I simply don't have anything unique to add to Cagepotato's article, just trying to add more eyeballs to it.  Just click "Like" on CODE's facebook page, and they'll donate $1 to Hire Heroes USA ( UFC LHW Brian Stann is the executive director of this non-profit organization which helps in career placement to America's returning service men and women.)  When else do you get a chance to support a good cause by doing practically nothing and giving absolutely nothing?

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Cage Potato's Article

Longtime friend and training partner of Karo's, Neil Melanson, has come out with Karo's permission and explained the reason for Karo pulling out of his UFC 106 fight with Dustin Hazelett.

"Karo’s had some problems with an addiction to pain medicine due to an injury he sustained a few years ago. Then when he started having these anxiety problems, it didn’t seem like the anxiety pills were helping him. The only thing that was helping him was the pain medication that he had been taking for his injuries. That’s when he just started down that slope. It’s just one of those situations where you have two guys that sit down to have a drink, and you have one guy that can go home and he’s fine, and the other guy has to go out and get wasted every single time because he’s an alcoholic. I think that maybe with the pills, that Karo is the second guy. Maybe he’s the guy that can’t take them here and there, or can’t use them effectively...

  He told me that he was on pain medicine, but he wanted to get off. He had a plan and he was working his way to get off of it. About a month ago he was taking about half the amount that he usually does and he was pretty optimistic. He was really trying to push it. He was going through some withdrawals and he would try to push it as hard as he could to get off the stuff. He really had a plan to be off three weeks prior to the fight and he really wanted to clean up. He really wanted to do this right. It was really important to him and his family. I hadn’t spoken to him for just a little bit, and I guess he tried, but he couldn’t.

  He contacted me and told me about the situation, and I said, ‘Look, just sleep on it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow’. I met with Greg Jackson and we had a little conversation about everything. From there I called Karo and I just told him, ‘Well you’re better off being honest now than piss testing and getting in trouble with the commission’. He did the right thing there and told them. He messed up, but people shouldn’t hate him for it. The guy has a legit problem right now. He did the right thing; he didn’t cheat, he didn’t lie, he didn’t do anything wrong. He just had a problem that he tried to overcome and he couldn’t do it. I think that everybody can sympathize with that. Karo has put on great shows in the past, and I think that he felt a lot of pressure to do that again...

  My heart goes out to him. I know he’s suffering right now. With the UFC dropping him, he’s a mess. He’s a complete mess. Just imagine what it’s like to have an addiction problem, and to lose everything like this all in one day. But at the end of the day he still did the right thing by coming clean and not trying to test, or fight, or lie, or anything like that. So before people start hating on him I hope they realize that when push came to shove, he did the right thing.

  He could have disrespected the sport by going out there and fighting. A lot of people try to beat the test somehow. He could have done a lot of things to make the sport look bad. He could have done that because he was greedy, or because he needed money, or whatever it was, but instead he did the right thing and he didn’t make the UFC look like jerks by testing dirty. I know Dana is saying some things right now because he’s really upset about it, but Dana cares about him. Dana has always been really good to him. I know he’s probably pretty upset, and I would be too. He’s pulled out of a couple of fights before, and if you’re a promoter that would piss you off pretty bad.

  Once he gets cleaned up and back on his feet, he’ll probably go out there and compete. If it’s not with the UFC it will be somewhere else. If Karo got clean and worked hard he’d be back in the top five again. He was ranked in the top five for his weight class for over three years. You don’t do that by being a slouch."

Melanson explains how Karo did the "right thing" by not fighting and fessing up.  The right thing would have been to check himself into rehab and not accept a fight until this whole thing was cleared up.  That being said, sober up Karo and hope to see you back one day.

Neil Melanson Interview

Excuse the sensationalism.  I have always disliked the posting of articles seeming to try to pull at the heart strings of readers by telling the story of how the latest fighter can't support his family by being an up and coming / struggling fighter pursuing his dream.  Then in the comments for Luke's article "The Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses That Are Professional MMA Fighters" the real reason for my discontent came out.  If you want to struggle and go broke chasing your dream, that's fine, but when several "hardcore fans" of MMA don't drop a dime towards a PPV yet you find a way to stream it for free every time, you're a thief. 

Pat Barry: Hey man, I showed up to this fight broke. When we got to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I had ZERO dollars to my LIFE.

Do we think it's magic where their money comes from?  It comes from the time you put in your job today.  It comes from the money you chose to spend on the PPV on Saturday night, and it comes from that stupid skull and fleur de lis shirt you so proudly wear as your jersey every UFC (please don't wear it out in public.)  Kid Nate seemed to agree with me in the comments, and I've not really seen anyone discuss this topic outside of it being slightly humorous every time its brought up.  I certainly don't claim to have an answer, but I hope this post starts a debate condemning those who don't contribute to a sport they claim to so dearly love.

Just filed an update on ufc-fedor negotiations. They continue but are complex and will likely drag past ufc friday conference call.

<a href="http://twitter.com/latimespugmire">Lance Pugmire's Twitter</a>

It's at least worth noting that negotiations seem to be lasting longer than previous exchanges, which may translate to both sides willing to give a little.  Hopefully the press conference, set to take place within an hour or so, will shed some light on the situation.

Shaq has apparently been in touch with Dana White to get on UFC 101:

UFC. Shaquille O’Neal wants to fight in UFC 101 and has asked UFC president Dana White for a spot.

In a Twitter conversation Thursday, O’Neal told White: “i wanna be on da card for ufc 101 sign me up, lol.” White replied with, “Shaq, you want in UFC101?”

The conversation ended there, but a spokesman for the Wachovia Center put out a statement Thursday and is trying to coordinate it.

UFC 101 is slated for Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center.

With our sport already headed for spectacle status with Lesnar's recent antics, what could a potential Shaq match do for the sport?

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/07/10/01/4325-82/index.xml

New Found Glory has enlisted the help of famed MMA legend Bas Rutten to help hype their new CD "Not Without a Fight".  NFG has been releasing weekly videos leading up to the release on 3/10/09 with Bas Rutten as the "opponent" for lead singer Jordan Pundik.  Below is a link to the latest video:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/337976/pundik-versus-rutten-new-found-glory.jhtml#id=1604399

(all apologies for lack of links, its my first fan post)