|
Perhaps no one is happier that the UFC is introducing a 115-pound strawweight division for women than bantamweight champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey. Kyle Orton Authentic Jersey . Rousey (9-0) is the undisputed queen of 135-pounders, with three successful UFC title defences already. Eight of her nine wins have come in the first round, lasting a combined 13 minutes 34 seconds. Next up for the Olympic judo bronze medallist is Canadian Alexis Davis (16-5) at UFC 175 on July 5 in Las Vegas. Rousey has plenty of respect for Davis, a native of Port Colborne, Ont., who trains out of San Diego and is ranked No. 2 among UFC bantamweight contenders. But Rousey is also keenly aware of the need for competition to keep her division interesting. "Its no fun having just one person crushing everyone," she told The Canadian Press in a recent interview. "I really do feel my fights are still exciting. They can be one-sided, people still enjoy watching them." The addition of the 115-pound division means "not all of womens MMA is dependent on how my division is doing," she added. "There was a while that (former middleweight champion) Anderson Silva was just crushing everyone. No one was crying about how that division was doing because there were so many other divisions going on that were ultra-competitive at the time." Rousey believes the 115-pound division is thick with talent, will be ultra-competitive and that it will take a while before one champion takes charge. "Maybe by the time that happens, Ill already be moved on with my life and going on to the next chapter and then the womens bantamweight division will be the competitive one again," said the 27-year-old champion. "I really feel like the two (divisions) could really help each other out a lot. "And its not good to have champions being turned over all the time either, and not to have anyone to be dominant at all. So you really just have to find that balance. And I think that having two divisions in different states is a way that we can find that balance. " The UFC turned to the Invicta FC womens MMA organization to help populate the strawweight division with Invicta assigning 11 contracts to the UFC. Those fighters, plus five others, will report to Las Vegas in May to take part in Season 20 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show. The winner will be crowned the inaugural UFC womens strawweight champion. Rousey has branched off into movie work recently but says she has no time frame for moving on from MMA. "Me and my coach talked about this and we agreed that the day that I dont feel like training anymore is that is the day Im going to quit," she said. "If I dont want to come to the gym and train, then I dont deserve to be, dont belong in the ring fighting any more." There is no fear of that happening imminently. "I still park my car and literally jog from the parking lot into the gym because I cant wait to get in there. As soon as Im dragging ass into the gym, then Im going to quit," she added with a laugh. Last time out, Rousey crumpled Sara McMann -- an Olympic wrestling silver medallist -- with a nasty knee to the body for a 66-second TKO at UFC 170 in February. Two months earlier at UFC 168, she stopped Miesha (Cupcake) Tate 58 seconds into the third round in a rematch of the two rivals. It marked her eighth straight win by armbar. Rousey took some time off after the McMann fight, spending a few days in Big Bear, Calif., and Costa Rica. But she likes to keep busy. "I dont do that well doing nothing," she said. "After the (2008) Olympics, I took a year just to do nothing and bartend and drink and party and it didnt make me happy. So I really dont revert back to then when I have free time. I usually end up back in the gym just the same, except for Im probably am a little bit less laser-focused and more focused on helping other people and just being in there." "I guess that just comes with having a job that you love," she added. "That even when you can take time off, you dont want to leave it." Preston Brown Authentic Jersey . They did take one chance on a free agent-to-be however, and it didnt pay off. Rory Kohlert, selected by the Redblacks in the expansion draft from Winnipeg, has signed as a free agent with the Blue Bombers. Chris Gragg Authentic Jersey . The Jets jumped into a quick 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Zach Bogosian (3rd) and Devin Setoguchi (9th) 1:05 apart. Toby Enstrom and Andrew Ladd drew assists on the Bogosian goal, a point shot that seemed to dip and get by former Moose goaltender Eddie Lack.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Just keep counting Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies out. They revel in that underdog status. Now the team few outside of Memphis ever noticed before this post-season has provided the NBA with the first Game 7 of these playoffs. Randolph had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and the Grizzlies avoided elimination by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 95-83 Friday night to push their Western Conference semifinal to a deciding game. "We just have to go out and do it again," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "I know all of the pundits think its over. Theyve been saying we would win tonight, and Oklahoma City would win in seven, but its not over yet. We have to go win that game, and Im looking forward to it." The Grizzlies had never won a game before when facing elimination, but that was in 2004, 2005 and 2006, when they were swept out of the post-season each of those years. These Grizzlies are having not only the best playoff run in franchise history, but they now have won more games this post-season than any other No. 8 seed from the West. Game 7 will be Sunday in Oklahoma City, with the winner advancing to play the well-rested Dallas Mavericks. "This is where we want to be playing, Game 7, that one game to get to the Western Conference finals," Randolph said. "Its important. I feel good, but the job aint done yet. We know its going to be tough going to Oklahoma trying to win that game. We believe we can do it, and were committed." O.J. Mayo, who started in place of Sam Young, scored 16 points for Memphis. Mike Conley had 11 points and a franchise playoff-record 12 assists, and Tony Allen added 10 points as the Grizzlies improved to 5-1 on their home court this post-season, with a sellout crowd standing for the entire second half cheering to keep this stunning run going at least one more game. "We like people betting against us," Conley said. "It motivates us. We know a lot of people dont believe other than in the city of Memphis that we can get this done. We believe we can. Thats all that matters." Memphis outscored the Thunder 51-29 in the second half and 46-38 in the paint overall. Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, and James Harden had 14. Kevin Durant, the NBAs leading scorer in the regular season, was held to a post-season-low 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting. He was 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. "Its going to be a tough Game 7 at our place," Durant said. "Im looking forward to it. I started the game off like I did ... After that, it goes downhill. Its frustrating." Westbrook refused to call this a blown opportunity. "We got one more game, and weve got to be able to close it out," he said. Randolph had been limited to just 19.8 points and 31.9 per cent shooting since he scored a career playoff-best 34 points in Game 1. He had been the focus of the Thunders defence and had just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting in Game 5. Hollins credited the difference to having 48 more hours to recover from their triple-overtime loss Monday. "Obviously, weve been a team thats been able to come from bbehind all year long, and we did it again tonight," Hollins said. Mario Williams Jersey. The power forward, named to the All-NBAs third team on Friday, scored 12 in the fourth to preserve Memphis lead. Randolph scored six straight points, capped by a 12-foot fallaway jumper that sent the fans into a frenzy chanting his nickname. "He was making jump shots, and he was making contested jump shots," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Hes third-team All-NBA for a reason. That guy is a player, and when he gets it going, you only can do what you can do and that is contest his shot and force him to take tough shots and he made some tough shots tonight." Randolph said Mayos addition to the starting lineup helped give him more space with the Thunder forced to honour the guard. Hollins told Mayo he would be starting before the morning shootaround but called Randolph unbelievable. "He never fails," Mayo said. "You can live when he has a bad game because he plays so many incredible games, and down the stretch he carries us so much that when he has a bad game, youre like OK, hes a little human. But pretty much, he never fails us." Oklahoma City just couldnt get to the basket or sink shots in the second half. The Thunder had a fast break with Westbrook driving to the basket, but he just couldnt finish the shot. Randolph came up with the rebound, then Mayo hit a 19-footer to push the Grizzlies lead to 88-79 with 3:11 left. The Thunder had their biggest lead at 54-41 just before halftime and looked ready to blow out Memphis, just as they did in Game 5 on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. But Shane Battier ended the first half with a three-pointer, and the Grizzlies used that as the start of an 18-5 run into the third. Randolphs bucket with 5:19 left in the third tied it 59-59, Gasol tied it again at 65-65, and Mayos three-point play put Memphis ahead to stay at 68-65 with 2:10 left. Durant picked up his second personal on a questionable offensive foul with 7:37 left in the first quarter and sat for the rest of the period. With Battier defending him most of the night, Durant went 1-for-10 from the floor in the second half. Hollins downplayed anything the Grizzlies did defending Durant. "He saved himself for Sunday," Hollins quipped. The Thunder used a 20-7 spurt during which Westbrook scored seven, and Harden capped it with back-to-back three-pointers for a 52-39 lead with 1:03 remaining in the second quarter. Unlike Game 5, they couldnt build on this lead. NOTES: Young had a tough day Friday. He found his car had been stolen after the morning shootaround. It was retrieved 15 minutes or so later, and he credited OnStar for the recovery. ... The Denver Nuggets won six post-season games as a No. 8 seed in 1994. ... The stats crew struggled, counting a travel by James Harden late in the first quarter as a bucket and showing a tie at 23-23 at the end of the quarter. They didnt get it corrected until 8:24 left in the second quarter, a span of more than five minutes. The public address announcer noted the score change. ... The Thunder hit 11 of 20 in the second quarter when they outscored Memphis 30-21. ' ' ' |
