Friday, September 30, 2011
Olsen looks for DC youngsters to shine under pressure
WASHINGTON ? This late in the season, two games in a four-day stretch can be seen as an inconvenience.
For D.C. United, however, it?s an opportunity.
Playing at Philadelphia on Thursday (8:30 pm ET, ESPN2) before a quick turnaround to play at Columbus on Sunday, United face two straight Eastern Conference opponents who sit above them in the standings ? giving the club a perfect chance to make their push to the postseason.
?It?s a swing,? head coach Ben Olsen said. ?It?s minus three for them, and plus three for us, and vice versa.?
Alexis Vila?s long road to Bellator includes defection, prison
Cuban wrestler-turned-fighter Alexis Vila became a well-known name in MMA on Saturday, when he knocked out fellow world-class wrestler Joe Warren in the opening round of Bellator's bantamweight tournament. Before starting in MMA and putting together a 10-0, Vila's past includes an Olympic bronze medal, a world silver medal, a defection to the United States from Cuba and a stint in prison.
Vila was once part of Cuba's dominant freestyle wrestling team, winning a bronze at the 1996 Olympics. He defected to the U.S. in 1997, leaving behind his family and country, and began coaching at Michigan State where he worked with future UFC fighters Rashad Evans and Gray Maynard. Then, he got into a car accident that changed his life.
Just three years after September 11, Vila crashed his car into a terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. No one was hurt, but authorities thought he was attempting a terrorist act and charged him with airport violence. He could have gone to prison for 20 years. Vila plead down for a three-year jail sentence.
He talked about his time in prison on the MMA Hour:
"I was in prison for three years," Vila said. "It's no good. I'm a little guy so people who don't know me try things all the time. So I fought a lot. They didn't believe that I could fight. I said when I get out and I fight I'm going to be the champ."
At five-foot-four, Vila doesn't have an imposing figure, but he does have the kind of cauliflower ear that can only be earned through years of brutal training. His tormentors in prison likely learned the same lesson as Warren did on Saturday night: You don't mess with a little man with a bad left hook.
Next, he'll take that striking and world-class wrestling to Arizona, where he'll fight Marcos Galvao in the Bellator semifinals on Oct. 22.
Michael Duane Bliss Kurt Thomas Busch Kyle Thomas Busch Jeffrey Tyler Burton
Boys Club
Boys Club is the latest example of North Carolina's scene dominating internet videos.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/e7jbDOyw3GU/boys-club.html
Hiroshi Fushida Beppe Gabbiani Bertrand Gachot Patrick Gaillard
UFC 139 Bout a Dream Come True for Cung Le, but Last Stand for Wanderlei Silva
Filed under: UFC
Cung Le isn't the only fighter to find out the hard way that acting and professional fighting don't always mix, especially when done in the wrong order, but at least he used it as a learning experience, he said at Tuesday's UFC 139 press conference."I actually learned my lesson the first time when I came back against Scott Smith," Le said. "I wasn't very busy training when I was on the movie set. I was just more focused on getting into character."
He started off well enough against Smith in their first meeting in December of 2009. But his lack of training caught up to him in the final round, and Smith came out of nowhere to score the upset via knockout of a fading, winded Le.
When they signed on to face each other in a rematch some seven months later, he had every opportunity to make the same mistake. Fortunately for Le, experience -- particularly the painful kind - is an excellent teacher.
"I was doing some film work, [but] I made sure I trained every day and I stayed in shape," he said, adding that this time around, as he prepares to face Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139 in San Jose, Calif., he's been in the gym since February.
"I am focused on this fight, so right now it's all about being an MMA fighter," said Le.
For Silva, who stepped in as a replacement for the injured Vitor Belfort, the stakes are even higher. UFC president Dana White has made it clear that he thinks Silva might need to hang up the gloves after his knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132, and this could be the Brazilian's last chance to prove to his boss that he still has some fight left in him.
"I love fighting. I love the sport. I grew up inside the ring, inside the Octagon. I want to fight as long as I can," Silva told reporters.
When asked if he felt that his back was against the wall in the fight with Le, he didn't argue. "Some guys fight better in that position. I'm thinking I am one of [those] guys," he said.
Le, a decorated Sanshou kickboxer who turned to MMA relatively late in life and fought the entirety of his four-year career in Strikeforce up until this point, said he specifically sought out a deal with the UFC because he wanted to fight in the Octagon, and not simply because he wanted to be on this card in his adopted hometown of San Jose.
"It really means a lot," he said. "I've fought on many platforms, different styles, but being a UFC fighter now, being the co-main event, definitely is a dream come true. Just earlier this morning I was looking at the picture where I was at the refugee camp, and now being in the co-main event of the UFC, it's a dream come true. I'm very excited and I'm going to be ready to rock and roll and give the fans what they want to see."
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/27/ufc-139-bout-a-dream-come-true-for-cung-le-last-chance-for-wand/
Dom Henry For Vic
Dom Henry rips some Manchester spots in this clip from Vic Clothing. Definitely feeling the tricks over the benches.
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Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr Carl Michael Edwards III William Clyde Elliott Jeffrey Michael Gordon
Te Huna and Mizugaki open UFC 135 with vicious knockouts
Ricardo Romero wanted no part of James Te Huna on the feet. In just 47 seconds of UFC 135 openers, we saw exactly why.
Romero, caught in a bad position on his hands and knees, got whacked by several big rights and was knocked silly. Te Huna got a KO win at the 0:47 mark of the first round in Denver, Co.
Romero's plan was fine, but his execution was awful.
Seven seconds into the fight, he shot for a takedown in sloppy fashion. Romero tried a few more times from long distance. He was telegraphing the attempts, so Te Huna simply stepped back, used Romero's head as target practice landing uppercuts and short rights.
An uppercut rocked Romero and a little right hook dropped him. The American scrambled and pushed forward, but Te Huna simply backed up. With his opponent on his hands and knees, two more Te Huna rights landed and Romero went limp.
The referee Tim Mills probably jumped in to save Romero one shot too late. When he rolled Romero over, the fighter starting babbling and moaning. He had no clue what had happened.
"Just relax brother," Mills said several times. "Everything's going to be okay. Calm down."
Te Huna (15-5) was thrilled to get the victory so quickly. He explained that he'd dislocated a finger on his left hand a few weeks back, so he was facing using the right hand the majority of the night.
Mizugaki swarms Escovedo to get bounce back win
This was a different Takeya Mizugaki tonight in Denver. The Japanese striking specialist lacked aggression with his attack in his last fight against Brian Bowles. Cole Escovedo was the recipient of Mizugaki's pent up frustration. Mizugaki battered the American on the feet before scoring a TKO finish at 4:30 of the second round.
Mizugaki (15-6, 2-1 UFC, ) once challeged Miguel Torres for the WEC 135-pound title, but he's been less aggressive in recent fights.
He changed that tonight by closing space early. Escovedo (17-8, 0-2 UFC) had a height and reach advantage, but was never allowed to get comfortable. In close quarters, Mizugaki consistently found a home for his left hook. Escovedo tried to slow things down by grabbing Mizugaki around the neck with a Thai clinch. Mizugaki adjusted and crushed Escovedo with uppercuts and short elbows.
Mizugaki also broke down Escovedo with some excellent lefts to the body. With 2:30 minutes left in the second, he landed a bomb to Escovedo's side and that started the slide. Escovedo eventually got trapped along the cage and dropped two times by left hooks. The second time he was on his back, he was through and Mizugaki sealed things with a nasty right cross that left Escovedo dazed.
Assuncao wins slow-paced fight with strong third round
During yesterday's weigh-in, it was evident that Junior Assuncao was fired up to return to the Octagon for the first time since 2007, but it took a while on fight night for him to get going. Once he did, Assuncao crushed Eddie Yagin on the ground in the final round to take a unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27, in the final Facebook fight on the UFC 135 undercard.
Assuncao said he wasn't nervous, but something didn't click until the middle of the fight. He did admit he was trying to wear down Yagin and eliminate the possibility of getting caught on the feet.
The Brazilian was extremely dominant in the final round. His experience showed during a guillotine predicament. Assuncao warded off the danger and dumped Yagin on his back with 3:35 left in the fight. Yagin never got back to his feet.
Assuncao mixed up elbows, hammer fists and punches to Yagin's head and body. Two judges gave him a 10-8 round.
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Thursday, September 29, 2011
A Liter Of Light: Isang Litrong Liwanag (video)
Source: http://www.prana.com/blog/2011/09/23/let-there-be-light-isang-litrong-liwanag-video/
Travis Wade Kvapil Robert Allen Labonte Terrence Lee Labonte Randy Joseph Lajoie
Video: Chelan Gorge Teaser
Paco Godia Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals Paul Goldsmith
Edwards, Peralta and Waldburger early winners at UFN 25
Justin Edwards, Robert Peralta and T.J. Waldburger started off Ultimate Fight Night 25 with wins. Waldburger's submission was the most memorable of the early fights taking place in New Orleans on Saturday night.
Edwards ekes out decision
Jorge Lopez, a protege of Wanderlei Silva's started the fight with a big takedown, leaving him open for� Edwards to squeeze in for a guillotine. Edwards could not hold on, and the fight returned to stand-up.
Edwards had an easy time taking down Lopez, but couldn't always hold on to his position. Edwards took� Lopez's back near the end of the second and used that position to land several big hooks, but again, Lopez was able to reverse out of the position.
Lopez took over in the third round, taking Edwards down and smothering him with strikes. He also showed off great jiu-jitsu, but it was not enough. Edwards won by decision, 29-28 on all three cards.
Peralta wins with leg kicks
Robert Peralta, making his UFC debut, won the first round with a takedown and several punishing leg kicks, the same move that Edson Barboza used to beat Mike Lullo in his last fight. Peralta was able to stuff Lullo's takedown attempts and turn it into clinch work in the second round. Lullo returned several of his kicks but they weren't as damaging as Peralta's.
Lullo improved as the fight went on, but still had trouble overcoming Peralta's kicks and takedown defense. Lullo finally got him down near the end of the third round. He took Peralta's back, but couldn't finish the fight.� The judges called it 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 for Peralta.
Waldburger shows submission magic
T.J. Waldburger started the fight with fireworks, throwing a flying knee, then following Stumpf to the ground to damage him with strikes, then work him with jiu-jitsu. Stumpf, who took the fight on short notice, was able to get out and meet Waldburger with his own knee, but then Waldburger was able to get another takedown. From there, he put on a jiu-jitsu clinic, starting with an armbar before transitioning into a triangle choke. Stumpf tapped at 3:52.
Matthew Roy Kenseth Alan Dennis Kulwicki Travis Wade Kvapil Robert Allen Labonte
Top 10 cave diving locations
Source: http://www.dailyscubadiving.com/top-10-cave-diving-locations/
Casey James Mears Juan Pablo Montoya Joseph Francis Nemechek III Ryan Joseph Newman
TUF 13 champ Ferguson breaks Riley?s jaw in UFC 135 win
Tony Ferguson was a beast at 170 pounds. At 155, he looked beyond scary.
Aaron Riley is a seasoned veteran but he couldn't deal with the length and power from the 5-foot-11 Ferguson. Riley made it through the first round, but told his corner that his jaw was broken and the fight was stopped giving Ferguson a first round TKO win at UFC 135.
"I'm ecstatic. I wish I could've given the crowd a little better show. I wish I went a little further," said Ferguson.
[Related: Complete recap of UFC 135]
The crowd more than got its money's worth watching Ferguson's offensive and defensive boxing. According to Compustrike, Ferguson outlanded Riley 28-14 in power strikes.
Just over two minutes into the fight, Ferguson landed a massive left uppercut on the right side of Riley's jaw. Riley's eyes rolled back and he began to open and close his mouth.
[Related: Jones defends light heavyweight title in convincing fashion]
Riley retreated and got slugged by some more shots, but he was in big trouble. Riley (30-13-1, 3-5 UFC) fired back with some good kicks, but you could see there was a major issue as he would look to the side every so often and spit out blood.
Ferguson (13-3) credited his movement against the southpaw as the reason his offense worked so well.
"We worked a lot of slipping [punches]. We worked really hard on fighting a southpaw," said Ferguson, who likes being down at lightweight. He won TUF 13 as a welterweight. "I feel kind of skinny. I have some more ripples in my stomach. It's kind of cool, but I think this a nice little home for me."
[Related: After yet another thorough win, can anybody stop Jon Jones?]
It was a tough night for the veteran Riley, who first fought in the UFC back in 2002 at UFC 137. He'd been away from active fighting since May of 2010 nursing injuries. He actually suffered a broken jaw once before against Spencer Fisher back in 2006 at Ultimate Fight Night 3. He had to quit after the first round that night as well.
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Fight Journal: Jon Jones Pre-UFC 135 Edition
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, Videos
MMAFighting.com's E. Casey Leydon was granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access as Jon Jones was training in New Mexico for his UFC 135 title fight against Quinton Jackson, which he won on Saturday night.Watch below as Jones and trainer Greg Jackson devise a game plan to defeat Jackson, which, as you will see. included a hefty dose of leg kicks. In the end, Jones landed 35 leg strikes en route to his fourth-round submission victory, according to FightMetric.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/28/fight-journal-jon-jones-pre-ufc-135-edition/
What it?s all about
On the eve of fight Evans changes his tune, now likes Jackson?s chances
Rashad Evans loves screwing with Jon Jones, so it doesn't come as a shocker that a little over 24 hours away from Jones' showdown against Quinton Jackson, "Suga" is now leaning towards "Rampage" at UFC 135.
Evans got a chance to see how serious Jackson was training for the fight:
"Yeah. I went to Muscle Pharm yesterday and I walked through the facility and I seen some of the things that he was doing and then I seen him and he was looking good, better than I've ever seen him before and I was actually really surprised. I just think that a guy like that that can get focused and get dialed Is a dangerous guy if he can get focused and dialed in. I think Jon Jones' mistake is he thinks he's too good right now. He thinks he can't be beat," Evans told 106.7 The Fan.
He also has extensive first-hand experience training with Jones and believe he may break at some point tomorrow night.
"Well, I've seen him get pushed in practice and I've seen him be very human and not as good as he looks on TV. I've seen that there's times where he looks great in practice but there's times where I've seen him quit in practice," said Evans.
Evans was really selling Jackson hard:
"A Rampage that's focused is a dangerous Rampage and I think that the biggest problem with Jon Jones is the fact that he's getting so overly confident and cocky that he can't get beat and all he has to do is step in the cage Saturday and collect his belt. I think that's dangerous thinking when you've got somebody in front of you who's been training hard."
Wow, the drama continues on "as the UFC light heavyweights turn." Keep in mind, earlier in the week Evans was having a tough time picking Jackson.
"I think that Jon Jones uses his range and his speed to keep Rampage off balance and at the same time using his ability to take Rampage down to try to impose some of his will. I think Jon tries to get it done, I think he does it standing up," said Evans.
Charlotte Throwaway
CharlotteSkate is back and they pointed me to this throwaway montage from Stephan Romano.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/RVCvpCo_jRw/charlotte-throwaway.html
Belcher?s back with a win at Ultimate Fight Night 25
Alan Belcher showed that 16 months off didn't hurt him as he took out Jason MacDonald at Ultimate Fight Night 25 on Saturday evening in New Orleans.
Belcher outclassed MacDonald from the beginning of the fight. MacDonald tried for a takedown but ended up falling backwards with Belcher on top of him. Belcher took advantage of the position, ground and pounding MacDonald. Though MacDonald tried to spin away, it was too much and MacDonald submitted to strikes at 3:48 in the first round.
This was Belcher's first fight since beating Patrick Cote in May of 2010. Belcher suffered an eye injury, and had to have surgery that put his fight career in doubt. He worked back to be able to fight in his home state of Louisiana.
"I'm so emotional right now. I've been through so many trials and tribulations. I'm back, baby," Belcher said.
This win gives Belcher a record of 17-6, while MacDonald falls to 25-15.
Miguel Ángel Guerra Roberto Guerrero Maurício Gugelmin Dan Gurney
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The little guys are taking over! Warren knocked stiff by Vila and Kawajiri dominates in featherweight debut
Can anyone deny that the bantamweight and featherweight divisions have a chance to lead the way for MMA in the very near future?
The best bantamweight in the world is fighting this weekend on free television when Dominick Cruz defends his UFC title against Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Versus 6. Plus "The Ultimate Fighter" debuted last week featuring the smaller fighters for the first time. It looks like Season 14 may produce more legitimate UFC fighters than any previous season.
But it's not just the UFC that's loaded with intriguing guys at 135 and 145 pounds. This weekend produced several exciting results, including one of the nastiest knockouts of the year.
Bellator's 145-pound champion, Joe Warren is a natural bantamweight and was planning on crushing the field in Bellator's latest 135-pound tournament. Nothing went to plan, as that journey to a second title hit a stone wall in just 64 seconds. Make that some stone fists. Amazingly, the guy who did it is�40 years old.
Alexis Vila, a 1996 Olympic wrestling bronze medalist for Cuba, rocked Warren with a right and then finished him with a left hook that had the American in snooze-mode on his way down. Check out Warren (7-2) as his body is completely locked up on the ground.
Because of his age, who knows what Vila's future holds, but it'll be an interesting story to track. He's made a better life for himself since defecting from Cuba, now living in the Miami area.
At Bellator 51, Vila (10-0) advanced to the Bellator 135-pound semifinals along with Vila, Marcus Galvao, Eduardo Dantas and Ed West. The winner of the tourney gets a shot at Bellator champ Zach Makovsky.
Meanwhile across the Pacific, DREAM kicked off its own bantamweight tourney. Rodolfo Marques, Antonio Banuelos, Bibiano Fernandes and Masakazu Imanari all won in the first round.
The stars of the show were the dominant Japanese lightweights Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki. Both have been just about unbeatable in their home country, but struggled when they came over to the U.S. to take on Gilbert Melendez.
After his loss to Melendez, Aoki's bounced back with six straight wins, but Kawajiri decided it was time to drop a weight class.
The thickly muscled 33-year-old shed some bulk to face Joachim Hansen. There were no negative signs of the weight cut and "The Crusher" looked incredibly strong at featherweight rolling to a third round submission win via arm-triangle choke. Hansen's a smallish 145 pounder, so we won't go crazy over the victory, but the potential is there for Kawajiri to be a real player at featherweight.
Aoki took on former WEC champion Rob McCullough. The outcome was predictable with the submission master catching the American in a neck crank at the end of the first round (11:15 mark).
Roxy Genius LS T-Shirt ? Deep Ultramarine
Source: http://snowboardaction.net/roxy-genius-ls-t-shirt-deep-ultramarine-2/
Kyle Eugene Petty Floyd Anthony Raines Scott Russell Riggs Hiroshi Fushida
The more you climb, the better you?ll climb
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/m7EzE0aQ8xw/philsheard
UFC 135 postfight: Hunt, Jones, Seagal, and Hughes
It was a night that possessed a little bit of everything in Denver at UFC 135.
There was another impressive performance by the young UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, plus he brought some sanity to the world of Steven Seagal. We witnessed what was probably the sad end to Matt Hughes' career, a big upset from a guy who the UFC tried to pay to stay away and stamina issues in the high altitude.
- Jones, and his opponent Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, earned an extra $70,000 for Fight of the Night. Josh Koscheck got the same for Knockout of the Night and Nate Diaz pocketed the extra cash for the Submission of the Night.
- Fighting on just 19 days notice, Koscheck took out Matt Hughes. It was the second straight time Hughes lost via first round KO/TKO. His 38th birthday is less than three weeks away and he's got nothing left to prove. Hughes has plenty of money and will always be taken care of by Dana White and the UFC. White thinks it's just a matter of time before the former welterweight king officially says he's done.
"I think he's going to retire. I just don't think Hughes wants to use the word retire," White said during the UFC 135 press conference. "I just talked to him out in the hallway and he's going to fly out to Las Vegas (home of UFC's corporate offices) in the next month or so, and sit down and talk. I'm pretty sure he's going to hang it up."
- Steven Seagal has become a strange character around these big UFC events.
He worked a bit with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida before they scored big knockout victories earlier this year. Following those wins, the 59-year-old Seagal surprisingly claimed he taught the fighters their slick finishing moves. Silva and Machida were gracious and let the old guy soak in some attention.
Jones, another fighter who can produce those highlight reel finishes, took a different approach with Seagal. He spoke to the 7th-dan degree black belt in Aikido, who asked if he could come visit Jones in the locker room on fight night.
"I didn't think that would be a good idea. My training staff works very hard on me and I'm their prodigy. I wouldn't want to disrespect them by welcoming in someone's else master into our room, our house, our family," explained Jones.
- White made it point to mention that he brought Mark Hunt to press conference. With his upset win over Ben Rothwell, the New Zealander has now won two straight with the UFC.
Hunt's story is pretty cool. The UFC owed Hunt fights because he was carryover from the PRIDE deal in 2008. The promotion offered to pay Hunt, who was just 5-6 at the time, to stay home. Hunt insisted he wouldn't take the money unless he fought for it.
"I give him all the respect and credit in the world," White said. "I'm glad that he opted to come over here and fight, and I'm proud that he fought in the UFC."
Hunt fought in Japan at 290 pounds. With the help of the American Top Team camp in south Florida, he re-worked his body down into the 260's.
- Quinton Jackson seemed to take the loss in stride.
"It is what it is. I trained really hard. I can't beat myself up," Jackson said. "I'm disappointed because I wanted to make my boxing coach [proud]. I wanted to be his first world champion. Other than that, I'm just happy because I made a lot of money," Jackson said with a big smile.
- Following the victory in the cage, Jones said that Rashad Evans had ruined his moment for a second straight time. Halfway through the presser, Jones was blunt in responding to a question about what he said.
"I don't want to talk about Rashad today," said Jones.
He did open up a bit at the close of the presser when asked about Evans knowing his secrets because they trained together.
"I will say this about Rashad, he does not have my number. He's not even close to having my number. Me and Rashad, we sparred a few times and every time we sparred, I know what could've happened," Jones said. "He talks about one day at practice where he held me down and he lives that day in his head every day. So, we'll see."
- White snapped back when told about rumors that Jones and Evans could meet as early as Dec. 10 in the main event of UFC 140 in Toronto. He said there's no way that's happening, but promised to deliver a great main event.
- Nate Diaz spoke repeatedly about fighting Takanori Gomi in a controlled manner. He didn't want to get caught by the Japanese knockout artist. White raved about Diaz's performance, but laughed at the assertion that the fighter fought conservatively.
"If that was playing it safe, I can't wait until he goes crazy," joked White. "He punched from the minute the belt rang until the end when he finished it. He was in his face, stalked him and put it to him."
- White raved about the Denver crowd inside the Pepsi Center saying it got so loud his ears actually hurt. He said the promotion will return, but was non-committal on when.
- Speaking of returns, Jackson reiterated his desire to fight in Japan next February when the UFC goes back there for the first time since 2000. White said every guy who used to fight in Japan and just about everyone who's never fought there has asked to be on the card.
Gregory Jack Biffle David Lee Blaney Michael Duane Bliss Kurt Thomas Busch
UFC 135: Did Koscheck end Hughes? career with first-round TKO?
It's been a rough 18 months for the UFC's building blocks. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture are now retired after suffering bad knockouts in their final fights. Now Matt Hughes may have to join them after falling badly against Josh Koscheck as the victim of a first-round knockout at UFC 135 in Denver.
Just Liddell like did in his final fight against Rich Franklin, Hughes was more than holding his own against the younger Koscheck. But when older fighters get popped with a good shot, they can't take it like they used to.
[Related: Complete UFC 135 recap]
Hughes landed some good shots and targeted Koscheck's right eye with some good jabs, but everything turned when he absorbed some nasty right hands in the final minute of the round. Hughes hit the floor in the final seconds. Koscheck jumped on top and poured it on. He landed two big hammer fists with five seconds left and Hughes went limp.
Hughes wouldn't commit to retiring, but appeared both emotional and really frustrated during his postfight conversation with UFC analyst Joe Rogan.
"I'm not retiring," Hughes said. "I'm going to tell the UFC to put me up on shelf and we'll see what happens after that."
This makes it two straight first-round KO or TKO losses for Hughes, the UFC Hall of Famer and two-time former champ. He lost to B.J. Penn in just 21 seconds at UFC 123.
[Related: Jones defends light heavyweight title in convincing fashion]
Koscheck (16-5, 14-5 UFC) is one of the bigger villains in the sport, so Hughes got a huge ovation from the fans at the Pepsi Center. If this was his last fight, he got a great sendoff in his record 26th appearance in the Octagon.
"I loved the crowd support when I came out," said Hughes.
Koscheck talked a lot of trash before the fight claiming that Hughes had been ducking him for years, but he was nothing but respectful after the victory.
"Thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He's a legend. I'm really happy that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes," said Koscheck.
[Related: After yet another thorough win, can anybody stop Jon Jones?]
Hughes was the UFC welterweight champ on two separate occasions from 2001-06, piling up a 12-1 record during that period.
This was a must win for Koscheck, since he had everything to lose. Koscheck dropped a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, the current UFC 170-pound champion back in April. He had the orbital bone around his right eye broken. Koscheck went on the shelf for three months and had to limit all physical activity. He was targeting Nov. 19 for his return when he got the call less than three weeks ago to fill in for Diego Sanchez against Hughes on this card.
"It was actually nice being on shelf. I got to focus on other areas. I'm growing as a person and as a fighter," said Koscheck.
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Jimmie Kenneth Johnson Kasey Kenneth Kahne Matthew Roy Kenseth Alan Dennis Kulwicki
Dwayne De Rosario named MLS Player of the Week
D.C. United announced today that midfielder Dwayne De Rosario has been named MLS Player of the Week for Week 28 by the North American Soccer Reporters. De Rosario recorded the fastest hat trick in MLS history against Real Salt Lake on September 24, registering three goals and one assist inside 31 minutes of play against the Western Conference side. This is the Canadian playmaker?s third Player of the Week Award in 2011, having earned the honor in back-to-back weeks in early August for Weeks 20 and 21.
Charles Robert Hamilton IV Charles Robert Hamilton V Kevin Michael Harvick Virgil Ernest Irvan III
Windy springtime in Austria
Last Chance for Middle Fork Rafting 2011
Momentum Does It Again?with a twist!
Source: http://scubadivergirls.com/blog/?p=9317
Kevin Harvick Armour Vienna Sausage Kroger Chevrolet Clint Bowyer Zaxby s Chevrolet
D.C. United Player Appearances: September 22-27
As part of D.C. United?s community outreach, several players will be active in the Metropolitan Area over the next six days. On Thursday, September 22, Devon McTavish will be at the District Sports Fall Kickoff Party held at Black Finn. Also on Thursday, Steve Cronin, Kurt Morsink, Chris Korb, Dejan Jakovic, Branko Boskovic, Joe Willis and Blake Brettschneider will participate in the Dreams for Kids Clinic at the RFK Turf Field. Then, on Tuesday, September 27, Joe Willis and Blake Brettschneider will attend United Reads? event at the Children?s Health Center.
Scott Russell Riggs Hiroshi Fushida Beppe Gabbiani Bertrand Gachot
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
King the quiet supporting star for DC in win over RSL
WASHINGTON ? Dwayne De Rosario wasn?t the only D.C. United player to shine in Saturday?s 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake.
His mammoth performance overshadowed a number of other excellent shifts on the field at RFK ? Josh Wolff, Perry Kitchen, and Andy Najar were among those to leave their mark on the match. Next to MLS Player of the Week De Rosario, however, United?s other standout on the night might have been midfielder Stephen King.
Paula Sack Interviews Demian Maia - UFC 131
Paual talks to Demian about his preparation for his upcoming fight versus Mark Munoz at UFC 131: Dos Santos vs Carwin. Watch the event Live on Pay-Per-View or www.UFC.tv this Sat Jun 11th at 6/9PM PT/ETSource: http://mmalice.com/ufc-131/paula-sack-interviews-demian-maia-video_2ad01b3d5.html
Fireworks from the start: Episode one of ?The Ultimate Fighter?
Welcome to another season of "The Ultimate Fighter," the last season of TUF on Spike. This season will feature Michael Bisping an Jason "Mayhem" Miller for coaches, and bantamweights and featherweights for the first time. After watching the elimination show, I am confident in saying that you shouldn't miss this season. Join me for a recap and spoilers, won't you?
In one of the best openings the show has had yet, the fighters meet Dana White in the middle of the Octagon at the Mandalay Bay. White says that he wants the fighters to take it all in. If this setting doesn't make it real for the fighters, nothing will. The elimination bouts will take place there, so only fighters who win their first bout will even make it to the house and UFC training center. After explaining the fan-voted bonuses and introducing the coaches, White gives an expletive-laced but familiar pep talk.
With that, the elimination fights begin.
Josh Ferguson vs. Casey Dyer, bantamweight: Ferguson wasted little time overwhelming the much-taller Dyer with a bevy of strikes, getting the TKO in the first round.
Diego Brandao vs. Jesse Newell, featherweight: Newell started strong, but Brandao didn't let him get too comfortable. He knocked Newell down with a left and finished the fight with a flying forearm. Mayhem pointed out the similarity between that finish and when Dan Henderson finished Bisping.
After the first two bouts, White remarked, "This is going to be a nasty season."
John Dodson vs. Brandoon Merkt, bantamweight: Dodson used a bodyshot to wobble Merkt, then took him out with a flurry of strikes.
Three fights, three first-round finishes. Miller said that he feels like he should have bought a ticket to this. The next fighter, Dennis Bermudez said that his wrestling career was cut short when the woman in his life said she was pregnant with his child, who turned out not to be his. Is this Maury or TUF?
Dennis Bermudez vs. Jimmie Rivera, featherweight: Rivera knocked Bermudez down, and then used wrestling to control Bermudez for much of the first round. Rivera came close to a rear naked choke as the round ended. Bermudez took control in the second round, mounting Rivera's back and hammering his face with strikes until the fight was stopped. The good news for Rivera is that White and the coaches were impressed, which means he could be a replacement fighter if one is needed.
B.J. Ferguson vs. Roland Delorme, bantamweight: B.J. is the brother to Josh, who easily won his bout. Both fighters say that they are coming out to win, which is good. It would be disappointing if they were coming out to crochet White a sweater. Delorme showed off jiu-jitsu skills, transitioning from a deep armbar into a triangle choke until Ferguson passed out.
Marcus Brimage vs. Bryson Wailehua-Hansen, featherweight: Wailehua-Hansen said that he has extra drive because he's from Hawaii and island guys have to fight. I don't understand that but OK. Wailehua-Hansen had Brimage's back for much of the first round, but Brimage unloaded once he got out. He couldn't return many punches, but he withstood strike after strike, impressing White and the coaches.
In the second round, Brimage unloaded again and this time, the fight was stopped, but Wailehua-Hansen definitely made an impression on White.
Carson Beebe vs. Johnny Bedford, bantamweight: Beebe is the younger brother of Chase Beebe, the one-time WEC champ, and wants to get out of the shadow of his brother. Bedford outwrestled Beebe and controlled the standup before submitting him with a guillotine near the end of the first roound.
Dustin Pague vs. Tateki Matsuda, bantamweight: In the closest fight up to this point, Matsuda showed off his Muay Thai skills, while Pague had better ground fighting and defense. Pague won the majority decision, 19-19, 20-18, 20-18.
Paul McVeigh vs. Louis Gaudinot, bantamweight: Bisping knows McVeigh, a Scot, from the English fight scene. Gaudinot has a big mess of green hair. Their first round was back and forth, but Gaudinot and his green hair took over the second round with big takedowns. The fight went to a third and decisive round. Gaudinot threw a back elbow that wobbled and cut up McVeigh, who valiantly tried to go on, but it was too much. Gaudinot won the TKO.
Eric Marriott vs. Bryan Caraway, featherweight: Caraway rode out two rounds to get the win, but didn't impress White or the coaches.
Josh Clopton vs. Dustin Neace, featherweight: In what Bisping called an evenly matched bout, Clopton controlled most of the fight, thought Neace ended each round well. White and Bisping both though Clopton won, but the judges called it for Neace.
Matt Jaggers vs. TJ Dillashaw, bantamweight: Dillashaw, who trains with Urijah Faber at Alpha Male, and controlled the fight with takedowns and ground and pound, then finished Jaggers with elbows in the final seconds.
Steven Siler vs. Micah Miller, featherweight: Miller, Cole Miller's younger brother and a WEC vet, is confident walking into the bout. Siler started with better striking and got a takedown in the first round. He continued the strong striking in the second, but took Miller down and was nearly submitted. In the third, Siler guillotined a gassed Miller for the win.
John Albert vs. Orville Smith, bantamweight: Albert took the upper hand in striking, and then took down Smith to get a rear naked choke win.
Stephen Bass vs. Karsten Lenjoint, featherweight: White called it a back and forth war, until the second round when Bass submitted a tired Lenjoint with a triangle choke.
Brian Pearman vs. Akira Corassani, featherweight: Pearman is a dead ringer for Taylor Lautner. Corassani said that he uses fighting as his brush, as he is an artist. That� art involves big, violent elbows and punches as that's how he knocked out Pearman after almost getting submitted earlier in the round.
The final tally for the elimination round: eight knockouts, five submissions, and three decisions. White, Bisping and Mayhem are blown away with the talent.
"I'm overly impressed. Don't get big-headed and cocky, but I'm impressed," White said.
Jeffrey Tyler Burton Richard Allen Craven Kerry Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr
Converse France Montage
The French Converse team is stacked with young rippers as seen in this tour video.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/MvEY48OJ9u4/converse-france-montage.html
The Clubbies Episode 2: Temple Basin and Mt Olympus
In episode 2 of The Clubbies, the crew travels to Temple Basin and Mt Olympus. As they describe it:
"In The Clubbies ep2 we see what Hugo Young (Temple Basin Ski Club Vice President) thinks the club fields are about and what their future looks like as well as do some riding at Mt Olympus a club field at the end of a long windy road and Round Hill who recently installed the worlds longest and steepest rop tow."
Club fields at their best: booters, rock jibs and some sketchy little chutes.
Strikeforce Challengers 19 upset: Former LSU FB Jordan shocks Johnson
As the big-time athletes continue to filter into mixed martial arts, some veterans getting wake up calls. Lavar Johnson got his in the first 30 seconds of the fight from former LSU fullback Shawn Jordan. A monstrous left blasted him around his right eye, he pawed at it and knew he was in for a dogfight.
The 26-year-old Jordan (12-3) surprised the hard-hitting Johnson with his chin, wrestling and power to pull the upset via stoppage (key lock) at 3:08 of the second round. Johnson, who was part of the alternate bouts in the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix, was a minus-270 favorite entering tonight's tilt.
Jordan was a member of the 2007 national championship team at LSU. It looks like he's got a bright future in MMA.
"[Fighting] is an entirely separate entity. It's great. I love it," Jordan said when asked to compare MMA to football. "It's a different type of competition, just me."
He's an athletic 5-foot-11 and 248 pounds. Seconds after a rough fight, he pulled off two successful standing back flips to celebrate the victory. Jordan was a big-time high school recruit out of El Paso, Tx. back in 2003. The No. 7 rated fullback in the country, he turned down Stanford, UCLA and Oklahoma State to go play for Nick Saban.
Johnson, also former college football player, is massive but Jordan walked right through the knockout artist's shots and dumped him like a sack of potatoes when they locked up.
On the ground, Jordan was heavy and wore Johnson down. By the middle of the second, Johnson (15-5) was struggling with badly with a swelled right eye and didn't pay attention to his right arm. Jordan grabbed it, got into position and pushed forward with all his weight. Johnson had to tap before his shoulder was shredded.
As the ring announcer shouted the results, you could hear Johnson tell Jordan that he never expected that early left hook that changed the fight. He said he was looking for the right from the southpaw.
Jordan, now working with Greg Jackson's MMA gym in Albuquerque needs to work on his standup, but he's definitely got a granite chin. Johnson drilled him with a left and an uppercut to start the second and Jordan just smiled. Johnson has 13 KO's victories in 21 fights.
Charlotte Throwaway
CharlotteSkate is back and they pointed me to this throwaway montage from Stephan Romano.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/RVCvpCo_jRw/charlotte-throwaway.html
José Froilán González Oscar González Aldo Gordini Horace Gould
Dominick Cruz Looks to Make Most of Additional Exposure on Free TV
As a fairly unexposed commodity, Dominick Cruz isn't bothered by the fact that his bantamweight title fight this Saturday will be on Versus rather than pay-per-view.The UFC has in only one other instance premiered a championship on free TV, but that particular UFC 75 card in England aired on tape-delay. Cruz's fight at UFC on Versus 6 will be live.
Some might consider the idea of a champion fighting on cable TV discouraging. Not Cruz.
"What the UFC is doing is they're putting me on free TV," Cruz said Monday on The MMA Hour. "I can [make it] known to the casual fan the champion that I am, go out there and have an outstanding performance on TV and really I get myself out there and represent the 135-pound division to a wider audience for free."
And Cruz (18-1)'s title defense is in the midst of three straight weeks of UFC title fights, not an ideal position to command attention, especially by a fledgling division. But the champ understands why the UFC's marketing efforts have been primarily directed towards last Saturday's UFC 135 with Jon Jones vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and UFC 136 with Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard in two weeks.
"While those fights get more marketing muscle you got to think of how many times I've fought in the UFC and how many of the casual fans know who I am and have seen me," the 26-year-old Cruz admits. "The people who sell the most pay-per-views are the people in the UFC that are known by the casual fans."
Cruz has only made one UFC appearance, successfully defending his belt against Urijah Faber at UFC 132 in July. After the Faber win, the UFC offered Demetrious Johnson to Cruz instead of another worthy challenger in Brian Bowles. Cruz figures the UFC picked Johnson since Cruz already holds a win over Bowles and the promotion tends "want to wait on rematches."
Johnson brings to the fight a 10-1 record and coming off a big win, though a bit controversial, over former WEC champ Miguel Torres. In the fight, Johnson was able to score takedowns, but Torres was the one threatening to the end the fight with submissions. With the unanimous nod in favor of Johnson, the judges clearly valued Johnson and his top position. Cruz agrees.
"Miguel Torres didn't want to be on his back," Cruz said. "Whether he was going for submissions or not. It doesn't mean anything. A submission doesn't count unless you finish it."
Cruz is five inches taller and holds a two-inch reach advantage against the five-foot-three Johnson. Size and style-wise, Johnson is comparable to Cruz's WEC 53 challenger Joseph Benavidez.
"I think Benavidez might be even a little more powerful than Demetrious and Demetrious might have the edge on the takedown and timing. So there's little adjustments I have to make, but for the most part I see it very similar to the Benavidez fight and that's how I see it playing out," Cruz said.
Despite not having the notoriety of the other UFC champions, Cruz out of Alliance MMA and Team Lloyd Irvin has come a long way from his days fighting in the WEC. A lot of progress has already been made in his UFC debut when he headlined the card over future Hall of Famers in Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva.
"It gives the casual fans a reason to respect when you put on a show like me and Faber did and take on the main event role and headling the card. It's a different level of respect and at the same time I've been recognized a lot more. It's been a great ride, it's been a lot of fun and I'm just riding it until the wheels fall off."
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/26/dominick-cruz-looks-to-make-most-of-additional-exposure-on-free/
Hughes goes old school, training with Penn and Miletich for next week?s fight
Only in mixed martial arts, right? Unless we're talking Rocky III, when Balboa and Apollo Creed worked together, it's bizarre to see fighters working together just months after one knocks the other one silly in a fight. But that's exactly what Matt Hughes is doing by training with B.J. Penn, the guy who beat him less than 11 months ago.
"I brought in a couple of special guests ? B.J. Penn and Pat Miletich. Being around such great fighters and coaches is humbling, No. 1; and No. 2, it was a great learning environment because we all learned off each other," Hughes wrote in ESPN.com blog.
Hughes said he also worked with Jeremy Horn, Matt Pena and DaMarques Johnson. In advance of his UFC 135 fight next week against Josh Koscheck, the experience was eye opening.
"All I had to do was show up, not do anything on the mat, and I was gonna sit there and learn. If I wanted to, I could have charged admission and people would have loved to just sit there, watch and soak it in," said Hughes.
Publicly, Penn and Hughes seemed to have a pretty heated relationship until the last few years. Hughes pointed out that Penn's appearance in his latest camp was actually paying back a favor. Just weeks after he was laid out by Penn at UFC 123, Hughes actually traveled to Hawaii to work takedown defense for the Hawaiian's fight against Jon Fitch in February.
Miletich, a former UFC champion from 1998-2000, hadn't worked with Hughes since 2007. Hughes left Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa to open his own training center, but fighter and coach stayed on good terms since the split.
Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson Bruce Johnstone
Guided Family Bike Ride on the South Fork American Oct 2
Source: http://feed.aorafting.com/~r/aoblog/~3/EOXMehDpyRE/
Innes Ireland Eddie Irvine Chris Irwin Jean Pierre Jabouille
Divetech Grand Cayman Rates as PADI TecRec Center
Source: http://www.dailyscubadiving.com/divetech-grand-cayman-rates-as-padi-tecrec-center/
Matthew Roy Kenseth Alan Dennis Kulwicki Travis Wade Kvapil Robert Allen Labonte
Monday, September 26, 2011
Video: Chelan Gorge Teaser
Te Huna and Mizugaki open UFC 135 with vicious knockouts
Ricardo Romero wanted no part of James Te Huna on the feet. In just 47 seconds of UFC 135 openers, we saw exactly why.
Romero, caught in a bad position on his hands and knees, got whacked by several big rights and was knocked silly. Te Huna got a KO win at the 0:47 mark of the first round in Denver, Co.
Romero's plan was fine, but his execution was awful.
Seven seconds into the fight, he shot for a takedown in sloppy fashion. Romero tried a few more times from long distance. He was telegraphing the attempts, so Te Huna simply stepped back, used Romero's head as target practice landing uppercuts and short rights.
An uppercut rocked Romero and a little right hook dropped him. The American scrambled and pushed forward, but Te Huna simply backed up. With his opponent on his hands and knees, two more Te Huna rights landed and Romero went limp.
The referee Tim Mills probably jumped in to save Romero one shot too late. When he rolled Romero over, the fighter starting babbling and moaning. He had no clue what had happened.
"Just relax brother," Mills said several times. "Everything's going to be okay. Calm down."
Te Huna (15-5) was thrilled to get the victory so quickly. He explained that he'd dislocated a finger on his left hand a few weeks back, so he was facing using the right hand the majority of the night.
Mizugaki swarms Escovedo to get bounce back win
This was a different Takeya Mizugaki tonight in Denver. The Japanese striking specialist lacked aggression with his attack in his last fight against Brian Bowles. Cole Escovedo was the recipient of Mizugaki's pent up frustration. Mizugaki battered the American on the feet before scoring a TKO finish at 4:30 of the second round.
Mizugaki (15-6, 2-1 UFC, ) once challeged Miguel Torres for the WEC 135-pound title, but he's been less aggressive in recent fights.
He changed that tonight by closing space early. Escovedo (17-8, 0-2 UFC) had a height and reach advantage, but was never allowed to get comfortable. In close quarters, Mizugaki consistently found a home for his left hook. Escovedo tried to slow things down by grabbing Mizugaki around the neck with a Thai clinch. Mizugaki adjusted and crushed Escovedo with uppercuts and short elbows.
Mizugaki also broke down Escovedo with some excellent lefts to the body. With 2:30 minutes left in the second, he landed a bomb to Escovedo's side and that started the slide. Escovedo eventually got trapped along the cage and dropped two times by left hooks. The second time he was on his back, he was through and Mizugaki sealed things with a nasty right cross that left Escovedo dazed.
Assuncao wins slow-paced fight with strong third round
During yesterday's weigh-in, it was evident that Junior Assuncao was fired up to return to the Octagon for the first time since 2007, but it took a while on fight night for him to get going. Once he did, Assuncao crushed Eddie Yagin on the ground in the final round to take a unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27, in the final Facebook fight on the UFC 135 undercard.
Assuncao said he wasn't nervous, but something didn't click until the middle of the fight. He did admit he was trying to wear down Yagin and eliminate the possibility of getting caught on the feet.
The Brazilian was extremely dominant in the final round. His experience showed during a guillotine predicament. Assuncao warded off the danger and dumped Yagin on his back with 3:35 left in the fight. Yagin never got back to his feet.
Assuncao mixed up elbows, hammer fists and punches to Yagin's head and body. Two judges gave him a 10-8 round.
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