Stimulus February Montage

The Stimulus crew managed to dodge the snow enough to put out this February montage.

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Dana White Talks Michael Bisping's Punishment, Chael Sonnen's Future, GSP vs Silva - Dana White

Dana White Talks Michael Bisping's Punishment, Chael Sonnen's Future, GSP vs Silva Video by Dana White

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Thiago Silva?s UFC 125 Drug Test ?Inconsistent with Human Urine?

UFC 125 winner Thiago Silva has been accused of submitting a drug test sample that was "inconsistent with human urine" before his Jan. 1 win over Brandon Vera.Silva faces a suspension, fine, and having the win overturned to a no contest after an April 7 hearing.

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A Moment in Time

As I sit here at my desk preparing for a few days out of the office, thoughts of what I'm thankful for begin to flow into my head. "What does it mean to give thanks?" I ask myself. Is it a selfless, tangible deed that must be performed in order to merit appreciation? Is it [...]

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Brock Lesnar Teaches Jimmy Fallon a Rear-Naked Choke

Filed under: UFC

For the second straight week, a UFC fighter got a spot on NBC's late-night schedule, and for the second straight week it was a good PR moment for the UFC, which got to show off an engaging, likable fighter to an audience consisting largely of people who don't buy UFC pay-per-views.

Words like "engaging" and "likable" haven't often been used to describe Brock Lesnar, but that's how he came across on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where he talked up The Ultimate Fighter and his June fight with Junior dos Santos. Then Lesnar gave Fallon a one-on-one MMA lesson.

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Currency in off season

As I sit here looking outside at what meteorologists across the Midwest are referring to as Snowpocalypse, �I can’t help but dream about those sunny afternoons spent in free fall. If you’re a skydiver living in a place that gets all four seasons like I do, then you understand the inherent challenge of staying on [...]

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UFC 128′s Three Stars: Jon Jones, Jim Miller and Erik Koch

After a stop in Newark, the UFC has a new light heavyweight champ, a few more WEC stars shining in the big Octagon, and a lightweight with a strong claim on a title shot.

No. 1 star -- Jon Jones: He's young, he's still learning, and he's the UFC light heavyweight champ. Jones put on a clinic against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, throwing flying knees, spinning elbows, head kicks, jabs and the kitchen sink to win the belt. Next, he'll have to face his friend and teammate Rashad Evans to hold onto the championship. Maybe by then, I'll finally learn not to pick against Jones.

No. 2 star -- Jim Miller: Fighting at home in the Garden State, Miller ruined Kamal Shalorus' UFC debut with a dominating performance. His third-round TKO was Miller's seventh win in a row, and it's hard to dispute that Miller has earned a shot at the lightweight belt.

No. 3 star -- Erik Koch: Coming from the same camp as Anthony Pettis and Pat Barry, Koch showed off his own striking skills in a first-round KO of Raphael Assuncao, serving notice to the UFC's featherweight division. But he did leave one question unanswered: how does someone training in Wisconsin in winter get a tan like that? Perhaps GTL is part of the training routine at Duke Roufus' gym.

Who are your Three Stars? Tell us on Facebook or in the comments below.

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Chan Sung Jung Submits Leonard Garcia With a Twister

by Michael David Smith
In a rematch of one of the wildest, craziest slugfests in mixed martial arts history, Chan Sung Jung forced Leonard Garcia to tap out with just one second remaining in the second round of their fight Saturday at UFC Fight Night 24.

Although this fight wasn't quite the memorable battle that their first fight was, it was entertaining. And the result was more satisfying: In their last bout, Garcia won a highly questionable split decision. But this time around Jung took it out of the judges' hands, using a nifty twister submission on Garcia to secure the submission victory.

It was the first twister submission in UFC history.

 

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Suffolk Update.

If you planned on skating the new Suffolk park at Bennett's Creek this weekend, you might want to change your plans. According to the sign the park isn't opening until April 2nd. The flat concrete at Lake Meade was being worked on today, and according to the contractor, the concrete will be stable enough to skate on in three to four days but they are probably going to be doing landscaping so I'd expect an April 2nd opening date for that park as well.

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Five reasons to tune into ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

I'll admit it. Thirteen seasons into the UFC's reality show on Spike, and I'm feeling a little bit of "The Ultimate Fighter" fatigue. The show has been on since 2005, and it's hard to keep any TV show fresh for six years. (Except "Law and Order." How dare they take Jack McCoy off the air?)

But then I thought about the specifics of this season, and realizing that the fatigue I'm feeling can be easily squashed by the time the show debuts at 9 p.m. ET on Spike Wednesday night. Why should you tune in?

5. New start time: Just in time for the UFC to change the start time of the pay-per-view events, TUF is bumping its start time up an hour. The change may seem small, but now you'll have that much more time to return to Cagewriter and discuss the show before heading to bed.

4. A closer look at some of the best coaches in MMA: No, I'm not talking about Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos. Their assistant coaches are some of the best in the business, but relatively unknown by fight fans. Erik Paulson, Marty Morgan, Luiz Dorea and Billy Scheibe will all get a chance to show how they helped Lesnar and dos Santos reach elite levels of MMA.

3. Guest coach potential is off the charts: With dos Santos and Lesnar's connections and training partners, there is good reason to hope for fun cameos throughout the season. Jose Aldo, Anderson Silva, Pat Barry and the Nogueira brothers could all stop in. I really want Lesnar to pull in his buddies from the WWE days to teach his team about the fine art of selling a fight.

2. Watch dos Santos figure out how to be a star: Dos Santos has said that he just followed Lesnar's lead in dealing with the cameras. An interesting storyline throughout the season will be seeing if dos Santos is comfortable as not just a fighter, but a star in MMA.

1. Lesnar's response to a loss will be televised: With his out-of-the-way training camp and surly attitude, outsiders don't often get a close look at the former champ. When they do, it's quite often posturing. But with cameras following Lesnar for several weeks, it's likely they will capture his true response to losing his championship belt to Cain Velasquez. That will be riveting television.

Are you planning to tune in tonight? Tell us about it in the comments or on Facebook.

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Surf Artist - Robert Heeley

We've just added a new featured artist; Californian Robert Heeley. "Robert draws upon his surfing and sailing lifestyle to create inspired images of seascapes and ocean living. He captures the surfer's dream of spectacular waves at famous surf spots throughout California, Hawaii, Mexico and beyond." Enjoy…

www.clubofthewaves.com/surf-artist/robert-heeley.php



- www.robertheeleyfineart.com
- www.facebook.com/robertheeleysurfart

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Win $5000 in PADI?s Sea the Change Video Conservation Contest!!!

PADI is stirring up change in our oceans with the Sea The Change Conservation Contest! People like you are doing things large and small to protect the underwater world you care about. That’s why PADI created a conservation contest to let you see and share what fellow ocean lovers are doing to help. Simply grab [...]

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Suffolk Update.

If you planned on skating the new Suffolk park at Bennett's Creek this weekend, you might want to change your plans. According to the sign the park isn't opening until April 2nd. The flat concrete at Lake Meade was being worked on today, and according to the contractor, the concrete will be stable enough to skate on in three to four days but they are probably going to be doing landscaping so I'd expect an April 2nd opening date for that park as well.

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Island traveller

It�s a special trip on the Canaries this year. We first arrived on Fuerteventura and had a good time for about a week at Sotavento. Afterwards we travelled to Lanzarote reporting from the second PWA Freestyle event. The action was great. Sarah-Quita took another title and Gollito could defeat Kiri in the final. We stayed [...]

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Venture Spring Fling, April 2nd in Silverton, CO

Check out the Spring Fling from the folks at Venture Snowboards Saturday, April 2nd in Silverton, CO, for live tunes, a chance to win a new Venture deck and the opportunity to contribute to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

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Can One Tee Initiate Global Change?

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Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?

Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing?
Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition!
Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras.
This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]

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Jones to appear on the ‘Tonight Show’ on Thursday night

Jon Jones' latest stop on the victory tour is a trip out to Los Angeles and Jay Leno's "Tonight Show." He will appear on the famous late night show on Thursday evening at 11:35 ET/PT to talk about winning the UFC light heavyweight belt. The split in his training camp with former friend and training partner Rashad Evans will likely be discussed.

Jones is far from the first fighter to make it onto Leno's stage. Tito Ortiz, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Chuck Liddell have all appeared on the Leno show. But even putting Jones in that company is impressive. All three men have multiple title defenses, movie roles and magazine covers. Now, Jones will join them down that road of stardom that transcends MMA.

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Whitewater Rafting in Mystery Fiction

Since O.A.R.S. is an adventure travel outfitter, specializing in whitewater river trips, we’re always on the lookout for good books about the sport. Sure, there are lots of useful guidebooks, instructional manuals and such, but there’s nothing like diving into a rip-snorting novel that takes place on roaring rapids of a whitewater river to get [...]

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Whitewater Kayaking Slalom Technique How-To Videos

As usual, after watching videos of my friends creeking Class V, I went searching for some instructional videos on kayaking slalom technique because I know I’m weak in the eddy-catching / boat control department.� After plugging around for a while I finally found this awesome site called Canoe Slalom Technique that has a big section [...]

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Videoportrait about me by Kevin Pritchard

Kevin Pritchard is one of the guys on tour, who gives me a lot of inspiration and support as well. He tought me how to circle jibes towards the marks and helped me out with several trainingsessions. While the last years event at Jinha beach, South Korea, he filmed me while sailing and took an [...]

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Sunday 30 May 2010

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Daniel Espinoza

Warm up.
Mybe next time.

Read More

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Dana White: Brock Lesnar Is UFC's Most Underrated Fighter

by Michael David Smith A lot of mixed martial arts fans think Brock Lesnar is overrated: He lost his first UFC fight in 90 seconds, got fast-tracked to a title shot because of his pro wrestling fame, beat a man he outweighed by 50 pounds to win the title, then crumpled when someone finally hit him in the face and lost his title to Cain Velasquez.

UFC President Dana White has heard those comments. But he says that viewpoint is actually an example of Lesnar being underrated. In fact, White calls Lesnar the most underrated fighter in the UFC.

In a live chat with the Seattle Times to promote Saturday night's Fight Night in Seattle, White was asked to name the most underrated fighter, and Lesnar was the man he picked.

 

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Bas says Jones will takedown ‘Shogun’ easily

Bas Rutten's reaction to Jon Jones' title shot was similar to many around the sport, "is it too soon?" The former UFC heavyweight champ and analyst for HDNet came around quickly on the style of the fight favoring Jones.

Rutten has already seen Jones toss around solid wrestlers with ease, so how is Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, going to stay off the deck?

Jones challenges Rua for his 205-pound title on Saturday in Newark, N.J. The UFC champ has devastating kicks, but Rutten doesn't think it'll be enough to slow down the 23-year-old freight train.

Rua turned pro in 2003 and has 23 fights under his belt. Jones has only been a pro since 2008, yet he opened as a minus-170 favorite over the champ. The public is firing on Jones, he's up to minus-200 off shore.

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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First time climbing at Froggatt Edge

I’ve only just got chance to post about last week’s trip to Froggatt Edge. Friends tell me that a crisp spring morning is better for climbing grit but if you ask me sunshine is the way forward. I headed to Froggatt Edge (just south of Sheffield) with a few friends for my first ascents on [...]

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Sanchez questions Kampmann’s wish for a rematch

After Diego Sanchez took a controversial decision from Martin Kampmann at UFC on Versus 3, Kampmann discussed why he thought that he won and the lure of a rematch.

"I would love to rematch Diego," Kampmann answered when asked about another opportunity to face Sanchez. "I feel I won the first time but I would love to fight him again. If I was him I wouldn't want the rematch either because imagine how his face would look after the second fight. I would love to beat him up one more time and hopefully not leave it up to the judges this time."

With a decision that close, an instant rematch wouldn't be unprecedented. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was awarded a rematch with Lyoto Machida after Shogun lost their first title bout, and the same courtesy was awarded to B.J. Penn after he lost a close bout to Frankie Edgar.

But Sanchez is having none of that. On Twitter, he made it quite clear that Kampmann has no business getting a rematch.

"You really want a direct rematch? I trained no boxing! zero! I just wrestled my [expletive] off. I underestimated your [takedown] defense and had to resort to my streetfighting loco skills and almost dropped you I seen your legs. I was not in my best shape ... like @danawhite said that was the softest he ever seen me. That's 2 L's in a row you need a win real bad."

Then, after saying all that, he adds, "If I can't get a better fight that a win would move me up the ladder, I would love to fight you again! #Realtalk."

Oh, Diego, you crazy, crazy man. Your lunacy is what endears you to fans, even when you're spouting off complete nonsense. Did you see your face after the fight? Are you absolutely positive, without a shadow of a doubt that you won? And pulling out the "I was not in my best shape" defense is a little ridiculous, considering that you won.

Instead of Twitter-fights, you two should really just settle this in the cage. Oh wait, that would still be a rematch.

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UFC Fight Night 24 Undercard Live Blog: Hathaway vs. McCray, More

Filed under: UFC

SEATTLE, Wash. -- This is the UFC Fight Night 24 live blog for all the preliminary bouts in support of tonight's UFC on Spike TV event at the Key Arena.

The five bouts to be streamed on Facebook are Alex Caceres vs. Mackens Semerzier, Jon Madsen vs. Mike Russow, John Hathaway vs. Kris McCray, Michael McDonald vs. Edwin Figueroa and Sean McCorkle vs. Christian Morecraft. The three unaired bouts are Aaron Simpson vs. Mario Miranda, TJ Waldburger vs. Johny Hendricks and Waylon Lowe vs. Nik Lentz.

The live blog is below.

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Surf Artist - Leandro Silva

Introducing Brazilian surf artist Leandro Silva. Leandro is a self-taught artist based in Rio de Janeiro. He says; "I have struggled to gain traction in the market for art, often by not being famous, many doors are closed before my work is even considered". Let's help change that! If you like Leandro's work share it with your friends and get Leandro the recognition he deserves…

www.clubofthewaves.com/surf-artist/leandro-silva.php



Image below: Kelly Slater with one of Leandro Silva's paintings at the Billabong Pro at Santa Catarina, Brazil…



http://leandrosilva.carbonmade.com
http://leandrosilvaart.blogspot.com

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The take off

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VA Fleezers 2010 Montage

Even if VA Fleezers is only making one montage a year they are doing better than me. peep the 2010 montage.

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Sylt 2010

It�s my 5th time up here in Sylt. 2005, 2007 till 2010. This time we see a very calm Sylt. So far the wind never picked up above 20 knots and no big onshore waves crashed on the shore of Westerland. 6 days of the event are over and 4 days more are to go. [...]

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Brit writer says ‘biased’ American media is out to lynch Bisping

Following his resounding victory at UFC 127, Michael Bisping got himself in hot water by spitting at the corner of Jorge Rivera. The British middleweight was vilified by most of the MMA media and fans. That's sent The Telegraph's MMA expert Gareth Davies into a tizzy.

Davies suggests the American media is out to get Bisping, saying there was no balance to the stories written when both Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt called him out.

First we had Chael Sonnen, hardly a Saint himself, allowed to attack the Manchester middleweight with impunity. Where was the balance here from the US mainstream media covering MMA? Sonnen wrote UFC matchmaker Joe Silva an open letter, asking for a fight with Bisping. Fair enough.��How did the�US MMA media respond ? They wrote it up ignoring any of Sonnen's�misdemeanours in the sport. Balance ? None of it. But don't let the facts get in the way of a witchhunt.

From atop of his high horse, 'Nate the Great' added that Bisping's actions are unbecoming of a martial artist and were unsportsmanlike. No argument there, the spitting was utterly wrong, but am I really the only one who sees the irony here ?

Am I the only member of the media who can recall this same Marquardt�bringing home his own illegal knee to a downed opponent just two years ago ?�It was against�Wilson Gouveia [CORRECTION: It was Thales Leites at UFC 85].� Am I also the only one to recall�Marquardt followed that foul up with an illegal strike to the back of the head later in the fight? I know. I was there watching it live. Didn't�Marquardt himself bring�the sport into disrepute ? by testing positive for steroids on his UFC debut…

Davies calls me out for Cagewriter's Marquardt story.

Frankly that's no big deal. Davies and I have differing opinions on what to write in story that's simply reporting one fighter's quote about another. I don't believe the story needed to analyze whether Marquardt had the right to rip another fighter.

GAD assumes there's some anti-Bisping agenda. Funny things is, I may have the softest stance in the entire MMA media with regards to Bisping's future.

During Iole's appearance on ESPNRadio1100 following the incident on Mar. 1, I argued that the Bisping knee wasn't intentional and the spitting is something happens in the heat of the moment. I outright scoffed at the possibility of the middleweight being fired, but if some of the British media and Bisping want to believe it's them against the world - good deal, it makes for a fun storyline for the future.

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Jon Jones Pt. 2: His family and the origins of his facial scars

As Jon Jones discussed in part one of Cagewriter's interview, he hasn't taken much damage in his MMA bouts. But Jones, who will fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the UFC light heavyweight belt on Saturday at UFC 128, has a noticeable scar on his forehead. Where did it come from?

His big brother Arthur, a defensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, gave Jon that scar when they were kids.

"Arthur hit me in the face when I was a little boy with a Coca-Cola can. The first time, the can exploded, the second time he hit me with a crushed soda can, and I had cuts all over my face. The one that's in the middle of my forehead is a permanent reminder of my big brother," Jones said.

But Jones doesn't need to look in the mirror to be reminded of his brother's influence on his life. Jon said that Arthur and their younger brother Chandler (a football player at Syracuse) would spend hours in training -- also known as brothers beating each other up.

"Between me and my brothers, we had each other. It was just us. We wrestled all the time in our living room. We would get in fights. Our parents would come home and we'd all have new scars on our face. We would fight for hours. Both my parents worked during the day, so we would be home by ourselves for hours with no babysitter. When we fought, there was no one to break it up so we could fight for� hours. It toughened us up."

Arthur even pushed Jon without knowing it, as Jon used his big brother as inspiration to aim higher.

"Competition was always coming from me towards Arthur, because Arthur was the bigger brother, he was my dad's favorite, and he was always so dominant in everything he did. I always competed with Arthur, even though he didn't know that. He was just doing his thing, and I was hungry to keep up with that."

Now, Jon has caught up. Arthur spent the last three weeks training with Jon at Greg Jackson's camp, and Jon is blown away by his brother's skills in MMA.

"If he dedicated one year to the twice-a-day training lifestyle, I think he could compete with the UFC heavyweight champion. He's that special. It took me three years to get where I am, and Arthur is so special. He could get here in a year and a half."

Most MMA fans and media have been impressed by Jones' natural abilities. He has only been fighting for three years, but now has a chance to get the belt in one of the tougher weight classes in the sport. Still, he doesn't think that he's the best athlete in his family.

But who is the best athlete in the family?

"I think that I've been the hardest worker, because it hasn't come easy to me. I think it's a tie between Arthur and Chandler. Arthur just has 'it.' He has what it takes. He's gifted. Chandler has "it" and he works hard. Arthur is the most gifted, Chandler is the most special and I'm the one with the most heart and work ethic."

But Jones knows that none of his family would be where they are today without the strict guidance from his parents.

"My parents stuck by their beliefs. They always said that not too much positive goes on at night. They kept us where they could see us. We were never allowed to go out on Saturdays because we had to go to church on Sunday. We had to go bed at 9:00 p.m.� even when we were in high school. They stuck to what they believed, and they thought it would make us good in a way, and it ended up panning out, even though it sucked as a child."

Daddy's Girls

As a father of two girls, Jones appreciates the lessons his parents taught him, and is just as strict with his girls. Though they are both under two years of age, he is already concerned about how his parenting will affect him for the rest of their lives.

"I want to have strong relationships with my daughters. I want them to grow up to be respectable ladies, where the guys that they meet will respect them and they'll always have good people in their lives. I'm very hard on my daughters at a young age. My daughters are one and two, and I'm already telling them to stay away from boys. I just want them to be classy young ladies. I think they'll grow up to be respectable women with good guys. "

The girls watch the UFC video game with him, and love to see daddy on their television. He said he's already teaching the two-year-old punch and kick combinations. He would welcome his daughters trying out MMA.

"I would love it. I am already teaching Leah (the two-year-old) what the words punch and kick mean. She's horrible, but she's already learning."

That's right. Jones is already critiquing the striking technique of his two-year-old daughter. He laughed at that.

"Yeah, I take it pretty seriously!"

Watch Jones/Rua and the rest of UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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PWA Slalom Alacati 2010 is done

Straight after the Canary trip we flew back to Austria through D�sseldorf. We had just 1 and a half day to organise things for a 3 week Turkey-Greece trip, pick up the post, pick up a repaired sail, getting the right gear sorted out. What a stress! Thanks to the help of our friends J�rgen [...]

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Jon Jones Pt. 2: His family and the origins of his facial scars

As Jon Jones discussed in part one of Cagewriter's interview, he hasn't taken much damage in his MMA bouts. But Jones, who will fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the UFC light heavyweight belt on Saturday at UFC 128, has a noticeable scar on his forehead. Where did it come from?

His big brother Arthur, a defensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, gave Jon that scar when they were kids.

"Arthur hit me in the face when I was a little boy with a Coca-Cola can. The first time, the can exploded, the second time he hit me with a crushed soda can, and I had cuts all over my face. The one that's in the middle of my forehead is a permanent reminder of my big brother," Jones said.

But Jones doesn't need to look in the mirror to be reminded of his brother's influence on his life. Jon said that Arthur and their younger brother Chandler (a football player at Syracuse) would spend hours in training -- also known as brothers beating each other up.

"Between me and my brothers, we had each other. It was just us. We wrestled all the time in our living room. We would get in fights. Our parents would come home and we'd all have new scars on our face. We would fight for hours. Both my parents worked during the day, so we would be home by ourselves for hours with no babysitter. When we fought, there was no one to break it up so we could fight for� hours. It toughened us up."

Arthur even pushed Jon without knowing it, as Jon used his big brother as inspiration to aim higher.

"Competition was always coming from me towards Arthur, because Arthur was the bigger brother, he was my dad's favorite, and he was always so dominant in everything he did. I always competed with Arthur, even though he didn't know that. He was just doing his thing, and I was hungry to keep up with that."

Now, Jon has caught up. Arthur spent the last three weeks training with Jon at Greg Jackson's camp, and Jon is blown away by his brother's skills in MMA.

"If he dedicated one year to the twice-a-day training lifestyle, I think he could compete with the UFC heavyweight champion. He's that special. It took me three years to get where I am, and Arthur is so special. He could get here in a year and a half."

Most MMA fans and media have been impressed by Jones' natural abilities. He has only been fighting for three years, but now has a chance to get the belt in one of the tougher weight classes in the sport. Still, he doesn't think that he's the best athlete in his family.

But who is the best athlete in the family?

"I think that I've been the hardest worker, because it hasn't come easy to me. I think it's a tie between Arthur and Chandler. Arthur just has 'it.' He has what it takes. He's gifted. Chandler has "it" and he works hard. Arthur is the most gifted, Chandler is the most special and I'm the one with the most heart and work ethic."

But Jones knows that none of his family would be where they are today without the strict guidance from his parents.

"My parents stuck by their beliefs. They always said that not too much positive goes on at night. They kept us where they could see us. We were never allowed to go out on Saturdays because we had to go to church on Sunday. We had to go bed at 9:00 p.m.� even when we were in high school. They stuck to what they believed, and they thought it would make us good in a way, and it ended up panning out, even though it sucked as a child."

Daddy's Girls

As a father of two girls, Jones appreciates the lessons his parents taught him, and is just as strict with his girls. Though they are both under two years of age, he is already concerned about how his parenting will affect him for the rest of their lives.

"I want to have strong relationships with my daughters. I want them to grow up to be respectable ladies, where the guys that they meet will respect them and they'll always have good people in their lives. I'm very hard on my daughters at a young age. My daughters are one and two, and I'm already telling them to stay away from boys. I just want them to be classy young ladies. I think they'll grow up to be respectable women with good guys. "

The girls watch the UFC video game with him, and love to see daddy on their television. He said he's already teaching the two-year-old punch and kick combinations. He would welcome his daughters trying out MMA.

"I would love it. I am already teaching Leah (the two-year-old) what the words punch and kick mean. She's horrible, but she's already learning."

That's right. Jones is already critiquing the striking technique of his two-year-old daughter. He laughed at that.

"Yeah, I take it pretty seriously!"

Watch Jones/Rua and the rest of UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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Thule Goes Through the Roof With the $20 K "Lightning"

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Jon Jones Dominates Shogun Rua at UFC 128

by Michael David SmithThe UFC has a new light heavyweight champion, and it's a 23-year-old star in the making named Jon Jones. At UFC 128 on Saturday night, Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history, beating the stuffing out of Shogun Rua and winning a third-round TKO.

Jones, who has been a professional mixed martial artist for just three years, threw the legendary Rua around the cage like he was a nobody, dominating him both in the stand-up and on the ground, and finishing him with vicious strikes that left Rua's face a bruised and bloody mess.

"It means a lot to me," Jones said afterward. "But now I know I have a huge target on my back."

 

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Phenom Jones blows away Rua to take light heavyweight title at UFC 128

The pace at which MMA is evolving is amazing and Jon Jones is full proof of that. Bigger, more athletic and harder working athletes are getting into the sport everyday. Jones, a good college wrestler from a family of football players, just completed a short three-year journey to take out one of the greats of MMA with relative ease.

Jones pummeled Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on the feet and ground for two and half rounds. The Brazilian couldn't take anymore and slumped to the canvas at the 2:37 mark of third round giving the UFC light heavyweight title to the 23-year-old Jones at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.

"It feels go good. It's a testament that dreams do come true guys. They really can, believe in yourself," Jones told UFC analyst Joe Rogan following the victory. "It means a lot to me, but I know it also means I have a huge target on my back. And when you guys come to strike at me, I'm going to strike right back."

The 6-foot-4 Jones is really unlike any athlete the UFC has ever seen aside from former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar. He walks around at roughly 225 pounds, but his frame looks like it could easily carry 250 pounds. His football playing brothers are massive. Chandler, a defensive lineman at Syracuse, is 6-6, 251 and his older brother Arthur, is a 6-3, 313-pound tackle in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

The dwarfed Rua (19-5, 3-3 UFC) was in trouble from the opening seconds of the fight. A very well-rounded fighter, Rua looked like amateur in the clinch, on the ground and even standing up. Just 20 seconds in, the fighters clinched and Jones did what he's done to every previous opponent, he tossed Rua on his head like he was fighting a lightweight.

Anytime the fight was on the feet, Jones kept Rua at long distance and delivered a bevy of front, leg and body kicks. He was also devastating with his knees. Jones, who appears closer to 6-5 or 6-6, used his height to grab Rua's head on multiple occasions to deliver nasty knees to the body from a thai clinch.

By the end of the first round, Rua looked out of gassed and stunned. The onslaught continued in the second. Jones did damage with a nasty front kick and an inside leg kick with three minutes in the round. Amazingly, Rua, who's known for his kicks, hadn't thrown one the entire fight. Jones scored another takedown with 2:33 left in the round and showed great patience. He wore down Rua with forearm across his chin and grinding elbows across his face.

In the third, Jones got top control again when Rua made a desperate attempt at a leg lock. The Brazilian stayed out of trouble for a few seconds before Jones landed some nasty elbows. After getting abused on the ground for nearly a minute, Rua scrambled and as he tried to get to his feet, he got crushed by a knee to the body. He was hurt badly and immediately stumbled across the Octagon to put his back on the fence. Jones, possessing incredible killer instinct, threw a vicious body shot to Rua's right side. He went down in a heap. That was it. He had no more fight left in him.

UFC analyst Joe Rogan captured the scene by saying, "That ladies and gentlemen is the future and the present!" Rogan went on to say that Jones might be the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen.

Rua, 29, was once the future of the sport. He shocked the world by winning the PRIDE 205-pound Grand Prix back in 2005. Shogun, just 23 at the time, wrecked a field filled with legendary fighters like Vitor Belfort, Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Wanderlei Silva.

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HUF Commercial #026 and RipnDip Nermal Board

HUF Footwear just posted up a new commercial featuring Matt Gottwig. Also the Ripndip boys made a new board for all those cat lovers out there.

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Game changed: UFC parent company buys Strikeforce

Zuffa, the parent company who owns UFC, bought Strikeforce, the UFC's biggest competitor. This isn't their first acquisition, as Zuffa purchased and absorbed Pride Fighting Championships as well as World Extreme Cagefighting. However, the plan is to continue operating as two, separate promotions.

UFC president Dana White did an extensive interview with MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani on the subject.

White mentions several times that business will continue as usual. That means that Strikeforce's April 9 event will go on without any changes. Much like before the WEC merged with the UFC, fighters won't fight for both promotions, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker will continue to run that promotion.

Strikeforce has contracts with Showtime to provide fights. White has mocked Showtime's involvement in MMA, and has contentious relationships with Strikeforce fighters like Paul Daley and Josh Barnett, as well as other employees like commentator Frank Shamrock. Because of that, White says he doubts that he will visit a Strikeforce show any time soon. He also has kept his hard line against co-promoting shows, so don't expect to see Fedor Emelianenko in the Octagon. The Russian superstar only appears at shows co-promoted by his company, M-1, and that stance isn't likely to change.

It's too early to say exactly what this means for MMA's future, but rest assured that it's a game changer. Things changed so quickly that just hours after the story broke, the UFC's official twitter promoted that tickets were on sale for Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley.

What do you think of the UFC's big purchase? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Video analysis: Can ‘Korean Zombie’ vs. Garcia II match the first fight?

Fans never lose when Leonard Garcia steps into the cage. The kid goes for broke. He's willing to take a beating to dole one out.

In highly anticipated rematch, Garcia was scheduled to face Nam Phan at Ultimate Fight Night 24. Phan went down with an injury and the UFC put together an even better fight - Garcia and Chan Sung Jung will go at it again. Their first fight at WEC 48, short on strategy but big on haymakers, was one of the best in recent MMA history.

Is there anyway Garcia and "The Korean Zombie" can come close to their first war?

Yahoo!'s lead MMA writer Kevin Iole joined us to break down the fight and tell us why some rematches fall short of expectations. We also talk about the important issue of scoring these fights and what judges look for. Garcia won the first fight, but many thought Zombie was the victor.

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Diving Expeditions aren?t Just about the Diving?

For those wondering what a dive expedition involves, wonder no more! Thomas took part in an expedition in Mexico with GVI and reveals all! I was given a task this morning of writing about my perfect day at Pez Maya. What I’m going to write is a short version of my favorite things happening here [...]

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Local Hero Peggy Oki

We're thrilled to hear that Peggy Oki has been named as a "Local Hero" by the Santa Barbara Independent (scroll halfway down the page to see Peggy!).

Peggy has more than earned this honor with her inspiring & enduring support for protecting cetaceans and ocean life, through her Origami Whales Project… An international campaign, aimed at getting the message across to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to put a stop to the slaughter of whales and the cruelty of commercial whaling in Japan, Norway and Iceland.


Photo: Peggy Oki. Photo by Matt Dayka

You may remember Peggy Oki as the only female member of the legendary Zephyr Skate Team (a.k.a. Z-Boys of Dogtown)…



www.peggy-oki.com

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A rock climbing training blog - why?

If you are hoping to improve your ability or learn more about training techniques and tools, then this blog will give you some of the answers - because that’s what I’m going to do too!
I’ve been climbing for about three years and have developed enough basic ability to get me up 6a routes. I’ve set [...]

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UFC 127: Fighters, Octagon Girls Invade Bondi Beach - Octagon Girls

UFC 127: Fighters, Octagon Girls Invade Bondi Beach Video by Octagon Girls

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Watch Rua/Machida II and UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports

As always, you can watch Saturday's UFC 128 pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports. To remind you how Mauricio "Shogun" Rua won the championship belt, here is his second bout with Lyoto Machida. Fight action starts around the 10-minute mark, but it's worth watching the whole video to see Machida's entrance.

Now that you're sufficiently pumped for Saturday's main event,� click here to order it.

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Fired UFC fighter Duffee lists the positives of the Strikeforce takeover

Todd Duffee might be the last guy you'd expect to look at the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce through rose-colored glasses. That's exactly what he did when he posted a long message on the Underground Forum.

Duffee, a hot shot prospect in the UFC's heavyweight division, was released last year. The reason has never officially been released, but it was pretty obvious a series of run-ins with UFC management didn't help his cause. Duffee's only 25 and it sounds like he's gained a little more perspective on the sport since his ouster. Here are some of the things that he listed as the positives of Zuffa swallowing up Strikeforce.

1. My first thought was all the great possible match-ups we will get to see.� I understand they will be operating separately for some time but I hope when they say cross promotion they are saying mega fights will happen not just strike force will have a booth at the fan expos.

2. Next women's MMA will get a huge mainstream push I wasn't always a fan but the better they get the more I like it just the same.

3. Some of the greatest fighters in the world won't have to hear the dreaded question of when will you get good enough to be in the UFC and instead get the respect they have already earned.

4. MY FAVORITE� positive is that the UG will stop picking teams and stop the endlessly dumb trolling of the UFC is better than strike force and vice versa. And maybe this place will stop being such a wasteland of bitching and crying.

5. More unified rules and possibly better judging due to the fact that Zuffa will have more power to help make those changes.

6. Another step in gaining the same respect the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, etc.

7. Strikeforce will now have the money to put on more shows meaning guys won't have to sit on the shelf for long periods of time.
More shows means possibly more free shows.

8. More pull within the Japanese market due to Strikeforce's good relations which might save Japanese MMA.

9. The naysayers can now be ignored and we can rest assured that the [heavyweight] tourney will go on.

10. Also the greater possibility of more tournaments in the future as a feeder into the big shows.

11. Possibly better announcing which seems to be a huge complaint.� Maybe they buy that fellow off Bellator, Jimmy [Smith] believe is his name. actually both they make a good team.

Do you buy all of that? I think he may be off on the female fighting point. Unless Dana White has a complete change of heart in the next 18-24 mos., females are probably headed back to the minors.

Duffee also clarified that his post wasn't an ass-kissing effort to get him back in the good graces of White and co.

I am not praising the buyout.� I like everyone else when they heard of the news sat around and talked about all the negatives. But realizing it did me absolutely no good. I decided to start this thread to see what the positives of the buyout could be jotting down some of my immediate positive thoughts. As in usual fashion, I was met with a bunch of negative uselessly angry posters. This is not to get in good graces with Zuffa. I am a year and many wins away from them remembering my name or face.

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