![[SPORTS] UFC 231 RECAP: HOLLOWAY FORCES STOPPAGE AFTER 4TH ROUND TO RETAIN TITLE](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_8852-1.jpg?resize=1000%2C667&ssl=1)
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 9, 2018 | SPORTS
Holloway Puts On Clinic In Battle With Ortega
The last time we saw Max Holloway in the octagon before his UFC 231 bout, it was a year ago where Holloway had thrown down the gauntlet to all suitors of his UFC featherweight title.
Battling through depression in a long year away from the cage, his latest battle won’t be soon forgotten.
In a instant classic, Max Holloway (20-3, 16-3 UFC) defeated Brian Ortega (14-1, 6-1 UFC) by 4th-Round TKO on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena to retain his UFC featherweight title.
A man on a mission to silence his doubters, Max Holloway put on a defining performance in his career vs. the fast-rising Brian Ortega in a matchup of the world’s top two UFC featherweights in the prime of their careers.
Behind a sizzling right hand that found its home all night and a plethora of combinations that soon followed, Max Holloway made Brian Ortega unrecognizable by the end of the second round, and after a incredible output in the fourth round, forced a ringside doctor to intervene, causing the fight to be stopped at the conclusion of the fourth round.
Max Holloway and Brian Ortega went back and forth at times, with each having their moments of causing the crowd to jump out of their seats as they watched each man try to rip the other’s head off, but it was Holloway who won a majority of the exchanges in a toe-to-toe war.
Not with power, but with precision, accuracy and volume, the Hawaiian punished Ortega, leaving him grabbing at his nose and drowning his stamina.
Ortega took the initiative early and even when getting hit with a parade of shots to come forward or throw shots back with Holloway.
In the third round “T-City” appeared to hurt Holloway with a right hook shot, followed by several other shots that forced Holloway to retread into the fence where Holloway denied Ortega of taking his back.
The excellent round by the Los Angeles native appeared to resurrect Ortega — a fighter known for taking hellfire and dishing it back out to put away his opponents.
Before the start of round four, Max Holloway looked to the broadcast table and signaled to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan with his hand that he was going to end the fight in the fourth round.
“Blessed” wasted little time in trying to do just that, pressuring the challenger around the octagon with thudding shots as he barely stayed on his feet in a clinical round for the champion.
By the end of round four, Ortega’s left eye was completely closed, and while the Mexican-American would’ve like to have had an opportunity to go out for the fifth round, the doctor did his job as Holloway defended his title successfully for a second straight time.
UFC 231 was largely a success as we near the close of 2018, and this main event did not disappoint.
The fight was initially scheduled for July of this year, only for Holloway to be forced to pull out of a fight for the third time this year after not doing so throughout his entire professional career.
In interviews over the past few months, Holloway admitted that he’s battled depression, feeling like opportunities were taken away from him rather than him not being available to compete.
Still, he came into this highly anticipated matchup with a confidence about him that was becoming of the fighter he has transformed himself into since losing to Conor McGregor back in August 17th, 2013.
From the pre-fight introductions, you could see the what separated the two fighters: experience on this stage. Holloway was loose and calm while Ortega was extra amped and overly eager, something that showed itself in the first two rounds of this fight.
It’s hard to believe that Max Holloway is only 27-years-old, with his birthday just recently passing this past Tuesday, and yet, Holloway has 12 more UFC fights.
Holloway’s victory on Saturday was his 13th straight victory. His 13 straight wins are a UFC featherweight record, one that should stand the test of time as Holloway has no plans of leaving his throne.
Bullet Takes Home Flyweight Crown
Valentina Shevchenko said on Wednesday during the final pre-fight press conference that there was no way she would leave Toronto without a world title belt around her waist.
In a dominant performance from start to finish, Valentina Shevchenko made good on her word as she outclassed Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a impressive unanimous decision victory to fulfill her dreams and win the UFC women’s flyweight title.
The Kyrgyzstani-Peruvian proved too much for the former strawweight champion as she used her clinch, superior striking in the pocket and takedowns to win the vacated title which was held by Nicco Montaño before she was stripped after pulling out of her UFC 228 fight with Shevchenko.
Shevchenko (16-3, 5-2 UFC) previously fought at the UFC’s 135-pound bantamweight weight class where she came up short of a UFC world title after losing to Amanda Nunes at UFC 215 last year.
Since then, she’s won her past two fights at the women’s flyweight division, with this not being a hard fight in particular to judge.
In a division that’s short on relevant contenders, “Bullet” could see a long and dominating reign as world champion.
UFC 231 Results
Gunnar Nelson bloodies Alex Oliveira before finishing him with rear-naked choke submission in Round 2
Hakeem Dawodu out-boxes Kyle Bochniak for split-decision victory
Thiago Santos wins crowd-pleasing high-stakes brawl with Jimi Manuwa by Round 2 KO
Nina Ansaroff puts it all together in unanimous decision win over Claudia Gadelha
Gilbert Burns takes down game Olivier Aubin-Mercier by unanimous decision
Jessica Eye persistent in split-decision victory over Katlyn Chookagian
Elias Theodorou outlasts Eryk Anders for split-decision victory
Brad Katona handles Matthew Lopez in one-sided unanimous decision win
Dhiego Lima uses left hook to shock Chad Laprise for Round 1 KO
Carlos Diego Ferreira punishes Kyle Nelson in Round 1 TKO victory
Aleksandar Rakic blasts Devin Clark in Round 1 TKO win
What was your favorite fight of the night at UFC 231? Leave your comments below!
![[SPORTS] LOMANCHENKO OUTPOINTS PEDRAZA TO UNIFY WBA, WBO TITLES](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_8851.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 9, 2018 | SPORTS
Loma Gets Tough, But Decisive Victory At MSG
The world doesn’t know just how dominant and how brilliant Vasiliy Lomanchenko is going to be on a fight-to-fight basis. Coming off right shoulder surgery, Lomanchenko wanted to put on a show for the New York City crowd.
Vasiliy Lomanchenko (12-1, 9 KOs) defeated Jose Pedraza (25-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden to unify two lightweight title belts.
It may be looked at as a disappointment that on his own part that he didn’t finish a fight he very nearly did in the 11th round, but Lomanchenko walks away from New York City on Saturday with the WBA and WBO belts on his shoulders.
Lomanchenko used a violent and hellacious 11th round onslaught to drop Pedraza twice to the canvas. Pedraza took what seemed like 30 unanswered punches before falling to a knee for the first knockdown of the fight, then moments later falling to a body shot from Lomanchenko.
Before that, somewhat of a competitive fight was breaking out between the two lightweight world champions.
Lomanchenko — brilliantly fighting with pressure and range — tattooed the Puerto Rican Pedraza with jabs and hard straight lefts, who’s face gave way to the WBA champion’s shots early.
Pedraza did well in the opening rounds of crafting puzzles for Lomanchenko to solve, making himself a moving targeting constantly with his head as he leaned out of the way and kept his head off the center line. He often switched stances from southpaw to orthodox and back, creating further difficulty for “Hi-Tech” at times.
There were times when Lomanchenko looked entirely human, with Pedraza looking like a live dog in the later rounds after he put together solid rounds late, but not rounds that would allow him to win most of them to make the judges decision unclear.
His best moments of the fight happened when he made a commitment to the body while also avoiding the ropes, which allowed him to establish somewhat of a jab.
Lomanchenko blasted away with straight lefts and a steady jab as he pressured his opponent, wearing down a game and tough Pedraza who’s legs were all but unsteady by the end of the fight.
The biggest takeaway from this fight is that Lomanchenko didn’t finish his opponent, who he was expected to finish in sensational fashion.
Pedraza’s lone loss coming into tonight was a 7th-Round TKO stoppage against undefeated WBA junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis.
While crafty and determined, Pedraza never quite was as close to pulling an upset as some may have thought as judges scored the fight wide for the Ukrainian.
Is their a kink in Lomanchenko’s armor? His only professional loss came when he was being low blowed throughout the fight by Orlando Salido and he had some difficulty in the first half of that fight of adjusting to Salido’s rough house tactics.
After that fight he went on to dominate top junior lightweights like Gary Russell Jr., Roman Martinez and Nicholas Walters before disposing of one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world in Guillermo Rigondeaux with a 6th-Round TKO stoppage victory.
Jorge Linares knocked down Vasiliy Lomanchenko with a straight right hand in the sixth round of their WBA lightweight title fight this past May, a personal low light for Lomanchenko as it marked the first knockdown of his career.
That knockdown was the most human we’ve seen an almost unstoppable Lomanchenko look since his split-decision in his second career fight to Orlando Salido, and tonight we saw moments where he looked unimpressive offensively vs. an opponent who took his shots better than most and was difficult to gage at times.
Vasiliy Lomanchenko, however, is winning most of these rounds and doing them so where there’s little controversy.
There was little gamesmanship or taunting on the part of Lomanchenko tonight, who got all he can handle from Jose Pedraza.
More fact than opinion, no one’s knocking down Bob Arum’s door to fight one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, but maybe few are getting happy feet to do so in the near future.
What are your thoughts on the Vasiliy Lomanchenko’s victory on Saturday night? Leave your comments below!
![[SPORTS] DINWIDDIE STARS AS NETS HANG ON FOR WIN AT MSG](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_8844-1.jpg?resize=680%2C464&ssl=1)
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 9, 2018 | SPORTS
Brooklyn Picks Up Back-To-Back Wins For First Time Since Early November
Winning a game got the first time in two weeks was the Nets goal that they accomplished on Friday night over Toronto Raptors. Following that vs. a New York Knicks team that in many ways have mirrored them this season was their latest challenge.
The Brooklyn Nets picked up a 112-104 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden to make it two straight wins.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a team-high 23 points and added six assists off the bench as the Nets’ super sub keyed their latest win.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored a season-high 20 points while grabbing six rebounds as he was as aggressive as he has been this season with his shot, making seven of 14 shot attempts.
The Brooklyn Nets, looking to continue a trend that’s befell them over the past few weeks, got off to a strong start and didn’t look back vs. their crosstown rivals.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, Kenny Atkinson’s team looked sharp in the opening half, owning an early double digit lead before going into the half with a 56-45 lead.
The 3-point shot as well as the Nets dominance in the paint helped tell the tale of this third meeting between the two teams, as Brooklyn held significance edges over New York in both categories.
Active on the glass and solid in their defensive rotations, Brooklyn took an 18-point lead in the middle of the third quarter before seeing David Fizdale’s team make a late push in the fourth quarter.
Enes Kanter finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Knicks. Enes Kanter was a handful for the Brooklyn Nets, coming close to a near double-double in just the first half as he had 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
After being a healthy scratch over the past four games, Frank Ntilikina made the most of his minutes as he finished with seven points and three assists, sparking New York in the fourth quarter as they fought to get close down the stretch.
A search for defensive consistency is still ongoing for Fizdale as it relates to his team, who lost their third straight game on Saturday to fall to 8-19.
With that said, there’s plenty to be encouraged about when it comes to his young bench, which easily outplayed the starters.
Tim Hardaway Jr. has fallen into a rough stretch of shooting, going missing 10 of his 12 shot attempts tonight and finishing with seven points in just 23 minutes, and as a result, it’s hard for this current team to get wins on nights where their defense is mostly invisible.
The two teams split the previous two meeting this season, with Brooklyn taking the first game and New York taking the last game. Brooklyn’s win on Saturday marks the first by the road team, as Brooklyn suddenly has positive energy flowing in their season once again.
The Brooklyn Nets will visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Meanwhile the New York Knicks will turnaround and face the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
What were your thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets victory over the New York Knicks tonight? Leave your comments below!
![[SPORTS] KYLER MURRAY WINS 2018 HEISMAN TROPHY AWARD](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_8843-1-1.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 9, 2018 | SPORTS
Boomer Sooner! Dual-Threat QB Takes Home The Prize
After transferring from Texas A&M to Oklahoma and waiting his turn behind Baker Mayfield, Murray waited his turn to dominate the college football world which culminated in him winning college football’s most prestigious award on Saturday night.
Kyler Murray was awarded the 2018 Heisman Trophy award at the 84th annual Heisman Trophy ceremony on Saturday night at the Marriot Marquis in Time Square in New York City.
The two-sport athlete beat out fellow Heisman finalists Tua Tagovailoa and Dwayne Haskins for the honor, as all three led their team to conference titles.
It was a historic year for the junior Murray, who finished with 4,053 passing yards with 40 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He also dominated on the ground, as the dual-threat quarterback rushed for 892 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, giving him 51 total on the season.
He follows his close friend Baker Mayfield’s 2017 Heisman Trophy win with a Heisman Trophy of his own as he electrified college football on Saturdays this past season with his running ability, accuracy in the pocket and on the run, and arm strength to make all the throws down field.
As great as Kyler Murray was in his first season with the Oklahoma Sooners, the 21-year-old has his sights on the MLB, but has left open the door on a possible NFL career.
The multi-sport talent was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth overall pick in this past year’s MLB amateur draft as an outfielder, and he has his commitments past this year of joining the Athletics minor league affiliates next year.
In leading the Oklahoma Sooners to a 12-1 record and Big 12 conference title, Murray’s Sooners will have the opportunity to play for a national championship as the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Alabama Crimson Tide on December 29th in the Orange Bowl.
Tua Tagovailoa, who was named the starting quarterback heading into his sophomore year, finished second behind Kyler Murray in voting.
Murray winning the award doesn’t come without controversy as Tagovailoa finished with 1,871 voting points, the most by a runner up in Heisman history. Tagovailoa also won the Nissan Heisman fan vote.
Tagovailoa was the leading engine in a perfect 13-0 regular-season for the Alabama Crimson Tide as he finished the season throwing for 3,333 passing yards with 37 touchdowns while throwing four interceptions. He also rushed for five touchdowns.
Former Heisman Trophy winners such as Barry Sanders, Doug Flutie, Ricky Williams, Charles Woodson and Eddie George were all in attendance to help enshrine in the latest member, who at the end of the day, is hard not argue was this season’s most deserving player.
Kyler Murray became the seventh Heisman Trophy winner in Oklahoma history, which ties Ohio State and Notre Dame for the most all-time.
He’s also just the third recipient of the award who will go on to play in the MLB. Both Bo Jackson and Vic Janowicz.
Was Kyler Murray your pick for the 2018 Heisman Trophy Award? Leave your comments below!
![[SPORTS] WILDER RIPS MAYWEATHER: HE’S A HATER](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_8840.jpg?resize=968%2C645&ssl=1)
by sloppyvinyl | Dec 9, 2018 | SPORTS
WBC Heavyweight Champ Doesn’t Bite Tongue
Deontay Wilder feels he’s the next box office attraction in boxing. But when it comes to being the next Floyd Mayweather of boxing?
“I’m the new Deontay Wilder of boxing,” Wilder told TMZ on Friday in response to that question.
The Tuscaloosa, Alabama native is coming off an exciting heavyweight title bout with Englishman Tyson Fury that ended in a split-decision draw last Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
In high spirits as usual, Wilder went on about how that fight was a resurrection of sorts that brought fan interest back to the division, but pointed out that “Money” — who was in attendance — was not on approval.
“The world loved it, but I don’t think he liked that though,” Wilder said, referring to Floyd Mayweather, who abruptly left the Staples Center in anger following Saturday’s fight.
“He wanted all the attention on him. It’s sad that it’s like that but the heavyweight division is where it’s at. Because people know we’re big guys and they want to see heavy hitters. And when you get a fight like that [on Saturday], that’s what they want to see. The excitement [is] back, and he always want the attention…but no more of that.”
After trailing by a wide margin on the scorecards throughout, Wilder scored two late knockdowns in the fight against Fury, which played a significant role in him retaining his title.
Wilder, 33, went on to say that he doesn’t want to be Floyd and that he was “coming” for the crown as the next star attraction.
“It’s a lot of fighters that’s jealous of me…for no reason. I’ve never said nothing bad about no one. I’ve always wished them well. I’ve always defended other fighters because I’m a fighter and I know I risk my life for this. Some fighters just don’t want to see me make it.”
As mentioned, it was reported that Mayweather stormed out of the Staples Center after the split-decision draw verdict, which has been mostly unpopular with fans, analysts and writers.
In a video released by FightHype.com, Floyd Mayweather analyzed the fight and saw Fury clearly winning the fight five rounds to nothing as it was happening.
“Deontay Wilder…he’s depending just on one shot. He’s looking for one big shot,” Mayweather said. “And as a fighter, you have to use other weapons. Fury [was] using combinations and a very fast jab and taking his time.”
Floyd Mayweather has been in the news recently, as it was announced on Thursday that he will in fact compete in a exhibition bout against Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa on New Years Eve in Japan.
The exhibition is set to be with boxing rules scheduled for three 3-minute rounds.
What are your thoughts on Wilder’s comments? Leave your comments below!
