LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 07: A banner featuring fighters for UFC 200 at T-Mobile Arena shows half of an image of mixed martial artist Daniel Cormier and a blank space where an image of mixed martial artist Jon Jones had been displayed on July 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. On July 6, Jones was pulled from his light heavyweight title fight against Cormier due to a potential violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy. A heavyweight fight between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will now serve as the main event. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
MMANBABy Sean Keeley on

 Again?

You and I both know you don’t come here for serious or political talk. But as I scroll through Twitter Thursday evening looking for wacky and entertaining stories to charm you with, it’s impossible not to see what’s happening in Dallas. Another mass shooting. We don’t know all the details yet but does it matter? Are we really going to go through this again? And again? And again? And do nothing?

Conservative or liberal. Republican or Democrat. NRA member or Pacific Northwest hippie. Whatever and whoever you are, surely we can agree that something…anything…is better than doing nothing. Better than another round of big talk and no action. Better than more status quo. Better than trotting out our talking points and then burying our collective heads in the sand while we pray that it doesn’t happen again even though we know it will.

African-Americans. Native Americans. LGBTQ people. Police officers. Children. Who does this kind of violence need to affect before we do literally anything about it? It’s a scary question to ask because it seems like sooner or later we’re going to find out.

Anyway, here’s what else went on yesterday…

UFC 200: Jones is out, Silva is in, Tate v Nunes is your new main event

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 07: Mixed martial artist Jon Jones listens during a news conference at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino to address being pulled from his light heavyweight title fight at UFC 200 against Daniel Cormier due to a potential violation of the UFC's anti-doping policy on July 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 07: Mixed martial artist Jon Jones listens during a news conference at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino to address being pulled from his light heavyweight title fight at UFC 200 against Daniel Cormier due to a potential violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy on July 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The news that Jon “Bones” Jones had been booted from this Saturday’s UFC 200 event went down on Wednesday but the aftershocks continued to be felt all day Thursday as Dana White & Co. scrambled to keep the massive money-making event momentum moving forward.

Jones made his first official appearance after the news broke at a press conference sans UFC promotional material on Thursday, breaking down crying at one point and leaving before returning later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_seDDQeH_w

“I want to apologize; I really don’t know what to say,” Jones said. “I’m really sorry about this happening.”

“The whole situation really sucks,” Jones said. “It really sucks, really hurts a lot. They supposedly found something in one of my samples that I have no clue what it is. I don’t even know how to pronounce it. I’ve been taking the same supplements for the majority of my career. I’ve been so outspoken about being against any type of performance enhancers. I’m still to this day extremely against performance enhancers. The whole thing sucks. Being labeled as someone who would cheat hurts me more than anything else I’ve ever been through in my career.”

Meanwhile, we also got to see the moment when Dana White told Daniel Cormier that Jones had tested positive for a banned substance thanks to the latest episode of UFC 200 Embedded.

That’s right. Cormier wanted to fight so bad he was willing to sign a waiver to let it happen, something that UFC obviously couldn’t allow.

There’s a modicum of good news for the UFC light heavyweight champion. He still gets to fight at UFC 200. Anderson Silva will face Cormier in a non-title bout. The 41-year-old Silva hasn’t fought since a loss to Michael Bisping in February but he’s been medically-cleared and is ready to go.

Since that bout doesn’t have the same cache as Jones-Cormier, it’s been booted from main event status. You might think that the Brock Lesner – Mark Hunt match takes that spot but in fact it will be the female bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes in the headlining position. The Lesner fight will be the co-headliner happening right before it.

Speaking of Brock, while he’s pretty focused on the fight ahead of him, we found out on Thursday that his return match to the WWE will be against Randy Orton at SummerSlam.

Oh and Conor McGregor still wants to fight someone at UFC 200. Hello? Dana? Is this thing on?

Kevin Durant puts on a Warriors jersey, the internet responds accordingly

Screen Shot 2016-07-07 at 9.42.18 PM

People still aren’t quite over Kevin Durant’s heel turn earlier this week that saw him spurn the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors. There’s no looking back now and he was officially introduced by the team on Thursday.

Durant let it be known that he understands the world is going to see his decision in black and white, no matter how he handles himself.

“We live in this superhero comic book world where either you’re a villain or you’re a superhero if you’re in this position, and I know that,” Durant said. “And I know I haven’t changed as a person. I don’t treat people any differently because I made the decision to play basketball in another city. I understand the fans in Oklahoma City and basketball fans around the world are, I guess, upset, but like I said, I made the decision based upon what I wanted to do and how I felt.”

Durant also showed off what he’ll look like next season donning Warriors gear:

The internet then did what the internet does…

https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/751219249796902913

https://twitter.com/Fr33Sdc/status/751209790865481728

Get used to it, Kevin. It’s gonna be like this for a while.

Social Distortion

Screen Shot 2016-07-07 at 9.40.24 PM

So as we mentioned yesterday, our Twitterfeed hit 10,000 followers! That’s great news! You know what would make it even better? If we could get our Facebook page to match. We’re currently just over 8,100 likes so if you haven’t already please go give our page some love. We promise not to post anything too creepy. Only slightly creepy.

Quick Hits

– Russell Wilson and Ciara had sex. Good for them.

– A bunch of Los Angeles Rams are already going Hollywood and filming an E! reality series.

– The CFL went nuts Thursday, first with this “wait how did that get here” touchdown catch by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ryan Smith.

That actually followed this missed field goal return of 121 yards for a touchdown (the CFL is awesome) by Brandon Banks.

– Syracuse’s new AD might be the perfect person to facilitate an ACC Network.

-A movie producer wanted Michael Phelps to play Tarzan and then saw how terrible of an actor he was on SNL.

– Scary times in the Wrigley Field outfield where a fan reportedly tried to jump onto the field from the bleachers and “severely injured” himself.

Last we heard the fan was still at the hospital.

– Roddy White says that if the Falcons played him more, they’d have made the playoffs. That should go over well in camp.

– They let horses take part in the Tour de France now or something. Probably the cleanest one out there.

– If Ben Simmons plays every game like his most recent Summer League game, he might live up to the hype.

– Baylor isn’t just losing incoming recruits, they’re now losing current players as quarterback Jarrett Stidham announces he will transfer.

– According to one study, the Rio Olympics have gone $1.6 billion over budget. Considering that mayor of Rio was recently begging for more money to help pay for everything, that is not a very good sign.

– The NFL Draft is going to Philadelphia unless it’s not.

One Last Breath of Gratuitous Procrastination

 

Just give somebody a hug today, will you? Anyone will do.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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