Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The nature of mixed martial arts dictates that stars come and go. Injuries, burnout, contract issues and illness make it so that few fighters can dominate for a long period of time. But there have been a few who have stayed at or near the top of the pile for the past decade. As part of Yahoo! Sports' look back at the past ten years in sports, here are the top ten mixed martial artists of the decade.
10. Matt Hughes: Though he's faded in recent years, Hughes was one of the UFC's most successful champs. His win over MMA pioneer Royce Gracie signaled a change of the guard, and he defended his welterweight belt eight times. Hughes also has wins over both B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre.
9. Tito Ortiz: The "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" ended the decade on a weird note, with a decision loss to Forrest Griffin. Before his exile from the UFC, Ortiz was the longest reigning UFC champ with wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort and a trilogy of wins over nemesis Ken Shamrock.
8. Wanderlei Silva: In his prime -- which covered the bulk of the decade -- no one could stop "The Axe Murderer." His reign over Pride's 205-lb. division lasted for four years and included two epic wins over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
7. Georges St. Pierre: GSP represents the new guard in MMA, the type of fighter who sticks to a strategy, blends together different disciplines, and gets sponsored by huge companies like Gatorade and Under Armour. He's also the sort of guy who avenges his only two losses, and puts together a 19-2 record over his career.
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Fighting in both Pride and the UFC, Big Nog has wins over Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Filipovic, Dan Henderson and Mark Coleman. His bout with Couture was one for the ages, and out of his five losses, two are to Fedor Emelianenko, and two were later avenged.
5. Anderson Silva: In the second half of the decade, Silva has been unstoppable. Currently, he is riding an 11-fight winning streak. In his career, he has wins over Forrest Griffin, two over Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson and the best fighter impressions on the planet.
4. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: You may be surprised to see Rua so high on the list until you take a close look over his record in both Pride and the UFC. He has just four losses. One of them was the recent razor-thin decision to Lyoto Machida, and another was the controversial loss to Mark Coleman which Rua later avenged. Wins include Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson,
3. Fedor Emelianenko: The Last Emperor has one loss in his career, which includes fights in Strikeforce, Pride, Affliction and Rings. The only thing keeping him from the top of the list is the fact that he has not faced top-notch competition in the latter part of the decade.
2. Randy Couture: Before fighting Brandon Vera at UFC 105, Bruce Buffer took a full minute to announce Couture. With all of Couture's accolades, Buffer needed that much time. Couture is the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champ of the UFC, as well as a Hall-of-Famer. He is still fighting top-flight competition at the age of 46.
1. Chuck Liddell: Few people's names have become so synonymous with MMA. Before taking to the dance floor, Liddell was the king of the UFC, a light heavyweight champion with wins over Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Renato Sobral. As the decade comes to a close, Liddell's style has caught up with him and he might be done with fighting, but there is no question who owned the past 10 years.
Vettori warns against complacency
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has warned against complacency ahead of the second Test against Pakistan in Wellington.
"There is a series that needs to be won, we went 1-0 up against England and lost the series by resting on our laurels. There is a desire in the need to celebrate the Dunedin win but it's not the end of the summer," Vettori said.
Daryl Tuffey has been called in as a cover for Shane Bond for the rest of the series.
Vaughan wants players freed up for IPL
London: England stand no chance in next year's T20 World Cup in the West Indies if their players are not allowed to play the IPL next season, believes former captain Michael Vaughan.
"We've got a T20 World Cup in May and at the minute we've got no chance. England should take the guys who could do with a rest from Test cricket and send them to play in the IPL to develop their Twenty20 skills," he said.
Pak players given security clearance
Karachi: A Pakistan ministry gave security clearance to the national cricketers to participate in IPL 3 in India in March-April next year.
"The foreign ministry had already given political clearance for the players to take part in the IPL and now the interior ministry has also given its security clearance," a senior official said.
The Pakistan government had stopped players from participating in the second season of the IPL 2 on security grounds after the Mumbai terror attacks.
Botham cheers tsunami survivors
Seenigama: Ian Botham said he was moved by the progress of post-tsunami rebuilding in Sri Lanka, as he visited a sports project he has backed. "Coming back has been heart-warming and very, very emotional," Botham said on his third visit to the island since 2005.
"There is a series that needs to be won, we went 1-0 up against England and lost the series by resting on our laurels. There is a desire in the need to celebrate the Dunedin win but it's not the end of the summer," Vettori said.
Daryl Tuffey has been called in as a cover for Shane Bond for the rest of the series.
Vaughan wants players freed up for IPL
London: England stand no chance in next year's T20 World Cup in the West Indies if their players are not allowed to play the IPL next season, believes former captain Michael Vaughan.
"We've got a T20 World Cup in May and at the minute we've got no chance. England should take the guys who could do with a rest from Test cricket and send them to play in the IPL to develop their Twenty20 skills," he said.
Pak players given security clearance
Karachi: A Pakistan ministry gave security clearance to the national cricketers to participate in IPL 3 in India in March-April next year.
"The foreign ministry had already given political clearance for the players to take part in the IPL and now the interior ministry has also given its security clearance," a senior official said.
The Pakistan government had stopped players from participating in the second season of the IPL 2 on security grounds after the Mumbai terror attacks.
Botham cheers tsunami survivors
Seenigama: Ian Botham said he was moved by the progress of post-tsunami rebuilding in Sri Lanka, as he visited a sports project he has backed. "Coming back has been heart-warming and very, very emotional," Botham said on his third visit to the island since 2005.
India recall Sreesanth for first two Sri Lanka ODIs
Indian pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was recalled to the one-day team for the first two games against Sri Lanka following his match-winning spell in the second test.
Sreesanth took five for 75 in a memorable comeback to the national team after a 19-month absence.
Sreesanth replaced Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took the place of leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the 15-man one-day squad named by the national selectors on Wednesday.
India have rested spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for the two Twenty20 internationals that precede the five-match one-day series.
Uncapped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashok Dinda were named in the Twenty20 team.
The two Twenty20 internationals will be played on Dec 9 in Nagpur and on Dec 12 in Mohali and the first two one-dayers in Rajkot (Dec 15) and Visakhapatnam (Dec 18).
The other three ODIs will be played at Cuttack, Kolkata and Delhi.
First two ODIs: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.
For Twenty20: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma.
Sreesanth took five for 75 in a memorable comeback to the national team after a 19-month absence.
Sreesanth replaced Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took the place of leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the 15-man one-day squad named by the national selectors on Wednesday.
India have rested spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for the two Twenty20 internationals that precede the five-match one-day series.
Uncapped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashok Dinda were named in the Twenty20 team.
The two Twenty20 internationals will be played on Dec 9 in Nagpur and on Dec 12 in Mohali and the first two one-dayers in Rajkot (Dec 15) and Visakhapatnam (Dec 18).
The other three ODIs will be played at Cuttack, Kolkata and Delhi.
First two ODIs: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.
For Twenty20: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma.
India recall Sreesanth for first two Sri Lanka ODIs
Indian pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was recalled to the one-day team for the first two games against Sri Lanka following his match-winning spell in the second test.
Sreesanth took five for 75 in a memorable comeback to the national team after a 19-month absence.
Sreesanth replaced Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took the place of leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the 15-man one-day squad named by the national selectors on Wednesday.
India have rested spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for the two Twenty20 internationals that precede the five-match one-day series.
Uncapped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashok Dinda were named in the Twenty20 team.
The two Twenty20 internationals will be played on Dec 9 in Nagpur and on Dec 12 in Mohali and the first two one-dayers in Rajkot (Dec 15) and Visakhapatnam (Dec 18).
The other three ODIs will be played at Cuttack, Kolkata and Delhi.
First two ODIs: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.
For Twenty20: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma.
Sreesanth took five for 75 in a memorable comeback to the national team after a 19-month absence.
Sreesanth replaced Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took the place of leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the 15-man one-day squad named by the national selectors on Wednesday.
India have rested spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for the two Twenty20 internationals that precede the five-match one-day series.
Uncapped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashok Dinda were named in the Twenty20 team.
The two Twenty20 internationals will be played on Dec 9 in Nagpur and on Dec 12 in Mohali and the first two one-dayers in Rajkot (Dec 15) and Visakhapatnam (Dec 18).
The other three ODIs will be played at Cuttack, Kolkata and Delhi.
First two ODIs: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.
For Twenty20: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma.
Dilshan, Mathews lift Sri Lanka vs. India
Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan posted his 11th test century Wednesday as the visitors made 366-8 on a fluctuating first day of the third and final test against India.
Dilshan's 160-ball 109 and his brisk 93-run partnership for the opening wicket with Tharanga Paranavitana (53) were the feature of Sri Lanka's innings after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat.
India offspinner Harbhajan Singh (4-107) struck some crucial blows to stop Sri Lanka's progress as the hosts bounced back into the contest after struggling in the opening session.
Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews hit a career-best 86 not out to give Sri Lanka a narrow edge as it seeks to level the series.
Mathews, who had just one half-century in his previous six tests, struck 13 boundaries off 118 balls and featured in two prosperous partnerships: 74 for the fifth wicket with Dilshan and 67 for the sixth with Prasanna Jayawardene (43).
Sri Lanka lost three wickets in the closing stages, leaving Muttiah Muralitharan at the crease at stumps, yet to score.
Dilshan struck two sixes and 10 fours to stamp his authority against India's pace attack, and forced home captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to turn to his spinners earlier than he would have hoped.
He was finally given out caught by Murali Vijay at forward short leg but replays showed that the ball bounced off his pad.
Paranavitana struck seven boundaries off 81 balls before offspinner Harbhajan got India's first breakthrough, inducing an edge to Rahul Dravid at first slip.
After toiling in the field against Sri Lanka's opening pair, India struck back with three wickets in the afternoon session to slow the visitors' scoring. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2-97) dismissed Sangakkara caught behind for 18.
Pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (1-39) then removed Mahela Jayawardene, who top-edged an intended pull-shot to Yuvraj Singh at backward square-leg.
Harbhajan then snared Thilan Samaraweera's (1) wicket, inducing a bat-pad catch to Vijay at short-leg. Harbhajan later dismissed Rangana Herath (1) and also featured in Prasanna Jayawardene's dismissal, taking the catch off Ojha's bowling.
Dilshan's 160-ball 109 and his brisk 93-run partnership for the opening wicket with Tharanga Paranavitana (53) were the feature of Sri Lanka's innings after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat.
India offspinner Harbhajan Singh (4-107) struck some crucial blows to stop Sri Lanka's progress as the hosts bounced back into the contest after struggling in the opening session.
Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews hit a career-best 86 not out to give Sri Lanka a narrow edge as it seeks to level the series.
Mathews, who had just one half-century in his previous six tests, struck 13 boundaries off 118 balls and featured in two prosperous partnerships: 74 for the fifth wicket with Dilshan and 67 for the sixth with Prasanna Jayawardene (43).
Sri Lanka lost three wickets in the closing stages, leaving Muttiah Muralitharan at the crease at stumps, yet to score.
Dilshan struck two sixes and 10 fours to stamp his authority against India's pace attack, and forced home captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to turn to his spinners earlier than he would have hoped.
He was finally given out caught by Murali Vijay at forward short leg but replays showed that the ball bounced off his pad.
Paranavitana struck seven boundaries off 81 balls before offspinner Harbhajan got India's first breakthrough, inducing an edge to Rahul Dravid at first slip.
After toiling in the field against Sri Lanka's opening pair, India struck back with three wickets in the afternoon session to slow the visitors' scoring. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2-97) dismissed Sangakkara caught behind for 18.
Pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (1-39) then removed Mahela Jayawardene, who top-edged an intended pull-shot to Yuvraj Singh at backward square-leg.
Harbhajan then snared Thilan Samaraweera's (1) wicket, inducing a bat-pad catch to Vijay at short-leg. Harbhajan later dismissed Rangana Herath (1) and also featured in Prasanna Jayawardene's dismissal, taking the catch off Ojha's bowling.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
David Beckham tops English football 'rich list'
. David Beckham has been named as England's richest footballer, according to to FourFourTwo magazine's 'Rich List'.
The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder enjoys a personal fortune of £125 million, dwarfing the wealth of his nearest rival, Michael Owen. Owen is reportedly worth £38 million.
Owen's Manchester United colleague Wayne Rooney (£37m) comes next, with another two United stars, Rio Ferdinand (£30m) and Ryan Giggs (£24m), completing the top five.
England boss Fabio Capello is the wealthiest manager, with a fortune of £30m. Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane (£27m) and Alex Ferguson (£22m) are second and third.
As far as owners are concerned, Queens Park Rangers shareholder Lakshmi Mittal is the wealthiest man in English football. The steel magnate boasts a fortune reportedly worth £18.4 billion.
The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder enjoys a personal fortune of £125 million, dwarfing the wealth of his nearest rival, Michael Owen. Owen is reportedly worth £38 million.
Owen's Manchester United colleague Wayne Rooney (£37m) comes next, with another two United stars, Rio Ferdinand (£30m) and Ryan Giggs (£24m), completing the top five.
England boss Fabio Capello is the wealthiest manager, with a fortune of £30m. Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane (£27m) and Alex Ferguson (£22m) are second and third.
As far as owners are concerned, Queens Park Rangers shareholder Lakshmi Mittal is the wealthiest man in English football. The steel magnate boasts a fortune reportedly worth £18.4 billion.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Revolution in the United States of America in the late ’90’s. He has won the WCW/WWE Cruiserweight championship eight times – more than anyone else in history. He’s touted as the greatest “underdog” champion of all time, given his height and weight compared to his opponents.Gutierrez is a lucha libre luchador as is his uncle and trainer, Rey Misterio, Sr. He debuted as a wrestler in April 1989 at the age of 14 in Tijuana, Mexico. He was too young to wrestle in the United States, as athletic commissions would not give him a license. Technically, he was also underage in Mexico, but enforcement was generally low. In Mexico, using the stage name Colibri (hummingbird in Spanish), he began a feud with another luchador, Psicosis (who was also trained by Rey Misterio, Sr.). This feud lasted several years even after Gutierrez’s career moved to the U.S. When he turned 18, his uncle allowed him to use the ring name “Rey Misterio, Jr.” Gutierrez later changed the spelling to “Rey Mysterio, Jr.” and eventually dropped the “Junior”. In Asistencia AsesorÃa y Administración (AAA) he feuded with Juventud Guerrera which included a tag match with Guiterrez & Misterio, Sr. versus Juventud and his father, Fuerza Guerrera.Relationship with Eddie Guerrero
On February 20, 2005, Rey won his third WWE Tag-Team Championship with Eddie Guerrero after defeating Doug Basham and Danny Basham (a.k.a The Basham Brothers) at WWE No Way Out 2005. However, in a departure from traditional booking, the new champions did not defend their titles at WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005, but instead faced one another, with Rey winning. This led to a storyline in which the team broke up and had Guerrero turn heel due to being frustrated by being unable to defeat Mysterio on various occasions.
Guerrero and Rey continued to feud, with Guerrero threatening to reveal a secret he and Rey shared involving Rey’s son, Dominic. Unless Rey deferred to Guerrero’s authority, he threatened to go public with the secret. Guerrero later revealed that he was Dominic’s biological father.
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