Major Fight News, Jimmy Butler Asking Price and More! – SportsCorp News

As of today, I’ve ended the SportsCorp blog on tumblr and have decided to fold that into the website officially.  So what I’m aiming to do is making a sports post just about every day, alongside the pro wrestling, and comic/video game stuff.  Right now I’m looking at doing it two or three times a week.  We’ll see how it goes, how the format develops and evolves over time.  Right now I’m covering baseball, basketball, combat sports and football.  I may add hockey to the list eventually, but we’ll see.  For now I’m sticking to just those four.  There won’t be any real format about what gets covered in said categories.  Football could range from college, to high school, to the CFL or anything in between.  Same with the others.

 

 

 

Baseball:

The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are currently in the middle of a one game playoff to determine who wins the NL Central Champions and who has to go to the Wild Card Round, which is another one game play off.  Either way both teams will have a second chance.  Ironically enough, they’re not the only ones who have a one game play off, as The Colorado Rockies and Los Angles Dodgers also have a one-game playoff to decide the NL West Champions and the other wild card spot.  That game is later today.

The AL though is set as The Oakland A’s will face off with the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card spot, with the winner facing off with the Boston Red Sox.  The Houston Astros are taking on the Cleveland Indians in the other  opening round  match up  (Roll Tribe).

I’ll be picking my choices for both leagues MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year etc later today on the site.

 

 

Basketball:

Jimmy Butler may not be moved anytime soon, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Timberwolves are asking for “…quality veterans, top prospects, future assets and cap relief”  in a deal involving Butler.  You might get two of those things.  But not all four.  I’d focus on cap relief and future assets.

 

 

Combat:

To start things off, Dana White called Nate Diaz “nutty” after the space-cadet fighter claimed to be fighting Dustin Poirier at UFC 230 for a non-existent 165 pound title.  The more things change, right?

Remember Greg Hardy?  The NFL player who assaulted a woman, was found guilty and then got off on a technicality?  Well he’s still working his way through the world of mix martial arts, as the embattled ex-NFL player defeated Rasheem Jones in the first round at the XFN 352 event.  Greg Hardy is currently 3-0-0 in three pro fights, while his opponents have a combined 5-3-0.  So while he’s facing guys at his level experience-wise, he’s also a pro trained athlete while these men are just breaking in.  It’ll be fascinating to see what a Hardy could do against someone equally as trained.  Hardy is apparently under a developmental contract with the UFC, but considering the negative attention they’ve gotten in the past and their iffy public image today, it’ll be a question as to if Hardy actually makes it on a real UFC card.

Speaking of UFC fighters, former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez is a free agent but it doesn’t appear that he’s going to have many fans left in Bellator.  Alvarez used to fight there back in 2013, but since leaving for the UFC, Bellator has found it’s legs.  The company had a meeting with Alvarez but there isn’t much interest on either side apparently, as Bellator CEO Scott Coker dismissed the idea to MMA Fighting by saying;

It doesn’t seem likely at this point.

As well as;

I think that they had a conversation with Eddie and I’m not sure where it’s at.  But I don’t think it took a second, it wasn’t like it was something that was picking up any steam so I’m not sure.

In other Bellator news, they’ve recently agreed to terms to bring David Green into the group as the Head of Bellator Europe.  The idea is to develop a Western Europe based fight series, which will more than likely air in Europe and on Paramount Network on weeks that Bellator doesn’t have fights on it.  Paramount Network has to be pleased with Bellator, having shuffled off the “freak-show-fight” shackles and have become a viable competitor in the MMA-space.   The press release for Green’s new role is below;

 

Bellator President Scott Coker today announced the appointment of David Green as Head of Bellator Europe. In his new role, Green will report to Coker and oversee Bellator’s continued European expansion, including already-announced plans for a Western Europe-based fight series.

“We are pleased to welcome David to the Bellator team,” said Coker. “His experience and knowledge of the U.K. market makes him a great addition to the organization. We look forward to him being an integral part of Bellator’s growth as we continue to expand our footprint within the region.”

Green previously served as CEO and founder of BAMMA, where many of the of the U.K.’s best up-and-coming talent was discovered. Initially launching the promotion in 2009, Green also oversaw BAMMA’s TV rights negotiations and partnerships for the organization’s 38 successful events held across Europe. He also headed production and TV for IMMAF, the international sanctioning body for amateur mixed martial arts, for the last five years.

“Bellator’s commitment to this region under Scott Coker is fantastic news for the sport and something I am very happy to be a part of,” said Green. “There is considerable passion for MMA in Europe, yet still huge potential for growth, and with Bellator’s resources, I am looking forward to delivering to the fans and the fighters what they really deserve. I will be looking to emulate Bellator’s successful trajectory in the U.S., in what will be an exciting new chapter for the sport.”

Originally from the North East of England, Green now resides in London, where he will establish the new Bellator Europe office.

The fighting series will more than likely air on Channel 5 in the UK, which is owned by Viacom.  However,  because the programming was simulcast both in the U.S. on the DAZN app and the UK live, that meant the main event of Bellator 206 bled into the 6 a.m. block for the network and since that’s when children are getting up for school, the network opted to end the broad cast early in favor of Peppa Pig.  This should give Caddicarus another reason to hate the show.

Bellator Senior VP of Marketing and Communications David Schwartz explained the legality of it to MMA Junkie, saying;

Government regulations said at 6 a.m., that content was not suitable.  They had to switch to children’s programming. Peppa the pig.

In results based news; Quintin ‘Rampage’ Jackson defeated Wanderlei Silva to extend the series between them at 2-2 a piece.  They’re the only rivalry that I know to have happened in Pride, the UFC, and Bellator.   Aaron Pico won in devastating fashion, defeating Leandro Higo by TKO in the 3:19 of the first round.  Pico is seen by many as rising star in Bellator and someone they could build their Featherweight division around.   The Bellator Welterweight champion Rory MacDonald had a chance to win the Middleweight title on at Bellator 206 as well, facing off with the Champion Gegard Mousasi.  However Mousasi was too much for MacDonald to overcome and ended up suffering a TKO in 3:23 minute of the second round.

MacDonald took to Twitter after the fight to explain the loss, saying;

Last night was a tough one for me, unfortunately I didnt mentally show up ready to take on a competitive fight and froze in the cage. In this sport you pay a high price if you’re not dialed in and ready to go. I have zero excuses, gegard was a fantastic champion last night.

Bellator 207 returns to Paramount after debuting on the DAZN Fight App, with a continuation of their Heavyweight Championship Grand Prix.  Matt  Mitrione goes head to head with Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion (and arguably their best fighter pound for pound) Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader.  Bader hasn’t lost since 2016, and is on a five fight streak;  he’s also 3-0 since his Bellator debut.    Mitrione though is having a second life in Bellator, having defeated MMA legend Fedor Emeliannenko in New York at Bellator NYC and then defeating ‘Big Country’ Roy Nelson at Bellator 194 to advance in the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

In other news Alistair Overeem has changed teams, moving to Team Elevation out of Denver, Colorado.  He’s previously trained With Team Jackson-Winklejohn and The Blackzilians.

Also, former UFC fighter Cristiano Marcello has undergone two surgeries recently; one on both knees.   He’s been out of action for four years but was nearing a comeback for Brave FC in December.  That appears to be off as of now.

For those that don’t know, Japan is back in the fight game with RIZIN.  The group is becoming more and more popular in the country, as they routinely sell out fights (or get close).  The fights are held in four-rope fight rings like many boxing events see.  RIZIN 13 saw two legends of Japanese MMA return and make big impacts.  The first was Bob Sapp, former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and one of the most popular gaijin athletes of the modern era.  Sapp ended his 14-fight losing streak that started in 2011.  Sapp defeated Kintaro Osunaarashi in a unanimous decision.  The other was Mirko Cro Cop, who has been fighting in RIZIN for about two years, and remain undefeated in the promotion; also winning the RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix in 2016.  The event also saw Kyoji Horiguchi, lose in a kick-boxing bout against Tenshin Nasukawa in what some believe was an upset.

 

 

Football:

The Pittsburgh Steelers are apparently balking at trade suggestions for LaVeon Bell, with the team demanding a 2nd round pick (at least) and a “good” player in return according to NFL Media.