2020 Fantasy Football MVPs
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The FFL cast reveals which players performed at a high level in 2020.
Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling were fighting a close battle for Yan's bantamweight belt at UFC 259 on Saturday. The fight finish, which saw Sterling laid out on the canvas, resulted in Yan losing his belt. The result came after Yan drove an illegal knee into Sterling's head while he was a downed opponent. Yan's disqualification came after the referee determined the blow was intentional because it occurred after the referee had said Sterling was down prior to the blow. Yan was slightly ahead on the scorecard when the bout was stopped. He was up 29-28 according to two judges, while the third judge had it 29-28 in favor of Sterling. Just before Yan delivered the illegal knee, one of his cornerman was yelling for him to only punch. After he threw the knee, another of his cornermen was cheering, seemingly believing he had won the fight. The confusion seems to stem from a Russian cornerman allegedly yelling to Yan, in Russian, to deliver a kick. This comes from UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov telling commentator Daniel Cormier what he heard the Russian speaking cornerman say. ESPN, which broadcasted the fight, released video of the exchange to its Instagram channel on Sunday. Petr Yan's corner allegedly telling him to kick Aljamain Sterling View this post on Instagram A post shared by ESPN MMA (@espnmma) TRENDING > UFC 259 recap & highlights: Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling Both Yan and Sterling were calling for an immediate rematch after the fight. Yan, of course, didn't want to lose his belt that way, and Sterling was just as adamant that he didn't want to win it in such a fashion. UFC president Dana White said that he hopes to book the rematch as soon as possible after both men are medically cleared to fight. Dana White weighs in on controversial illegal knee (Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)
Amanda Nunes continued her domination of the women's side of mixed martial arts at UFC 259, making quick work of Megan Anderson in their co-main event bout. Israel Adesanya had hoped to join Nunes as the UFC's latest champ-champ, but failed in his bid to take the light heavyweight title from Jan Blachowicz. He remains the UFC middleweight champion with the loss to Blachowicz being the first of his professional mixed martial arts career. Following UFC 259, company president Dana White addressed what's next for Adesanya. (Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube) TRENDING > Dana White rips 10-8 rounds for Blachowicz vs. Adesanya | UFC 259 Post-Fight
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Petr Yan lost the UFC bantamweight championship on Saturday night after illegally kneeing Aljamain Sterling while he was down on one knee. The knee was not only deemed illegal, it was ruled intentional, which meant that Yan was disqualified. Sterling became the new bantamweight titleholder, but not at all in the way that he wanted. Shortly after UFC 259 concluded, Yan issued a statement of apology on Twitter and also took to the UFC 259 post-fight press conference to reflect on the fight. "I apologize and wish speedy recovery to (Sterling). I didn’t mean to throw an illegal strike, I just made a big mistake and paid for it," he wrote. https://twitter.com/PetrYanUFC/status/1368436400220073986 Though Sterling was transported to the hospital to get checked out, he issued his own statement on the fight. "Not the way I ever want to win a fight. It was close, competitive and filled with action. I felt the knee was intentional, especially after the ref announced I was a downed opponent, so I didn’t expect to be hit. Yan is a bad dude! WE WILL DO IT AGAIN!" https://twitter.com/funkmasterMMA/status/1368434976329330690 https://twitter.com/funkmasterMMA/status/1368447331855519745 With both men on board to run the fight back, UFC president Dana White was also agreeable, saying that he absolutely intends to book the rematch as soon as possible. TRENDING > UFC 259 results: Blachowicz denies Adesanya; Nunes rolls; Yan loses belt to DQ Petr Yan reflects on illegal knee, hopes for quick rematch (Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)
No one wants to win a belt this way.
Adesanya showed his peers how it is done, even in a losing effort.
The New York Knicks might get Derrick Rose back for their final game before the All-Star break after all. The Knicks were without the veteran point guard on Tuesday due to the NBA's health and safety protocols as they took a 119-93 road loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Rose was forced to sit out because of an inconclusive COVID-19 test prior to the game.
On the 50th anniversary of The Fight of the Century, look back at the spectacular matchup between undefeated heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. After being stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing the 1967 Vietnam draft, Ali sought to reclaim his belt from new champion Frazier. The match lasted a full 15 rounds. Although Ali dominated the first few, Frazier landed a series of blows that dropped Ali on the canvas. Frazier won by unanimous decision, but this was just the beginning of the heavyweight saga.
It was a heroic effort by Lee Westwood, as he tried to become oldest ever UK winner on the PGA Tour. But ultimately the evergreen 47-year-old was left to rue a short missed putt on the 16th to lose the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Bryson DeChambeau. Motivated by a text message from a Tiger Woods, the 27-year-old, came through. The reigning US Open champion was forced to hole a six-footer on the last at Bay Hill to prevail by one from the brave Englishman. It was a difficult afternoon in Orlando, with winds gusting and the greens crisping up. DeChambeau, that revolutionary character, was again showing he has the guile as well as the length. “I spoke to Tiger yesterday and we talked about just keep fighting no matter what happens and play boldly like Mr Palmer,” he said.
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This article on knees and kicks to a downed opponent was originally published in September of 2013, but is rather relevant to current times as Petr Yan lost his bantamweight championship at UFC 259 after illegally and intentionally kneeing Aljamain Sterling. How athletic commissions interpret the rule about knees and kicks to a downed fighter and how referees enforce the rule has changed. UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Marc Ratner appeared on a recent edition of UFC Tonight on Wednesday and explained the new interpretation of what is a foul and what isn’t in regards to kneeing and kicking a “downed” fighter. The Unified Rules of mixed martial arts describes a “downed” fighter as a fighter who has more than just the soles of their feet on the ground. The Association of Boxing Commissions website defines a downed fighter as, “A grounded opponent is any fighter who has more than just the soles of their feet on the ground. (i.e. could have one shin or one finger down to be considered a downed fighter) If the referee determines that a fighter would be a grounded fighter, but is not solely because the ring ropes or cage fence has held fighter from the ground, the referee can instruct the combatants that he is treating the fighter held up solely by the cage or ropes as a grounded fighter.” The wording of the rule and the rule’s intent has not changed, but the way the rule is interpreted and enforced has. “The rule is really the same,” said Ratner. “The interpretation that we’ve come up with, with the Association of Boxing Commissions, which should be called the Association of Combat Commissions – they should change that – but the spirit of the rule has been violated by a lot of fighters. “Obviously if you’re downed and you have a hand on the deck, and you have three points there and you get kicked or kneed, that’s a foul,” he said. “But we have fighters now who are putting their hand down, bringing it up, putting it back down again. “I call it, if you’re talking basketball, trying to draw the foul. They’re hoping that the referee will see it and call a foul and maybe disqualify the other guy,” added Ratner. “So we’re telling the referees before the fights, go into the dressing rooms and say, ‘look, if you do this you’re doing it at your own peril and in my judgment as a referee, if you’re doing it, I’m going to call it legal.’” It is now up to the referee’s discretion whether or not a kick or knee to a “downed” fighter is illegal. “It’s a judgment call,” said Ratner. Be sure to Like MMAWeekly.com on Facebook and Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter.
Roger Federer never contemplated retirement as he spent 13 months on the sidelines due to double knee surgery last year and the 39-year-old says he is now pain-free and ready to play again with a feeling that his story is not over yet. Federer, tied with Rafa Nadal on a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, has not played a competitive match since losing to world number one Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals in 2020. The Swiss maestro will make his highly-anticipated return at this week's Qatar Open, where he is seeded behind U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
Blachowicz cemented the fight by taking Adesanya down in each of the final two rounds and basically holding him on his back for more than half the round.
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Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said he had reached an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo in the week leading up to his side's 3-1 win over Lazio on Saturday that the Portuguese would be rested. Serie A's top goalscorer started on the bench as Juve came from behind to beat Lazio in the Juventus Stadium. Trailing 2-1 in their Champions League last 16 clash with Porto ahead of Tuesday's second leg in Turin, Pirlo decided to give the 36-year-old Ronaldo a break.
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