Midnight Mania! NAC temporarily suspends Canelo ahead of Golovkin rematch

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

One of the most anticipated rematches in boxing history might be in serious jeopardy.

And no, I’m not talking about McGregor-Mayweather II.

Gennady Golovkin went to a controversial draw in a fantastic war with Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and the rematch is currently scheduled for May 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, Canelo failed one, then two of his pre-fight drug tests for clenbuterol, a substance Mexican and Chinese meat is often tainted with. That was the excuse Golden Boy, Alvarez’ promoter, went with. USADA has previously cleared UFC fighters like Brandon Moreno and Ning Guangyou of any harm, but the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) has suspended fighters for the substance. Canelo promised to move his camp to the United States and submit to further testing to clear up any suspicion.

Now, however, the NAC have elected to temporarily suspend Canelo for two samples collected February 17th and 20th, and will have to go before a commission for a disciplinary hearing on April 10th.

“I am an athlete who respects the sport and this surprises me and bothers me because it had never happened to me,” Alvarez said in a statement earlier this month. “I will submit to all the tests that require me to clarify this embarrassing situation and I trust that at the end the truth will prevail.”

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Insomnia

Always.

Sean O’Malley is very much on brand tonight.

Tarec Saffiedine’s youngest has a bright martial future

Honestly jiu jitsu with slaps sounds like a lot more fun.

Two of New Zealand’s finest, Mark Hunt and Robert “Bobby Knuckles” Whittaker

Khabib Nurmagomedov is great. I root for him just for the trash talk in the Russian accent.

See this is why we have weight classes in human fighting

Size doesn’t always win out though, as this eagle fight shows.

Carlos Condit working elbows on the pads. The elbow battle with Matt Brown should be insane.

Joe Rogan likes roasting fake martial artists because they deserve to be roasted.

Rogan can do that because he practices real martial arts

Mike Perry offers to pay an internet hater to spar him, but it’s a sucker’s bet.

The fight our country deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

Anthony Pettis has submitted black belts in the Octagon, but his coaches just keep giving him stripes on his brown belt. Which is perfectly legitimate, it’s just interesting how different the sports of jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts have become.

Rory Macdonald is in Italy enjoying his life as Bellator welterweight champion.

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Slips, Rips, KO Clips

Whoops

Nice angles from Andre Ewell

That went well

Trapped him

What?

Dropped his hands right at the wrong time

Got inside the guard

Nice headkick

Winning

Body shots hurt

Great uppercut

Click on this playlist for hours of kickboxing fun

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Good Reads

• Contrary to earlier reports, Kamaru Usman vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio is expected to headline UFC Santiago in Chile, which seems perfect.
• Chuck Mindenhall looks back at five years of women in the UFC, and it’s an excellent read
• Tyron Woodley’s response to the interim title reports pretty much sums it up

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Random Land

I don’t even watch basketball and I appreciate this

Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality