Forrest Griffin Out Of UFC 114 Due To Shoulder Injury

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 114 bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira due to a shoulder injury. The news of Forrest Griffins injury comes courtesy of a recent report from celebrity news website TMZ. The two were set to co-main event UFC 114 on May 29 in Las Vegas. A grudge match between former light heavyweight champions and “Ultimate Fighter” coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson heads the fight card.

Sources close to Forrest Griffin’s camp, have confirmed that the TUF alumni has injured his shoulder, causing him to step down from the match. The injury is an unfortunate setback for Griffin after winning a split decision against Tito Ortiz last November at UFC 106, digging himself out a two fight losing streak.

Fans last saw Nogueira making quick work of Luiz Cane in the first round during his debut in the UFC, garnering Knockout of Night honors. The Brazilian was suppose to step in the octagon with Brandon Vera at UFC 109, but was forced out of the bout due to a fractured ankle.

UFC 114 falls on Memorial Day weekend, headlined by main event grudge match between Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Along with the pay-per-event, the promotion is holding their second annual UFC Fan Expo.

Forrest Griffin who last fought against Tito Ortiz in November, is still on the comeback trail after back-to-back losses to Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva. Although sources close to Griffin have mentioned that his shoulder is injured, no further information is currently available on the situation.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is coming off of an impressive showing in his debut fight with the UFC. Nogueira knocked out Luiz Cane in less than two minutes and earned Knockout of the Night honors in their bout last November. He had to previously withdraw from a fight against Brandon Vera at UFC 109 due to an ankle injury. Lil’ Nog is currently on a six-fight winning streak.

Below are the UFC fight night schedule for May 28- 29:

Main Card

Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. TBA?

Spike TV Prelims

Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Preliminary Card

Melvin Guillard vs. Thiago Tavares

Luiz Arthur Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate

Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer

Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensena

Meanwhile, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira seeks his second UFC win after stunning countryman Luiz Cane with a "Knockout of the Night" performance on the same card as Griffin's win over Ortiz.

The win was Nogueira' sixth-straight overall, and five of the wins during that current streak have come via stoppage. The twin brother of UFC heavyweight contender Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, "Little Nog's" three career losses have to come to current UFC contenders Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Vladimir Matyushenko, as well as UFC and PRIDE veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 | posted in UFC, ultimate fighter | 0comments [ More ]

2010 NHL Playoffs Update: Sharks Beat Red Wings In OT

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in game one of the NHL Western Conference series. The Sharks scored 3 goals in a 1:19 time frame to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Wings fought back and trailed only 3-2 at the end of the second period. The Sharks started the third period with a 5-on-3 advantage, however, and scored in the opening minute of the period. Detroit would decrease the deficit to one once more in the third but the Red Wings could never find the necessary tying goal. 

 

Detroit Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary gave a 2-0 lead in the first. San Jose Sharks' Devin Setoguchi scored with 4 seconds left in the period, but Henrik Zetterberg restored Detroit's two-goal lead early in the second. Red Wings' Jimmy Howard made 29 saves and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 32 shots for the Sharks. The Red Wings would've had a bigger lead in the third period if not for a disallowed goal in the first.

Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg Zetterberg had a goal negated by video review because the puck went in off his left skate in a distinct kicking motion. Zetterberg was also stopped by Nabokov on a penalty shot — awarded in the first when Couture made a rookie mistake of covering the puck in the crease with his glove.

The crowd at Joe Louis Arena stood silently for a couple of minutes, knowing the Red Wings had fallen into a lot of trouble against the top-seeded Sharks. San Jose Sharks was 0 for 6 on the power play in regulation and Detroit didn't score on its two chances with an extra skater over the first three periods. Patrick Marleau scored 7:07 into overtime, lifting the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night and a 3-0 lead in the second-round series. 

 

San Jose Sharks has been dogged for failing to get to the Western Conference finals since its longest run in 2004, but an impressive rally from a 3-1 deficit with 13 minutes left in regulation could prove to be pivotal for the franchise. 

 

"Our history dictates that we haven't played well in that building, so we'll have to try to change that and overcome that situation, There is a history and we're aware of it, but what happened has absolutely nothing to do with May of 2010." said the San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan.

The Detroit Red Wings haven't become meek after carving a reputation as perhaps the best franchise in any sport the past two decades. They are in the playoffs for the 19th straight time -- the longest streak in any league, which started before San Jose Sbharks had an NHL team. They won their 4^th Stanley Cup title during this dominant stretch two years ago and fell just short of repeating last June.

But if Detroit Red Wings doesn't win Game 3, its season likely will end before the conference finals for the first time in 4 years.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 | posted in 4th stanley cup, NHL, red wings, sharks | 0comments [ More ]

Horse Racing Trainer Jeff Mullins Suspended

The California Horse Racing Board has suspended Jeff Mullins for 30 days effective May 9 and also fined the trainer $2,500 for a total carbon dioxide (TCO2) violation that occurred in 2008, according to a release. This latest incident violates the terms of his probation from another case against Jeff Mullins stemming from a 2006 medication violation and could result in him serving an additional 70-day suspension.

Jeff Mullins is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer who trains the Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge, acknowledged that he gave his horse Gato Go Win a dose of what he characterized as a “liquid cough medicine” in the detention barn at Aqueduct on Saturday. Mullins, however, said he did not know that he was violating any rules.

Jeff Mullins trained Pathbreaking when the horse finished third in a race at Del Mar on Aug. 3, 2008. A blood sample tested at the University of California Davis laboratory showed the horse exceeded the allowable limit for total carbon dioxide, or TCO2, a performance-enhancing alkalizing agent known as a "milkshake".

Afterwards, the Maddy Laboratory at UC Davis reported the blood sample taken from Pathbreaking exceeded the regulatory threshold for total carbon dioxide (TCO2), which is a Class 3 violation. This disciplinary case went before a hearing officer, Steffan Imhoff, who conducted hearings at Del Mar last summer. All filings and briefings were closed in February 2010, and then Steffan Imhoff’s proposed decision was sent to the board last month. The board considered Steffan Imhoff’s proposed decision during executive session April 15 and accepted the penalty recommendations of a 30-day suspension and $2,500 fine.

Horse racing trainer Jeff Mullins was on probation for a prior mepivacaine violation at the time of Pathbreaking’s TCO2 violation. Jeff Mullins had served 20 days of a 90-day suspension in the mepivacaine case, and the remaining 70 days was stayed subject to the conditions of his probation, which required that Mullins have no further violations of CHRB regulations. Steffan Imhoff recommended that the 30-day suspension for the TCO2 violation be served concurrently with the 70-day suspension from the probation violation. Instead, the Board instructed a deputy attorney general to proceed expeditiously with a hearing to revoke Mullins’ probation.

Racing association officials said the rules were clear. “It doesn’t really matter what the substance was — you cannot give a horse anything on race day.” said Stephen Duncker, the racing association’s chairman.

Jeff Mullins has a history of medication violations in California. Last spring he was suspended for 20 days by the California Horse Racing Board for use of mepivacaine, an anesthetic. In 2005 one of his horses tested positive for exceeding the limit of total carbon dioxide, which indicates the horse had been given a treatment known as a milkshake, a concoction of baking soda, sugar and electrolytes that helps ward off fatigue. After that positive, his horses were put under 24-hour surveillance for 30 days. 

 

"He (Jeff Mullins) has an entirely different history,I realize it seems a little inconsistent, but we're trying to work with the trainer on this." said Dr. Rick Arthur, a member of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium and chairman of the Total Carbon Dioxide Testing Review Committee in California, rejects the idea of accidental contamination.

Thursday, May 6, 2010 | posted in horse race, horse racing, jeff mullins | 1comments [ More ]

Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather Wins Over Sugar Shane Mosley

Another boxing history has created as Floyd Mayweather vs. Sugar Shane Mosley Who R U Picking fight ended successfully. Floyd Mayweather maintained his undefeated record and win his 41th win via Unanimous decision. Both fighters were prepared to the opening of the fight. Shane Mosley shock the MGM Grand with his two right-straight to Floyd Mayweather. Fans and everyone was shouting out loud but things favor to Floyd after that round. Floyd Mayweather showed more speed, quickness, boxing play and accuracy punches to Shane Mosley. 

 

The fight was sparked by excitement as these 2 great boxing fighters threw punches to each other during the first few rounds of the game. There was a time where the crowd shouted for Mosley since he aggressively threw punches to Mayweather consecutively. However, excitement slowed down and boredom started to grow during the rest of the game as these two boxing fighters began hugging each other without bringing much action in the boxing ring for their spectators worldwide.

Boxing fans never thought this fight was going to be huge. The reason being was that Shane Mosley, as great as he is, never was a huge PPV draw on his own against other fighters not named Oscar De La Hoya. Shane Mosley did well in his fights against De La Hoya, but he failed to bring in the huge numbers in other fights. There was something missing from him. It didn’t help matters that he was beaten twice by both Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright in the prime of his career. 

 

Those defeats really took a lot of the air out of making Shane Mosley a huge PPV attraction, in my estimation. It obviously wasn’t a good idea on his part to fight rematches with both fighters after being soundly beaten in his first fights with them. Nothing much changed in his rematches, and it now seems like a bad decision on his part to fight them again. 

 

The fans knew the Mayweather vs. Mosley fight wasn’t going to be as popular as that fight, because that bout was talked about for months. There was huge excitement about that fight. It didn’t matter that De La Hoya was seen as on the downside of his career, there was still a lot of interest in that fight going into it. In the case of the Mayweather-Mosley fight, a lot of people saw Mosley as too old, not active enough and not a good enough boxer to beat a skilled fighter like Mayweather. 

 

It turned out to be the exact case, as Mayweather totally dominated Mosley, beating him by an easy 12 round decision. But the lack of excitement about the fight going into it was really telling. Mosley didn’t have anything really special about him to grab onto in recent years. 

 

Floyd Mayweather punched 208 of 477 punches and Shane Mosley has 92 of 452 during the match. Two out of three ringside judges scored it 119-109 and the third had it 118-110 all in favor of Mayweather. Well, not so surprising to see this result as before the fight it was been concluded that Mayweather will won this bout.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 | posted in boxing, mayweather, mosley | 0comments [ More ]

Welterweight Super Fight Mayweather vs Mosley

On May 1, 2010 the highly anticipated Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley fight will be upon us and it’s the bona fide fight in the first half of the boxing history, and it should serve to answer many questions about both boxer's status in the welterweight division as well as their positioning amongst the all-timers from this generation and others previously.

Shane Mosley will defend his welterweight title against Mayweather on May 1 on HBO PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe said that he expected Mayweather's paperwork to be completed in the next few days with a formal announcement likely next week and the financial terms were not disclosed, but Floyd Mayweather has the option for an immediate rematch in the event he loses.

This Mosley -- Mayweather fight became possible when Mayweather became available after his agreement for a fight with Manny Pacquiao that went to ashes. Both fighters agreed to fight each other but it’s the drug testing protocol that stopped the negotiation because Pacquiao camp did not agree on Mayweather’s camp Olympic style drug testing which is not a requirement under the NSAC.

While Shane Mosley was set to fight Andre Berto but Berto’s family was affected by the Haiti earthquake so he withdrew from the fight. Then, negotiations between Mosley and Mayweather’s camp began. Floyd Mayweather has a 40 wins 0 losses with 25 KOs record in 5 division championships while Shane Mosley has 46 wins, 5 losses and 39 KOs in 3 division championships. With their impressive records, the boxing fans are sure to get an exciting fight between two great fighters. 

 

Floyd Mayweather has only been in the ring once with a man with comparable hand speed as his own, and that was his 2006 fight against Zab Judah. Mayweather ended up breaking down Judah and winning the bout without problem – save an in-ring riot caused by a Judah meltdown. However, the first third of the bout saw Judah beating Mayweather to the punch and scoring what could have been called a knockdown.

Shane Mosley is certainly not as fast as he was when he was burning through the competition as a lightweight champion, however he still possesses very fast hands and very good timing. Mayweather is a notoriously slow starter as he waits to gauge his opponent’s tactics, and this will be the best time for Mosley to make his mark. It’s entirely possible that his speed, pressure and power prove to be big trouble for Mayweather in the early going of the fight “I'm trying to clean up my sport, That is why we are both (he and Mosley) taking random urine and blood tests.” Said Floyd Mayweather ina n interview. Sahen Mosley has agreed to undergo random blood and urine testing, as has Mayweather, Ellerbe said. 

 

Shane Mosley has had a lay off, but putting the Marquez fight aside, Floyd Maywether has been longer. Mosley will put his punching power on Floyd in a way that he has not seen before. He should use his jab like Oscar did not do to keep Floyd preoccupied and off balance until an oppening happens and then let go with a barage of rights and lefts that are too numerous for Floyd to track with his “see everything defense”.

Friday, April 30, 2010 | posted in boxing, mayweather, mosley | 0comments [ More ]

UFC Top 10 Middleweights Warriors

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts is tabulated and the undisputed best middleweight in the world is Anderson Silva who looks bored with middleweight division in the UFC since his last fight with Demain Maia, and he's moving up to fight Forrest Griffin at light heavyweight, at least for the time being. The UFC 99 main event of Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin features one star to Anderson Silva moving down from light heavyweight to middleweight because he wants a shot at Anderson Silva's belt, and another star Rich Franklin moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight because he knows he'll never get another shot at Anderson Silva's belt.

The UFC 100 middleweight battle between Ultimate Fighter coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping will probably produce the next contender to the middleweight throne, but Henderson already tried and failed at beating Wanderlei Silva, and Michel Bisping seems very unlikely to beat Anderson Silva. Meanwhile, the guy who I've been saying forever deserves a shot at Silva -- Yushin Okami -- keeps getting hurt and may never get that shot.

There are questions beyond the UFC as well. Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le isn't fighting because he'd rather be a movie star, and the two fighters who won the two middleweight Strikeforce fights on Saturday night – Nick Diaz and Jake Shields who won't fight each other because they're friends and training partners. And anyway, those two fights were technically at catch weights rather than middleweight, and Diaz and Shields should really be fighting at welterweight. There are some good middleweight fights coming up this summer: Henderson-Bisping, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago at Affliction Trilogy and Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia at UFC 102 will all be fun. 

 

Below are the latest ranking of UFC Top 10 Middleweight Warriors:

• Anderson Silva – The UFC middleweight champion had his title defense against Vitor Belfort in April called off. Will he fight Sonnen instead? Silva seems to want fights against bigger names and bigger challenges, and that may necessitate a move up to light heavyweight — or even heavyweight.
  
  
• Chael Sonnen – Chael Sonnen has won some impressive decisions, but now he needs to start finishing fights — something he hasn’t done since TKO’ing a little-known opponent named Kyacey Uscola in 2007.

• Dan Henderson – Strikeforce’s big acquisition will fight Jake Shields for a title belt on CBS in April. 

• Vitor Belfort – No word yet on how soon he’ll be able to return from shoulder surgery.

• Jake Shields – Jake Shields will be the underdog when he takes on Henderson. 

• Demian Maia – It might seem unfair to have Maia below Sonnen after Maia needed only half a round to submit Sonnen last year. But Sonnen has looked much more impressive than Maia since then.

• Nate Marquardt – Nate  Marquardt desperately wants another chance at Silva. That’s not going to happen.

• Robbie Lawler – His comeback win over Melvin Manhoef was thrilling, and his presence gives Strikeforce a middleweight division with more depth than just the Henderson-Shields fight. 
  
  
• Yushin Okami – The UFC just keeps on burying Okami; his next fight will be against Lucio Linhares on the non-televised portion of the UFC Fight Night 21 card.
  
  
  
• Mamed Khalidov – His rematch with Jorge Santiago at Sengoku 12 in March should be outstanding.
  

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | posted in UFC, ultimate fighter | 0comments [ More ]

Jim Cleamons Hoping For LA Lakers' Victory Next Season

NBA's most renowned basketball team LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons stated his team statistics where the LA Lakers won by 8 points. But they shot just 41% from the field, 68% from the free-throw line. They outscored the Thunder by 14 points in the first quarter, but Oklahoma City outscored them, 66-60, the rest of the way. The Lakers built a 17-point lead, but saw that cut to six points in the fourth. The one constant was the stifling LA Lakers defense, which held the Thunder to 40% shooting for the game. 

 

At the start of every season, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson gives his assistants eight to 10 teams they are in charge of scouting. The Thunder is Jim Cleamons' team, and it's his job to develop the Lakers' game plan.

"I thought we did OK, OK is nothing to brag about because the first game you never know anyway what they were going to do or how we would respond. But we survived and it's always nice to get a win as you go." As LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons collected his thoughts, he came to a conclusion.

The Game 2 is on Tuesday night at Staples Center. Jim Cleamons said the Thunder has a versatile menu of plays it runs, something it did out of timeouts Sunday. "Even opening the game, they ran a couple of plays that we hadn't seen before," Jim Cleamons added.

Jim Cleamons was very complimentary about the young talent on the Thunder. He called the league's top scorer Kevin Durant a versatile player. Jim Cleamons said Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook showed he can attack the rim and that Jeff Green can play both power and small forward. The LA Lakers' assistant also noted that Thunder rookie James Harden is a swing player who can score and be a facilitator. 

 

LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons has a wish list for the Lakers to be successful in Game 2. The LA Lakers were really never in any danger of losing Game 1 of the best-of-seven first-round series although the Thunder did cut the lead to an uncomfortable six points a couple of times. More might not be known until Thursday when the Lakers play their first road game in Game 3. The next game will be Tuesday at the Staples Center. 

 

Kobe Bryant also came back after a self-imposed respite in order to try to heal some of his various injuries. He finished with 21 points on less-than-stellar 6-of-19 shooting. He was 7 of 12 from the free-throw line including two times that he missed both of his free throws. The Lakers got the lead back to 8 when Pau Gasol made two free throws after being fouled by Russell Westbrook. But the Thunder got it back to an uncomfortable seven when Serge Ibaka made one of two free throws with 1:40 to play. Derek Fisher had a flash from the past when he sank a three-pointer to lengthen the lead to 10. It was his first field goal since the first quarter. 

 

Meanwhile, the whiteboard created by Phil Jackson in the LA Lakers' locker room had a simple message, "Look @ this," for the Lakers basketball players, and posted a box score of the last time the Lakers played the Thunder, a 91-75 loss. There are 2 stat categories were circled: The LA Lakers shot a miserable 39% from the field and were only two of 15 from the 3-point line in that game.

Monday, April 26, 2010 | posted in jim cleamons, LA Lakers, NBA | 0comments [ More ]