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Marika Taylor accuses Josh Gross of journalistic malfeasance & Keith Kizer of interfering in Chael Sonnen’s California suspension

By Zach Arnold | May 20, 2011

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Marika Taylor, who spoke in support of Chael Sonnen this past week at a special California State Athletic Commission hearing in Los Angeles, came out guns a blazin’ on Mauro Ranallo’s radio show yesterday.

“What was it like? If you’ve ever… a circus. You know, I’ve been to court before, I’ve you know watched television, you know, I mean, normally there’s such thing as due process, um, you know, some of sort formality, something. This was the most incredible, um, uh, misuse of power and miscarriage of justice that I have ever witnessed. It’s unbelievable that this thing, you know, things like this are happening in a democratic society. Basically, if you had been there, your jaw would have dropped. Anybody with half a brain, even coming off the street, would see that this was an absolute fiasco, that these… There’s one commissioner, I believe he is new, he was the one that voted against it. He’s the only one with any sense at all. Everybody else had their mind made up already.”

A big issue raised was whether or not Chael Sonnen (or then-manager Matt Lindland) contacted Nevada State Athletic Commission figurehead Keith Kizer about Testosterone Replacement Therapy. This issue has been covered extensively by writers like Josh Gross and the crew at Cageside Seats.

Marika Taylor yesterday accused Gross of stirring the pot and instigating what came next with Mr. Kizer.

“Well, actually, you know, have you read any of the transcripts from the hearing from December 2nd? On many occasions, he clarified his statements on so many occasions to the point where at the very end at the 2 1/2 hour mark, one of the commissioners asked him point blank, ‘Was it you or was it Matt Lindland who spoke to (Keith) Kizer at some point in 2008 regarding Testosterone Replacement Therapy?’ and Chael said it was Matt Lindland. OK? So that was totally clear, there was no issue. Unfortunately, a man by the name of Josh Gross who calls himself a journalist who, up until you know last September, I considered a friend, you know until I realized just how misplaced his uh… I don’t know how to describe it, but… getting back to that, basically what he did was halfway through, just like 30 minutes into the hearing, well before the end of the hearing, he texts the private cell phone of Kizer and asks him point blank, ‘Have you ever spoken to Chael Sonnen about or his management about Testosterone Replacement Therapy?’ of course he replied, ‘Uh, no.’ Well, okay…

“This is what happened on Wednesday. We had Kizer there who then, you know, under oath explained that, yes, indeed, Matt Lindland, he did have a conversation with Matt Lindland in 2008 regarding, you know, Testosterone Replacement Therapy and that’s it.”

In regards to why she is speaking out on behalf of Chael Sonnen, the explanation was presented this way.

“You know what? At the very end, okay? Believe it or not, I had no idea in advance that this was going to happen, but at the very end one of the commissioners just went, ‘OK, now it’s time for the public, does the public have anything to say?’ and I just stood up and I said, ‘Where do I begin?’ and I just, you know, pointed out the true facts… I taped the entire thing included what I stated at this hearing. It’s much more involved that anybody really knows. Most people are just going on conjecture, hearsay, just ridiculous things. When you get down to the facts and they’re all written in plain English, they’ve all been documented, the facts are so incredibly clear.”

In essence, she is claiming that writers like Josh Gross and the crew at MMA Junkie aren’t telling the full story. As for why Ms. Taylor thinks the whole thing is a witch hunt, she states that Sonnen is being excessively punished by bureaucrats with big egos.

“Six weeks ago, six weeks ago I believe it was, whenever it was, he was done! I mean, he was, you know, in the last couple of weeks he was, you know, in negotiations to do The Ultimate Fighter with (Michael) Bisping, right, and to do a fight with them and then ultimately the winner of that would fight Anderson Silva. And all of a suddenly, out of the blue, arbitrarily with no inquiry, with nothing, just you know obviously he satisfied they needed from him back in December, you know? They originally gave him a one-year suspension, obviously when they looked at everything and they could not prove in any way that he had indeed taken anything illegal, right? The test results were completely inconclusive, so they were forced to because they had to, um, um, you know take back the year’s suspension. … So they’re going to keep it to six months, so that should have been the end of it. Well, Kizer makes one phone call to the California commission and because of him, all of a sudden, they not only just change their mind but just arbitrarily brand new decision decide with anyone inquiry, without anything at all whatsoever, they just decide that Chael is now indefinitely suspended.

“But I have to say, you know, thank God, thank God there were witnesses to what happened yesterday. Thank God it’s just blatantly ridiculous, illegal, unfair on every single level, You know, I would like people, if you want to follow what’s going on I’m going to spend the next days, weeks, and months getting to the bottom of this. I will be fully accessible to anybody that actually wants to know what’s going on, I’m going to do complete due diligence and make sure that I have transcripts from yesterday, from the Oregon, and from December 2nd to make sure that everybody gets their facts straight.”

Interestingly enough, Mauro Ranallo chimed in with support of what comments at the end of their interview.

“The big problem I have is the fact that, yes, (Sonnen has) already paid his debt to society regarding the real estate issues, the money laundering. What does that have to do with his career as a professional Mixed Martial Artist? And if they’ve already, like they’ve said, suspended him for the year , he paid the fine and now all of a sudden, because of what may have been said or not said to Keith Kizer, this meeting yesterday was held. It… it does speak to a greater issue…”

Marika Taylor issued more comments on her Twitter account regarding this week’s CSAC hearing.

“I went to Chael’s hearing today. It was extremely revealing. Four out of the 5 members of the Athletic Commission are insane. They grossly abused their power and must be held accountable. I have never seen such blatant disregard for human rights, the circus today was so spectacularly against the law. I will see to it that a formal inquiry is made and that these members are removed from their positions so help me God.

“I have kept silent these past several months, but now I have to do everything in my power to get to the bottom of this fiasco. I spoke at the hearing, I pointed out the evidence, I recorded everything. In the coming days, weeks and months. I will show just how dangerous and flawed the commission is and I will have it dismantled. This is a free country and I have to believe that justice will be served. Right now, I’m trying to wrap my head around the most appalling and blatant miscarriage of justice. Anyone with half a brain could see right thru these guys. They were a lynch mob the best way I can describe it. They are unqualified imbeciles that have no concept of impartiality, common sense, presumption of innocence, or due process.

“Today was worse than a joke. It was a scary display of what can happen when a system is place where people who are not judges or lawyers, people who as so blatantly unqualified to judge so much as a hot dog eating contest, let alone be given the absolute power to be judge, jury and executioner in an institution paid for by tax payers, who assume these people are upholding the law. These people are making up their own rules, have no concept of the law, basic human rights, common sense or fairness. They are not being supervised or overseen by any legal authority. Yet they are free to play God. They judge, and make rulings at whim.

“Since when can a commission arbitrarily suspend someone’s license unabashedly from contempt prior to investigation? Ever since we gave them that power and permission to use it. It’s so bizarre this kind of thing can happen in a democratic society. Thankfully we do have a system that can correct itself when power is abused and things go terribly wrong.”

****

She issued the following comment on Friday: “Josh and I spoke today and cleared the air. I respect him a lot and will call him directly if I ever feel he is being unfair.”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

24 Responses to “Marika Taylor accuses Josh Gross of journalistic malfeasance & Keith Kizer of interfering in Chael Sonnen’s California suspension”

  1. Steve4192 says:

    “I have never seen such blatant disregard for human rights”

    O Rly?

    Sounds like Ms Taylor has an incredibly narrow worldview. What dictators/autocrats in the middle east are doing to protesters is a blatant disregard for human rights. What CSAC did to Sonnen was not.

    Miscarriage of justice? Perhaps.

    Human rights violation? Not so much.

  2. Jemaleddin says:

    Wow. What a nut. It’s funny how the people with the least grasp on reality are the ones that want to go on and on about how nobody gets what’s really happening. Sigh.

  3. Kalle says:

    What’s Marika Taylor’s relationship with Chael Sonnen?

  4. sam says:

    Uhh…weird.

    It would take a dumb, crazy b*tch like this to actually come to the defense of a scumbag like Sonnen.

    Honestly..I’m a little disappointed that this nobody’s views and writing is actually being covered by this fine site.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      For whatever her reasons were, she took a public stance at the CSAC hearing in defense of Chael. In the radio interview, she accused Josh Gross of basically instigating what has happened now with Keith Kizer. That is a claim & allegation of some seriousness.

      I posted the links to articles that the Cageside Seats crew has done over the months on this topic matter, so everything is on the table.

  5. The Gaijin says:

    Yeah, how dare that Josh Gross go digging into statements made under oath by an alleged drug cheat at a public commission hearing when they implicated the head of another state athletic commission as part of his defense for having over 4x the acceptable limit of T/E levels.

    Doesn’t Josh Gross know he’s supposed to stick to writing press releases about how Chael Sonnen’s “heel act” and “promo cutting” abilities are ahead of the curve and setting a standard for this great sport?

    Marika Taylor, whoever the fuck she is, is a complete wingding presenting a ridiculously slanted argument that is full of misinformation, incorrect facts and outright lies mixed with lots of “opinion as fact” statements.

  6. Norm says:

    Marika Taylor brings up some valid points, but who on earth is she and why does seem so vested in the process/outcome?

    I see that she is an actress/hostess/producer and may be making a documentary. Did her meal ticket just go up in smoke with the decision on Chael?

    Who’s got more info on Marika Taylor?

    Ed. — This FB page of hers claims she’s been trying to pitch an MMA show of sorts to ESPN.

  7. Zack says:

    It’s hilarious when blow-hards like this go on the record. Obvious n00b is obvious. This is the same commission that suspended a dude for doing a cartwheel guard pass cuz they thought it was a work, wouldn’t let Gabe Rudiger fight on the LA K-1 Dynamite because of how he acted on TUF, and cut James Toney’s 2nd steroid suspension in half cuz he berated the commission.

    From this lady’s website:

    “In 2007 Marika accidentally discovered her new passion for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. “

    …and her description of MMA is hilarious.

  8. The Gaijin says:

    She’s just your typical “model/actress” type – an mma groupie really. Funny, seems like one of those girls that thinks she’s “hot” and that of course qualifies her to opine on issues she hasn’t even got the first clue about because she has people telling her how smart and pretty she is all the time on her “Facebook”.

    Honestly listening to her blather reminds me of all these idiot beauty pageant contestants who open their mouth and sputter out a bunch of buzz words and talking points thinking they’re coming off as informed and of course, correct.

  9. The Gaijin says:

    Zach,

    You’re not going to be happy to hear this: http://withleather.uproxx.com/2011/05/macho-man-randy-savage-1952-2011.

    RIP Macho. 🙁

    Ed. — I saw the news on a ticker on a cable channel just now. Eerie. Very sad. I was just watching some of the Memphis territory circa 1983 with Bockwinkel, Kaufman, etc. Savage and Lawler had that infamous chicken wire cage match at the Mid-South Coliseum. As for WWE, guess that reunion with Vince wasn’t meant to be.

    • The Gaijin says:

      Sadly, I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise given all the deaths of 80’s and 90’s stars over the last half decade.

      I’m actually surprised Macho made it this long. The guy was always pretty gassed up, especially later in his career (not to mention he looked ridiculously cranked in Spider-Man…my god).

  10. Zack says:

    “your movies are straight to video, the critics cant stand….while i got myself a feature role in spider man!!”

    RIP Randy

    • Norm says:

      Zach-care to speculate on why Macho Man never made it back to the WWF, while countless numbers of other “blacklisted” guys did?

      • Mark says:

        The believable version is when Randy left in 1994 to go to WCW, he took the WWF’s biggest sponsor Slim Jim’s beef jerky with him at a time when WWF was strapped for cash. The internet message board version has Savage, uh, “breaking Stephanie McMahon into the business”.

        I think the real deal is Randy was smart with his money and didn’t need to go grovel to Vince for a last payday.

  11. Chael Sonnen is his own worst enemy. All he had to do was serve his sentence, but he has no patience for due process. Instead, he concocted a story about needing testosterone replacement therapy for a lifelong illness that he never had until this fight with Silva (he’d never pissed dirty before), then he got an exemption from Keith Kizer, then no Matt Lindland got the exemption, except all Kizer said was that they had a conversation in 2008 but not that a lifelong exemption was granted to Sonnen.

    Dude lied under oath to a government agency. That’s perjury, Marika. You should probably look it up.

  12. Mark says:

    Okay, this is just silly. You can’t be in-your-face ranting and raving at people if you want them to switch their opinions, you just look like a nutcase. And most Chael supporters I’ve seen this week are angry and shrill and ignoring all counter-arguments.

    And in case they don’t get it, ranting and raving is not going to draw anybody to your side. Never has and never will. It’s like if you answered the phone to have someone instantly screaming in your ear, you’d just hang up. So be passionate all you want, but please calm down. This isn’t a government coup, this isn’t your mother getting put on death row for a murder she didn’t commit. This is some MMA fighter lying his way into problems who will be back in a year. It’s not like he’s going to starve to death because he can’t fight.

    Come on. Chael will be back in 2012, have the big money fights with Bisping and with Anderson and Wanderlei if they haven’t retired, and this will be forgotten by you.

  13. EJ says:

    Thank god, there is someone else who feels like I do about this debacle by the CSAC and others when it comes to Sonnen’s case. Because I was starting to lose all hope, that I was the only one that say this bs and was outraged by it. And to top it off she broke everything down in ways that even the simplest mind can understand, all I can do is applaud that.

    But leave it to the rest of the mma community (writers/fans) to turn a deaf ear and just shrug their shoulders. Maybe if this was a guy they liked like Randy Couture maybe this would get some outrage from people who are supposed to have the best interest of the sport. But instead we get more excuses and justifications for this crap, meanwhile the CSAC and others are free to do this again to someone else smfh it’s disgusting.

  14. Dave says:

    Zach, you need to stop giving attention-seekers publicity like this.

  15. Bix says:

    There HAS to be more to her story, right? Is she really just a rabid uninformed Chael fan who decided to speak at the hearing and go nuts on the CSAC and Josh Gross?

  16. edub says:

    Why is anyone listening to this person?

    That’s the only thing I have to add to this.

  17. Jonathan Luther says:

    “I have never seen such a blatant disregard for human rights.”

    That’s a pretty comfortable life you’ve lived there, lady.

  18. […] (levels), I was never even accused of that. The state of California never even accused me of that. Josh Gross went on ESPN and falsely reported that. I was never even up against those charges. I took testosterone and testosterone is 100% legal and […]

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