This is thrilling from the off. Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko swing early, and let’s recall for a moment that neither man has ever been KO’d in long, long careers. Fedor’s right eye is swollen, and after exchanges, they are tied up on cage. Hendo had landed a left hook. Hendo is making it his fight early.
As they move away from the wall, Fedor is stalking, and then Hendo is caught and looks in trouble, but as Fedor attacks from the side, Hendo reverses the position and with attack of his own, lands that killer right hand, an uppercut, and Fedor falls flat on his face. Hendo moves in for the finish, throwing wildly, and although Fedor twists and puts his arms up, referee Dean has already stepped in to stop the contest. Fedor admitted afterwards that he could have continued but Dean made a split-second judgement. The right call in my book. Fedor has now lost three on the bounce. Retirement now beckons. Henderson says he wants to carry on in Strikeforce, and defend the light-heavyweight title.
With this victory, albeit against an MMA legend who has lost much of his speed and is clearly long past his best, Henderson enters the Hall of Fame. Henderson is a remarkable athlete, former Olympian and fighter. There will be arguments that the fight was stopped early by Dean, but Emelianenko had fallen flat on his face from the uppercut, and it was clear to see why the world’s leading MMA referee stepped in to call time on the contest.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Strikeforce: Henderson hands Fedor his third straight loss in TKO thriller
X Games: Shaun White wins gold in Skateboard Vert
Before his sixth and final run Saturday, Shaun White sat in second place behind rival Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who had won three consecutive gold medals in the Skateboard Vert event at the X Games.
With the crowd at Nokia Theatre cheering on the action sports superstar, White pulled off his best run, boosting his score of 89.33 points to 93, which helped him over take Gagnon's score of 91.66.
And when Gagnon fell shortly after beginning his final run, the gold medal again belonged to White, who last won the Skateboard Vert in 2007.
White, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding, won the silver medal in this event last year.
Bucky Lasek had the third-highest score at 87.66 to claim the bronze.
White and Gagnon were neck and neck for most of the five-skater finals because they were, for a time, the only two skaters to complete runs.Gagnon took the lead on his fourth run when he scored 89.66, overtaking White's 89.33 that he earned on his first run.
RELATED:
X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous
Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win
Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold
-- Baxter Holmes
Photo: Shaun White tries in vain to recover in midair during a qualifying run for the Skateboard Vert competition on Saturday at Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
X Games: Nate Adams adds Speed and Style gold to his haul
Nate Adams took home his second gold medal in X Games 17 by leaving all-comers behind in the Moto X Speed and Style competition Saturday.
Adams topped Mike Mason in the final race of the night, leaving Mason with the silver medal Adams won last year. Adams won thanks to his style, more than his speed, earning 90 points for his tricks throughout the race, while Mason tallied 87. Although Mason crossed the finish line first, his buffer of 1.53 seconds was not enough to overcome the three-point deficit from the style element.
Adams won the Moto X Freestyle competition Friday night, his first gold medal since winning the same event in 2004. Seven years later, he has now tripled his total gold count.
PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center
Adams beat Adam Jones and Ronnie Faisst on his way to the final. Mason topped Todd Potter and Carey Hart.
Faisst beat Hart handily in the bronze medal race to reach the podium.
In the quarterfinals, Jeremy Stenberg suffered a nasty fall on his third lap. Stenberg hit the main dirt-jump with plenty of speed, and appeared to be attempting a backflip when he separated from his bike. Stenberg, the defending bronze medalist, fell to the dirt feet-first and was carted out of the arena. An ESPN spokeswoman said he suffered a foot injury and would get X-rays.
RELATED:
X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous
Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win
Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold
-- Douglas Farmer
Photo: Nate Adams during the Moto X Freestyle final on Friday night. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press
Magic Johnson on ownership of the Dodgers and an NFL team
Magic Johnson, the Lakers' Hall of Famer and an entrepreneur, sat down with Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke for a one-on-one conversation about things past and present.
Without further adieu, take a listen to what the legendary playmaker had to say about the Dodgers' current ownership situation (above) and about his interest in an NFL team playing in Los Angeles (below).
Magic's biggest prediction? An NFL team for L.A. within two years. And he'd be interested in owning a piece of the Dodgers.
-- Dan Loumena
X Games: Speed and style explained
For anyone wondering what exactly “speed & style” means in the X Games' Moto X Speed and Style competition, let’s take the quarterfinal race between Ronnie Faisst and Matt Buyten as our example:
Faisst finished the four-lap race first, but he was not assured to advance simply because he took the checkered flag. Each of the racers is required to perform one trick per lap, excluding the first lap when the course does not include the largest dirt-jump.
PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center
Based off those tricks, the judges assign the racers a score for style. In this instance, Buyten tallied 86 style points, while Faisst recorded 84. Hence, the uncertainty as to who would advance.
But since Faisst won by 4.40 seconds, his final score was 88.80, edging Buyten’s 86.
Hopefully now it makes a bit more sense.
RELATED:
X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous
Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win
Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold
-- Douglas Farmer
X Games: Jeremy Stenberg is latest crash victim at X Games 17
Jeremy Stenberg became the latest victim of an X Games 17 competition accident when he crashed during the quarterfinals of the Moto X Speed & Style event on Saturday night.
Stenberg was in the third of the four-lap race against Carey Hart when he lost control of his motorcycle as he was going up a ramp to perform a trick. Stenberg was separated from his cycle and fell from several feet in the air, slamming feet-first onto the dirt before crashing onto his side.
PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center
Paramedics tended to him for several minutes before he eventually waved to the crowd and was carried off on a stretcher.
An X Games spokeswoman said there is no official word on the nature of Stenberg’s injury.
Nate Adams, Ronnie Faisst and Mike Mason will join Hart in the semifinals.
RELATED:
X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous
Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win
Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold
--Matt Stevens
Strikeforce: follow Fedor versus Henderson live
Telegraph GAD picks:
Emelianenko, Tate, Woodley, Kennedy, Saffiedine.
- Heavyweight bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson
- Women’s Bantamweight Championship bout: Marloes Coenen © vs. Miesha Tate
- Middleweight bout: Robbie Lawler vs. Tim Kennedy
- Welterweight bout: Paul Daley vs. Tyron Woodley
- Welterweight bout: Scott Smith vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Tarec Saff scoring with leg strikes and in the clinch on the wall, good knees moving well…10-9 takes the first round against Scott Smith. Smith-Saffiedine Rd 2: Good punch-kick combos from Tarec. Switching between orthodox and southpaw. Combo buckles Smith. Picking him off. Smith-Saffiedine. Smith under real pressure but still dangerous. His face cut. Smith in trouble. Big round for Saffiedine, who has his back. One-sided so far, 10-9 again to Saff. 20-18. Smith has been in real trouble and will go for broke in the final round if he still can…Tarec landing heavy shots in the third. Smith very laboured. Right hand from Smith. No footwork. Good straight left from Saff. Saff being cute in final two minutes as Smith hunts for KO kick or punch. Clinical work from Tarec. 30-27 Saff.
British knockout artist Paul Daley up next…needs a win here. Woodley moving fast crouching low. Woodley connects first. In the clinch. Knee to Woodley groin…pause. Woodley needs time, Daley warned by McCarthy. Knees from Woodley in the pin against the wall. Tied up. Good defence by Daley. McCarthy breaks them up. Daley throws…tied up again. I give opening round 10-9 Woodley, but little action in terms of striking. Very good defence from Daley against Woodley (0-2 in takedown atts in Rd 1) It’s a slow chess match at the mo…Daley down. Single leg. Daley in guard. Daley-Woodley is a mini-me Koscheck-Daley so far…Daley on ground 3 minutes of second round. Good sprawl from Daley. Bit of success at end of second for Daley, ground and pound. 20-18 Woodley. Good right from Daley in third. Attacks, but takedown again. Woodley controlling fight with his wrestling. Daley needs to get back up and away…but tied up with half of the final round left. Desperate Daley now has dominant position, Woodley in trouble, uppercut from Daley, knee from the Brit. Daley tries Oma Plata…but he has come back in this fight. Daley gets third round. 29-28 to Woodley in my book. Daley-Woodley official decision 29-28 unanimous on judges’s cards. Catcalls from the crowd. Woodley’s Mum very happy !