Waachiim Spiritwolf: Jeff Sherwood | Sherdog.com
• The UFC reportedly came down hard on a heavyweight newcomer who allegedly failed a steroid test after his Octagon debut. Vinicius Kappke de Quieroz, of Brazil, tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanozolol after his loss to Rob Broughton at UFC 120 on Oct. 16 in London. Quieroz was fired from the promotion and lost an undisclosed bonus the promotion paid him on fight night, UFC U.K. President Marshall Zelaznik told MMAJunkie.com. Because the event took placed in England, the UFC, led by former longtime Nevada commission head Marc Ratner, conducted its own drug testing and determined the penalties. The last time UFC-run testing produced a positive result was Chris Leben for Stanozolol following his loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 89 in October 2008 in Birmingham, England. Leben was suspended for nine months and fined a third of his fight purse.
• A one-time Bellator Fighting Championships fighter took the dubious distinction of becoming the first female competitor to fail a drug screening in the state of Nevada. Jessica Rakoczy, a former professional boxer who lost to Felice Herrig in Bellator in April, tested positive for painkillers Oxymorphone and Oxycodone following an Oct. 9 mixed martial arts win in Las Vegas on an MMA Xplosion card. Rakoczy faces a one-year suspension.
• After being cut for missing weight and losing his fight at UFC Fight Night 22 in September, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero has signed a multi-fight deal with the Shine Fights organization. It represents a significant move for Shine Fights, infamous for last-minute regulatory hurdles that caused the cancellation of its first pay-per-view event and an uprooting of the second. No opponent or debut date was announced for Escudero, who said shortly after his release that his management was talking with Strikeforce and Bellator Fighting Championships.
• Ryan Couture was forced to pull out of his second professional outing due to a staph infection. Couture was set to face local prospect Juan Zapata on the Nov. 19 Strikeforce Challengers 12 card in Jackson, Miss., and is scheduled to be sidelined for three to four weeks. Strikeforce bounced back with other fight announcements for the Showtime event, including Jan Finney returning to 135 pounds to face U.S. Marine Liz Carmouche, Dream champion Marius Zaromskis vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf and Caros Fodor vs. Derek Getzel. The show is headlined by Vitor Ribeiro vs. Justin Wilcox.
• Season 3 of the MTV series “Bully Beatdown,” hosted by Jason “Mayhem” Miller, premiered. The episode saw Miller himself engage a bully for the first time, completely dismantling a meathead with five brisk submissions in the first round and dropping him three times in a kickboxing round to a raucous crowd reaction. The season will feature the first female bully. The show has appreciably raised Miller’s pop culture profile.
• Leading Brazilian prospect Erick Silva picked up his eighth straight win in a tournament headlining the latest offering from Brazil’s top MMA promotion, Jungle Fight, which airs on ESPN Deportes. Silva submitted Francisco Ayon and Gil de Freitas to become the promotion’s first welterweight champion.
• The Brazilian MMA site Portal do Vale Tudo reported that Dream and K-1 veteran Andre “Dida” Amado was grazed in the head by a gunshot outside of a Toronto gym on Oct. 20. The bullet required 10 stitches to close, and Amado was back in training three days later for a Nov. 8 bout on a K-1 Max show.