Foiled by the judges in his first crack at UFC gold months ago, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua put his fate in his own hands. Re-shifting his focus to a punch-heavy attack, Rua routed the previously unbeaten Lyoto Machida, needing just 3:35 in scoring a first-round knockout to capture the light-heavyweight championship at UFC 113. Considered possibly the best 205-pounder in the world after winning the PRIDE Grand Prix in 2005, Rua completed an epic second career act for himself after knee injuries threatened to steal his best days. Rua floored Machida with a right hand behind the ear and knocked the champion unconscious with ground-and-pound en route to the first round stoppage before 17,647 fans at the Bell Centre. "As athletes, we have problems and troubles we have to overcome," Rua said through his interpreter and manager Eduardo Alonso. "The toughest times fighters can face are injury times. My worst times in life were injuries two years ago. That was very tough, with people criticizing me a lot. I worked so hard. Going through criticism, I tried to think, 'Someone has to pay the bill for what I'm going through.' I tried to do that with this fight. It's payback for when I wasn't fighting." It was a completely different affair from their first meeting, when the two went the entire five-round distance in a razor-close fight at UFC 104 last October. While most onlookers thought Shogun victorious, all three ringside judges scored Machida the winner in the tactical affair. Because of the controversy, in a rare move UFC President Dana White granted Shogun an immediate rematch, which was delayed by Machida's hand surgery. Rua made one slight alteration to his game plan, which focused heavily on leg and body kicks the first time around. In the rematch, he went for the head. He said that in analyzing their first matchup, he realized Machida's hands were not always up after kicks, and that was exactly the opening he exploited to lead to the finish this time around.
Machida came into the rematch as the favorite, but the crowd exploded at Rua's stunning finish. His ground strikes knocked Machida out, and it was so obvious that Rua pulled away even before the referee could call a halt to the action. The previously unbeaten Machida left the cage with a badly swollen left eye, and the first blemish on his record.
"To go out and knock out Lyoto in the first round the way he did, to say it's impressive is stupid," Dana White said. "It was unbelievable, incredible."
Rua (19-4) won the $65,000 knockout of the night bonus to put a bow on his fantastic night.
"I never had any doubts on myself," Rua said. "Through hard moments I believed in myself and my dream, and now I achieved my dream of becoming the UFC world champion." Rua's win was the clear highlight of an otherwise entertaining but bizarre event, which concluded with two fighters on the TV portion of the card losing their jobs for entirely different reasons.
In a horrific display of sportsmanship, welterweight slugger Paul Daley sucker-punched Josh Koscheck well after the final bell of their co-main event fight, leading to White cutting him. Koscheck had just completed a systematic, three-round grinding win over Daley, taking him down repeatedly and stifling the Brit's renowned striking attack in the process. After the final bell, Koscheck got off the downed Daley, but Daley followed him a few steps and unleashed a left hook that landed. Koscheck did not retaliate, instead walking to his corner as ref Dan Miragliotta pulled Daley away. While Koscheck was announced the winner in an obvious decision, the only question that remained was what punishment Daley would receive as a result. White acted swiftly in saying Daley's days in the UFC were over forever. "He's done," White said. "I don't care if he's the best 170-pounder in the world, he'll never fight in the UFC again." Surprisingly, Koscheck did not seem bothered by the incident, revealing that he may have played a role in it by taunting Daley in the fight's final moments. "You're going to have to ask him what I said, but it wasn't very polite," he said. "He eye gouged me a couple times, I'm still having trouble seeing from his fingers. But he'll come back. He's still young in his MMA career. I think he'll be back and live to fight another day." The other fighter who no longer has a job after living the Bell Centre was Kimbo Slice, who was cut after losing via second-round TKO to Matt Mitrione. Slice perfomed relatively well in the first round with a pair of slam takedowns against Mitrione and escaping a pair of submission tries as well, but Mitrione turned the tide with vicious leg kicks that stole Slice's base. Mitrione took advantage of his wobbly opponent, eventually ending up on top and brutalizing Slice with ground and pound before the ref ended things at 4:24 of the round. "Kimbo's done. We're going to cut him," said White, who added that he gained a deep respect for Slice for the way he carried himself through his brief UFC run. In a key middleweight bout, Alan Belcher beat the returning Patrick Cote with a second round rear naked choke. The two fought a spirited first round and Cote had just landed a series of strikes in the second when they fought against the cage. With Cote bent over trying to secure Belcher's legs for a takedown try, Belcher picked Cote up and slammed him down. He then quickly transitioned to back control and locked in the submission for the win. Afterward, Belcher called out the division's champ. "I'm happy I finally started fighting to my potential," Belcher said. "No more goofing off. I know if I breathe right, I can pick anyone apart. You know who I'm talking about." When announcer Joe Rogan asked him who, Belcher didn't hesitate. "I'm talking about Anderson [Silva]. Everyone knows who can take it to him, who can stand with Anderson. I want that title fight. Give it to me." For his efforts, Belcher won the evening's Fight of the Night Award. In the final televised fight of the evening, Jeremy Stephens earned a mild upset over Sam Stout in a close, split decision. Stephens lived up to his reputation as a power puncher, dropping Stout and bloodying him early before Stout came back and made it close. "Sam Stout is a warrior," Stephens said afterward. "I was just more powerful." In preliminary bouts, Joe Doerksen submitted Tom Lawlor in the second round, Marcus Davis scored a second-round TKO over Jonathan Goulet and John Salter was awarded a TKO win after Jason MacDonald broke his leg in the first round of their middleweight bout. In fights that went the distance, Johny Hendricks won a majority decision over TJ Grant, Joey Beltran earned the judges' nod over Tim Hague, and Mike Guymon outpointed Yoshiyuki Yoshida.
Jay-Z (and Mr. Hudson) came through the SNL stages and ripped through a medley of his hits, introduced by the much-anticipated host for the evening, Ms. Betty White. The CEO of the ROC re-introduced himself and embarked on a flurry of his catalog bangers, including “PSA”, “On To The Next One”, “99 Problems”, and fittingly, “Empire State of Mind” with the lovely and talented Bridget Kelly rocking the chorus.
Me, I was out on Long Island, removing myself from the hip hop world for a quick minute, checking out my friends in the fabulous female-fronted indie rock band The Rosies at a little spot out in East Bubblefukk Northport. The Rosies did their thing, and I recommend them to all you Birthplace visitors who have a musically open mind.
Back to the rap world, Mr. Hudson joined Hov on stage for part 2 of the night’s musical performance, for their duo, “Forever Young”. The performances were strong, but I kinda regret missing Betty White do her thing. Twitter tells me she was pretty good, so I’ll have to check the replays before I drift of into ear-ringing sleep (thanks to the aforementioned Rosies).
The Sharks are going to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004, and Saturday night they vanquished the Detroit Red Wings to get there, beating their longtime rivals 2-1.
The goals came off the sticks of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, while goalie Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves to pin down the victory.
The Sharks have disappointed their fans the past four seasons with early playoff exits under frustrating circumstances. But that wasn't the case Saturday night.
The victory came 48 hours after San Jose was humbled 7-1 at Joe Louis Arena, and Sharks coach Todd McLellan's biggest task since then was to make sure his team had put that loss behind it.
Before the game, he said that involved working on both the technical and mental aspects of the game, some of that in individual meetings with players.
"It's our job as a coaching staff to try and help them," McLellan said. "That can be two ways, technically — be in this position or that position — but it also can be massaging the mind a little bit, letting them know that we believe in them or saying, hey, you're better than what you've been."
His players must have gotten that message as the Sharks came out with a strong effort, outshooting Detroit 15-6 in what ended up as a scoreless first period.
Not that the Sharks didn't come close to beating Red Wings rookie Jimmy Howard. Thornton hit the far post with a backhand shot from just outside the crease at 11:12, and defenseman Rob Blake chipped a deflection of a centering pass over the net shortly after that.The second period belonged to Detroit, however, as the Red Wings showed the skill and turned on the speed that carried it to victory in Game 4.
Unlike the Sharks, the Red Wings were able to cash in at 2:40 on a play that took advantage of the fact Johan Franzen knocked Thornton's stick out of his hand.
While Thornton was retrieving it, Brian Rafalski launched a shot from the blue line that deflected off Marleau's stick in the high slot and found the back of the San Jose net.
The Sharks got that one back at 4:54, with Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart in the penalty box for elbowing Joe Pavelski. Defenseman Jason Demers fired a shot from the blue line, and Dany Heatley guided the rebound to Thornton, who punched it in the open side of the net.
The goal was Thornton's third of the postseason, tying the most he has had in one year, when he was with Boston in 1999.
San Jose had a chance to take the lead early in the third period when Pavelski stole the puck from Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall at the Red Wings' blue line and skated in all alone on Howard, only to be hooked from behind by Kronwall.
Howard made the save on the penalty shot that followed, however.
The Sharks took the lead at 6:59 when Heatley and the Red Wings battled for the puck behind the Detroit net, only to have it end up on Thornton's stick. He found Marleau all alone in the slot, and Marleau one-timed the shot past Howard on the glove side.
Detroit ended up with a six-on-four advantage for the final 51.5 seconds when it pulled Howard and Dan Boyle was whistled for holding. But the Red Wings couldn't muster any good scoring chances, and Pavelski ended the final threat by firing the puck down the ice with two seconds left.
MONTREAL, Canada – “UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2″ takes place tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The main event features a light heavyweight rematch between the champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
The co-main event features a welterweight bout between American Kickboxing Academy’s Josh Koscheck and England’s Paul Daley. The two will battle it out for the welterweight number one contender spot. Not only will the winner get to face Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Title, but he will also get to coach opposite GSP on the next season of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter”.
UFC 113 also marks the return of Kimbo Slice to the Octagon. After competing as part of Team Jackson on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, and defeating Houston Alexander at “The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale” in December, the street-fighting legend returns to face one of his TUF 10 cast mates, former NFL football player Matt Mitrione.
Nashville MMA Examiner will be providing live fight results and round-by-round, play-by-play, updates and commentary during “UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2″. The action starts live on Pay-Per-View at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET, but we will begin posting live result updates of the preliminary bouts beginning at approximately 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET.
Prior to tonight’s fights be sure to visit ProMMAnow.com's UFC Room to watch the UFC 113 pre-fight press conference, fighter interviews, and weigh-ins, and then immediately after tonight’s fights, a LIVE VIDEO STREAM of the UFC 113 post-fight press conference will broadcast in the UFC Room. Also, for an in-depth analysis of tonight’s fights, check out our UFC 113 Staff Picks, as we try to predict the winners of each bout.
The Orlando Magic were slight favorites to win game 3 in their best of 7 series against the Atlanta Hawks however there was nothing 'slight' about the Magic's win as they posted a huge 30 point spread on the road to take a 3-0 lead in their second round series.
Orlando are clearly the team that has been playing the best basketball since the post-season started as they are a perfect 7-0 so far in the 2010 playoffs.
Here are the updated odds in the futures market for the 2010 NBA championship as Orlando are now a co-favorite:
Orlando Magic +160 (Lead Atlanta 3-0)
Cleveland Cavaliers +160 (Lead Boston 2-1)
Los Angeles Lakers +175 (Lead Utah 3-0)
Phoenix Suns +400 (Lead San Antonio 3-0)
Boston Celtics +2500
San Antonio Spurs +6000
Utah Jazz +7500
Atlanta Hawks +30000
The only series that is really still in doubt in the second round is the Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics. Boston will have an opportunity to tie that series up at home in game 4 although they will have to bounce back from a near 30 point defeat to do that.
Register with Players Only to back the Orlando Magic - take advantage of their 10% deposit bonus to receive free bets that can be used on the 2010 NBA playoffs.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Bob Bennett, a conservative Republican, failed in his bid for re-election in a state convention as a groundswell of discontent with politics in Washington claimed its latest victim.
Businessman Tim Bridgewater and upstart attorney and Tea Party-backed Mike Lee, claimed first and second place, respectively, in the second round of voting in the party poll, CNN said.
Bennett fell victim to his state party’s odd convention system, in which only the top two vote-getters get spots on the primary ballot. Bennett may mount a write-in campaign, but if this long-shot effort fails, his departure would be a loss for the Senate.
During his three terms, Bennett did not deviate from his conservative principles. He is not Utah’s version of Joe Lieberman, out of step with his party. He is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s trusted lieutenant. But Bennett is a serious man who wants to work on serious issues -- and in doing so, he found ways to work across the aisle. The health-care measure he crafted with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden was the most prominent example, and one factor in his ouster.
Bennett is no squishy moderate. Dick Cheney endorsed his reelection. Newt Gingrich campaigned for him. National Journal’s most recent voting ratings had him as the 23rd most conservative senator -- compared to fellow Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch at number 30.
But Bennett’s brand of conservatism was not pure enough for the Tea Party wing of his party. He committed sins such as voting for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He was, horror of horrors, an appropriator -- meaning that he helped to bring money to his state. The conservative Club for Growth spent more than $200,000 to oust him.
The most disturbing aspect of Bennett’s defeat is the chastening effect it is likely to have on nervous GOP lawmakers. They are already hardly profiles in courage -- just take a look at the campaign positions adopted by ex-maverick John McCain, facing a primary challenge in Arizona from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth. Seeing Bennett’s scalp is not apt to strengthen their spines.
Alex Chilton, singer and guitarist of Big Star, one of the most influential rock groups to emerge from the early 1970s, has passed away at the age of 59. Chilton reportedly suffered a heart attack lat March 17 in New Orleans, just days before Big Star were scheduled to perform at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Chilton had been complaining about his health earlier in the day, and was eventually taken to a New Orleans hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Big Star drummer Jody Stephens confirmed Chilton’s passing, Memphis’ Commercial Appeal reports. “Alex passed away a couple of hours ago,” Stephens said. “I don’t have a lot of particulars, but they kind of suspect that it was a heart attack.” Chilton began his musical career in his teens as a member of the Box Tops before returning to his native Memphis to form Big Star with guitarist/co-songwriter Chris Bell, drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel. Blending power pop with the sound of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, Big Star were critically acclaimed but largely ignored commercially. In their short time together in the early-’70s — though Bell exited the band after #1 Record, Hummel after Radio City — Big Star only released three studio albums, but what three incredible albums they were: 1972’s #1 Record, 1974’s Radio City and 1978’s dark but beautiful Third/Sister Lovers all placed on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and their classic tracks “Thirteen” and “September Gurls” both made the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
