus all of the train explosions and shots of interesting desert landscapes. To describe the six hour hearing in a word: humdrum. Thankfully, we’ll be much briefer in summing up what went down.

To kick off the afternoon, Sonnen was successful in achieving a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy, and now joins the like of Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee, and Shane Roller in the select group of MMA fighters to receive an exemption from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As far as interesting developments go, Sonnen admitted that he injected himself with testosterone, stating, ”I administer two times a week, every Sunday and Thursday. It’s self-injected intermusculatory and [I] consider it to be a prescription.” When Commissioner Pat Lundvall asked why Sonnen had never listed using testosterone on his medical forms over the past few years, Sonnen stated that he was under the impression that it wasn’t something that needed to be disclosed. He also stated under oath that he “has never taken anabolic steroids.”

In another interesting moment, which took place before the hearing truly began, Keith Kizer likened TRT to “the new Viagra” as doctors continue to push it on the population and that “Therapuetic Use Exemptions do not allow you to test outside of normal ranges. It only allows for presence of synthetics.” Does this make Sonnen TRT’s Smiling Bob? Only time will tell.

By Elias Cepeda

(Photo via Esther Lin & MMAFighting )

A week before he will appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a hearing regarding his failed March drug test and to request a license to fight Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146, the NSAC’s Executive Director Keith Kizer says that Alistair Overeem’s legal team has yet to request additional sample tests or to indicate that they will apply for a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy.

“They’ve asked for no additional testing ,” Kizer told CagePotato.com. “I have talked with Overeem’s attorney and that issue has not been raised.”

“He has not indicated what [Overeem’s] defense will be, but he has not said to me, as I’m sure he would have if he was using it, that [Overeem] is on TRT,” Kizer continued. “That is not to say that they could not still make that case and ask for a therapeutic use exemption for TRT, but if they do, I’d be as shocked as the next person. We’ll all see what they do when April 24^th comes around.”

When Overeem’s hearing does take place in one week, Kizer anticipates that the fighter will not have an easy road to getting licensed again. “It is going to be a very tough hearing for Mr. Overeem, to say the least,” Kizer said.

(Overeem, pictured next to a normal-sized human being for comparison.)

File this under “HOLY F*CKING SH*T.”

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer has confirmed to CagePotato.com that Alistair Overeem‘s testosterone/epitestosterone ratio registered at 14:1 in his recent failed drug test. Assuming you’re not an expert endocrinologist, we’ll let MMAFighting.com put that number into perspective:

The average male produces a T/E ratio around 1:1. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) uses a 4:1 standard for positive tests, and NSAC uses 6:1 as its cutoff, a number used by WADA up until 2006…Overeem’s number is slightly lower than that of Chael Sonnen when he was caught with an elevated level in 2010. Sonnen, who lost to Anderson Silva the day after the test was taken, produced a sample with a 16.9:1 ratio.

(Muhammed Lawal in happier times.)

Remember two days ago when Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal went before the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a hearing on his for a positive drug test, got asked if he understood and could read English, was suspended and fined and then went on twitter to call the commissioner who asked about his literacy a racist? Well, her boss seems to disagree with that assessment.

We wrote NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer to ask him if he felt Commissioner Pat Lundvall’s line of questioning was offensive, racially or otherwise, or if her questions represented standard procedure in Nevada’s ongoing quest to emphasize fighters taking personal responsibility. Kizer was direct and concise in his response:

By Elias Cepeda

(“Where I come from, asking a guy if he’s on drugs will get you slapped, homie.”)

UFC welterweight Nick Diaz and his most recent positive test for marijuana after competing against Carlos Condit at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, may present Nevada with a first of its kind disciplinary situation, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Keith Kizer.  Diaz is a resident of California, where medical marijuana has been legal since 2003, and the fighter has said that he has been prescribed marijuana by doctors to treat psychological issues.

(Maybe this is why the Condit fight ain’t happening?)

According to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, an unnamed fighter that competed on Saturday night’s UFC 143 card in Las Vegas had a drug test come back positive for an unspecified substance.

Here’s Kizer’s quote from an email we received today:

“Thank you for the many email and phone calls.  I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to come back.  We did have at least one positive test.  I will send out an email later today on that matter.”

(The fact that Duane didn’t ass-punch Goulet at full strength proves what a classy guy he is.)

I’m sure you know the story by now: In January 2006, Duane “Bang” Ludwig met Jonathan Goulet at UFC Fight Night 3 and first-punch KO’d him in just four seconds. But due to a timekeeper’s error, the stoppage time was officially recorded as 11 seconds. It didn’t really bother Ludwig until he saw all the media attention that Todd Duffee got for knocking out Tim Hague in a “record breaking” seven seconds. This was clearly some bullshit.

But after several months spent petitioning the Internet, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and the UFC, Ludwig has been vindicated, in the form of a tweet sent out by UFC president Dana White on Christmas Eve:

“@DUANEBANGCOM @ufc and for x mas you have the fastest KO in UFC history and it will be changed ASAP”

And now, here’s the NSAC’s Keith Kizer to play the Grinch/Scrooge role in this holiday miracle…

(Props: UFC via CesarGracieJewJitsu)

As if the mutants at the ‘UFC on FOX’ press conference in Los Angeles weren’t scary enough, last month’s UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida presser at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto proved to be another example of why the fan-question portion of these things should probably be eliminated. First of all, it’s Keith Kizer, not Steve Kizer. And whether Kizer and Steve Mazzagatti are lovers is really nobody’s business except their own.

The next fan asks Dana if Jon Jones would be getting a superfight with Anderson Silva after he gets through Lyoto Machida — while Machida is right there in the room with him. Christ, just because Lyoto doesn’t speak English that well doesn’t mean he can’t hear it. Closing out the segment, the third question is about Steven Seagal, and the last one is a guy begging for an internship. And you know there was some goof in line for the mic who went home pissed off because he couldn’t ask Dana who he thought would win in a fight between Alistair Overeem and Grand Gigas Malus. Step it up, guys.

Previously: “I got every UFC fanboy’s wet dream here, the only thing that would make it better would be sitting in your lap right now.”

(Hendo’s friends knew something was wrong with him, but it took a doctor to figure out his T levels were really low.)

Rumor had it for a while that Dan Henderson was one of the fighters with an approved testosterone replacement therapy exemption, but until now there was no concrete evidence that he was in the same company as Chael Sonnen, Todd Duffee, Nate Marquardt and Dennis Hallman (who we know about). It’s not that he was hiding it, it’s just that no one asked.

In an interview Hendo did with ESPN this week, the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion ,who revealed that he has been using TRT since 2007, spoke openly and candidly about the reason he required the therapeutic exemption and the effect it has on his health. Among other things, Henderson called for stricter year-round testing  for anyone who requires hormone replacement to ensure that he or she isn’t upping their dosages to give them an edge in the off-season.

(Somebody needs to break the news to Chael that they dissolved the WEC while he was away.)

Chael Sonnen celebrated the end of his suspension by the California State Athletic Commission today by doing his other favorite thing…talking smack on Twitter.

The beleaguered UFC middleweight posted the message above early Wednesday morning.

Expect a big announcement soon by the UFC where and when Sonnen will be fighting next, which is somewhat ironic considering Nate Marquardt was let go under similar circumstances. Sure, Nate killed the main event because of his indiscretions, but had Chael beaten Anderson, the result of the bout would have been changed to a no-contest and the belt would have been returned to “The Spider,” in which case he may well have suffered the wrath of UFC president Dana White’s itchy Twitter trigger finger much like Marquardt did. Lucky for Chael, he dodged that bullet via lack of triangle defense.

(Carlos Condit discusses Dong Hyun Kim matchup at UFC 132, vows to beat Kim up until he doesn’t move anymore. Props: foxsports)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- 10 Memorable Sports Moments Since Tito Ortiz Last Won a Fight (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Nate Marquardt Incident Highlights Need for Comprehensive HRT Policy in MMA (MMA Fighting)

- UFC on Versus 4 Photo Gallery – The Main Card (TheFightNerd)

- Matt Mitrione Post-Fight Video: “Gonna Get Drunk” (NBC Sports MMA)

- Miguel Torres Took a Picture of the Worst BJJ Injury He’s Ever Seen *WARNING: Graphic!* (MiddleEasy)

- Diego Sanchez Not Impressed with Charlie Brenneman or Rick Story (5thRound)

- Tito Ortiz Is “Not a Stepping Stone to Anyone,” Plans to Test the Will of “Disrespectful” Ryan Bader (LowKick)

- Donald Cerrone Fills Vacancy Opposite Paul Taylor at UFC Live 5 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Under New Ownership, Pro Elite Rises From The Ashes For Possible August Return (MMA Convert)

- Keith Kizer Explains Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Testosterone Replacement Therapy in MMA [Audio] (MMA Mania)

(MMA Judging: So easy you can do it with your back turned.)

In a move designed to improve judging by giving officials a better view of the in-Octagon action, the Vancouver Athletic Commission has approved the use of cageside video monitors by its appointed judges at UFC 131.

According to VAC Correspondance Officer Jonathan Tweedale, the decision to allow judges to utilize close circuit television screens to better observe what’s going on in the cage while their views are obstructed was made to help eliminate questionable judging disparities.

“Hopefully this small step, along with mandatory education for all officials, will enhance the fairness and consistency of judges’ decisions if other jurisdictions follow suit,” Tweedale told MMAJunkie today. “The fighters deserve as much.”

(Sonnen throwing a kick? That’s got to be photoshopped.)

Looks like Chael Sonnen’s desire to “clear the air” with the Nevada State Athletic Commission will have to wait a bit longer. According to multiple reports out this week, the UFC middleweight’s late-April meeting with the NSAC was postponed on Wednesday because – get this – his status as a confessed felon prohibits him from traveling to Nevada during the legendary Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally. Apparently, this comes as a result of an obscure Nevada law designed to help curb violence between biker gangs, after a wild 2002 brawl and shoot-’em-up between the Mongols and Hells Angels left three dead inside Harrah’s Casino.

Man, we would’ve loved to see Sonnen’s face when his probation officer called to give him the news. For some reason, the whole the idea of Chael Sonnen having a PO just tickles us to death and the fact that his legal status now lumps him in with your average Gypsy Joker, Warlock and Pagan is particularly hilarious. Knowing what we know about Sonnen, we’re betting the recent loss of some of his previously inalienable rights as an American citizen really burns his ass.

(“I’m sorry, Chael’s not here right now. I’m his protector personality, Buck the beer-swilling Vietnam vet. Pic: ProMMANow)

Admit it, you missed this crazy son of a bitch. Fresh from his sentencing in federal court in Oregon last week and a few days further removed from what sounded like a contentious initial meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Chael Sonnen made his first extended public appearance in recent memory on Monday on the MMA Hour over at MMA Fighting. Sonnen’s nearly 40-minute discussion with Ariel Helwani centered mostly on his continued efforts to reapply for a license to fight in Las Vegas, but also touched on many things UFC.

Listing back and forth between his two dominant personalities — sober, straight-talking manly-man and over-the-top middleweight contender — Sonnen admitted his main focus hasn’t been on fighting these last few months, but said he hopes to return to the Octagon sooner than later. The more human side of Sonnen admitted he still needs to “clear the air” with NSAC before moving forward with his athletic career, while his batshit crazy side couldn’t resist simultaneously tossing a few verbal barbs at most of the rest of the UFC roster. It’s not a mystery which quotes we’ll hit you with first after the jump …

(For whatever reason, it’s selling much better than those “Just Turn State’s Evidence, Homie” T-shirts. Pic: DiazBros.com)

One more bullet dodged for the fighter you love to hate: Chael Sonnen will do no time for his role in a money laundering scheme in his home state of Oregon, according to MMAFighting.com. A US District Court judge sentenced Sonnen to two years probation, a $10,000 fine and the loss of his real estate license on Friday after the UFC middleweight pleaded guilty to federal mortgage fraud charges in January.

As part of the plea, Sonnen admitted he was party to “a financial transaction that was conducted or designed to disguise the ownership of funds due to wire fraud,” according to the report. Though he got off a lot easier than two other defendants who have already been sentenced in the case, Sonnen still faces some obstacles to restarting his MMA career, if his recent public spat with Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer is any indication.

(“Tap? That wasn’t a tap. It was Morse code for ‘You’re dead!’”)

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer is undecided about whether or not Michael Bisping or Chael Sonnen would be approved as coaching candidates for The Ultimate Fighter if either UFC middleweight applied for a coaching license.

Kizer revealed today MMAJunkie today that Sonnen met with NSAC and UFC officials three weeks ago to discuss remarks he made during his California State Athletic Commission hearing in December to appeal a suspension for high levels of testosterone found in his system in a urine test administered prior to his UFC 117 championship bout with Anderson Silva. During the CSAC hearing, Sonnen testified that he had asked for and received verbal approval for the his prescribed use of synthetic testosterone by Kizer — a claim Kizer flatly denies.

(“What was in that drink your cornerman gave me at the weigh-ins? It made me feel stronger than ever, bro.”)

As reports surfaced yesterday that a planned UFC 130 bout between Quinton Jackson and Thiago Silva was inexplicably scrapped and that Rashad Evans would instead face “Rampage” on the May 28 card, rumors started swirling why the Brazilian had been yanked from the card.

In an interview with TATAME yesterday, Silva attempted to quash speculation that his post-UFC 125 urine sample was the one that Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer was speaking of when he told MMAJunkie that one fighter’s specimen was being closely examined after an anomaly was detected.

“Injured? Me? I’m very healthy. That’s not true. It looks like [NSAC] did two tests and one was positive and the other was negative,” he explained. “My blood is clean. I’m not worried. I took nothing.”

MMAJunkie went on to report later in the day yesterday that each of the other 11 fighters’s samples that were tested following the January 1 show came back clean, and that Kizer admitted that Silva was the only other fighter tested that night, which is basically admitting that Silva is the alleged wrongdoer.

(Who’s to say what ‘Octagon control’ means, anyway? PicProps: UFC.com)

Among the warning signs that you may have won a bullshit decision, we’d think that A) The company being so unhappy that it decides to pay the other guy his win bonus anyway and B) A resulting internet beef on the subject between the top athletic official in Nevada and a shoot-from-the-hip stand-up comedian would both be pretty high on the list. That is to say nothing of the chorus of boos from the live crowd and your own trainer shrugging at you like “We’ll take it, dude,” in the cage after the announcement of the verdict. On their own, any one of those things would be bad enough, but together they make Leonard Garcia’s split decision victory over Nam Phan from last weekend look like an open-and-shut case of judging incompetence.

At the time even Garcia — who seems like a totally likable guy, by the way – admitted during his postfight interview that he didn’t think he deserved to win. Given a day or two to think about it however, he now tells MMA Fighting.com that after sitting down with Phan to watch the fight (awkward!) and then viewing it “approximately 15 times” since, he’s changed his mind. You know what? Fuck it, Garcia thinks he won that bad boy.

In this video with Cagewriter’s Steve Cofield, Keith Kizer goes into slightly more detail about the Karo Parisyan situation, making it sound more and more like Parisyan was doing the old Matt Mitrione, trying to get out of this fight any way he could.  Granted this is only one side of the story we’re hearing here, but it sure sounds like the Nevada State Athletic Commission was beyond reasonable about this whole thing.  Allowing him to pay the fine out of his next purse is akin to letting him work off the debt, which is more than Blockbuster is willing to do.

The most interesting moment here may be when Cofield asks Kizer whether it’s usually an issue getting fighters to pay their fines.  I guess I always assumed that the NSAC made you write a check right after handing down their verdict, and if you didn’t have it in your bank account anymore by then they made you, I don’t know, wash dishes at a local restaurant or something. 

But Kizer says the NSAC is still waiting to get paid by Pawel Nastula, who popped positive for several different banned substances after his loss to Josh Barnett at Pride 32 in Las Vegas back in 2006.  In all fairness, Nastula was accustomed to a different culture with regards to performing-enhancing substances, so it’s kind of impressive that he was only on one steroid and three different stimulants.  In Pride, that assortment used to be known as a light breakfast.

(Anthony Johnson does his Bushwick Bill impression following his July 2008 fight against Kevin Burns.)

If Keith Kizer has his way, Dan Miragliotta and Steve Mazzagatti’s ability to fuck up fights by not paying attention could be severely limited by the year’s end. The Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director revealed yesterday on the GoodSports radio show that his commission is trying to figure out how an instant replay system could be incorporated into MMA, to be used only when a potentially illegal blow leads to the immediate end of a match (i.e., Mostapha Al Turk getting eye-poked by Mirko Cro Cop, and Anthony Johnson’s repeated pokes by Kevin Burns). As Kizer explained:

(The greasing heard ’round the world. Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.)

Following repeated arguments from BJ Penn that Georges St. Pierre‘s cornermen improperly used vaseline during their UFC 94 fight in January, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will meet today in Las Vegas at 9 a.m. PT to discuss what action, if any, should be taken against Phil Nurse and Greg Jackson.

Though Penn wants the fight to be changed to a no-contest, that scenario is unlikely; as NSAC executive director Keith Kizer explained to Sherdog, an MMA bout in Nevada can only be ruled a no-contest after the fact if scorecards were added incorrectly, if a referee or judge was paid off to influence the fight, if the referee misinterpreted a rule that effected the fight’s outcome, or if there was the use of non-approved drugs or steroids. Kizer explained that the actual purpose of today’s hearing was to prevent controversial greasing situations from happening in the future: