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Josh Barnett’s steroid appeal was pushed back for the fourth consecutive time yesterday when he failed to show up for a hearing with the CSAC. His attorney, who was present, was “shocked” when the commission said they couldn’t proceed without him.

“We’ve been diligently preparing to present Mr. Barnett’s case and his defense, and he was unable to be here today and we are extremely shocked and disappointed that the commission ruled that they would not go forward with the hearing without Mr. Barnett being present,” said Michael J. DiMaggio, an attorney representing Barnett. “It’s particularly surprising in light of the fact that we’re not aware of any rule or regulation that insists that he be here. Obviously, even criminal cases go forward without the accused present in some instances.”

What DiMaggio apparently didn’t know was the CSAC made it perfectly clear ahead of time that Barnett’s attendance was required.

Again Dodd countered by stating the original letter sent to Barnett outlined the manner in which he would have to proceed to regain his license to fight.

“The letter is very clear that you must appear before the commission,” Dodd said. “It doesn’t say anything else besides appear. You can bring counsel, but it says the word ‘appear’ in there.”

So where was Josh Barnett in all of this? Oh, he was in Japan wrestling Bob Sapp. And he wonders why the mega-contract offers aren’t rolling in.

His appeal has been rescheduled for April 20.

The CSAC has released the fighter payouts for WEC 46 “Varner vs Henderson.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

The CSAC has released the fighter payouts for Strikeforce “Evolution.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

Ever since “Big” John McCarthy returned to refereeing, the MMA community has collectively been calling for his return to the sport’s biggest promotion. Well, it’s not the UFC, but the CSAC has assigned Big John to his first Zuffa card in years, WEC 46 on Jan. 10 in Sacramento. What’s odd is “Big” John won’t be reffing any of the bouts, he’ll be judging them.

The California State Athletic Commission today released its list of assignments for the Jan. 10 WEC show in Sacramento, and there’s a surprising name on the list: popular long-time referee “Big” John McCarthy has been assigned to the show. Even more surprising is the news that McCarthy has not been assigned as a referee for the show, but as a judge.

It’s a step in the right direction, but as a judge? Big John understands the rules and intricacies of MMA as well as anyone so I’m sure he’ll make a fine judge, but wouldn’t he be better served as a ref? If you have Peyton Manning on your team, do you not put him in at quarterback?

The CSAC has released the fighter payouts for UFC 104. Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional “locker room” bonuses, pay-per-view revenue sharing, or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

It was worth a shot, but ultimately the Big John Twitter bomb didn’t make the impact we were hoping for.

Referee “Big” John McCarthy will be conspicuously absent from UFC 104 this Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 15-year officiating veteran, who’s logged in nearly 600 fights worldwide dating back to UFC 2 and has a long background in helping shape the sport’s current rules, was not assigned by the California State Athletic Commission to work the event.

“I contacted (the CSAC) and told them I was free on Oct. 24,” McCarthy told Sherdog.com Friday. McCarthy said he was later informed that he hadn’t been assigned to the event, the UFC’s first in California since UFC 76 in November 2007. McCarthy did not comment any further on the development.

And why was Big John not assigned to work UFC 104? Here’s the CSAC’s Dave Thornton with their official explanation.

“McCarthy is a licensed referee in California and as such is on our regular rotation list for MMA refs,” Thornton wrote. “McCarthy is assigned to a Strikeforce show in November in Fresno.”

Oh that makes sense. Lets not assign our best referee to work one of the biggest events California will see all year because his name isn’t next on the rotation.

Hooray for government and politics. Once again, they prevail over common sense.

The CSAC has released the fighter payouts for Strikeforce “Carano vs Cyborg.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

To no one’s surprise, Gina Carano raked in the highest purse of the night earning $125,000. Good to see she’s finally getting the payday she deserves. Her opponent, Cris Cyborg, took home one fifth of that.

The number that clearly stands out the most however is Gegard Mousasi’s. He only made $2,000 in disclosed pay. It’s still unclear exactly which parties he’s under contract with and how it all works. First it was Strikeforce who was loaning him to Afflicton and if you listen to DREAM, they’re loaning him to Strikeforce. And then you throw M-1 in the mix and the picture gets even cloudier. In short, it’s complicated, but he definitely made a lot more than $2,000.

Payouts

Courtesy of MMA Mania:

• Cristiane Santos: $25,000 ($20,000 + $5,000 win bonus)
  Gina Carano: $125,000
• Gegard Mousasi: $2,000 (no win bonus)
  Renato Sobral: $75,000
• Gilbert Melendez: $50,000 (no win bonus)
  Mitsuhiro Ishida: $30,000
• Fabricio Werdum: $50,000 ($25,000 + $25,000)
  Mike Kyle: $14,000
• Jay Hieron: $55,000 ($25,000 + $30,000)
  Jesse Taylor: $12,000
• Scott Lighty: $4,000 (no win bonus)
  Mike Cook: $2,500
• Justin Wilcox: $5,000 ($2,500 + $2,500)
  David Douglas: $5,500
• James Terry: $6,000 ($3,000 + $3,000)
  Zak Bucia: $2,000
• Alexander Trevino: $3,500 ($2,000 + $1,500)
  Isaiah Hill: $2,000

Total Payout

A disclosed total of $468,500, including bonuses, was paid out to the fighters.

Marijuana may keep screwing up Nick Diaz’s career, but it doesn’t look like he has any plans to give it up.

Instead, his trainer, Cesar Gracie,  approached CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas about adopting a “Theraputic Usage Exemption” program as outlined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which would allow Nick to continue smoking weed without being penalized when he’s out of competition. Gracie argued that Nick does in fact need the pot for medicinal purposes.

“He does need (marijuana),” said Gracie. “He has ADHD and he’s had a prescription for Ritalin since he was a kid. He doesn’t want to take that. That’s worse than pot.”

Douglas was actually open to the idea.

Douglas called the meeting “extremely positive.”

“We don’t have a TUE program in California yet, not to say we won’t,” Douglas told Sherdog.com Monday. “I pledged to have the CSAC staff work with Gracie and his reps, because putting a TUE program together to present to the commission will take time and effort, as well as feedback from many parties. We can put the plan together, but ultimately the commission has to vote for it.”

Douglas said the first step will be to secure a date to present the idea to the commission board, but noted that if the commission is receptive, the entire process of incorporating the system could take up to a year.

Until then, Nick will have to abide by the current rules, which Gracie assured he would. He’ll be allowed to take the drug test he missed in a few weeks to get re-licensed, but it sounds like he may not need it just yet. His camp is currently in talks with DREAM to have Nick fight in Japan in October, possibly against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Strikeforce seems fine with it as long as Nick is ready to fight for them in November or December.

Image via Showtime Sports

Oh boy, here we go again.

Mitsuhiro Ishida’s camp has filed a verbal protest to the California State Athletic Commission allegedly that Gilbert Melendez greased in Saturday’s match on Showtime.

Mitsuhiro Ishida completely failed where he found a ton of success in his first go-around with Gilbert Melendez. That alone doesn’t mean Melendez was greasing, and I’m not saying he did or he didn’t, but it’s at least enough to raise an eyebrow and warrant a second look in light of this allegation.

Image via Showtime Sports

Update: Melendez is denying the accusation.

“I did not grease in the fight,” said Melendez. “The athletic commission was with me the whole time. I didn’t bring any grease with me. I didn’t think there was much grappling in the fight anyway.”

“It’s kind of funny, but kind of weak,” he said. “I beat him good and there’s no way I greased.”

The CSAC says Ishida’s camp has yet to file a formal complaint in writing and will need to within five days of the bout to make the complaint an official matter.