SAN JOSE, Calif. – John Crouch looked toward the ceiling and tried to focus his thoughts. He was trying to explain the sequence of events that led him to become UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson's mixed martial arts coach.

Benson Henderson has continued to show improvement fight by fight. (MMA Weekly)Henderson is now one of the best fighters in the world, and will defend his belt against Gilbert Melendez Saturday at the HP Pavilion in the main event of UFC on Fox 7. Crouch is one of the sport's elite coaches, helping to guide the careers of Henderson, flyweight contender John Moraga, ex-WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner and former "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Efrain Escudero, among others.

Today, Crouch works out of a sparkling gym in Glendale, Ariz., where he does a strong private business. But at the time he met Henderson, he was working in virtual obscurity in Denver.

Crouch was preparing Alvin Robinson to meet Kenny Florian at UFC 73 on July 7, 2007. Robinson's college roommate was a friend of a collegiate wrestling teammate of

Read More »from Benson Henderson's dedication has made him a growing force in UFC

Rare is the athlete who becomes one of his sport's biggest attractions without the accompanying accomplishment on the field of play.

Canelo Alvarez flexes his muscles during the weigh-in for his fight against Austin Trout. (AP)Yet, while Canelo Alvarez is one of the four or five biggest draws in boxing, his accomplishments have yet to match his popularity.

Those doubts will be erased on Saturday after he fights Austin Trout in the main event of a sold-out card at the Alamodome in San Antonio in a WBA/WBC super welterweight unification match.

A win over Trout would vault Alvarez into truly elite status. A loss, though, could confirm suspicions that Alvarez has been coddled on the way to a 41-0-1 record with 30 knockouts.

Alvarez has beaten three types of fighters: no-hopers, who had little talent and less chance of winning; smaller fighters, who sacrificed a significant amount of size to face him; or big-name veterans who were long past their primes.

[Also: Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had boxing aspirations | Photos]

In Trout, Alvarez will face none of

Read More »from Canelo Alvarez can join boxing's elite by beating Austin Trout in title fight

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who died early Friday following a shootout with police, was an amateur boxer of some note who had considered turning pro.

He won the New England Golden Gloves tournament in 2009 and 2010, though he only competed in the National Golden Gloves finals in Salt Lake City in 2009.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) fights in the 2009 Golden Gloves (Getty Images)Edwin Rodriguez, a highly-rated professional super middleweight, sparred with Tsarnaev in 2010 and said he broke Tsarnaev’s rib.

“We had a baby [Evan] born on Monday, which was April 15, and we were in the hospital that day, watching the news about the bombing at the marathon,” Rodriguez told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s a strange feeling to know I sparred with this guy and knew him and talked with him. It’s not like we were friends, but we talked and had conversations. It is strange. It’s hard now, knowing what this coward did, to even think about it. He affected so many people, so many families. My heart just goes out to them.”

Rodriguez, who is ranked No. 2 at 168 pounds by the WBC and No. 3 by both the IBF and the WBA, was preparing for a fight in 2010 and was looking for quality sparring partner near his Worcester, Mass., home.

[Related: Massive manhunt ends with capture of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev]

There are a lot of amateurs in the area, but not many pros. The majority of amateurs aren’t qualified to give a top professional prospect like Rodriguez high-level work.

Read More »from Dead Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had boxing aspirations

SAN JOSE, Calif. – While promoting a card in Sweden earlier this month, UFC president Dana White made a stop in Dusseldorf, Germany, to undergo an experimental treatment to help him with his Meniere's disease.

Dana White says he has felt considerably better since having PRP therapy. (USA Today Sports)White underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy after receiving a tip from New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Meniere's is an inner ear disorder with symptoms that include vertigo. The symptoms, at their worst, could require White to lie quietly for many hours at a time, rendering him unable to work.

White underwent surgery in the United States last year and said the procedure didn't help much. He was, however, enthused about the results from the PRP therapy.

"It was [expletive] amazing; just amazing," a jovial White said Thursday at the HP Pavilion, where he is promoting a card on Saturday. "I'm done. I'm good. I'm still going to eat the way I'm supposed to eat and do what I'm supposed to do, but when I tell you that healed me, wow. Literally, I got the

Read More »from Dana White says PRP therapy helps inner ear disorder

It's probably symptomatic of how utterly dominant Jon Jones has been in his two-plus year reign as light heavyweight champion, but before Daniel Cormier has even made his UFC debut, before he's ever fought a bout in the 205-pound division, he's being hailed as the one man who may potentially be able to dethrone Jones.

Cormier comes from the same camp that has produced UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, and he shares many of the same traits as his good friend: high-level wrestling skill, plenty of tenacity and heavy hands.

The easy-going Cormier is as grounded and realistic as they come, and he fully understands he's got a massive challenge on Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., when he takes on ex-UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 7.

A win over Mir means something in the UFC, and it would set Cormier up for something big, be it at heavyweight, or at light heavyweight, where UFC president Dana White wants him to

Read More »from Daniel Cormier noncommittal about future, trying to focus on UFC debut against Frank Mir

Austin Trout (R) fights against Miguel Cotto in their WBA super welterweight title fight. (Getty)

 
Late last year, Miguel Cotto made what turned out to be a dramatically bad decision – one from the Winky Wright School of Bad Career Choices.

Whether Cotto made it with all of the pertinent information or not is up for debate, but there is no questioning that Cotto's choice to fight Austin Trout instead of Manny Pacquiao in December falls somewhere between awful and horrific. 

For far less money (around $10 million less) and less exposure – not to mention a far more difficult style match – Cotto chose the previously unknown Trout, who then drilled Cotto in a career-defining victory that put him into position for a major 2013 fight.

Never, though, could Trout have anticipated the gift that floated from the skies a few months later like manna from Heaven.

Canelo Alvarez, the 22-year-old Mexican who may be the biggest star in boxing not named Mayweather or Pacquiao, got tired of playing games with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and opted for a fight against Trout on Saturday at the

Read More »from Rising star Austin Trout has 'much respect' for Canelo Alvarez for demanding to fight him

Standing next to Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez looks totally out of his league.

Henderson, the UFC lightweight champion, is built like an NFL strong safety. He's got a deep, broad chest and thick, powerful-looking legs. He oozes strength, power and intimidation.

Melendez has a much more slender, normal-appearing build. Only his cauliflower ears and flattened nose provide a hint about his occupation.

Instead of that lithe body, though, lies a whole lot of destruction and rage to prove the skeptics wrong.

"I've been under the radar a little bit too long," Melendez said on "Road to the Octagon," the preview show on Fox about his match Saturday against Benson Henderson for the UFC title at the HP Pavilion. "I've been campaigning for years to be the No. 1 guy in the world, and now it's really happening."

Scott Coker signed Melendez to a promotional deal in 2005 as he was putting together Strikeforce, his mixed martial arts company that would debut in 2006 and go on to

Read More »from Fueled by rage and the constant need to prove himself, Gilbert Melendez is ready for the Octagon

Frank Espinoza is not one of those guys who's going to make anyone's most powerful list. He doesn't seek attention, nor does he expect any.

He's an under-the-radar, behind-the-scenes kind of a guy. Abner Mares and Frank Espinoza Sr. celebrate after a win. (Courtesy: Frank Espinoza Sr.)

But Espinoza is a fight fan's type of boxing manager, and never will that be more evident than on May 4 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, when Abner Mares and Daniel Ponce de Leon meet for the WBC featherweight title in the chief undercard bout of the Floyd Mayweather show.

The Mares-Ponce de Leon bout is easily the most intriguing on paper from that card and could steal the show from Mayweather and Robert Guerrero.

Mares is the crown jewel of Espinoza's stable, but the veteran manager had no hesitation in pitting him against Ponce de Leon, whom he also manages.

Most managers shy away from putting their fighters against one another, but Espinoza never really gave it a second thought.

"If I was a fight fan, that's a fight I'd want to see," Espinoza said. "If you put your

Read More »from Frank Espinoza faces difficult situation with two top-tier clients squaring off