UFC 205: Yoel Romero Says Michael Bisping Is "Afraid" to Fight Him
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
Yoel Romero is a terrifying human being, and that was on full display at UFC 205 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Facing former middleweight champ Chris Weidman, Romero countered a takedown attempt with an explosive flying knee for a third-round technical knockout. Check out the video here, courtesy of Talk MMA"s Dizz:
While the Cuban has been forgotten about in the UFC"s hectic middleweight division, he is riding an impressive eight-fight winning streak, which also includes victories over former champions Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Lyoto Machida.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan gave Romero the chance to voice his desire to be the next challenger for the current champ, Michael Bisping (who was in attendance as an analyst). Here was Bisping"s response (warning: NSFW content):
This, of course, doesn"t mean Bisping vs. Romero is a guarantee. Still, how can anyone argue with a finish like that?
We"re certainly going to miss the Joe Biden/Barack Obama bromance - and the memes.
Tired of all the Trump talk? Then let"s have some fun withJoe Biden instead.
The US vice-president and Barack Obama have been quite the dynamic duo over the past few years - at least in meme form.
And social media fans have certainly been having a blast with their bromancesince Donald Trump"s big victory.
From booby-trapping the White House to tackling Trump, the memes have been flying fast and furious. Here"s a round-up of our favourites:
READ MORE:*US Vice-President Joe Biden hangs with All Blacks*US Vice-President Joe Biden touches down in NZ ahead of talks with PM*US Vice President Joe Biden accepts challenge at Government House
THE ELECTION:
DONALD TRUMP:
THE MEMES:
That"s right, Pence, we"re expecting big things - long may the memes continue.
As long as the Michigan Wolverines are in contention for the College Football Playoff, ClickOnDetroit.com will list each weekend"s games that could help U of M"s quest to reach the Final Four.
The pool of college football teams still in contention for the playoff continues to dwindle, with only seven Power 5 teams with one or no losses remaining.
Michigan, the lone unbeaten team in the Big Ten, is right in the thick of the race.
This weekend"s games are extremely important to the playoff landscape. Only three weeks stand between the remaining contenders and their conference championship games, so each Saturday is either an opportunity to move up or a hurdle to survive.
READ:Big Ten football power rankings
Michigan controls its own destiny, but with Ohio State rounding into form, the showdown in Columbus is shaping up to be a incredibly difficult challenge. Here are some of the games that would improve Michigan"s playoff chances, even if it slips up before the end of the season.
For a more in-depth explanation about why we post these rooting guides,click here. To see how last weekend went for the Wolverines,click here.
Must-haves
These are the games that absolutely have to go Michigan"s way to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Michigan over Iowa (8 p.m. Saturday): This is Michigan"s toughest road test of the season before the trip to Columbus. Iowa has lost two straight games, but always seems to give Michigan a challenge at KinnickStadium. If Michigan wins, its playoff hopes stay on track.
Toss-ups
These are the games that would help Michigan"s playoff chances and have a realistic chance of happening.
Duke over North Carolina (Duke 28, North Carolina 27): North Carolina is shaping up to be one of the top two-loss teams in the country, which could create a tricky situation if the Tarheels somehow win the ACC title and finish 11-2. With a loss to Duke, one of the ACC"s four potential contenders would be erased.
Arizona State over Utah (Utah 49, Arizona State 26): This is a very big under-the-radar game, and it"s not because Utah is a legitimate playoff contender. If the Utes fall to Arizona State and tumble out of the rankings, Washington will lose its only win over a ranked team. That would greatly damage Washington"s chance to make the playoffs as a one-loss conference champion.
Baylor over Oklahoma (Noon Saturday): Baylor"s season ended last weekend with it losing by 40 points to an average TCU team. The Bears have a chance this weekend to take down one of the Big 12"s final, desperate hopes for a playoff bid.
South Carolina over Florida (Noon Saturday): Like Baylor, Florida picked up its second loss of the season last Saturday in embarrassing fashion, watching its playoff hopes die. But a third loss would further crush the image of the SEC East and widen the Big Ten"s lead as the best conference in college football.
UCF over Cincinnati (Noon Saturday): One year after going 0-12, UCF is a win away from bowl eligibility. If the Knights can take down Cincinnati and pull off an upset in one of their final two games, that would give Michigan another nonconference win over a team with a winning record. In fact, UCF is even stronger than its 5-4 record, as three losses came by one possession.
Texas over West Virginia (Noon Saturday): Barring absolute mayhem over the final three weeks (which is a distinct possibility, as college football has shown us in the past), West Virginia is the last Big 12 team that would have a chance to get into the playoff over a one-loss Michigan team. Texas could take care of that this weekend.
Penn State over Indiana (Noon Saturday): Penn State really needs to be careful against an Indiana team on the brink of bowl eligibility. If the Nittany Lions continue to win, they"ll continue to move up in the top 10 of the rankings, strengthening Michigan"s resume.
Northwestern over Purdue (Noon Saturday): No matter what the committee says, I believe that the Big Ten teams would have an advantage if the conference as a whole continues to succeed. Northwestern has a chance to be a 10thteam in the conference to qualify for a bowl game, but it needs this win over Purdue.
Georgia over Auburn (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Auburn is one of the few teams in the country that controls its own destiny en route to the College Football Playoff. The Tigers would definitely made the field of four with a win at Alabama and an SEC title, unless they lose to Georgia first.
Georgia Tech over Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Virginia Tech is in a very similar position to North Carolina, except Virginia Tech already won the head-to-head meeting. The Hokies have the inside track to the ACC Coastal Division title, so a loss in the final three weeks would be devastating.
Appalachian State over Troy (3:30 p.m. Saturday): it"s truly incredible that this game has any bearing on the top four, but Clemson"s win over Troy is really helping its resume, as the Trojans are undefeated since their game against the Tigers. If Michigan and Clemson both lost a game, the Wolverines don"t want Clemson to have a win over a 12-1 Troy team.
Wisconsin over Illinois (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Wisconsin finally controls its own destiny in the Big Ten West Division. The CFP committee chairman said this week that the Badgers have separated themselves from the other one-loss teams in the country. That means that Michigan"s win over Wisconsin will continue to be one of the best wins in the country as long as the Badgers continue to win.
Texas Tech over Oklahoma State (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Teams rarely go from irrelevant to top 15 as quickly as Oklahoma State did, and the Cowboys still have a chance to make another big jump against rival Oklahoma later in the year.
Ole Miss over Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. Saturday): Texas A&M somehow fell only four spots after being dominated by a 3-5 team. If the Aggies fall to 4-5 Ole Miss, maybe they"ll drop out of the top 10.
USC over Washington (7:30 p.m. Saturday): This is one of the biggest remaining games of the college football season. If USC can top Washington, it will throw the Pac-12 into a complete tailspin. If Washington wins, it will pick up a much-needed second big win.
Colorado over Arizona (10 p.m. Saturday): Colorado is 7-2 with a chance to play in the Pac-12 championship game. What a huge nonconference win that has turned out to be for Michigan. The more Colorado wins, the better Michigan"s body of work looks.
Get greedy
These are games that would help Michigan"s playoff chances but probably won"t happen.
Boston College over Florida State (7:30 p.m. Friday): Florida State is an overrated team based on its resume, but that doesn"t change the fact that the Seminoles are a huge boost to both Clemson"s and Louisville"s resumes. Boston College is awful, so an upset here would throw an enormous wrench into the ACC"s image.
Pittsburgh over Clemson (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Clemson is obviously one of Michigan"s top competitors outside the Big Ten. Any undefeated teams that lose and improve Michigan"s standing would be a win for the Wolverines.
Maryland over Ohio State (3:30 p.m. Saturday): Remember what Ohio State did to Nebraska last week? Poor Maryland.
Hawaii over Boise State (7 p.m. Saturday): Michigan hopes every week that Hawaii will pick up a big win and help its resume. Hawaii always seems to falls short.
Wake Forest over Louisville (7 p.m. Saturday): Nobody was happier than Louisville to see Texas A&M fall last weekend. The Cardinals are lurking in the weeds, just waiting for teams in the top five to drop off. They should be in line for another blowout win Saturday.
Copyright 2016 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.
Rock musician and Hall of Famer Leon Russell died in his sleep early Sunday morning in Nashville, his wife reported on Russell"s official Facebook fan page.
A cause of death was not announced. Russell was age 74 at the time of his death.
Russell produced five Gold-selling albums in a career that spanned six decades. Russell"s top selling "Carney" albumwas released in 1972.
He released a No. 1 selling single in 1978 titled "Heartbreak Hotel," alongside fellow musician Willie Nelson.
Russell was nominated for a Grammy for the album "The Union." Russell collaborated with Elton John on the 2010 album.
In 2011, Russell was inducted into the Rock "n Roll Hall of Fame.
Since suffering from a heart attack in the summer, Russell canceled all of his appearances, with the hope of returning to the stage in 2017. His last performance came on July 10 in Nashville.
In its first episode since the election, McKinnon sat down at the piano to pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter.
Saturday Night Live addressed Donald Trump"s new role as president-elect in its own way in the show"s first episode since election night.
In honor of Leonard Cohen, who passed away earlier this week, Kate McKinnon kicked off the episode in character as Hillary Clinton at the piano, singing one of Cohen"s most famous tunes, "Hallelujah."
As a poet, songwriter and singer, Cohen had great influence over the music world, with evocative material that was frequently recorded by others. In some cases they even became hits, like "Hallelujah" for the late Jeff Buckley.
She concluded her somber performance of the emotional hit with the message: "I"m not giving up and neither should you."
Dave Chappelle made his hosting debut on the Nov. 12 episode with A Tribe Called Quest as the musical guest.
Dana White On Ronda Rousey"s Abrupt Exit at UFC 205 Weigh-Ins
"By far. Not even close, by far the biggest star ever."
~ Dana White
Those are words from UFC president Dana White when addressing former women"s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey ahead of her next fight being announced against Amanda Nunes on Dec. 30.
White has stated several times that the UFC has never seen a fighter with more impact in the sport than Rousey, but she has some serious competition from featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
McGregor has pulled in monstrous numbers on pay-per-view for the UFC while also becoming the highest paid fighter in the sport with a reported $40 million earned over the past year. He then became the first ever UFC fighter to land on the Forbes" 100 highest paid athletes list as well.
It"s a tough debate to settle considering Rousey has also managed to crossover into the mainstream with appearances in high-profile films such as "Furious 7", "Entourage" and "The Expendables 3" while becoming the face for brands such as Buffalo Jeans.
Of course, the UFC probably has no complaints either way considering McGregor and Rousey attract more attention than anybody else in the history of the sport. So arguing about which one is the bigger star only seems to add more money to the bottom line.
Still, it"s an interesting topic to debate so we"ve compiled some numbers available from pay-per-view buys, social media interactions and financial earnings to settle the question once and for all who is the bigger star:Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey?
PAY-PER-VIEW BUYS
First off, as a privately held company, the UFC isn"t required to release any financial information including pay-per-view buys from any of their events.
Still, information has become available through interviews with notable executives like Dana White or reliable sources such as veteran reporter Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer, who has released pay-per-view numbers for sporting and entertainment events for decades.
Of course, the numbers for pay-per-views are still ultimately just reported and the UFC hasn"t confirmed or denied if any of the figures are accurate.
For the purposes of this report, we will just examine the last three pay-per-view cards headlined by McGregor and Rousey:
CONOR MCGREGOR
UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor 1.2 million buys
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz 1.6 million buys
UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 1.65 million buys
RONDA ROUSEY
UFC 184: Rousey vs. Zingano 600,000 buys
UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia 900,000 buys
UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm 1.1 million buys
It"s also worth noting that McGregor"s last pay-per-view in August for the rematch with Nate Diaz is reportedly the biggest selling card in UFC history with 1.65 million buys, trumping the prior record holder with UFC 100 in 2009.
Based solely on the last three fights, McGregor has sold a reported 4.45 million pay-per-view compared to Rousey with 2.6 million pay-per-view buys.
Advantage Conor McGregor
SOCIAL MEDIA
There are several different way to measure social media impact when it comes to McGregor and Rousey. When speaking about total followers, the race isn"t even close with Rousey far and away the bigger star on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
RONDA ROUSEY
Facebook: 11.1 million
Twitter: 3.2 million followers
Instagram: 8.6 million followers
CONOR MCGREGOR
Facebook: 4.3 million followers
Twitter: 2.68 million followers
Instagram: 7.4 million followers
Advantage Ronda Rousey
SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT
Now these are a different set of rules entirely when it comes to social media impact for fighters. The Nielsen ratings system recently started gauging ratings on social media for television for sports with statistics returned for three of Rousey"s most recent fights and two of McGregor"s. The final fight the rematch with Nate Diaz fell into a new type of social media ratings with both Facebook and Twitter statistics and thus the information wasn"t available at the time of publication.
For the purposes of this section we will look specifically at Rousey"s two fights against Bethe Correia and Holly Holm and compare them to McGregor"s fights with Jose Aldo and the first bout with Nate Diaz. Also worth noting, Nielsen measures Twitter interactions from three hours before the event through three hours afterwards. All information courtesy of the Nielsen ratings system.
RONDA ROUSEY
UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia had 934,000 total engagements on Twitter with 283,000 mentions of Rousey"s own Twitter handle @RondaRousey.
UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm had 927,000 total engagements on Twitter with Rousey"s handle mentioned 115,000 times.
CONOR MCGREGOR
UFC 194: McGregor vs. Aldo had 603,000 total engagements with McGregor"s own handle @TheNotoriousMMA being mentioned 75,000 times.
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz had 844,000 mentions with McGregor"s handle mentioned 66,000 times.
It must be noted, however, that while Rousey has more interactions based on her fights, McGregor has a much bigger reach in terms of total retweets and "likes" on his posts. McGregor"s tweet about retiring from the sport earlier this year has been the most retweeted post by an athlete in 2016 with over 160,000 retweets and more than 200,000 likes.
Advantage Ronda Rousey
LIVE GATES
This is a comparison of the live gate total money earned for attendance for the three most recent cards available for Rousey and McGregor. These totals are reported by the UFC following the end of each event.
Again, we are specifically looking at the last three fights for both Rousey and McGregor. In Rousey"s case, gate totals were not reported for her fight against Bethe Correia at UFC 190, so we had to look at her last headlining bout against Sara McMann from UFC 170 instead.
RONDA ROUSEY
UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann $1.558 million (10,217 in attendance at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas)
UFC 184: Rousey vs. Zingano $2.675 million (16,577 in attendance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.)
UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm $6.8 million (56,214 in attendance at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia)
CONOR MCGREGOR
UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor $10.1 million (16,516 in attendance at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas)
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz $8.1 million (14,898 in attendance at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas)
UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 $7.692 million (15,539 in attendance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas)
Advantage Conor McGregor
FIGHT CARD APPEAL
When Rousey and McGregor fight, it not only benefits them but often times the people who compete on the undercard. For instance at UFC 205 this weekend in New York, McGregor is the headliner but his opponent Eddie Alvarez and fellow champions Tyron Woodley and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are expected to reap the benefits as well due to receiving pay-per-view points from the event.
Events headlined byRousey or McGregor are so popular that there are managers or competitors who will specifically try to get on one of those shows for maximum exposure.
FOX Sports polled several prominent mixed martial arts managers asking them this question if you were putting one of your fighters on a card, who would you rather have headlining Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey?
Out of the six managers reached for comment, five said that they would rather have their fighter compete on a card headlined by McGregor.
"I think right now it would have to be Conor. Just based on numbers," one manager said when speaking to FOX Sports.
"100-percent Conor. He redefined the game," another manager wrote when responding by text message.
Another manager brought up the fact that Conor is the better choice also because he has better competition to help him sell the fights he"s in.
"Conor without a doubt. He has bigger name people to fight," the manager wrote in a text message to FOX Sports.
Only one manager out of the six chose Rousey with his/her response as follows:
"Ronda by far. She"s a bigger star, keeps it real and she respects all fighters and the game itself. Business and financially speaking, Rousey is way above. Principle, professionally, ethically speaking, Rousey is way above."
Based on the reactions from the managers, it appears it is more beneficial to fight on a McGregor card than anywhere else in the UFC right now.
Advantage Conor McGregor
SALARIES
There"s no exact way to determine who makes more between McGregor and Rousey outside of their reported fight purses when they compete in a state where those figures are readily available. Sadly, Rousey"s last two fights took place in Brazil and Australia and neither reports those salary figures to the media.
With that said, the salary figures that we can used based on information available comes from the Forbes" highest paid athletes list, which combines fight purses, pay-per-view bonuses, sponsorships and endorsements.
These figures are solely what"s being reported by Forbes, a leading financialmagazine, but neither McGregor or Rousey have confirmed these numbers. These are the most recent numbers reported by the magazine and also the highest reported earnings for either fighter.
Conor McGregor $22 million
Ronda Rousey $14 million
According to Forbes, both McGregor and Rousey earned a reported $4 million from their endorsements/sponsorships, so that category is dead even. It"s the fight salaries where they separate with McGregor pulling in $18 million with Rousey at $10 million.
Advantage Conor McGregor
RESULT: Conor McGregor is ahead in 4 out of 6 categories
Of course there are always a million different metrics that are nearly immeasurable like which one of the athletes is better known to the general public or who has a bigger impact with endorsements.
At the end of the day, these were the six categories with the most readily available information that could be compared between the two athletes. When it was all said and done, McGregor definitely had a bigger footprint, especially when it comes to the amount of money he generates for the UFC. Rousey undoubtedly had the advantage when it came to social media and overall social media impact during her fights, but it"s impossible to say if those interactions equate to more star power than McGregor.
McGregor might have Rousey beat in a few of these categories, but it"s clear that they are the two biggest stars in the sport today and there"s a good chance they may go down as the most prolific stars in the history of the UFC.
Isaiah Pead | " No Problems " | NFL Career Highlights | AP
The Chiefs worked out running back Isaiah Pead on Tuesday, a source told PFT.
Pead played in three games for the Dolphins earlier this season but was released last month. Hes played in 30 career games since being selected by the Rams in the second round in 2012.
The Chiefs have had injury issues at running back. Last week, they brought back Knile Davis and also signed Bishop Sankey.
Tuesday is a busy day for tryouts across the league. Veteran running back Joique Bell was one of three running backs to work out for the Packers, who have also been hit hard by injuries at the position. The Dolphins also worked out running back Storm Johnson.
Pead was one of seven players to work out for the Chiefs. The others were quarterback Joel Stave, safeties Jimmy Hall and Earl Wolff, wide receiver Dres Anderson and linebackers Amarlo Herrera and Dwayne Norman.
