Been slacking hardcore recently, so I will just cluster bomb some of the more notable news in mma.

From MMA Junkie

Jon "Bones" Jones

Jon Jones: Heavyweight is an option.

Just four fights into his UFC run, many mixed martial arts fans are already calling for a light heavyweight title shot.

But as Jones prepares for a showdown with veteran grinder Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at August’s UFC on Versus 2 event, the soon-to-be-23-year-old told the crew of ESPN’s “MMA Live” that he’s not necessarily just focused on a 205-pound title. “Bones” might eventually go up to heavyweight, too.

“This training camp has been really tough for me, actually,” Jones said on the most recent episode of “MMA Live.” “I got up to about 231 (pounds) for the first time, and I’ll be 23 on Monday. I feel as if I’m growing into a more adult body.

“Who knows what the future holds for me. I’m always training hard, and I’m going to start to focus more on weightlifting in my off-time. You heavyweights gotta watch out because you never know what’s going to happen.”

This may come as a shock to some but anybody who saw how young and huge Jones was when he made it into the UFC (6′4 & 21 years old) it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think he would outgrow the weight class he started in. If he continues to grow in skill and experience as well as size a move to heavyweight would be seen as a smart one for one of the most promising prospects to enter the sport in years.

From MMA Fighting,

A World Cup sans South America, for shame FEG 2.0

FEG Announces Partnership with PUJI Captital, Declares War With UFC

DREAM and K-1 promoter FEG announced Friday that it is entering a partnership with Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital that could be worth 20 billion yen ($230 million).

K-1 President Sadaharu Tanikawa stressed that FEG had not been sold and in fact it will now be setting its sights much higher.

“This is a declaration of war against the WWE and UFC. From Asia, we will take the world,” Tanikawa stated.

Tanikawa admitted that expansion to American soil would be futile at this stage and under the watchful eye of K-1 creator Kazuyoshi Ishii, they will set their sights on the rest of the world.

“Mr. Ishii is completely supporting us. We won’t stand a chance in the American market so we will spread to the rest of the world.”

….

A call for a drastic change in Japanese MMA has been needed since the collapse of PRIDE, even Tanikawa admitted himself.

“When K-1 and PRIDE were competing against each other, 80% of the martial arts market was in Japan. It is now the opposite and Japan is only 20%. We were worried that Japan would be left behind if we let this continue, it is unacceptable. We needed to change our business model.”

“We’ve let Dana White get a lead on us. Before (Shinya) Aoki beats (Gilbert) Melendez, we must win as promoters.”

With last weeks Dream event we saw Shinya Aoki defend his belt and unofficial title as the best Japanese fighter currently competing in MMA. This victory could also been seen as a defeat or moot point considering how utterly ineffectual Aoki was in his fight against Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez. Dream also seemed to be in a transitional period from its revamped lighter weight clsasses to this weeks announcement, Fight Entertainment Group (FEG) may be making a case for long awaited fanboy fantasy of a vibrant high level mixed martial arts scene reminiscent of the PRIDE glory days.

Alternate Business Model Graphic. From Middleeasy.com

Wishful thinking aside this partnership will have to produce results first before this is taken seriously. Even if the declaration of war against two major organizations (WWE and UFC) was just a figure of speech. The sentiment of wanting to compete at the highest levels promotion wise is very palpable. Until this partnership produces compelling cards it will be seen as another sad story of investors looking to make a quick buck off of the illusory cash cow of mixed martial arts. Both White and McMahon giving a crap about this is unlikely but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they did take this news into consideration.

At the end of the day when combat sports and sports entertainment organizations compete: The fans win.

From Bloody Elbow

Jake Shields is Officially signed to the UFC Unofficially…huh!?!?

It’s official. According to Graciefighter.com, the UFC has signed the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Jake Shields (25-4-1) to a contract. They also announced that the #3 ranked middleweight will drop back down to join the UFC welterweight shark tank:

Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC. After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight.

Jake’s opponent is one of the UFC’s top contenders and will be announced shortly.

Seeing as how there was the Aldo vs Faber photo op with Dana White led to Shields contract not being renegotiated and his belt being put up for an fantabulous 8 man middleweight tournamet that got derailed thanks to The Lone Star State not allowing combat sport tournaments. From MMA Fighting

Strikeforce officials would not comment on the proposed tournament last week, telling MMA Fighting only, “We aren’t doing a tournament there.”

But TDLR administrator Greg Alvarez confirmed to MMA Fighting on Saturday that Strikeforce wanted a one-night, bracket-style tournament for the Houston show, which will air live on Showtime. But Alvarez said that request was denied.

“They asked if it was possible and I told them that when Tough Man was outlawed, the state also did away with tournaments back in 2001,” Alvarez said.

Sec. 2052.254 of Texas’ Combative Sports Occupations Code specifically deals with tournaments. The code states: “An elimination tournament may not be conducted in this state.”

Which led to the subsequent title fight between Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight belt and Shields heading to the UFC.

And lastly, how about some Bobby Lashley news, eh?

From Bloody Elbow.

Bobby Lashley’s opponent at the upcoming Strikeforce show in Houston will be IFL and Rage in the Cage veteran Chad Griggs.

Not much to say here other than “Lashley better not pull out of this fight or risk the mma community completely writing him off”.

That should be enough binge blogging for the day. And now to enjoy a weekend without fights, if that is possible.

Let me preface this by saying “GODDAMN YOU CARWIN FOR FALLING FOR LESNARS HOMER SIMPSON STRATEGY”. Now with my questions.

Leben proving doubters (myself included) WRONG!

- What is Akiyama’s biggest flaw: cardio or fighting in the wrong weight class?

- Is Leben making a case for comeback fighter of 2010?

- We still have to wait for the speculative ppv #’s but was this Lesnars defining moment, unlike UFC 100 he wasn’t sharing the spotlight with another popular champ in Boss Canada or two TUF coaches nor was there a video game coming out. Not to mention there still being some lingering world cup action & NBA Free Agency frenzy (OMG LeBron, what will he do). Did Lesnar pull off the biggest win in his career so far with his second title defense?

Big win or biggest win?

- Does a main event finish define and entire card/ppv broadcast? It seems no matter how many finishes are on the card or even the co main event if there is no definitive exclamation point put on the main event the entire card suffers for it?

- Is there a place for a new, more sensitive, humble and introspective post illness Lesnar. Or is it passe to heel it up since he has come into his own as a fighter?

- Both Lawlor and Petruzelli seem to have the same problem with pasting their opponents in the first rounds then gassing and getting out grappled.

Cage grabbers get slammed. gif via Caposa on the UG

-Did Gerald Harris steal Rampages thunder? And with 5 finishes in the UFC why hasn’t he been moved to the main card yet? As a Team Thirsty member alongside Rashad and King Mo are we seeing another variant of “The Cuban” or is this just how The Hurricane throws down?

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?!?

Bizarre post fight pose aside, Bonnar proves once again to be nigh unfinishble and a true company man in receiving one of 2
75k fight of the night bonuses. From MMA Junkie

LAS VEGAS – Gerald Harris, Brock Lesnar, Stephan Bonnar, Krzysztof Soszynski, Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama each earned $75,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC 116 event.

Harris earned the “Knockout of the Night” award, Lesnar earned the “Submission of the Night” bonus, and Bonnar, Soszynski, Leben, Akiyama all earned “Fight of the Night” honors

You know you are screwed when you can't even tap.

- Is the new grapple savvy Lytle just going for bonuses or is he making a real title run?

- Is the inverted triangle like the 4 minute mile, once one fighter does it is it the new cool sub to wrap people up in?

- A truly exciting (I would even go as far to say WEC level in terms of action) card actually featured bouts in every weight class, when was the last time that happened?

Thanks to Fightlinker doing most of the link work for me, lol.

From MMA Junkie

Two weeks ago, budding female prospect Zoila Frausto (7-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) wasn’t even a part of Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming 115-pound female tournament.

Now – courtesy of a devastating knockout of Rosi Sexton – Frausto is in the tournament and already training for a planned matchup on Aug. 19.

The “Warrior Princess” today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that the promotion intends to match her up against Jessica Pene (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) at Bellator 25.

Now that she has fought her way in, all she has to do is make weight and kick ass in what is looking like one of the more compelling tournaments of Bellators third season.

Before I get down to my picks let me do a quick recap of last weeks card that I was only able to do a tweet of my picks on. Hindsight makes scholars of us all, but I flat out did not see Ben Akren controlling Dan Hornbuckle like he did.

From MMA Junkie

Now on to this weeks event that features the finals from both the feather and middleweight tournaments. Along with two qualifying bouts for next seasons bantam and female 115lb tournaments.

Middleweight Tournament Championship

Alexander Shlemenko vs. Bryan Baker

Seeing as how Shlemenko made it to the finals via his opponents freak injury and the fact that he is fighting a bigger, more athletic and well rounded mixed martial artist in Baker. I don’t see Shlemenko getting an over sized check worth 6 figures.

Baker – via whatever he damn well pleases

Featherweight Tournament Championship

Patricio Pitbull vs. Joe Warren

The Staredown from the weigh-ins. From MMA Junkie

At a glance I see this being a repeat of Warrens performance in the Dream featherweight semi finals where he got submitted under a minute. Patricio does have submission savvy to catch Warren in something. But with last weeks main event showing that elite level wrestling can stave off most submission attempts and grind their way to a UD. I’m going to have to choose what is more likely, Warren getting caught or Pitbull getting smothered.

Pitbull – via Sub

Bantamweight Tournament Qualifier
Nik Mamalis vs. Albert Rios

I have no idea who will win, I just hope it will be as entertaining as last weeks bantamweight fight.

Female Tournament Qualifier
Zoila Frausto vs. Rosi Sexton

This is Sexton’s fight to win, especially since she is already in the tournament. Zoila just like her sister who fought last week is a solid striker, but it all goes out the window when she gets dragged to the ground. So unless the Warrior Princess can get a flash knockout, Dr. Sexton takes this.

Sexton – via Sub

Bellator announces the last 2 fighters for their upcoming 8 woman 115 tournament. Both articles from MMA Junkie

Aguilar hitting pads. From mmajunkie.com

Bellator Fighting Championship officials today announced the eighth and final participant in the promotion’s season-three female tournament.

American Top Team fighter Jessica Aguilar (8-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC) rounds-out the eight-woman field in the 115-pound tournament.

“This is my dream,” Aguilar stated in today’s official announcement. “Bellator is giving us 115-pounders a shot at showing the world what we can do. Whoever wins this tournament will have the right to say they are truly the best in the world. I just couldn’t pass up that opportunity.”

And undefeated Irish phenom Aisling Daly

Undefeated Irish female Aisling Daly (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) is the latest addition to Bellator Fighting Championship’s upcoming season three women’s tournament.

“Bellator is the No. 1 organization in the world for women’s MMA right now, so I jumped at the chance to sign,” Daly stated in the official release. “They have all of the best female fighters in the world signed, and I firmly believe that whoever wins the tournament is the best pound-for-pound female fighter in the world. That’s my goal, and that’s what I’m coming to the U.S. to do.

“Nobody will remember who finishes second.”

Daly joins Jessica Aguilar (8-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC),Lynn Alvarez (5-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Megumi Fuji (20-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC), Angela Magana (9-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Rosi Sexton (10-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), Jessica Pene (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) and Lisa Ward (12-5 MMA, 0-0 BFC) as confirmed participants for the season-three tourney.

With Fujii being the early favorite, it is safe to assume that in a tournament filled with vets, phenoms and the always unexpected darkhorse that this particular tournament my steal the show in season 3. Even though we will get to see both of Strikeforces female champions fights soon Cyborg vs. Finney this weekend & Kaufman vs Modaferri July 23rd. Bellator is making the right moves to overtake and replace Strikeforce as the organization for elite female mixed martial artist.

Some good news has been released in regards to Jared Hess and his freak knee injury from Alex Shlemenko at Bellator 20.

First a brief write up on the nature of the human knee and pic of the injured, disappointed, but still game fighter from Sherdog.com.

The human knee is beautifully designed for the majority of what man has asked of it in the last 500,000 years. The simple structure is near ideal for following the perambulations of migrating antelope or fleeing predation from the alpha predators primitive man evolved among. However, as Jared Hess demonstrated in his bout with Alexander Shlemenko last Thursday at Bellator 20, the dynamics of an MMA fight can far exceed what nature designed the knee to endure.

The knee joint is composed of the long bone of the femur resting on the relatively flat plateau of the tibia (the primary bone of the lower leg). The femoral condyles transmit the weight of the body to the smooth, cartilage-covered menisci of the tibia. The patella, or kneecap, is not truly a component of the joint. The joint is bound tightly together by four ligaments, which are small bands of dense connective tissue. Within the deep notch of the femur, “crossing” from anterior to posterior, and vice versa, run the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments.

To either side of the joint, providing stability against forces applied to the sides of the knee, are the medial and lateral collateral ligaments. It was one of these, the LCL, that Hess felt give way in the first takedown of the first round, well before anyone but the fighter and the referee noticed anything amiss.

While I did suspect that the knee was damaged earlier in the fight, I was incorrect in blaming the 2nd round heel hook. But Hess was trying to avoid Shlemenko’s stand up game for obvious tactical reasons. Here is the view of the fight and current situation from the figthter himself, interview via MMA Junkie.

Hess after tko (knee injury) loss at Bellator 20

“The thing is I really didn’t even feel it at the time,” Hess stated in the announcement. “I don’t know if it was my adrenaline, but all I could think about was trying to finish that guy.”

Hess assures fans that the injury is not as bad as it looks in pictures, though doctors say it will take him four to six months to recover.

“I had a chance to watch it on TV after the fight, and I think it really looked a lot worse than it is,” Hess said. “It’s a bad tear, but the three other ligaments (the ACL, the PCL and the MCL) are all fine.”

…

Hess, who now lives in San Diego, is optimistic that he’ll pick up where he left off when he gets healthy. When he does, he wants a chance to avenge the Shlemenko loss. (The Russian now advances to the season-two finals).

“The thing I’m most upset about is that, in my eyes, I was winning that fight,” Hess stated. “I’d love to get a rematch with [Shlemenko] once I come back.”

Rebney said he’s more than happy to welcome Hess back.

“Jared Hess is really a throwback to the kind of warrior mentality that existed long ago,” Rebney stated. “I can’t say enough about the character that Jared displayed in our cage last week. Immediately after his knee buckled and the referee forced Jared to sit down, he turned to me and started asking me to step in and tell the referee that he should be allowed to finish the fight.

We here at The Clinch wish Hess a speedy and complete recovery.

From MMA Junkie

LOS ANGELES – Georges St-Pierre is grappling with UFC fans’ expectations.

St-Pierre, one of MMA’s most popular stars and a six-time UFC welterweight champion, said he’s frustrated with the reaction to his most recent victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 111.

But the champion is more than willing to meet head-on the critics who say he plays it safe.

“That’s true,” St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday evening as he honed his mat moves with jiu-jitsu coach Shawn Williams at a Renzo Gracie Academy school in the Mid-Wilshire district. “I fight safe, and I’m not going to hide it.”

…

“I’m fighting safe,” St-Pierre admitted. “Every time I step into the octagon, my life is in jeopardy. For me, it’s more important to not get hit than to hit the guy. I will never fight in a way [in which] I fight like I flip a coin.

“I never took risks. The only fight I took a risk was when I fought Matt Serra, and I went in a stupid exchange, and it was not smart. I got caught; Serra beat me fair and square, and he deserved the victory that night. But it taught me a good lesson, and I don’t want it to happen again.”

St-Pierre said playing it safe also applies to his stand-up skills in a fight.

“When I’m standing up, I hit the guy, (and) I pick my angle, and I’m smart,” he said. “I’m not afraid to say it: I’m not a brawler, and I’m not a coward. I’m not going to trade punch one-for-one with a guy. I’m going to hit the guy and not get hit. That’s a smart way to fight.”

The champion said he’s seen many examples of fighters who don’t fight smart and have paid the price.

“I’m not going to give names, but if I would tell you names, you would know who’s a brawler (and) who’s not and who now has a problem with his career because he got hit too much,” St-Pierre said. “They can’t take a punch anymore.”

Next up for St-Pierre is a fifth title defense against Josh Koscheck, whom he defeated nearly three years ago by unanimous decision. The two will soon head to Las Vegas to coach opposing teams on “The Ultimate Fighter 12.”

St-Pierre said he wants to knock the fuzzy-haired fighter “out cold,” but he won’t do so at the expense of his smarts.

“I don’t fight like an idiot,” St-Pierre said. “That’s what defines me. I’m (not the) champion because I’m the strongest guy in the division. It’s not because I’m the fastest guy. I’m not the best grappler. I’m not the best striker. I’m not the best wrestler. But why I’m champion is because I fight smart every single fight.

“It’s like F-1; you need a good driver and a good car. If you have a very good driver but a bad driver, you’re not going to win the race. If you have a very good driver and a bad car, you’re not going to win, either. So I have a good car and a good driver, which is even more important.”

I am conflicted with this news, granted its not really surprising for anyone who has seen the last couple of title defenses from the UFC’s welterweight champ. While taking the surest path to victory is the smart thing to do for a prize fighter in regards to making money. It may also lead to fans turning on you.

GSP is stylistically and methodologically similar in many ways to undefeated boxing champ and future hall of famer Floyd Mayweather. Both fighters highly skilled, obsessive in their training and technique wise execute textbook maneuvers time and time again. The similarities do not end their as both fighters also put a high premium on taking as little damage as possible. While Mayweather is regarded as the biggest villain in boxing due to his brash and cocksure bravado, GSP maintains a respectful demeanor so rigid that he is usually unable to engage in pre fight hype and trash talk.

My inner fight fan and wannabe fight analyst are in conflict over this news. Then again this must be daunting to the contenders who want the belt knowing that they are facing a champ who has no problem neutralizing you for 25 minutes so he can keep his belt. He may be on the top of the world now, but time will tell if his tactics will be looked back on as the praise worthy displays of skill they are seen as now.

Thanks to mmaweekly.com for the pic.

From MMA Junkie

A potential fight between two of the world’s top 155-pound fighters outside of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is one step closer to fruition.

Just hours after officials from Bellator Fighting Championships distributed a press release campaigning for a fight between their lightweight champ, Eddie Alvarez, and Strikeforce lightweight title-holder Gilbert Melenedez, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he’s open to co-promoting the champion-vs.-champion bout.

“If the stars align and we can work out all the terms and conditions and timing, we’d do it,” Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Of course we would. Why wouldn’t we? Let’s go do this.”

With the likes of Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn, Kenny Florian, Gray Maynard, Jim Miller and Diego Sanchez, the UFC has a stronghold on the world’s best 155-pound talent. That, of course, has long been the case and given the promotion just about every major lightweight fight of late.

But Alvarez vs. Melendez would pit two of the world’s top-10 lightweights against each other. And with the UFC’s upcoming Edgar vs. Penn II and Florian vs. Maynard bouts, it couldn’t come at a better time.

The long running idea of “Co-promotion aka The Scourge of Boxing” being bad for MMA is starting to ring hollow with possible super fights like this being in the works. The sheer objectivity obliterating nature of having the best fight the best regardless of promotional allegiance while not entirely new to mma, it is still rarely seen. Hopefully both organizations can come to an agreement and make this mma fanboys dream a reality.

Thanks to Bloody Elbow for the pic.

Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com gets a post event interview with Strikeforce Heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem.

The interview covers the ups and downs of the past couple years for The Reem, who reiterates his desire to face Fedor, despite all of the M1 shenanigans. Good luck with that seeing as how the organizations CEO is having trouble getting the appropriate parties to the negotiation table.

Naysaying aside that would be a good fight if they could somehow pull it off.

Before the main event of last weekends UFC, there was a co main event welterweight title eliminator between TUF alum Josh Koscheck and English slugger Paul Daley. Starting with a well documented pre fight war of words the two displayed a spirited dislike for one another. But from the pre fight presser to the weigh ins for the event it was apparent that the online sniping and chastising was masking real and palpable loathing for one another.

Then came the actual fight, which ended up looking like your average striker vs grappler bout with the grappler maintaining dominant position for the entirety of the bout. As far as fights between two top 10 opponents vying for a title shot goes this was still a pretty unremarkable fight all around. It also was the second fight in a row in which an illegal strike (knee to a crouching opponent) grazed the pompadour of Josh Koscheck, who still reacted as if he took the blow flush to the temple and was allowed to recover despite multiple angles of slo-mo replay saying otherwise. But that and the entire fight paled in comparison to the following 10 seconds after the final bell of the bout.

After getting up Paul Daley followed Koscheck to give what most would think was going to be some sort of post fight embrace of good sportsmanship, but what was transpired was thecomplete opposite. Daley struck Koscheck with a cheap shot left hook that was blocked and was immediately separated by the referee Dan Mirgliotta and so began the what now seems to be the end of his career in the UFC

From MMA Junkie,

“He’s done,” White said after the event. “I don’t give a [expletive] if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again.

“There’s no excuse for that. These guys are professional athletes. You don’t ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that, whether you’re frustrated or not. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen because he is a talented guy, and he is one of the best 170-pounders in the world.”

Given a day to rethink his actions and stew in the resentment of his own designs, Daley did the right thing and issued an apology. Here it is in its entirety,

“I’ve had a long flight home to consider my actions and regret the mistake I made on Saturday. I would like to apologise to the UFC and the Athletic Commission for what I’ve done as well as all the fans and sponsors that support me.”

“I would also like to offer my sincerest apologies to Josh Koscheck who did not deserve the cheap shot I threw. He did what he needed to do in order to win the fight and get the job done, and I foolishly reacted to the situation. There is no excuse for my actions and I know what I did was very unprofessional. I was immensely frustrated by a collection of things that took place throughout the fight as well as leading up to it, but I’m certainly not trying to condone or excuse my actions.”

“Josh implemented his game plan perfectly taking me down and staying on top of me for the majority of the fight. I was also frustrated about him claiming (and acting like) I knee’d him in the head on the ground when it was clear for all to see in the video replay that I didn’t connect at all with the knee I threw. Then finally, the verbal abuse Josh hit me with in the final 30 seconds of the fight simply pushed me over the edge and my frustrations came out as I knew I’d lost the fight, was unhappy with my own performance and had then been ridiculed by my opponent to top things off.”

“This is certainly no excuse for my actions; I fully deserve to be punished for what I did and hope that everyone I have disappointed can forgive my rash decision. I feel very disappointed in myself for losing my cool and hope that I am able to address my temperament and bounce back from this low point in my career.”

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed by what I did and hope that together my team and I can get through this issue. It will be a long road back from where I am now to earning the trust and respect of the UFC and the MMA fans that have supported me for so long, I know I’ve let you all down but I’m determined to make it up to you all.”

Now comes the waiting game for any following developments to what seems will be an ongoing process of arbitration and or adjudication for what really happened. Koscheck has admitted to using abusive language which Daley alluded to being the reason why he lashed out. Both the in cage smack talk and post fight blow fall under fouls as stated by the UFC’s rules

24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.

27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.

As cliche as it is two errors of judgment do not inexplicably justify themselves nor do they cancel each other out. What should hopefully transpire is a full review of the incident with suspensions and fines handed to the guilty parties. But a instant life time ban just seems way to reactionary and knee jerk for a major sports organization.

Infinitely more heinous acts have transpired in other major sports leagues from the rampant PED and steroid use in the MLB. NBA stars having altercations involving firearms being drawn. Or the NFL and their having to deal with their stars being accused of sexual assault along with other players convicted of
vehicular manslaughter.

Compared to those incidents a blocked cheap shot may seem negligible, but it should be dealt with in the same manner as any other major sports orgs, by first letting the guilty parties be subjected to the law of the land. After that’s been dealt with then fine, suspended or combine the punishment and when that is done let the athlete redeem themselves and compete.

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in the end in regards to Daleys outburst. People make mistakes but I personally believe if own up to your error make an effort to change and do better, you should be given a second chance.