Luke Thomas Podcasts

Modern anti-doping is in crisis. The central institution in charge of the effort, WADA, has lost confidence among national anti-doping agencies like USADA as well as athletes. While the heyday of performance enhancing drug (PED) use is over, problems remain. Among best estimates, PED usage remains high. Efforts aimed at 'clean sport' have caused an assortment of harms to athletes, be it reputational harm, privacy invasion, financial hardship and more. Is there a way to limit PED use in sports without a zero tolerance prohibitive approach that causes backlash? Dr. Paul Dimeo of the University of Stirling thinks so. In his new book 'The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport, he and co-author Verner Møller argue things have gone too far. Instead of punitive, zero tolerance approach, they offer a new set of solutions to curb PED use and penalize those caught, but focus on strategies that take the rights of athletes seriously. In this interview, Dimeo and I discuss the book, what he makes of the case of Jon Jones and oral

At UFC Brooklyn, Henry Cejudo defeated TJ Dillashaw in about 30 seconds. In the co-main event, Greg Hardy blitzed Allen Crowder, but was disqualified for an illegal knee. Paige VanZant earned a second-round submission victory over Rachael Ostovich. Gregor Gillespie controlled Yancy Medeiros en route to a dominant victory, Joseph Benavidez had a sensational back and forth with Dustin Ortiz, Glover Teixeira survived and dominated Karl Roberson and Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone blasted through Alexander Hernandez. This is my UFC Brooklyn Post-Fight Special.

At UFC 232, Jon Jones defeated Alexander Gustafsson via third-round TKO while Amanda Nunes became the featherweight champion by knocking out Cris Cyborg. In the feature bout of the evening, Michael Chiesa jumped up to welterweight and defeated Carlos Condit with a one-armed kimura. Elsewhere on the card, Corey Anderson scored a solid win over Ilir Latifi, Alexander Volkanovski defeated Chad Mendes, Ryan Hall submitted BJ Penn and so much more. I'll cover all of these results and more on my UFC 232 post-fight special.

At UFC 231, Max Holloway defeated Brian Ortega in a four-round route. Valentina Shevchenko won the flyweight title by easily defeating former strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. In other parts of the card, Gunnar Nelson got back to his winning ways against Alex 'Cowboy' Oliveira, Hakeem Dawodu got past Kyle Bochniak and Thiago Santos had a crazy fight with Jimi Manuwa. I'll go over these results and more in this post-fight special.

At UFC 230, Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis.... *SPOILERS AHEAD* ...fought only until the second round when Cormier secured the win with a rear naked choke. In the co-main event, Jacare Souza defeated Chris Weidman via third-round TKO. Elsewhere on the card, Israel Adesanya defeated Derrick Brunson, Jared Cannonier scored a major upset in his middleweight debut over David Branch and so much more. We'll go over all the big details in my UFC 230 post-fight special.

At UFC 229, Khabib Numagomedov submitted Conor McGregor, but then attacked his entourage in the crowd immediately afterwards. In the co-main event, Tony Ferguson showed amazing ability against Anthony Pettis. In the feature bout of the night, Dominick Reyes scored a clear win but controversial finish over Ovince Saint Preux. Derrick Lewis scored perhaps the best comeback of the year while Michelle Waterson earned a hard-fought decision over Felice Herrig. We'll discuss these fight card results and more on my UFC 229 post-fight special.

At Bellator 206, Gegard Mousasi ran through Rory MacDonald, Rampage Jackson evened the score against Wanderlei Silva, Douglas Lima turned things around opposite Andrey Koreshkov, Aaron Pico looked like MMA's next big star and more. This is my Bellator 206 post-fight special.

At UFC 228, Tyron Woodley fought Darren Till for the UFC welterweight championship. Elsewhere on the fight card, Karolina Kowalkiewicz battled in the co-main event that didn't last very long. Zabit Magomedsharipov scored the second Suloev Stretch submission of the night, getting past Brandon Davis. Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson fought to a lackluster decision while Abdul Razak Alhassan knocked out Niko Price in under a minute.

Today on the podcast, we'll look at the UFC's return to Singapore with Saturday's card headlined by a welterweight tilt between Donald Cerrone and Leon Edwards. We'll discuss last night's Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series results with four fighters getting contracts. We'll also look at the sneaky good PFL card in Chicago this week and I'll share a big announcement I have with the rest of you. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat with Luke Thomas.

At UFC 225, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero fought in the main event in a middleweight title contest. **SPOILERS AHEAD** In the co-main event, Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos fought to a semi-controversial decision. Elsewhere on the card, Holly Holm showed amazing improvement as a fighter against Megan Anderson. Tai Tuivasa and Andrei Arlovski fought to a very close decision, Mike Jackson dominated CM Punk and more. This is the UFC 225 post-fight special.

On today's podcast, we'll discuss the retirement of Michael Bisping, the UK's first UFC champion. What did he accomplish in his career and what can we say about it? We'll discuss. We'll also look at the results from UFC Liverpool: Stephen Thompson vs. Darren Till. We'll also look ahead to UFC Utica and more. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

On today's podcast, we'll examine the new OTT deal between the UFC and ESPN+. We'll preview UFC 224: Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington as well as Bellator 199's Ryan Bader vs. 'King' Mo Lawal. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

Inside mixed martial arts (MMA), the UFC Performance Institute is the embodiment of the growing interest and understanding around exercise and recovery science. To better understand both the advances of sport science as well as the general pillars and how all it affects fighters, MMA Fighting spoke to Bo Sandoval, the Director of Strength and Conditioning at the UFC Performance Institute. Here he examines the chief building blocks of performance in MMA, why understanding them is critical for elite performance, how improper appreciation of them has held back the sport, and more.

Nate Diaz is reportedly in talking to return in August at UFC 227. Will he do that and who should he fight? We'll discuss. Plus, Bellator 198 is in the books and many of the results will help boost the organization's effort. On the other hand, their ratings' woes continue. What does that mean for the organization? We'll dig into that plus Nicco Montano's media issues and more. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

On today's podcast, we'll look back at the big fights from UFC Atlantic City, including Kevin Lee's win over Edson Barboza and Frankie Edgar's victory against Cub Swanson. We'll also look at Bellator 198's Frank Mir vs. Fedor Emelianenko as well as what's at stake for that organization. We'll likely also discuss Leslie Smith's battle against the UFC and more. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

At UFC Atlantic City, Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza fought in the main event in a lightweight contest. In the co-main event, Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson fought to a decision. Elsewhere on the card, Justin Willis and Chase Sherman had a decent scrap, David Branch earned a great win over Thiago Santos, Dan Hooker finished Jim Miller and there was major controversy between Merab Dvalishvili and Ricky Simon. This is the UFC Atlantic City post-fight special.

On today's podcast, we'll examine reports of the UFC's new television deal purportedly involving ESPN and FOX. We'll also look ahead to UFC: Atlantic City (Cub Swanson vs. Frankie Edgar, Kevin Lee vs. Edson Barboza), Bellator's terrible TV ratings on Paramount Network and more. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

At UFC Glendale, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje fought in the main event in a lightweight contest. In the co-main event, 'Cowboy' Alex Oliveira had a very competitive and brutal fight with Carlos Condit, but it was the Brazilian who got the best of the contest. What's next for both fighters? We'll break it down. Plus, top middleweight prospect Israel Adesanya got past Marvin Vettori and Cortney Casey and Michelle Waterson had an incredible fight. I'll break down all of these bouts plus the rest of the fight card. This is my UFC on FOX 29 post-fight special.

On today's episode of the podcast, we'll recap the results from UFC 223, examine the win by Khabib Nurmagomedov, try to look ahead to UFC Glendale, discuss Conor McGregor's future, Brock Lesnar's eventual return to the UFC, Bellator 197 and more. This is the Promotional Malpractice Live Chat.

At UFC 223, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Al Iaquinta fought in a lightweight main event on pay-per-view for the UFC lightweight title. In the co-main event, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas had a fantastic display of mixed martial arts with a surprising result in the end. Elsewhere on the fight card, Renato Moicano put on a striking clinic over Calvin Kattar in a featherweight contest. Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak fought to a great contest while Chris Gruetzemacher gave Joe Lauzon a fairly one-sided beating. We'll discuss that plus what this means for Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson. This is the UFC 223 post-fight special.