Page 1595 of 2957

      UFC 100 Preview & Predictions

      July 11, 2009 /

      The Ultimate Fighting Championship celebrates a monumental landmark tonight with UFC 100. To celebrate the 100th Pay Per View show for the Mixed-Martial Arts company, the UFC has put together a stacked feature card headlined by three main-event caliber fights. Overall the main card has five fights, including two championship bouts. The show takes places from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas at 10 p.m. ET. Here are my predictions for the main card bouts.

      Heavyweight Championship (265 pounds): Champion Brock Lesnar (3-1) vs. Frank Mir (12-3) – This fight is tough to call. Mir one the previous meeting at UFC 81 in February of 2008, but since, both fighters have vastly improved. Lesnar has been over-powering and shown solid boxing in his wins over Heath Herring and Randy Couture. Mir has been on a tear in his last three fights, picking up quick wins over Antoni Hardonk, Lesnar, and Minotaro Nogueira. Mir became the first to stop Nogueria back at UFC 92, which set up the rematch with Lesnar. In this fight, I think Mir’s improved boxing will play a big factor. In the first meeting, Lesnar landed big punches early and pounced on Mir, nearly stopping the fight before Mir pulled of a knee-bar submission. In this fight I think Mir will be able to dictate where the fight goes more than he did in the first meeting. With Mir’s composure and elite level submission ability, I see Mir surviving Lesnar’s early onslaught and then successfully pulling off a submission. I take Mir by submission in round three.

      Continue reading »

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Blazers sign Millsap to offer sheet

      July 11, 2009 /

      Portland is making a push for Utah forward Paul Millsap.

      The Portland Trail Blazers elected Friday not to wait on trade possibilities, deciding instead to offer Utah Jazz restricted free agent Paul Millsap a four-year contract worth an estimated $32 million-to-$36 million, according to sources with knowledge of the Blazers’ plans.

      This is more compelling than your average, run-of-the-mill restricted free agent signing because a few days ago the Blazers were rumored to be involved in a three-way trade involving Chicago and Utah where the Bulls would have acquired Carlos Boozer, sending Kirk Hinrich to Portland and Tyrus Thomas to Utah.

      But those trade talks stalled in part because the Bulls were not prepared to surrender Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas (who would have been Utah-bound) without getting back promising Portland guard Jerryd Bayless in return in addition to Boozer.

      Since the Blazers didn’t want to give up Bayless, they’ve made the decision to extend an offer to Millsap, which puts the pressure on the Jazz to move Boozer. The contract is frontloaded, so if Utah were to have both players on the roster it would put the team deep into luxury tax territory.

      Another interesting thing about this move by the Blazers is that Millsap plays the same position as LaMarcus Aldridge, so either they (1) plan on playing Aldridge at center, (2) plan on bringing Millsap off the bench or (3) aren’t optimistic that they can keep Aldridge, who is eligible for an extension this summer. The bad news for the Blazers is that the Jazz have seven days to decide whether or not they’ll match the offer, and during that time Portland’s cap space is tied up, so they can’t make an offer to another free agent. But other than Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson and Andre Miller, there isn’t much out there in the way of unrestricted free agents, so it doesn’t make sense to hold onto the cap space if they aren’t going to use it elsewhere.

      If the Blazers can pry away Millsap for $8-$9 million per season, it will be a great move. That’s a good value for a young power forward has proven that he has a potential to be an All-Star-caliber player. But I’d expect that the Jazz will be able to trade Boozer and get a good young player (of Tyrus Thomas’s caliber) in return. There are a number of teams that are interested, including the Bulls, Pistons, Heat and Knicks.

      I’d also expect this deal to bring David Lee’s contract expectations back to Earth. I think he and Millsap are about on the same level value-wise, with Millsap having a small edge due to his ability to score in the post.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Giants’ Sanchez throws a no-hitter against Padres

      July 10, 2009 /

      A San Francisco Giants’ starter has thrown a no-hitter.

      It must have been Tim Lincecum right?

      Nope.

      Matt Cain?

      Nope.

      Randy Johnson?!

      Nope.

      It wasn’t Barry Zito was it?

      Absolutely not.

      One night after Lincecum flirted with a similar feat, 26-year-old Jonathan Sanchez, coming off a recent demotion to the bullpen, threw a no-hitter against the Padres on Friday night as the Giants beat San Diego 8-0 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It was the first no-hitter of the 2009 Major League season and the first Giants’ no-hitter since John Montefusco threw one in 1976.

      In his nine innings of domination, Sanchez struck out 11 batters in obviously his most dominant performance of his career. He did allow a base runner, but it was due to a Juan Uribe fielding error in the eighth inning. Had Uribe not booted the play (he misplayed a bad in-between hop), Sanchez could have had a perfect game.

      Speaking of fielding, Sanchez got an amazing gift from centerfielder Aaron Rowand in the ninth as he went back on a ball that was crushed by Edgar Gonzalez, leaped against the wall and made a terrific catch. Shortstop Edgar Renteria also made a fine play in the hole the play earlier.

      What’s amazing is that Sanchez wasn’t even supposed to pitch tonight (relatively speaking, that is). He was taken out of the starting rotation at the end of June and replaced by Ryan Sadowski after he started the season 2-8 with a 5.54 ERA. But an injury to Johnson gave Sanchez a start tonight and he obviously took full advantage of it.

      This was supposed to be Sanchez’s breakout season, but instead he struggled considerably with his control and would often get flustered after bad innings. His strikeout numbers have been consistently good, but he has been more wildly effective than anything. His name has even come up in numerous trade rumors, although considering Johnson’s injury and the fact that the Giants are in the thick of the NL Wild Card chase, they might hang onto Sanchez for the second half.

      No matter what Sanchez’s future holds, this was an amazing accomplishment. The Padres don’t exactly have the most potent offense, but Sanchez isn’t exactly Cy Young either. He was absolutely phenomenal and for a young man who has had so many struggles this season, he deserved this tonight and maybe he’ll use this performance as a stepping-stone to turn things around and have a great career.

      On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to watch every pitch of this game and it was absolutely thrilling as a baseball fan. They said on the broadcast that Sanchez’s dad, who had never seen his son pitch in the majors before tonight, flew to San Francisco yesterday to watch the game and was able to celebrate with Jonathan in the dugout afterward. It was a great scene.

      Congratulations to Jonathan Sanchez.

      MLB

      Braves trade Francoeur to Mets for Church

      July 10, 2009 /

      The Braves and Mets swapped outfielders on Friday, as Atlanta sent struggling right fielder Jeff Francoeur to the Big Apple for the equally struggling Ryan Church.

      The clubs make this trade essentially hoping that they can each find success turning the still-promising young outfielders around. Francoeur has struggled the past two years, but the Mets must feel as though he offers more offensive potential than Church, who, for whatever reason, has never been given a fair shot by manager Jerry Manuel.

      The Mets could also obviously use the upgrade defensively, where trained circus monkeys could perform better than what New York puts on the field on a nightly basis. Francoeur might have his struggles at the dish, but he’s got a cannon for an arm and will certainly be a welcome sight in right field for the Mets’ pitching staff. He also offers more power potential than Church.

      Church, meanwhile, should love the new scenery in Atlanta. He’ll give them a significant boost in terms of on base percentage and he seemingly has a better chance of turning his offensive misfortunes around than Francoeur does.

      It’ll be interesting to see who got the better end of the deal at the end of the year.

      MLB

      Rampage Jackson dry-humps Heather Nichols

      July 10, 2009 /

      …for realsies:


      EMBED-Rampage dry humps Cagepotato Reporter – Watch more free videos

      While many guys probably would have wanted to do the same thing, I award Rampage Jackson zero points for creativity. Rey Maualuga’s dance behind Erin Andrews at the Rose Bowl was funnier and way less awkward:

      College Football, Mixed Martial Arts, Video

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑