Renato Babalu Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth by TKO to become Strikeforce light heavyweight champion in the co-main event of the promotions ‘Destruction’ card on Friday night. Despite leaving with the belt around his waist, it wasn’t a highlight reel worthy finish.
Not too long ago, Mark Coleman headlined UFC 109 facing Randy Couture. Several days later, he’s apparently no longer good enough to remain in the UFC at all. On Wednesday, following a lopsided loss to Couture the UFC released Coleman from his contract and cut the veteran heavyweight. Coleman is now free to sign with any other promotion, but at 46 years of age his most likely-and most advisable-course of action is retirement. Retirement is a tough thing for any pro athlete to swallow, however, and fighters in particular have had difficulty in ending their career gracefully.
The San Jose, CA based Strikeforce MMA promotion recently announced that they have signed Brazilian middleweight Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza to a multifight contract. He is expected to make his Strikeforce debut on the same October event as recently signed Fedor Emelianenko, which will be broadcast on the Showtime premium cable network.
Images of old cell phones from the 90s are a surefire way to spark laughter-they are big, cumbersome, and look ridiculously outdated compared to the small gizmos we have today. So it should be surprising to learn that the first conception of crude, mobile phones actually dates all the way back to 1947. Researchers tried to evolve the technology used in walkie talkies. They realized that by using small cells instead of relying on single frequencies they could reuse the same frequencies, and thereby dramatically increase the traffic capacity. In other words, the initial kernel of invention was present, but unfortunately its potential was halted.
The New York Giants have made a huge financial commitment to quarterback Eli Manning by offering him a six year, $97.5 million contract extension. Manning will earn just over $15 million a year, and $35 million of the contract is guaranteed. Should Manning play through the end of his contract hell be a Giant until 2015, meaning there’s a decent chance hell play his entire career with the team.
The NBA All Star game was played without a couple of high profile participants this year as the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson would not play due to injury. Kobe and ‘AI’ were the latest in a string of injuries to All Star players that also claimed Portland’s Brandon Roy and New Orleans’ Chris Paul. The NBA has been much more strict about missing the All Star game after many players would come up with illusory ‘injuries’ right before the game that miraculously healed before play resumed after the break.
The UFC is of borderline relevance in “The Land of the Rising Sun”. This isn’t to disparage the UFC, which has done a great job growing MMA in North America and parts of Europe. Simply stated, the UFC is well below at least a dozen MMA, kickboxing, boxing, sumo and pro wrestling promotions in terms of importance to Japanese fight fans.
Ever since he burst onto the MMA scene with a shocking first round KO upset of Jens Pulver at UFC 63, Joe Lauzon has been working to earn respect. Hes lost only once since then–to top contender Kenny Florian in a bout that earned fight of the night honors–but for some reason hes had trouble being taken seriously as a top contender in the UFCs lightweight division. He may not fit the classical profile of a fighter, looking more like a fresh faced kid and is often referred to as a geek due to his educational background in computer science. When the fight starts, however, hes all business. In the main event at the UFC Ultimate Fight Night in Tampa, Lauzon withstood a game challenge from late replacement Jeremy Stephens to earn a 2nd round submission victory.
Gina Carano put women’s MMA on the map, but Cris Cyborg Santos may have become the sports first dominant female champion by virtue of her overwhelming TKO victory in the main event of Saturdays STRIKEFORCE event. Cyborg simply was too physically strong and her punches too powerful for Carano.
Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn is off of the hot seat-at least temporarily. After a recent swoon that saw him stripped of play calling duties for the NFL team, Zorn got a vote of confidence from upper management on Friday. His head isn’t entirely out of the noose, however, as the reprieve will last only to the end of the season unless some marked improvement is seen in the second half. The Redskins’ defense has played well this year but their offense has been marked by a profound lack of productivity.