Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on Lyoto Machida, UFC 123 + MMA Math

UFC boss says he’ll rethink Lesnar vs. Mir III

OBERHAUSEN, Germany – Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Frank Mir (14-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) may not be completing their trilogy just yet.

Just one day after suggesting Lesnar vs. Mir III is a fight that "kind of makes sense" in the heavyweight division, UFC president Dana White now admits feedback received on his Twitter account is leading him away from arranging the matchup.

"People have been saying on my Twitter that they're not happy with that fight," White told MMAjunkie.com. "It's something I need to rethink."

Following Lesnar's heavyweight title loss to Cain Velasquez in October, reports began to surface in a number of locations that Lesnar vs. Mir III was in the works.

At a Friday Q&A session with the UFC Fight Club, White said those reports were a bit premature as he had not spoken to Lesnar since the former champion's UFC 121 defeat. However, he did seem intrigued with the notion.

"That fight kind of makes sense," White said on Friday. "So, we'll see."

But since White made that statement, fans have taken to the Internet to express their displeasure in the potential fight. While the UFC president believes it's unwise to pay too much attention to Internet message boards, White says those that took the time to address him on his official Twitter account have made their feelings known loud and clear.

"I usually don't gauge things by the Internet; the internet is [expletive] stupid," White said. "My Twitter I do.

"On my Twitter, there are 1.2 million people that care about this thing and everything else, and you don't get the goofy [expletive] that you get on the Internet."

Lesnar's October loss snapped a four-fight win streak that instantly catapulted him to the pinnacle of the sport's heavyweight division. Before meeting Velasquez, he earned victories over Heath Herring, Randy Couture, Mir and Shane Carwin.

Lesnar and Mir have shared a sometimes intense rivalry since they first met at UFC 81. Mir won that bout by first-round submission, and the two sniped at each other in the press after Lesnar became heavyweight champion by defeating Couture at UFC 91.

The two then met at UFC 100, and Lesnar avenged the loss when he knocked out Mir in the second round. In subsequent interviews, Mir pined for a rubber match, though he went silent after he gave an interview in which he wished death on Lesnar. White publicly chastised Mir and said it wouldn't happen again.

Mir most recently defeated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in the main event of UFC 119 a bout that largely was panned for its lack of action.

Carmelo Anthony: 'I'm not Chris Bosh'

It has become the season to pick on Chris Bosh(notes), apparently.

Sure, Chris doesn't make it any easier on himself by looking like the third wheel in the LeBron James(notes)/Dwyane Wade triptych, or by complaining about how his building in Canada wasn't equipped to receive NBA League Pass, or with a rebound rate (the percentage of all available rebounds you pull in) that rivals that of the ancient Grant Hill's(notes) this season ... but this statement from Carmelo Anthony(notes) seems a little low.

And a little accurate.

In speaking (on record!) with Peter Vecsey of the New York Post recently, Anthony wants you to know that he will not be emulating Bosh's final few months with the Toronto Raptors:

The lines of communication already had been connected almost immediately after the exaggerated trade report surfaced. Ever since the "news" hit the doorstep, [personnel bosses Josh] Kroenke and [Masai] Ujiri have sought out Anthony for opinions on team matters, just as he's gone to them with suggestions.

Both sides now know exactly what must be done. He wants to see the team improved within the next three months, or shown a plausible plan to get better this summer. He promises not to leave his team hanging.

"I'm not Chris Bosh," Anthony declared. "We're not the same person. What I do will be straight up. Management knows that."

Ouch. And you can't blame him for that. While speaking candidly about trying to find a reasonable end to this semi-trade demand may possibly net Anthony a fine, he is being honest about giving the Nuggets a few months to get their affairs in order while working with them (should he decide to leave) in an open and up-front manner.

Instead of, as Bosh did, deciding to break it to Raptors fans and employees alike that he was gonzo, via Twitter, on an early Friday evening during the first round of the playoffs.

Of course, elsewhere in the piece, Anthony does say this:

"I'm just like LeBron," Anthony emphasized in the Nuggets' locker room following Saturday's practice. "It's all about winning. That's all I care about. I want the chance to compete at the championship level. All the other stuff is irrelevant."

DeSean Jackson's unfortunate word choice: Eagles 'like pit bulls'

The Philadelphia Eagles came out in the first quarter Monday night and rained furious hell upon the hapless Redskins.

Led by a historically great performance by Michael Vick(notes), the offense ran up 28 points and cruised for 328 yards of offense in the first quarter. The defense allowed the Redskins nothing

How do you describe a tenacious, overwhelming performance like that? Well, DeSean Jackson found one interesting way, referencing a pregame shoving match with several Redskins (from USA Today):

"The pregame altercation got us going. It had us ready. We came back into the locker room pumped," Jackson said, via the AP.

"We were like pit bulls, ready to get out of the cage."

Please pause right here to approximate the awkward silence that must have followed Jackson's last sentence.
There is, of course, no reason to hold anything against DeSean Jackson(notes) here. People compare fights and fighters to pit bulls all the time, because when provoked to fight, the breed often shows a natural tenacity and stubborn refusal to quit fighting

Vick & Eagles embarrass McNabb & Redskins 59-28

LANDOVER, Md. (AP)—Forget about the contract: The Philadelphia Eagles weren’t happy with Donovan McNabb’s(notes) words. And they were thoroughly upset with LaRon Landry’s(notes) alleged dirty deeds, both before and during the game.

The best way to handle it? Have Michael Vick(notes) and the offense run up the score

On a day the Washington Redskins hoped to celebrate McNabb’s new contract and set aside the swirl of distractions from his benching two weeks earlier, Vick put up some gaudy numbers of his own and the Eagles stormed the party and embarrassed their NFC East rivals 59-28 Monday night

It was Vick, not McNabb, who played like a $78 million quarterback, accounting for six touchdowns. The Eagles marched down the field in one big chunk after another, putting new entries in the various record books along the way.

Vick became the first player in NFL history with at least 300 yards passing, 50 yards rushing, four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a game. He hasn’t thrown an interception or lost a fumble this season.

“I’ve had some great games in my day,” Vick said. “But I don’t think I’ve had one quite like this one.”

Philadelphia center Mike McGlynn(notes) said the team was motivated by McNabb’s dig after the Redskins beat Philadelphia 17-12 last month. McNabb, speaking of the offseason trade that sent him to Washington, said at the time: “Everybody makes mistakes in their lifetime, and they made one last year.”

“Donovan had said some things after they beat us that fired us up, saying how they made a terrible decision and everybody makes mistakes,” McGlynn said. “I think we’re happy with where we are right now.”

Then there was a pregame skirmish between the teams on the field, forcing officials to step in and restore peace. McGlynn said Redskins safety Landry started it by saying something to receiver DeSean Jackson(notes). Notably, it was Landry who was beaten by Jackson on the first play from scrimmage, an 88-yard pass from Vick for the first of many scores.

[Rewind: Spotlight on Vick’s late arrival to game]

“Basically a guy tried to come over and intimidate us,” McGlynn said. “It was (No.) 30 again. He said some things to our star player he shouldn’t have said, and he got his. You can see on that first play. He got his.”

McGlynn also said he was spit on by Landry twice during extra points.

“That really fired us all up, and we really put the afterburners on,” McGlynn said. “It’s good to come out and score 60 points almost. We all want to play the game with all the respect in the world. When people come out and disrespect it like that, I think you’ve got to be more respectful of the game. That’s just a terrible thing. I think we just looked at it as ‘Hey, let’s keep pouring it on.”’

Landry denied spitting at McGlynn, saying: “I’m aggressive. I’m not that type of player.”

As far as the pregame confrontation, Landry described it as “typical talk.”

“Me and DeSean was talking, and they took it to another level,” Landry said.

Jackson’s take? He said there were “some disrespectful things” said by players who “take this football a little bit too serious.” But then he uttered what would appear to be an unintentionally insensitive remark, given Vick’s recent jail time on a dogfighting conviction.

“The pregame altercation got us going. It had us ready. We came back into the locker room pumped,” Jackson said. “We were like pit bulls, ready to get out of the cage.”

The Eagles led 35-0 after the first play of the second quarter. Vick completed his first 10 passes and finished 20 for 28 for 333 yards with four touchdowns. He also ran eight times for 80 yards and two scores, moving past Steve Young and into second place in NFL history for yards rushing by a quarterback.

The Eagles set team records for total yards in a game (592), points in a half (45) and had the biggest lead after the first quarter for any NFL road team (28-0) since at least 1950.

The win moved Philadelphia (6-3) into a first-place tie with the New York Giants in the division, with both teams two games ahead of the Redskins (4-5). The Eagles are 4-0 when Vick starts and finishes the game.

A few hours before kickoff, the Redskins signed McNabb to a five-year, $78 million contract extension with $40 million guaranteed, putting to rest any doubts as to whether he would remain the centerpiece of coach Mike Shanahan’s rebuilding effort. It was Washington’s first game since Shanahan benched McNabb in the final two minutes of a loss to Detroit, when the coach cited McNabb’s less-than-full grasp of the two-minute offense and later the quarterback’s lack of “cardiovascular endurance” stemming from sore hamstrings.

McNabb received a standing ovation and applauded the fans in return when he was introduced with the starting lineups, but most of those fans had left by halftime on a rainy night in which they heartily booed offense and defense alike.

“We just got embarrassed, from start to finish,” Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall(notes) said. “It’s frustrating to go out there on national TV and play the way we played. … Anybody that was watching that game thought it was a joke.”

McNabb finished 17 for 31 for 295 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, nearly all of the yards coming after the Redskins had dug themselves a five-touchdown hole. Dimitri Patterson(notes) intercepted McNabb twice, returning one of them 40 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Interestingly, Shanahan made McNabb finish the entire game this time, even with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. McNabb said the news of the contract didn’t help in dealing with the loss.

“At this point, I’m angry,” he said.

The 45 first-half points allowed by the Redskins tied a franchise record, and the 59 total points were the most allowed by a team coached by Shanahan. It was almost as if the players had decided there was no incentive to play well, given that a teammate who got benched in the last game had just received a mega contract.

“We got outcoached. We got outplayed. They did everything right,” Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth(notes) said.

Vick will remember Eagles’ loyalty in 2011

Talk already has turned to the potential free agency of Michael Vick(notes) next season, and though Vick said his agents have not spoken to the Eagles about a new deal yet, the QB will remember who helped him return to prominence. "When nobody else wanted me, they did and I'll definitely have to take that into
consideration when it's time to make a decision," Vick told the media this week. And the Eagles clearly have a tough choice of their own, with backup Kevin Kolb(notes) the assumed quarterback of the future. But Vick said he has not let his contract situation affect the way he has played. One interesting factor that could sway his decision after the season is whether Marty Mornhinweg gets a head-coaching job, perhaps with the 49ers if Mike Singletary is not retained. Our sources have raved about the work Mornhinweg has done on a daily basis with Vick, and the QB could follow the coach if the right situation comes up somewhere else.

Todd Haley will not play nice with Josh McDaniels

That fantastic photograph by Justin Edmonds for Getty Images pretty much tells the story. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley didn't offer a handshake to Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels after the game. Instead, he appeared to offer a stern mini lecture.

About what? Well, that's not entirely clear. Haley, on the wrong end of a 49-29 stomping that wasn't as close as the final score would indicate, talked a little bit about it after the game, but didn't go into specifics.

"That's a private time between head coaches that has become not so private, but the key I would say, probably the thing that you're asking about, is that I've been in this enough as an assistant coach, as a head coach now, to be in some of these games. And the important thing for me as a head coach is that our team continue to just play hard and play our hearts out and keep fighting until the end.

"Sometimes, you see indicators on the other side of where that team thinks the game is. We've been on the other side of this and we've been on this side of it and we've been ... again, let's just keep it at that."


[Photos: More intense moments for Todd Haley]

That's pretty vague, but Dennis J. Georgatos of the FanHouse speculates that Haley might feel like some of the Broncos were a little too jovial on the sidelines after the game was well in hand for the Broncos. Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated says it might have been because the Broncos, with their starters still in the game, were going deep with a 32-point fourth-quarter lead.

Vic Lombardi of The Denver Sports Insiders asked McDaniels about the snub, and his reply was, "Ask him. I'm going to focus on my team."

I think it's great. Not running up the score -- that's a chump move to try to humiliate a beaten opponent. But a little bit of conflict and discord have never failed to enhance an intradivisional rivalry, and if McDaniels and Haley don't care for each other, that's just a little bonus spice twice a year for Chiefs vs. Broncos games.