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**Card Info**
Airing on ESPN+ @ Saturday 04.06.2024 at 03:00 PM ET
Main Card @ 6PM ET
Division
Fighters
Middleweight
Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis
Featherweight
Morgan Charriere vs. Chepe Mariscal
Lightweight
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Christos Giagos
Heavyweight
\u0141ukasz Brzeski vs. Valter Walker
Lightweight
Trevor Peek vs. Charlie Campbell
Prelims @ 3PM ET
Division
Fighters
Welterweight
Court McGee vs. Alex Morono
Bantamweight
Norma Dumont vs. Germaine de Randamie
Bantamweight
Alatengheili Alateng vs. Victor Hugo
Strawweight
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Piera Rodriguez
Bantamweight
Jean Matsumoto vs. Dan Argueta
Middleweight
Dylan Budka vs. C\u00e9sar Almeida
Bantamweight
Melissa Tonya Mullins vs. Nora Cornolle
^(Fight card order and start times may be inaccurate.)
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Jon Jones issued a statement on Saturday regarding the allegations that he assaulted a drug testing agent and threatened to kill her after she arrived at his home to collect a sample under the UFC’s anti-doping program.
A police report filed on April 5 by an agent representing Drug Free Sport alleged that Jones grabbed her phone after he “appeared agitated” when he wasn’t able to urinate for the test and she suggested a blood sample instead. During the altercation that the police report states took place on March 30, the drug testing agent claimed Jones put her phone in his pocket, got into her face and allegedly stated “why you f****** people come so early, do you know what happens to people who come to my house … they end up dead.”
Jones answered the allegations on social media along with security camera footage he claims shows the drug-testing agents leaving his house after collecting the sample.
“I want to address reports about me allegedly threatening a drug tester’s life and taking a phone,” Jones wrote on Instagram. “I want to clarify that there is a video showing both drug testers leaving my home after the testing session, where we exchanged a high five and a hug. Although I was frustrated with the unprofessionalism and used profanity out of frustration it ended friendly and amicably, nothing threatening at all. I was actually celebrating a friend’s birthday party at my home, and I believe it’s perfectly normal to celebrate in the comfort of my own home.
“I must say, this particular tester behaved quite unprofessionally and even breached standard protocol along with HIPAA laws. Throughout my 20 years of being subjected to drug tests, I have never encountered such an incident with a DCO officer before.”
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A post shared by Bony (@jonnybones)
In her statement to police, the drug testing agent claimed she was “terrified” as Jones stood less than a foot away from her during the alleged incident. The agent added that Jones eventually did submit a urine sample as requested before she and her co-worker left his home.
She stated that her boss at the drug-testing agency asked why she wanted to file a police report over the incident and she claimed that it “seemed like he was trying to talk her out of it.”
The agent ultimately decided to seek criminal charges against Jones for the alleged assault.
The police sent Jones a summons dated April 5 on assault charges and interference with communications for allegedly taking the drug tester’s phone. Based on online court records, no official charges are showing against Jones currently.
UFC officials are yet to issue a statement regarding the allegations against Jones.
UFC heavyweight world champion Jon Jones allegedly threatened to kill an anti-doping agent last month.
According to a report from ABQRAW News, the Albuquerque Police Department responded to a call after a person working for Drug Free Sport International, the UFC’s new drug testing partner as of January 1, was trying to obtain a drug test from the MMA star. Jones is said to have been “extremely intoxicated” during the interaction and threatened to “kill” the tester. ‘Bones’ is also accused of snatching the representative’s phone at one point.
Per the report, the incident occurred in late March, but the tester did not report the incident to authorities in Albuquerque until Friday, April 5. As of this writing, no criminal summons or charges related to the altercation have been filed. APD is currently investigating the alleged criminal act.
Jon Jones’ lengthy history with the long arm of the law
Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion in the history of the promotion when he stopped Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 128 to win the light heavyweight title.
Since then, his iconic combat sports career has been routinely overshadowed by his run-ins with the law.
In 2015, Jones tested positive for cocaine during an out-of-competition drug test after his UFC 182 win over Daniel Cormier. Jones kept his title but was fined $ 25,000 for violating the UFC’s Athlete Code and Conduct policy. Later that same year, Jones turned himself in to the Albuquerque PD following a hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman. Jones faced no jail time, instead being sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation. He was also stripped of his 205-pound title by the promotion.
The following year, he was scheduled to headline UFC 200 in a rematch with Daniel Cormier but was pulled from the bout after being flagged for an anti-doping violation. Subsequently, he was suspended for one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In 2021, Jon Jones was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his legendary encounter with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. That same night, he was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with misdemeanor battery and tampering with a vehicle following a domestic dispute with his then-fiancée Jessie Moses.
“Bro, hang me, hurt me, and kill me. What did I do? A Black man can’t drink? Getting elected into the Hall of Fame and this is what I got?” Jones says in a video clip of the arrest before headbutting a police vehicle. (h/t DailyMail).
Following a three-year-long layoff from the Octagon, Jon Jones returned at UFC 285 last year and promptly dispatched Ciryl Gane via submission to win the vacant heavyweight title. He was scheduled for his first defense in November, but a torn pectoral injury forced him to bow out of his bout with former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic. ‘Bones’ has remained adamant that his fight with Miocic will go down later this year.
The promotion has since crowned an interim heavyweight champion in Tom Aspinall. The UK-based star scored a vicious 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 to win his first world title.
The famed octagon was back at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for Saturday’s UFC Vegas 90 event. The live results from Sin City begin at 3 p.m. ET on MMAWeekly.com.
The event is headlined by a middleweight bout between sixth-ranked Brendan Allen and 14th-ranked Chris Curtis. Allen (23-5) will enter the bout riding a six-fight winning streak. Five of those wins came by way of submission. Curtis (31-10, 1 NC) won his last bout against Marc-André Barriault via split decision.
The main event bout is a rematch. Allen stopped Curtis with punches and knees in their first meeting back in December 2021. Curtis and Allen both officially weighed in at 186 pounds.
Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
CM Punk knows what professional wrestling fans want to see, and he doesn’t think AEW President Tony Khan is delivering.
This past November, Punk made a stunning return to WWE at the conclusion of the sports-entertainment giant’s “Survivor Series: WarGames” event in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. His appearance was less than a year after an ugly departure from AEW, which came amid reports of multiple backstage altercations between Punk, several professional wrestlers, and Khan himself. Still, it came as a shock given he had previously parted ways with WWE under chaotic circumstances in 2013.
One backstage AEW incident that made headlines involved Punk and wrestler Jack Perry reportedly coming to blows backstage at the “All In” event at Wembley Stadium in London in August 2023. On The MMA Hour, Punk gave his account of confronting Perry about a proposed stunt on a show prior to the event, and he said the situation was handled poorly by Khan and company.
“I walked up to Jack, and he was sitting in a car,” Punk said. “What he wanted to do — this was a rental car — was smash the window of the rental car with a pipe, and I was just like, ‘It’s a rental car.’ I very politely — because I like Jack — I was just like, [several people told you no], and now I have to tell you no. And apparently, you’ve cussed them all out, so I’m telling you no. We don’t do that here. If you want to do this, you go to [AEW Dynamite on] Wednesday and do it. He had no problem. He said, ‘OK. I just thought it was a really cool idea.’ I said, ‘It might be, but this is a rental car.’ The boys ruin it for the boys. You’re going to smash the window of a rental car, and you’re going to return it with no f****** window, and now National, Budget, Hertz, whatever, is going to be like, ‘Don’t rent cars to pro wrestlers anymore.’ This is a thing that’s happened.”
“I get it, I used to be that kid that was young and I want to do this. But there’s a safe way to do it,” Punk continued. “I politely explained that to him. I didn’t raise my voice, I didn’t cuss at him. I very much just said, ‘We don’t do that here. This is [AEW Collision on] Saturday. It’s a different show. You want to do stuff like this, do it on Wednesday.’ That was it. I didn’t think there was going to be a problem. He obviously took something very business-minded very personally, and that’s fine, because I’ve done that before too. But it’s very much who he’s friends with, and s*** never got squashed, nobody’s in charge, and it turned into what it turned into.”
The incident boiled over when Perry later appeared to reference the backstage encounter during a televised promo, which drew the ire of Punk. He asked Khan to speak to Perry, but he claims nothing was done, and so Punk had to take matters into his own hands.
According to reports, Punk two weeks later attempted to choke Perry during a backstage incident at the London “All In” event. Accounts differ on who was the instigator of the conflict. Regardless, it resulted in Punk having words with both Khan and Perry.
“I walk up to him and I’m just like, ‘Jack, why do you insist on doing this dumb internet s*** on TV?’” Punk said. “He’s just like, ‘If you’ve got a problem about it, do something about it.’ I’m like, ‘Come, on man. I would f****** kill you, what are we doing?’ And then, it’s like Chael [Sonnen] says, sometimes I just can’t let you get close.
“I thought I was doing the responsible thing. I didn’t punch anybody. I just choked somebody a little bit. Samoa Joe was there, he told me to stop. Then I quit. I turned to Tony and I said, ‘This place is a f****** joke. You’re a clown. I quit.’”
Punk went on to have a match with Samoa Joe that same night, his last with the promotion. Soon after, AEW announced Punk had been fired, with Khan later saying on-air that the Punk-Perry fight “endangered people backstage” and he felt “my security, my safety, my life, was in danger.”
It wasn’t the first time Punk was involved in behind-the-scenes drama at AEW. In September 2022, a furious Punk, then the AEW World Champion, spoke to the media following that year’s “All Out” event, and he addressed multiple grievances with his peers. including accusing wrestler Adam “Hangman” Page of taking liberties with a scripted segment the two had been involved in. Afterward, it was reported that Punk was involved in a wild physical altercation with Page’s close friends, AEW founders and wrestlers Matt and Nick Jackson (a.k.a. The Young Bucks), over Punk’s comments. Punk was punished with a suspension and was absent from AEW programming for nine months.
As far as Punk is concerned, it was the dispute with Page that sparked the brawl and laid the groundwork for his exit from the promotion.
“[Page] proceeds to go on live TV and not say any of the s*** that we talked about [in planning],” Punk said of the segment where Page allegedly went off-script. “I can’t hear him because the crowd’s so loud, and I really have to pay attention to what he’s saying because my responses matter. I can’t just say what I had planned, because it’s not going to match what he’s saying to me. And he’s saying some s***, I don’t even know what he’s talking about. I’m like, why would you do this? Why would you ruin [this]? TV is very expensive. Every minute of TV is hundreds of thousands of dollars between production and all that stuff. And you’re just s****** on me and you’re s****** on the business, why would you do this?”
“I went to Tony and the lawyer, and I said, ‘You need to fix that. Because if I do, you’re not going to like the way I fix it,’” Punk continued. “And I thought I was being professional by not just murdering [Page] on television. I know some people are going to be upset about that. ‘Oh, he’s talking about this guy again.’ But with me, respect is the default. I respect everybody until you do something that makes me lose my respect for you. I have never done anything to any of those guys. If they’re basing their attitude toward me based on some bulls*** their friend told them, I can’t help you. But I’ve got plenty of friends who don’t like certain people, and I keep relationships business. Everything went off the rails from there. It’s a shame.”
Punk later said he still has friends in AEW and he genuinely wishes the best for the performers and the company. But he said he and Khan differ philosophically when it comes to what is best for business. Since 2019, AEW has consistently garnered rave reviews for its match quality, diversity of wrestling styles, and long-term storytelling, though recent years have seen ratings for its three television programs stagnate, and live show tickets have been slow to move outside of the promotion’s major events.
Personally, Punk doesn’t wish to have any beef with Khan. Just don’t expect them to reunite anytime soon.
“I don’t like the drama, but the truth is the truth,” Punk said. “He’s not a boss. He’s a nice guy. I think ultimately that is a detriment to the company, but it’s not my company. I’m an outsider. I thought I was brought in to sell merchandise and tickets and draw numbers for pay-per-views and stuff, and I clearly did that. But that’s not what the place is about and some people didn’t like that.”
Just weeks before he was scheduled to headline UFC Vegas 90, Brendan Allen got the call every fighter dreads: His opponent was out due to injury.
The news came after Allen and that opponent, Marvin Vettori, had traded plenty of shots through interviews and social media, and even more when both appeared at UFC 299.
“It was insane,” Allen told MMA Fighting. “I found out on a Monday that [Vettori] wasn’t going to fight after all the s*** he talked, and all the little obscenities he did over the weekend at the Miami pay-per-view. Found out Monday that he wasn’t going to fight.
“Waited until Wednesday, they told me basically that I can go home. Because I was training, I wanted to go home if I wasn’t going to fight.”
Allen primarily trains out of Kill Cliff MMA in Florida, but he lives with his family in Louisiana. After learning he was no longer fighting, he packed his bags to head home and take advantage of some extra time with his children.
He barely made it onto the airplane when the UFC called again.
“I booked my flight for Thursday,” Allen explained. “I sparred Thursday, I was on my way home, and they called me, and said they were talking about Chris Curtis. We’re like, ‘There’s no win in that for me.’ It’s a lose-lose for me if you think about it. [UFC said,] ‘They already said no, so just go home.’
“I had my other connection to Louisiana. I got to Louisiana, about 20 minutes after that the UFC called, we talked, and that’s what they wanted, so that’s what I did. I booked my flight back to Florida and went back to training.”
As frustrated as he was with the chain of events, Allen couldn’t complain too much, because at least his entire training camp wasn’t wasted.
The downside for Allen is fighting down the rankings again after hoping to face someone higher in the middleweight division. Vettori’s withdrawal ruined those plans. But Allen is keeping a positive attitude about drawing Curtis again, because their previous encounter served as only one of the two losses on his UFC record.
“It was a real roller-coaster, for sure,” Allen said. “Luckily, I stayed dieting and stayed training. It was good to come home for two days, reset and see my kids. It was alright, it was good. It sucks, because it’s always some bulls*** that’s beyond my control, beyond the UFC’s control. Someone else that I’m fighting is the problem. Everyone is like, ‘I’m hurt.’ Well, I’m hurt too. I fought hurt. I’ve never pulled out of a fight. My leg would have to be hanging off the other half of it, cut in half for me to pull out. It’s just crazy.
“It’s beyond my control. Between not having the opportunities to really move up, and not having the followers, it’s the main reason I don’t have a title shot right now. Because if it was skill-based, I really feel I would be the champion. But I think it’s obviously about who can put asses in the seats and who gets the bigger opportunities. It is what it is.”
Allen also responded to Vettori’s fiery message after the one-time UFC title challenger dropped out of their scheduled matchup.
In a video posted to social media, Vettori promised, “I’ll smash your face just because you look funny to me,” and added, “I’ll see you soon.”
“If you don’t make it to the war, you can’t have a possibility to win the war,” Allen said in response. “He had an option to fight me last year, he didn’t take it. He pulled out this time. Two strikes, you’re out. That’s game over. We’ll see. Everybody saw his little video. He’s in Vegas right now. We’ll see. It’s that simple to me.
“The dude is just delusional. He’s irrational. You can’t have any kind of rational conversation with someone who is delusional and irrational. It’s literally impossible. At this point, there’s literally nothing to talk about. I signed the contract to fight. I’m just fighting somebody else. If he lives up to the word in his video, we’ll see [this weekend]. Maybe we’ll have two fights in Vegas. I don’t care. I won’t say a word. I won’t go out of my way, but if it comes to me, I’m not a b****. We’re going to find out. That’s how I view it.”
When it comes to the rematch with Curtis this weekend, Allen doesn’t have a bad word to say about his veteran foe. But this rematch is definitely more about revenge than rankings. Allen is unbeaten in six straight since falling to Curtis back in 2021, while Curtis hasn’t been as fortunate, earning a 2-2 record with one no-contest over his past five outings.
“Honestly, the only thing I get out of it is I’ll get paid and hopefully I’ll get the revenge,” Allen said. “That’s really the only two things that can come out of it, in my eyes. Hopefully the UFC sees the things that I’m doing and keep getting taken away from me. Hopefully I get something good from it.
“We saw Sean [Strickland] get a title shot at No. 6 after beating an unranked guy. Hopefully, if I can go out there and finish Chris, I can go right into fighting Sean next or fighting the champion. That would be the best-case scenario — a title shot. The second best-case scenario would getting Sean.”
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