By
Anthony De Franco 
March 9, 2010, at 6:42 pm
Everyone wondered what was next for Paulo Thiago. After going 2-1 against the American Kickboxing Academy’s welterweight Triumverate, Thiago is considered an elite prospect and someone capable of making a run at Georges St. Pierre’s title. Up next for him will be Danish striker Martin Kampmann, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
“According to sources close to the negotiations, both sides have verbally agreed to the bout and should sign official agreements as early as next week.”
Thiago is coming off a victory over Mike Swick in which he showed good, powerful striking and the ability to finish via submission with a textbook d’arce choke. I’m not quite sold on him yet as a contender for a belt, but I am a beleiver that he can make some noise at the top of the welterweight rankings.
As for Kampmann, I’ve never been quite as high on him. At UFC 103, Paul Daley outstruck a guy who is supposed to be one of the most dangerous welterweight standup fighters in the world. Since then, He guillotined Jacob Volkmann at UFC 108, which proved exactly nothing to me.
Expect Thaigo to continue his assault on the summit of the Welterweight division.
By
Anthony De Franco October 14, 2009, at 10:20 pm
Remember Junie? He was the idiot of season eight of The Ultimate Fighter that was constantly getting drunk and getting into trouble. Hell, he even threw a glass at a guy.
Well, his life hit a new low last week when he was cut from the UFC following an episode in an emergency room in Vegas. Here’s the exact description of what happened from CageWriter:
Browning was admitted to a Henderson, Nevada hospital last week after taking 16 pills of Klonopin. He then exacerbated his problems by attacking three nurses. Browning was arrested on three counts of misdemeanor assault.
So, Browning had his first media appearance with RawVegas.tv and attempted to explain.
Watch Junie Browning Issues Apology on RawVegas.tv
I understand why Browning got cut, but I think that as long as he stays clean (which is a huge if) he will find a spot somewhere. Strikeforce will likely see this as a chance to put a former TUF guy who is a name on their roster.
By
Anthony De Franco October 4, 2009, at 10:20 pm
This is freaking awesome. Not only are the Raiders one of the worst teams in the NFL, but now their head coach could be headed “upstate” for awhile. This is pretty exciting. When the Raiders play the Giants next week, they could be head coachless.
The Raiders are reportedly bracing themselves for the possibility that head coach Tom Cable could soon be arrested for his training camp fight with former assistant Randy Hanson.
The NFL could also suspend Cable for violating the Personal Conduct Policy if he is charged with assault. “Everybody is trying to figure out who’s going to take over if Tom isn’t here,” said one unnamed assistant. “(Defensive coordinator) John Marshall has a lot of experience, he’s probably the guy. But it’s nuts.” Perhaps the situation is affecting the Raiders’ offensive focus. The unit generated just eight first downs on Sunday.
I mean, would anyone even notice if Cable wasn’t coaching next week? The whole team has been in disarray for as long as I can remember. Their “Franchise” quarterback is barely completing 40% of his passes. Their running game is just awful. At one point today, Darren McFadden had four rushes for negative eight yards. That’s just gross.
However, let’s look at it this way: When is the last time that an NFL head coach was arrested mid-season? That’s got to be a record of some kind.
By
Jason Comack August 6, 2009, at 5:48 pm
Elijah Dukes might be crazy. He’s been arrested at least three times for battery and once for assault, he’s fathered five children with four different women, he allegedly threatened to kill his wife and a 17 year old girl says he impregnated her. When Dukes was traded to the Nationals the team also hired an ex-police officer in the role of “Special Assistant: Player Concerns”. This person accompanies Dukes everywhere to ensure that he keeps himself free of trouble. So why on earth does Dukes keep getting second chances? The answer is simple, Dukes is a damn talented baseball player.
Dukes came up with the Rays and as a 22 year old he hit .293/.401/.488 with 9 steals and 10 home runs in 80 games. He made his MLB debut in 2007 and despite struggling to hit for average, .190, he still manged to have a .318 on base percentage and a .390 slugging percentage. When you factor in that he had a .192 BABIP and .201 ISOP (isolated power) you can see why he would make scouts drool. However, to no ones surprise, Dukes attitude lead to Tampa deciding to cut the cord with him despite his immense potential. Dukes was traded to Washington at the outset of the 2008 season.
In 2008 Dukes again proved that he is worth the trouble. Though limited to 81 games due to various injuries Dukes posted an impressive .264/.386./.478 line while stealing 13 bases and hitting 13 home runs. Many thought that 2009 was going to be Dukes breakout campaign. Baseball Prospectus’s usually deadly accurate PECOTA projection projected Dukes to hit .278/.385/.485 with 19 home runs and 17 steals. It seemed a 20/20 season in 2009 was in reach.
Until today 2009 was a lost year for Dukes.
In the off-season the Nationals had signed Adam Dunn to play left field, creating a giant logjam with Dunn, Lastings Millidge and Josh Willingham all vying for playing time with Dukes. Dukes role was never set, he bounced around between right and center field and after struggling early on he was sent to AAA. At AAA Dukes found his stroke and raked. He hit .279/.388/.529. That’s a .214 ISOP for those of you scoring at home and by the way he also had a low .286 BABIP.
At the trade deadline the Nationals finally cleared up their outfield logjam. Nick Johnson was traded to Florida and Lastings Millidge to Pittsburgh for Nyjer Morgan. This allowed Dunn to shift to first base, Willingham to left, Morgan to center and Dukes was called up to reclaim his spot in right.
Today Dukes went 3-4 with a home run and 4 RBI’s. Just when you thought you were out, he sucks you back in.
The Nationals seem intent on giving him the rest of ‘09 to prove his worth. With all of Duke’s struggles both on, and off, the field it’s easy to forget that he is still only 25 years old. Maybe Dukes will realize his talent maybe he won’t. But talented athletes like Dukes always get second chances.
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