Mark Hunt’s visa issues have been worked out and he is coming to America.

Hunt is scheduled to fight Junior dos Santos in the UFC 160 co-main event on Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, but had trouble getting out of New Zealand. He was being held up due to a past legal issue that he characterized as “a stupid misunderstanding” over “something that happened a long time ago.”

On Sunday (U.S. time), however, Hunt tweeted, “Thank u for my visa father.”

UFC officials confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Hunt got his visa and should be leaving New Zealand sometime on Monday (New Zealand time) to fly to the United States.

That will put him in the U.S. in plenty of time for the dos Santos fight, although not as soon as Hunt had hoped.

“I’m running out of time to acclimatize,” Hunt said on Tuesday during a UFC 160 media conference call. “I fought once in Vegas before. I went out four days before the fight and it was quite tiring. It was a bit of a problem.”

A veteran of the fight game, Hunt has fought all over the world, so travel issues are nothing new to him. Things didn’t go as planned, but barring any further incidents, Hunt should be in Las Vegas to fight dos Santos at UFC 160.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez puts his belt on the line in a main event rematch with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.

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I have social phobia anxiety and depression pretty bad. I was really down for a while and was thinking about just giving up on life completely. I’m not sure if I would have really done it, but I was seriously thinking about it. I’ve always been a fan of Ronda since her amateur fights, and I always watch her interviews as soon as they are up.

Well, one day I was down really bad and was going to walk out the door and down the road to where there is a bridge. But something inside told me to stop and get on the computer. I know that probably sounds dumb, but it’s true. As soon as I got online there was a post that Ronda put up with a link to her Primetime video so I clicked and watched it.

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They say, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.  But in the world of mixed martial arts, hell hath no fury like a woman fighting on national television!  On June 14, 2013, Live from the USF Sun Dome in beautiful Tampa, Florida, Xtreme Fighting Championships keeps its promise and tradition of showcasing Women’s MMA, by adding a Flyweight showdown between Cortney Casey and Kelly Warren.

Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey (0-0) is wasting no time making a name for herself as a professional fighter. The former professional soccer player’s decision to jump right into the fire and face WMMA veteran Kelly Warren has almost everyone scratching their heads. However, if you ask anyone that knows Casey, this is just typical Cortney. Kerry Hartney, matchmaker for the Las Vegas amateur super show, Tuff Nuff, had this to say about the debuting Casey: “Cortney Casey doesn’t want easy fights. She doesn’t get motivated unless there is a tough challenge in front of her. The girl never backs down from a challenge, so it doesn’t surprise me one bit that she is fighting Kelly Warren in her debut.

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“Thug” Rose Namajunas is one of the emerging faces of the next generation of mixed martial artists.  At only twenty years old she is already a well rounded fighter with a highlight reel of striking and submission skills. She’s taken home the SOTN bonus in both of her professional fights; her latest of course being that twelve second flying armbar finish of Kathina Catron which went down as the fastest submission in WMMA history.

Namajunas also embodies the artistic side of MMA.  Watching her dance backwards against Emily Kagan while still throwing punches and kicks you are reminded of a ballet dancer making the almost impossible seem effortless.  She fights with emotion but not emotionally.  Not with anger but with a passion.  She puts all of herself into her fights which leave an indelible impression inside of you.  Here are some of her thoughts.

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Bantamweight Queen of Pancrase Rin Nakai earned one of her biggest wins to date tonight in the co-main event of Pancrase 247 in Tokyo, Japan. Nakai overcame a slow start and submitted previously unbeaten King of the Cage champion Brenda “Boom Boom” Gonzales late in the opening round.

In a second female fight on the card, veteran Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino rebounded from a close decision loss in December by defeating Gonzales’s Fit NHB teammate, Amber “The Bully” Brown. Fujino overwhelmed her foe on the ground and submitted Brown with a second-round neck crank.

Nakai (14-0-1) was extremely tentative during the first three minutes of tonight’s bout. She cautiously circled on the outside while mounting almost no offence. Gonzales (4-1-0) stood in the centre of the ring and jabbed, but Nakai stayed out of range. Time was soon called and the referee warned both fighters for inactivity. Action resumed and Gonzales missed with a spinning backfist attempt.

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UFC lightweight Pat Healyrecently admitted to testing positive for marijuana use following his UFC 159 victory over Jim Miller on April 27 in New Jersey.

“I would like to start off by apologizing to the UFC, Jim Miller, the MMA community, it’s fans, my family, teammates and coaches for my positive testing for marijuana after my UFC 159fight with Jim Miller,” Healy said in a prepared statement.

His camp confirmed that Healy was suspended for 90 days, had his fight overturned to a no contest, and had $130,000 in post-fight bonus money rescinded.

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has not commented on the positive drug test, but Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC, on Friday issued an official statement on the matter, confirming the sanctions.

“The UFC has been informed by the NJSACB that lightweight Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his bout against Jim Miller at UFC 159. The NJSACB issued Healy a 90-day suspension retroactive to the date of the event. He must pass a drug test upon completion of the suspension before receiving clearance to compete again. The outcome of his bout against Miller will be changed to a no contest and he will forfeit $130,000 in bonus money from Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night. Miller will keep his Fight of the Night bonus and Bryan Caraway will receive the $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus.

The UFC organization has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents. The UFC also fully supports the drug testing efforts of all regulatory agencies including NJSACB. All fighters on the UFC 159 card were drug tested at the event. The results of all positive tests are reported to the official Association of Boxing Commissions record-keeper.”

UPDATE: An MMAWeekly.com source with knowledge of the situation said that the UFC did not try to rescind Healy’s win bonus, which was paid on the night of the fight. The amount of the bonus was not revealed, and New Jersey does not release that information like some state’s do, but Healy made $27,000 to show and another $15,000 to win for his last Strikeforce fight in January.

The UFC holds post-fight “of the night” award bonus checks until drug test results are confirmed, so Healy did not have to return any money, but he will not receive the post-fight award bonus checks.

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UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold took place Saturday night at Arena Jaraguá in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil, before an announced crowd of 7,642.

UFC officials announced the attendance at the UFC on FX 8 post-fight press conference.

The gate was not announced.

Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort faced former Strikeforce championLuke Rockhold in the night’s main event. Belfort continued his career resurgence, knocking Rockhold out with a stunning heel kick to the head at 2:32 of the first round.

The event was the second of at least four scheduled for Brazil in 2013. It also marked the second time that Belfort has headlined a UFC on FX card in his home country this year.

The promotion returns to Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 3 for UFC 163, which features featherweight champion Jose Aldo putting his belt on the line against Anthony Pettis, who is making his 145-pound debut.

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