by sloppyvinyl | Dec 2, 2018 | SPORTS
Cigano Gets It Done Again
Looking to close out 2018 in style, Junior Dos Santos understood that he would be going up against a violent and determined opponent in Australia’s own Tai Tuivasa in his own backward.
Showing championship metal, an iron chin and his experience in tough situations, Dos Santos took down one of the UFC’s bright new faces in classic fashion.
Junior Dos Santos (20-5, 14-4 UFC) defeated Tai Tuivasa (8-1, 3-1 UFC) by 2nd-Round TKO on Saturday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Known for his ability to hurt his opponents at difficult and odd angles while moving backwards, Junior Dos Santos did it again on Saturday night to silence a rowdy crowd in Adelaide.
Dos Santos took advantage of an over-aggressive and stalking Tuivasa by flooring him with a powerful right hook coming off a solid left cross as he was backpedaling near the fence.
The veteran former champion — who’s faced a who’s who at heavyweight in his career — would go on to finish the contest with ground and pound strikes from full mount, as Herb Dean called a stop to the fight to the dismay of a frustrated Tai Tuivasa.
Dos Santos won consecutive fights for the first time since beating Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir in consecutive victories in November 2011 and May 2012.
A difficult challenge to be sure, Dos Santos took punishment from the 25-year-old fast-rising heavyweight.
Tuivasa had his moments in this fight, particularly in the first round as the Aussie brawler was assertive and forced his will on the former UFC heavyweight champion, tattooing him with hard overhand shots while begging for Dos Santos’ best shots.
He also used leg kicks to the lead leg of Junior Dos Santos, causing him limp considerably.
But in the end, all it took was Dos Santos finding a window of vulnerability to bring the boom to a inexperienced but game fighter.
Afterwards, Dos Santos said he was interested in a rematch with Alistair Overeem, a fight he has wanted to avenge on his resume for quite some time now.
Alistair Overeem finished Junior Dos Santos by 2nd-Round TKO back in their matchup back in December 2015.
Dos Santos’ knockout victory on Saturday is the 9th of his UFC career. He is tied for second all-time with Andrei Arlovski. Derrick Lewis and Cain Velasquez are tied for first all-time with 10.
UFC Fight Night 142 Results
Mauricio Rua outlasts Tyson Pedro in wild war with TKO finish in Round 3
Mark Hunt (264) vs. Justin Willis outpoints Mark Hunt in unanimous decision
Jake Matthews (171) vs. Anthony Rocco Martin uses anaconda choke beat Jake Matthew by submission in Round 3
Sodiq Yusuff finishes Suman Mokhtarian by TKO in Round 1
Jim Crute gets Paul Craig with kimura to win by submission in Round 3
Alexey Kunchenko cruises past Yushin Okami for unanimous decision win
Wilson Reis outmuscles Ben Nguyen in unanimous decision win
Keita Nakamura squeaks by Salim Touahri with split-decision win
Kai Kara-France dominates Elias Garcia in unanimous decision win.
Christos Giagos in full control in unanimous decision win over Mizuto Hirota
Damir Ismagulov wins tactical battle over Alex Gorgees by unanimous decision
What are your takeaways from UFC Fight Night 142? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 2, 2018 | SPORTS
Highly Anticipated Bout Ends With Questions Needing To Be Answered
Plenty of fans leaving the sold out Staples Center on Saturday night will feel like they got their money’s worth. The conclusion, however, at the end of the heavyweight showdown between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will leave a lot left to be desired.
Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) and Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) fought to a split-decision draw on Saturday night as Wilder retained his WBC heavyweight title.
Alejandro Rochin scored the fight 115-111 for Deontay Wilder. Robert Tapper scores the fight 114-112 for Tyson Fury, while British Judge Phil Edwards would score the fight 113-113, even a draw.
It was a fight that saw Tyson Fury — who held a rare two-inch height advantage over the six-foot-seven Wilder — mostly outclass and outbox the heavy hitting Wilder. Fury showboated throughout, putting his arms behind his back, yelling at Wilder and poking his chin out as a show that Wilder couldn’t hit him.
For a long while, Wilder couldn’t, swinging at air when trying to collect with a left hook or a straight right-hand.
That all changed in the ninth round when Wilder used a right cross over the temple of Fury to knock him down, bringing the crowd to its feet.
Fury recovered in the round, once again taunting his opponent. After cruising to easy rounds in the next two rounds, adversity would hit the Englishman again — and hard.
Following a straight right-hand shot landing, Deontay Wilder would use a thudding left hook to drop Tyson Fury to the canvas in a knockdown that appeared to mark the end of the fight and give Wilder a improbable and stunning victory.
Fury barely beat the count, shocking a confident and expressive Wilder, who after scoring the game-changing knockdown, appeared as if he thought he had collected his 40th career knockout.
The two fighters battled down the stretch, with Fury weathering the onslaught of “The Bronze Bomber”, finishing the fight with the edge.
Wilder and Fury promised fireworks in the lead up to this fight, and neither disappointed on that front.
Unfortunately, this fight will forever be clouded by what I felt was a miserable decision by Mexico’s Alejandro Rochin, who’s 115-111 Decision was both abominable and debilitating for me to stomach.
I had the fight scored 115-111 in favor of Fury, with Fury taking nine rounds and Wilder winning rounds five, nine and 12.
Disagree if you will, decisions such as the one we saw in an entertaining and memorable heavyweight title bout tarnish and ruin the sport’s credibility when a high-profiled fight of this magnitude ends in controversy.
Who do you believe won the fight? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 1, 2018 | SPORTS
Usman Wants Title Shot Following Victory
Years after feeling like he’s been overlooked and undermined, Kamaru Usman took years of frustration out on a fighter who was once in his precarious position.
Kamaru Usman (14-1, 9-0 UFC) dominated Rafael Dos Anjos (28-11, 17-9 UFC) in a one-sided unanimous decision victory on Friday night at the Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort.
Few fighters have a mean streak quite like Kamaru Usman, who said coming into this fight he was going to “make it look easy” in dispatching of Rafael Dos Anjos.
Even with the fight in hand, Usman kept the pressure on, looking for a finish on the ground and on the feet, particularly in the final two rounds as he overpowered the No. 3 ranked fighter in the welterweight division.
The winner of Season 21 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ dominated the action for much of the fight against a crafty veteran who knows what it takes to win UFC gold.
With his forward pressure, work against the fence in the clinch, and always looking for the takedown, the “Nigerian Nightmare” broke down the former world champion.
There was a moment of anxiety for Usman in the early going, as Dos Anjos sunk in a kimura in the second round from the bottom against Usman against the fence, only to see Usman scramble out of danger as the two brawled to end the round.
Outside of that, this was as effortless a performance as we’ve seen out of the 31-year-old Blackzilian.
Kamaru Usman landed a career-best 11 takedowns in this fight while landing 190 total strikes.
Usman is now 9-0 in the octagon, and you can count on one hand how many rounds he’s lost. Dominant performances of this magnitude deserve a reward, a reward such as a shot at UFC welterweight kingpin Tyron Woodley sometime in 2019.
Get it done UFC.
TUF 28 Season Winners Crowned
The TUF 28 Finale saw winners crowned for the heavyweight and Women’s featherweight tournaments.
Macy Chiasson’s long and storied road through ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ saw her put together her best performance of the tournament. Chiasson finished her teammate Pannie Kianzad by 2nd-Round submission as she used a rear-naked choke to take home a six-figure contract with the UFC.
For the heavyweights, it didn’t take long for Juan Francisco Espino Dieppa to put away fellow finalist Justin Frazier, as after getting a takedown quickly in the first round, used a straight armbar to force his opponent to tap out three minutes and 36 seconds into round.
Espino Dieppa, 38, is the oldest fighter to win the Ultimate Fighter.
TUF 28 Finale Results
Pedro Munhoz finishes Bryan Caraway quickly in Round 1 by TKO
Edmen Shahbazyan grapples his way to unanimous decision over Darren Stewart
Antonina Shevchenko out-strikes Ji Yeon Kim by unanimous decision
Kevin Aguilar picks up unanimous decision triumph in war against Rick Glenn
Roosevelt Roberts gets Darrell Horcher to tap out to standing guillotine in Round 1
Joseph Benavidez topples Alex Perez with TKO finish in Round 1
Maurice Greene uses triangle choke to finish Michel Batista in Round 1
Leah Letson wins bloody split-decision war over Julia Stoliarenko
Tim Means punishes Ricky Rainey with ground and pound in TKO finish in Round 1
Raoni Barcelos uses rear-naked choke to stop Chris Gutierrez in Round 2 submission victory
What are your biggest takeaways from TUF 28 Finale? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 1, 2018 | SPORTS
Bad, Awful, Saddening
Kenny Atkinson said that the Brooklyn Nets has a great film session following a disappointing loss at home on Wednesday to the Utah Jazz.
Facing a Memphis Grizzlies team that, more so than Utah, wants to play at a slower pace, Brooklyn’s return back to the hardwood on Friday night was a chance to correct their miscues and missed opportunities.
The Memphis Grizzlies rallied to top the Brooklyn Nets 131-125 in double overtime on Friday night at the Barclays Center to extend Brooklyn’s losing streak to five games.
Brooklyn collapsed once again in the fourth quarter, blowing a seven-point lead in the final 33 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Fouling on a 3-point shot attempt, turning the ball over on a inbounds pass, allowing another 3-pointer and then not getting a shot attempt to end regulation haunted the Nets, who over their past three games have blown comfortable leads.
After being unable to get stops at the end of regulation, Kenny Atkinson’s team were unable to get them in overtime as well.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had a phenomenal performance for the Memphis Grizzlies, finishing with a career-high 36 points to go along with eight rebounds.
While the rookie forward had a special night, it was Mike Conley steering Memphis in the overtime periods. He finished with 37 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.
Jackson was the hero at the end of regulation, hitting the two 3-pointers to help tie the game. He also was the reason for Brooklyn’s turnover on the inbounds play.
Conley tied the game with a uncontested floater in the lane at the end of the first overtime period to help send the game into a second overtime period and at the end of regulation, shutdown Spencer Dinwiddie on a drive to the basket, keeping Brooklyn from getting a shot attempt.
D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 26 points and eight assists, but he struggled with his shot on the night, hitting only 10 of his 27 shot attempts.
Brooklyn as a team shot 44.7 percent from the field. Memphis shot 49.5 from the field.
The Brooklyn Nets (9-15) fell to 0-6 at home vs Western Conference teams after tonight’s gut-wrenching defeat.
The loss drops them to 3-8 at home this season, something that comes as a huge disappointment for the team to begin the 2018-19 season.
The Nets were without starting forward Joe Harris, who missed the game with a hip injury. Spencer Dinwiddie, who had a team-high 18 points on Wednesday night, made the start for Harris.
A common theme in all three of Brooklyn’s losses is that the defense was particularly poor when it counted, and the lack of fundamentally sound offense further fueled the other team’s rallies.
Kenny Atkinson knows what team he has here, and unfortunately, as close as they’ve been in much of their games this season, a good team wins these games.
Brooklyn simply isn’t.
The Brooklyn Nets will visit the Nation’s Capitol to take on the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
What were your takeaways from Brooklyn’s tough loss on Friday night? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 1, 2018 | SPORTS
Incident From February Costs Running Back His Job
A disturbing incident that made its way around the Internet on Friday has led to one of the most talented and promising young players in the sport future being clouded for the immediate future.
In somewhat of a stunning move, the Kansas City Chiefs moved quickly in releasing troubled running back Kareem Hunt on Friday night.
Earlier on Friday, video surfaced of a reported incident which happened back in February of this year where Kareem Hunt was seen shoving a woman before kicking her.
The incident took place in a Cleveland hotel where Hunt had an apartment, but no arrests or charges were made after Police arrived to the scene.
The Kansas City Chiefs running back was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list on Friday night, which will prohibit him from practicing, attending, or playing in games.
Hunt, who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, led the NFL in rushing last season with 1,327 rushing yards.
He was enjoying yet another successful season in 2018 as he had 824 rushing yards. He also had 378 receiving yards and a total of 14 touchdowns.
What are your thoughts on the Chiefs releasing Kareem Hunt? Leave your comments below!