UFC fighter faces four-year ban, Conor McGregor spoils 'Road House', why Rose Namajunas wasn't happy at strawweight: MMA News Roundup
One heavyweight fighter has been suspended under UFC's new anti-doping program, CSAD. Elsewhere, Rose Namajunas spoke on her decision to move up to flyweight ahead of her divisional debut.
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UFC heavyweight Walt Harris suspended for four years
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced in a detailed statement on March 20 that Walr Harris has accepted a 48-month suspension for two separate violations of UFC's anti-doping policy. CSAD is the agency that oversees the promotion's new anti-doping program after USADA left.
Take a look at a section of the statement shared by Aaron Bronsteter on X below:
The heavyweight first tested positive for drostanolone, its metabolite 3a-hydroxy-2a-methyl-5a-androstane-17-on, and testosterone of exogenous origin in samples collected on June 24, 2023, when USADA was in charge. In another sample provided on August 6, 2023, he tested positive for anastrozole on top of drostanolone and its metabolite.
Harris' suspension began retrospectively on July 11, 2023, when he was first notified of the violation. It will end in July of 2027.
Conor McGregor almost spoils Road House for fans
In a recent chat on GQ Sports with Jake Gyllenhaal about their movie Road House, Conor McGregor accidentally revealed a plot point of the movie.
He made a passing comment about Gyllenhaal's character Dalton, who is an ex-UFC fighter in the movie, fatally hurting someone. He also disclosed that this storyline made the promotion hesitant to be associated with the movie and they almost went with another promotion.
"It was a hit-and-miss at times, wasn't it? It was going to be maybe XFC or something like that. Because obviously, Dalton's history. The story is that he's killed somebody and the UFC didn't really want that... But no, that had to be the story and we got there in the end. But it was almost lost."
Watch the comment below from 6:50 onwards:
Rose Namajunas reflects on why she moved up to flyweight
A two-division championship is not the only reason Rose Namajunas moved up to flyweight, although that very much remains a goal.
During the UFC Vegas 80 media day scrum, 'Thug' shared her struggles with making strawweight in recent days and how unhealthy the weight cuts had been of late.
She said:
"It's just not a healthy thing to do for me at this point. I know that I could keep pushing through it. My mind got a lot stronger with cutting the weight. But I could tell my body was definitely not liking that as much. I could tell from my last strawweight cut. My eyes were sunken in, and that's just kind of hard to see myself like that."
Watch Rose Namajunas' comments below from 7:00:
Namajunas is facing Amanda Ribas in the main event of the Fight Night this weekend.