The UFC 235 Card is Stacked to the Gills and I'm Not Even Remotely Exaggerating

Main Card
Weight class
Light Heavyweight	Jon Jones*	vs.	Anthony Smith
Welterweight	Tyron Woodley (c)	vs.	Kamaru Usman
Welterweight	Robbie Lawler	vs.	Ben Askren
Featherweight	Jeremy Stephens	vs.	Zabit Magomedsharipov
Women's Bantamweight	Holly Holm	vs.	Aspen Ladd
Women's Bantamweight	Gina Mazany	vs.	Macy Chiasson
Light Heavyweight	Ovince Saint Preux	vs.	Misha Cirkunov
Bantamweight	Cody Garbrandt	vs.	Pedro Munhoz
Bantamweight	Thomas Almeida	vs.	Marlon Vera

If you're a fight fan just take a moment and read through that list of names...

...Wow.  Let's break this down a little bit so it's easier to digest.

• Two different major championship fights with two of the most dominant champions of their respective generation.
  
• The UFC debut of the current top ranked pound for pound shit talker in Ben Askren versus a living legend in Ruthless Robbie Lawler.
  
• Holly Holm back in action against Aspen Ladd who to be perfectly honest I don't really know of at all.  She's likely in a great deal of trouble.
  
• Jeremy Stephens - an absolute brawler - against the one guy who, in my stupid brain, can give Max Holloway a run for his money at 145: Zabit.
  
• Cody Garbrandt in a bounce back fight against a very capable Pedro Munhoz.

Again - wow.  This is hands down the single best card I've ever seen and close to the most excited I've ever been for a fight night in my entire life.  I need the UFC to keep this fucking card together, which is going to make it all the more devastating when a couple of the fights inevitably break down.  The worst part is that in my mind the two most likely candidates are the Jon Jones and Ben Askren fights.

Jon Jones still hasn't been cleared by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and granted a license even though his system is miraculously cleared of steroids again even though it might still pop up.  So what happens if Jones tests positive all leading up to the fight and then "pops up" again a few days before?  According to Dana and Jeff Novitzky (accounting major) who were told by The Experts, the trace amounts of turinabol metabolite in Jon Jones system might randomly appear from time to time for up to 7 years...is Nevada just cool with that now even though they totally were not cool with it three weeks ago?  Only time will tell.  

The Ben Askren fight is a different story.  Ben Askren will be there and he will face someone across the octagon at UFC 235, that much I can guarantee.  As for Robbie Lawler, that is a completely different story.  From what I've read, he might not even be cleared to fight yet.  I'm sure he's working out and training but for someone who has been out as long as he has (13 months), going into a fight with a specialist like Askren those sparring sessions are crucial for getting your feel back.  

I'll be excited for the fight regardless, if only for the simple fact that it's Askren's debut and I am absolutely dying to see him against UFC competition, but the matchup is something I was genuinely looking forward too.  Such a huge contrast of styles.  Robbie likes stand up and bang it out while Askren just wants to pin you down and physically dominate you in a death by a thousand cuts while also holding a plastic bag over your head type of approach. Think of him as an ultra American version of Khabib. He's not the most entertaining, sure, but he also NEVER loses.  

If I had one critique, one small little ask, it would be that Colby Covington get to fight Woodley instead of Usman.  

Usman and Woodley is a better fight in my mind, but the fact of the matter is that Colby had the interim belt and he and Tyron fucking hate each other.  True, unadulterated disgust for one another.  It would be an absolute beatdown, an ass whooping of damn near unbelievable proportions.  Colby legitimately may have left T-Mobile Arena in a body bag should that fight have happened.  Now that I'm thinking about it, that fight needs to headline it's own show.  The entire lead-up would be a goddamn circus stealing away everyone else's shine.  

I'm All in on Balkan-born Basketball Players. Please Join Me in the Celebration

I'll be the first person to say that I typically don't care for foreign born players with rare exceptions, very few of which I actually like before they enter the league.  The only of which that I can think of is Luka Doncic himself, and that took 3 years of absolutely dominating grown men before I was really confident in his ability.  And only after making easy work of pretty much every defense he's come up against am I now 100% sold.  Luka is the absolute truth and there is no denying it, which is why exactly zero people are trying to deny it.  In fact everyone is completely fawning over the kid, and rightfully so.  But in all that hoopla, people are forgetting to heap praise on a few of his Balkan-born brothers in arms: Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, and Jusuf Nurkic.  I am honored to be able to do so now.


Let's start with Jokic in Denver.  Where to even begin?  He's one of the most absurdly skilled 7 footers I've ever seen, let's start there.  Strong enough to back defenders down from the free throw line with a soft enough tough to drain 3s.  Even more impressive is his passing ability.  In true euroball fashion, Jokic has an extremely well rounded offensive game but even for a European, he has an amazing ability to create for other players and he does it with crafty little array of ball fakes which help him to shift an manipulate the defense without actually moving.  Skill wise, he's got it all and he stuffs a stat sheet like nobody's business.

Add into that the fact that he got fined $25,000 for innocently saying "no homo" about Wendell Carter being longer than him, and his ability to make unarguably the funniest dumb faces in the league.  Plus he's an effort guy.  You need that guy.

Next up is Nikola Vucevic in Orlando.  No offense to Vucevic, but we're going to keep this short and sweet because any time I spend more than a couple minutes talking/thinking about inland Florida I start to sink into a real deep, dark depression.  It goes without saying but that state really is trash.  I don't want to go into it too much, but interior Florida is basically a giant landfill that was filled up with horrible people, reptiles, and insects instead of garbage.  Garbage would have been better.  With that being said Vucevic is having one helluva year for the Magic.  Much like Jokic, he features a extremely versatile skill set and although he doesn't quite facilitate on the same level, he's still got some nifty passes in the tool bag, not to mention his ability to knock down 38% of his shots from deep - invaluable in today's game.  Bangs in the post and can stretch it out and drawn a defender to either hit the jumper or open up lanes.  Hopefully he gets traded to literally anywhere else on earth.

And finally we have the very man who inspired this blog: Jusuf Nurkic.  I know what you're going to say: "Nurkic isn't nearly as good as those other three."  You're absolutely right.  Sure, he's probably the second best defender of the bunch, but offensively those other three players are just on a different level and have a lot more weapons in their arsenal.  That's not to say Nurkic isn't good, he's definitely a quality little player and at 24, he still has a few solid years of improvement ahead of him.  But he's not making this list because of his abilities on the court, he's making it because he absolutely ethered Iman Shumpert in his postgame interview last night after the two got into a little scuffle following a hard screen by Nurkic.  When told that Shump waited outside the Blazers locker room to have a word, young Jusuf had this to say:

“I’m not worried about it. He’s going into retirement soon. I just said what I said. I‘m not worried about a guy who’s going into retirement soon.”


Iman Shumpert is 28 years old and has only been in the league 3 years longer than Nurkic. 


Game: Jusuf

Tate Martell: The Backtrack King

Source - 247Sports has learned that Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell is looking at Louisville, Miami and West Virginia as potential transfer destinations.

Martell is expected to visit all three this week beginning with West Virginia on Sunday. Per Eersports insider Chris Anderson, Martell will head to Miami on Monday. 247Sports has been told the Louisville visit will be Wednesday and Thursday.

Martell is expected to make a final decision the following week.

Martell's name was entered in the transfer portal last Thursday shortly after former five-star quarterback Justin Fields announced he'd be transferring to Ohio State. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite billed Martell as the nation's No. 2 dual-threat passer in the 2017 recruiting class.


A couple of days ago, news broke that Tate Martell is transferring from Ohio State with the likely destination being Louisville, Miami, or West Virginia.  I for one was utterly shocked by this little development because last time I checked, Tate Martell was saying he definitely wasn't going to transfer while simultaneously warning 5-star phenom transfer Justin Fields that the offense was too difficult to pick up in year one.  When was that again?  Oh that's right, it was like two weeks ago.

If you don't feel like watching the video, I got you covered.  The entire video can be summed up with one quote:

But, to put it simply, Martell is not scared of losing the starting job to Fields.

“Why would I leave for someone who hasn’t put in a single second into this program?” Martell said. “I put two years of literally working my ass off into something that I have been waiting for and dreaming of having my whole life. To just run away from somebody who hasn’t put a single second into workouts anything like that and doesn’t know what the program is all about, there’s not a chance.”

Turns out there was a small chance.  Trust me I know, I too was shocked.  Columbus may never recover from the loss.  As an Iowa fan, I genuinely hope they never do.  On the plus side if you are an OSU fan, you get a 6'3 230 lb. beast who many considered to be the consensus #1 player in the country in a recruiting class that included Trevor Lawrence - yes, that Trevor Lawrence.  The one who everyone is saying would be the consensus first overall pick in the draft as a 19 YEAR OLD if he were allowed to declare tomorrow.  

Fields has been described as a better passing version of Cam Newton.  He might not be quite on Dwayne Haskins level as a passer, but don't let his freshman season at Georgia fool you.  This kid is a big time threat with his arm as well as his legs.  If you thought Haskins made Ryan Day's system look good, wait until this kid steps into the horseshoe.  All that's left is getting a waiver to be eligible to play in 2019-20 and OSU will be back to being the gold standard in the Big Ten after a grueling 3-4 week period of uncertainty for their fans.

Fuck my life.

What to Make of This Jon Jones Situation

So if you haven't heard, the UFC is moving UFC 232 from Vegas to Los Angeles on a weeks notice because Jon Jones popped for PEDs again.  The UFC and USADA and the California State Athletic Commission all seem to agree that this test result is merely residual steroids from the "pinch of salt in an Olympic swimming pool" amount of steroids that was previously in his system 18 months ago.  Same drug and everything - turinabol.

Now a lot of people have a lot of opinions on this. Joe Rogan thinks it's all legit with Jon Jones, which is what he thought the first time as well.  Dana White and Jeff Novitzy aka the Golden Snitch, the guy who runs the UFC's anti-doping program, both also seem to agree with that as well.  Andy Foster, the head of the CSAC, is yet another legitimate, reliable party who says this is clearly just leftover from a year and a half ago.  All that said, this all stinks like a steaming pile of horseshit.

Allow me to explain...

Jon Jones has already gotten caught with this exact same substance in his body 18 months ago.  The same substance that was 100% confirmed to be in his body, and for which he could never find a tainted supplement that explained its presence.  The same one that got him suspended.  A suspension he got overturned by offering to snitch for USADA.

So if he gets popped for steroids again, while snitching for USADA, what happens?  Does he get suspended?  Does the deal go away?  It kind of seems like a conflict of interest to be the organization in charge of testing one of their own assets.  Jon Jones has repeatedly said he isn't providing any information on "fighters", but USADA has very publicly made it known that he is absolutely without a doubt providing them with information on someone.  If they are trying to blow the roof off a major scandal in a different, much bigger sport and Jon Jones is providing valuable information that helps move them towards achieving that goal, wouldn't it be in their best interest to do everything that needed to be done to keep that deal in place?

On top of that, the numbers just don't really add up.  Don't worry, I read a bunch of articles and reddit posts so I've got this whole thing all figured out.  

Turinabol is supposedly known for getting out of the athlete's system quickly.  Like out of your system in a couple of days or weeks quickly depending on the amount, and possibly months in rare cases.  But it's been a year and a half and Jones passed like seven drug tests with zero sign of Turinabol until now. Not only that, but the first time he got caught there was approximately 20-80 picograms per millileter.  Don't worry about what a picogram is, I have no idea either, it isn't important.  What is important is that this time around Jones got caught with 60 picograms per liter in his system.  So in a year and a half, the maximum amount of turinabol that was in Jonny Bones' system wasn't even cut in half.  The fuck outta here with that nonsense.  

This whole situation STINKS and it stinks like shit.  I'm not hating on Jon Jones either, he's an absolute monster and hands down one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. I will 100% be watching the fight this weekend and I'm expecting him to show out.  I just think entire ordeal seems super sketchy and more than likely Jon Jones just did Jon Jones shit again because he doesn't really give a fuck, and he figures USADA won't make an example of their star witness.





Or I could be totally wrong.  Gotta love a good conspiracy though.







If you're a fight fan and haven't seen the first matchup, do yourself a favor...

Blood bath.

Carmelo Anthony: A Basketball Tragedy. Can He Be Fixed?

A lot of people are going to read this and think that I am nothing more than a Melo hater and that's fine.  Those people are totally right.  I do hate on Melo.  But it wasn't always like that.  There once existed a time in my life where I thought Carmelo Anthony was the absolute truth, someone who could actually rival the hype of Lebron James - a staple of my top 5 most hated athletes list.  He dominated the NCAA during his lone year at Syracuse, averaging 20 and 10 for the eventual National Champions.  Number three overall pick, had an excellent rookie year, he was primed for greatness.  So how did we get to this point?  How did we get to a point where Carmelo Anthony fell so far that literally no NBA team wants him?  How did a 10 time all star with no major injuries lose so much value in such a short period of time?  How did this once great man become so desperate for affection that he began wearing hoodies to the beach because he recognized that the only Melo people like and care about is Hoodie Melo?






It's simple really.  You see, Carmelo Anthony never really learned how to be good at the game of basketball.  He does one thing well and one thing only - score, and he needs 20+ shots to do it.  He's an absolute liability on the defensive end, he clogs up an offense by holding the ball, and his "versatility" has been drastically overstated.

Carmelo is not a PF or a stretch 4, nor has he ever been one.  He can score on small forwards and power forwards, yes, but he can't defend either.  The years where he tried to play more of a power forward role with the Knicks are the years where his reputation began to take the biggest hit.  Put simply, he is an extremely limited basketball player.  

When he left Denver, their offense got more efficient.  They lost their top scorer and their offense got BETTER.  Ok, New York still sucks but they don't have Kristaps and Jim Dolan is still the owner so it's tough to say they would be better off with Carmelo so I won't shit on him for that one.  Then came Oklahoma City, who is a completely different team now without having to find minutes for him and their defense, specifically, has been spectacular.  Though I'm sure ditching Melo and their defense vastly improving are totally unrelated.  After OKC he was shipped off to Houston and played all of 10 games before they decided he it wasn't going to work out.  Think about that for a second...in an offense where you are encouraged to shoot as much as possible, Carmelo Anthony wasn't a good fit.

Stunning.

But fear not, for I am here to be Melo's guiding light - his guardian angel, the wind beneath his wings.  This isn't easy for me because as I explained earlier I sort of hate him.  Not in a personal sense, I'm sure he's a perfectly alright guy, but as a basketball fan.  I think he plays gross basketball, and I don't think the new pace and space revolution with a lot more fluid ball movement has "left him behind."  I think it has exposed him and his overall lack of ability.  

But that doesn't mean he has to stop playing professional basketball.  Melo just needs to suck up his pride and take his talents to South Beijing.  Go full Marbury.  I know it sounds crazy but hear me out:


1.  Style of Play

Full disclosure, I don't watch a ton of Chinese basketball games and that's on me.  With that said, I'm fairly certain the CBA isn't as advanced as the NBA.  Just a hunch, but with guys like Pierre Jackson (Baylor) and Jimmer Fredette (legend) dropping 40 points per game on 25+ shots, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Carmelo's bread and butter would fit right in.  He's not hurt and he's never relied on explosiveness.  He just needs to jog his doughy body up and down the court and shoot without conscience for four quarters.  That style is legitimately tailor made for him.

2.  Legacy

As discussed earlier, Melo is a liability in the modern NBA.  Teams don't want him because he can't help them.  Yes, Lebron said he would want Melo in LA but that's because they are banana boat BFFs for life and he realizes this whole situation is super humiliating for his buddy so he's trying to help out.  He doesn't actually believe Melo can help the Lakers win.  Bron Bron is many things, naive is not one of them.  Even if he does get signed he's getting bench minutes, and we're not talking sixth man 25-30 minutes a game.  No, we're talking, "We'll fit you in when we can" minutes.  Bullshit minutes.  That's no bueno for someone with an ego the size of Mr. Anthony.

In China, you could probably sit or play as you please.  The Wonton Don basically walks in and owns the place as an American spectator.  Can you imagine the kind of influence American players have?  The possibilities are endless, Melo could be a god damned king over there!  Plus, with the lesser talent and a much less grueling schedule it's not unreasonable to think he could play another legit 5-6 years or so, making tons of money off advertising and sweet sweet Chinese merch.  The Chinese market is massive, the money is there, and their love of basketball is growing at an insane rate.  Free cheese, baby.

3.  Loneliness

So obviously being away from friends and family is tough.  To be honest, I thought Melo was still on the outs with LaLa because he banged that stripper and allegedly had a kid with her, but it looks like he's managed to weasel his way back into her good graces.  I won't lie, that complicates things.  Before  it would just have been, well your wife doesn't want you around anyways and your friends are still busy during the NBA season, what with them still playing and all.  There wouldn't have been any real point to sticking around.  I guess maybe being away from his kids would be a bummer.  I don't know, I don't have kids, they seem awful.

Either way, it's irrelevant.  Because Dwyane Wade is gonna save the day.  He's already expressed an interest in going to China to build his brand abroad.  This way, Carmelo can pretend like it was his idea.  Then when D-Wade comes over, Melo can create his own Chinses superteam just like he wanted to do with those guys all these years.




So that's it.  I just saved Melo's career and reputation.  I look forward to watching him become a Chinese Basketball Association legend.  And when - not if - when that day does inevitably come, I will be here smiling proudly, for that will be the day that I no longer hate Carmelo Anthony.  

Let's Talk About the Colts Draft

Final Results:

• ROUND 1, PICK 6 (Sixth overall)
Quenton Nelson, guard, Notre Dame

• ROUND 2, PICK 4 (36th overall)
Darius Leonard, linebacker, South Carolina State

• ROUND 2, PICK 5 (37th overall)
Braden Smith, guard, Auburn

• ROUND 2, PICK 20 (52nd overall)
Kemoko Turay, defensive end, Rutgers

• ROUND 2, PICK 32 (64th overall)
Tyquan Lewis, defensive lineman, Ohio State

• ROUND 4, PICK 4 (104th overall)
Nyheim Hines, running back, N.C. State

• ROUND 5, PICK 22 (159th overall)
Daurice Fountain, wide receiver, Northern Iowa

• ROUND 5, PICK 32 (169th overall)
Jordan Wilkins, running back, Mississippi

• ROUND 6, PICK 11 (185th overall)
Deon Cain, wide receiver, Clemson

• ROUND 7, PICK 3 (221st overall)
Matthew Adams, linebacker, Houston

• ROUND 7, PICK 17 (235th overall)
Zaire Franklin, linebacker, Syracuse



First and foremost, I absolutely LOVE the Quenton Nelson pick and don't know how you can't as a Colts fan.  I noticed a few pundits said they understood the need, but 6th overall is high for a guard.  That's fine, because another thing I noticed was the fact that most prospect rankings lists had him as the number one overall prospect in the entire draft. Six might be high for a guard, but getting someone who is expected to play at a Pro Bowl level on your interior line is important, especially for a team whose All Pro quarterback missed the entire past season with a shoulder injury he got from getting put on his ass on a very consistent basis.  At the very least, it was much more consistent basis than desired.  Unless you're Ryan Grigson because he didn't give a FUCK about having an o-line.

After the first pick, we basically doubled up on need positions.  Braden Smith out of Auburn should compete for a spot on the line, and at worst he's a rotational backup with a lot of potential and some versatility to boot.  Darius Leonard out of South Carolina State is a a bit of an unknown, and by that I mean I didn't know who he was going into the draft.  With that said he seems like someone who plays on the edge and in the backfield and appears versatile enough to play at a couple spots in the new 4-3 we're cooking up.  Add in Tyquan Lewis from Ohio State (a pick that I personally love) and Kemoko Turay from Rutgers and all the sudden we have a nice group of young pass rushers to work with.  

The idea of building depth didn't stop there.  Ballard then proceeded to add two running backs in Nyheim Hines out of NC State and Jordan Wilkins from Ole Miss.  Hines ran a 4.38 - the fastest 40 time at the combine - but I actually thought Ito Smith out of Southern Miss was a better talent at this spot. As for Wilkins, I see him competing for a starting job.  He ran for over 1,000 yards last season for the Rebels, and he actually did most of his damage against SEC opponents.  Of his 1,011 yards almost 800 of them came against the SEC, including over 100 against eventual National Champion Alabama.  

Rounding out the final selections were a couple linebackers and wide receivers, all of whom will likely have a chance to contribute immediately on special teams.  Deon Cain out of Clemson is my sleeper pick for one of the starting receiver picks.  I thought he showed a lot more with DeShaun Watson and struggled last year with Kelly Bryant and the regression in the passing attack.  With Andrew Luck throwing him the ball, he should be able to showcase his skills more consistently.  All in all, I feel good about it.  One surefire difference maker at the top of the draft and young, competitive depth at several areas of need.  Not the most glamorous draft, but one that should prove fruitful over the next couple of years.

At the same time it could also be a total disaster.  It's always tough to tell with these types of things.

Romeo Langford is Headed to Bloomington: A Quick Breakdown

The Prodigal Son didn't leave!  It's official, Romeo Langford is staying in his home state.  And if any of you are wondering where he's from, it's New Albany, Indiana - a city directly across the Ohio River from Louisville where Chris Mack was no doubt making a late push to sign the 5-star shooting guard.  It goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyways.  This is very, very good for Archie Miller and Indiana.  This marks without a doubt the biggest signing of his career as a head coach.  And the fact that he's an in-state kid should only help future local recruiting efforts.  

For awhile it looked like Langford was leaning towards Kansas, but then with the FBI report mentioning them that changed things real quick.  Weirdly, Vanderbilt kept getting mentioned as a surprise player by managing to peek Langford's interest with an insanely out of character recruiting class: two 5-stars and a 4-star to pair him with.  If you ask me, the FBI might want to investigate Vanderbilt, but that's just if you ask me.  

Thankfully, Romeo chose to stay in state and play for the Hoosiers and achieve legend status in Indiana.  Bless him.

As for Archie Miller, this gives him one of the most athletic and well-built prospects in the country to play around with.  Langford is 6'5 with a 6'10 wingspan.  We already know he gets buckets with the best of them, but this gives Archie elite defensive intangibles to play with.  Victor Oladipo intangibles.  And despite never having a player of this caliber before as a college coach, Archie has worked with this type of talent during his time with Team USA.  He isn't going to be reigning in anything, Langford is going to be let loose from the get go and I'm excited to see what he can do.  

In a Big Ten conference heavy with difference making guards, we now have a difference making defender.  YUGE acquisition for the Hoosiers, huge get for Archie, and an immediate impact player to join with fellow local signees Damezi Anderson and Robert Phinisee, two 4-stars from South Bend and Lafayette, respectively.  With Langford as the cherry on top, IU just brought in the #11 ranked recruiting class in the country and took a massive step in the right direction.  

Good shit.



High School Summary: GETS. BUCKETS.