Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 August 2014

PuaPuadedeh : Arnold is a Fan of UFC's Rising Star, Conor McGregor


The Oak sends out a congratulatory tweet to the man he calls the "McGregor-nator."

July 2014 | Declan O'Kelly
Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor, the fast-talking UFC featherweight who is enjoying a meteoric rise in popularity in MMA, can count Muscle & Fitness executive editor Arnold Schwarzenegger among his growing legions of fans. McGregor defeated Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night Dublin at the O2 Arena on Saturday night to go 15-2, 3-0 UFC. The 26-year-old dominated his opponent and ended the fight with a barrage of unanswered shots that forced referee Leon Roberts to call a halt to proceedings with 4:05 gone in the first round. Arnold took to Twitter on Sunday to congratulate the Irishman saying:

UFC President Dana White was hugely impressed by the atmosphere for the fight in the Irish capital, saying that he clocked the decibel level at 111 at one point in the night and compared it to rock concerts, which are normally in the 110-decibel range. He tweeted this crowd reaction from the main event introduction of McGregor:

McGregor, who is never short a word or two, called out some of the number one contenders in the featherweight division in the aftermath of his win. White told media after the fight that getting to the top is a process that takes several planned steps instead of leaps. "I'd like him to relax," said White. "I like that he's ambitious. He just needs to relax a little bit. I love the things he says. I'm telling you, he reminds me of Ronda Rousey. Him and his visions remind me of Ronda Rousey."
So far in his UFC career, the Dubliner has backed up the hype with solid performances in the Octagon. Brandao, an experienced fighter who won The Ultimate Fighter 14, was a step up in class for McGregor and came into the fight in top shape and extremely motivated, but the Irishman dispatched him in less than one round. Check out McGregor talking to Ariel Helwani after the fight about what he wants so do next:
MUSCL
Posted on 10:40 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Zydrunas Savickas Wins 2014 World's Strongest Man Title

"Big Z" beats out Thor Bjørnson and Brian Shaw to win his fourth title.

Declan O'Kelly
MHP Team USA vs. Team Europe Strongman Challenge
Zydrunas Savickas, the 6'3" Lithuanian whose favorite workout is press training and who weighs in at around 375 pounds, captured his fourth World's Strongest Man title in Los Angeles over the weekend, beating out Hafthor "Thor" Bjørnson into second and last year's winner, Brian Shaw, into third, according to the News of Iceland.
We took a quick look around YouTube to see if we could find any clips of strongmanSavickas in action at WSM2014, and we found the following. Congratulations Big Z!
Posted on 10:34 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Europe’s Strongest Man 2014


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Yesterday saw England play host to this year’s Europe’s Strongest Man competition.  Although a great competition in its own right, there was particular excitement in the air as the organisers had chosen to kick the event off with what they coined as the world deadlift championships. For the first time in history, the best deadlifters across powerlifting and strongman had been invited to battle it out to determine the true deadlifting world champion.
Following the deadlift the strongmen would be battling it out over the following events:
  • Yoke
  • Forward Hold (Thor’s Hammer)
  • Giant Dumbell for reps (100kg)
  • Atlas Stones
  • Loading Race
World deadlift championship
The deadlift lineup was strong, comprising of:
  • Eddie Hall
  • Laurence Shahlaei
  • Martin Wildauer
  • Hafthor Bjørnson
  • Mark Felix
  • Johannes Årsjø
  • Graham Hicks
  • Vytautas Lalas
  • Krzysztof Radzikowski
  • Mikhail Koklyaev
  • Brian Shaw
and from powerlifting:
  • Benedikt Magnússon
  • Andy Bolton
The rules were simple, lift a standard Olympic bar from A to B anyway you could – suits, straps and hitching all allowed. The athletes warmed up backstage before the first shock of the day was announced – Shaw, having competed in America last week, announced that his back was still tight and didn’t feel right during warm up. Much to the crowds’ disappointment the American withdrew himself from the competition.
With 12 competitors left, each went forward to tackle the compulsory opening lift of 400kg. Despite the weight being only within the reach of a handful of lifters a few years ago, this elite field showed their worth with all managing the weight except Russian Misha – he announced shortly before his lift that he had pulled his back during warm up but, in true crowd pleasing style, was going to try it anyway.
The deadlift then went up in a rising bar style with athletes choosing which weights they wanted to lift. As the bar rose in weight, fewer and fewer competitors remained.
The weight on the bar was risen to 435kg, 1kg more than the British strongman record. The current holder of that record, Shahlaei, and rival British strongman, Hall, opted to lift. To screams in the crowd Shahlaei made the lift, breaking the record. Next up was Hall – a blistering fast pull but, at the last moment, tragedy struck when the bar slipped from his hands just before locking out the lift. The audience thought Hall’s hopes were over but Ed reset himself, ignoring the fact the weight on the bar was already in excess of the British record and proceeded to do another rep – this time holding the whole 435 kilos at the top of the lift whilst the competition’s presenter, Caroline Pearce, carried out a tv interview. Certainly an impressive display of strength but would this showmanship cost Ed a heavier lift? In the word’s of Glenn Ross – we’d soon see.
Next on the bar was 446kg. Current powerlifting world record holder Magnusson decided to jump back in at this point with his second lift following the mandatory opener of 400kg. Magnusson made light work of the weight and set a firm marker for the remaining athletes to match or, perhaps, surpass. This was also the weight where fellow powerlifter Andy Bolton decided to return to the bar. Much to the disappointment of the English fans, Bolton was unable to make the lift – only managing to break the bar a couple of inches off the ground.
With Shahlaei having made quick work of the 435kg lift, there was hope he could match Magnusson’s 446kg too. Unfortunately, the lift proved too much and Shahlaei suffered an injury to his lat, forcing him to join Shaw, Misha and others and pull out of the competition. Fellow Englishman Hall was fired up for the lift – despite having had to do two reps of the previous weight. In true Hall style, a lot of shouting resulted in a successful lift and there were now only two men left in the competition – Hall and Magnusson.
461kg – 1kg more than the current powerlifting world record – was put on the bar next. Magnusson approached the bar and began his lift. After a true battle Magnusson stood strong at the top of the lift, proudly holding the 461kg world record lift in his hands. The crowd roared but Hall was still to go. Hall set himself up, secured his straps on the bar and pulled with all his might – the bar moved quickly off the floor, quicker than Magnusson’s, and to everyone’s surprise – perhaps even Hall’s – he pulled it to lockout. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, or perhaps the weight was too great, but Hall, having managed this world record breaking feat, dropped the weight. The referee had no choice but to disallow the lift – the rules stated that the bar had to be lowered bar down to the ground under control.
Magnusson was declared the World Deadlifting Champion.
The weights each competitor managed are listed below, our thanks to Craig Pfisterer for compiling the list.
  • Benedikt Magnússon – 400kgs/881lbs, 446kgs/983lbs, 461kgs/1016lbs
  • Eddie Hall – 400kgs/881lbs, 435kgs/959lbs, 446kgs/983lbs, 461kgs/1016lbs (no lift)
  • Laurence Shahlaei – 400kgs/881lbs, 435kgs/959lbs, 446kgs/983lbs (no lift)
  • Martin Wildauer – 400kgs/881lbs, 435kgs/959lbs, 446kgs/983lbs (no lift)
  • Hafthor Bjørnson – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs, 435kgs/959lbs (no lift)
  • Mark Felix – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs, 435kgs/959lbs (no lift)
  • Johannes Årsjø – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs
  • Graham Hicks – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs (no lift)
  • Vytautas Lalas – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs (no lift)
  • Krzysztof Radzikowski – 400kgs/881lbs, 420kgs/926lbs (no lift)
  • Andy Bolton – 400kgs/881lbs, 446kgs/983lbs (no lift)
  • Mikhail Koklyaev – 400kgs/881lbs (no lift)
  • Brian Shaw – w/d
With the deadlifting competition out of the way, there remained only six strongmen left – the others had unfortunately had to pull out due to injury. The field considerably narrowed, it was time for the yoke.
The Swede, Årsjø, got off to a stormer, with an event win.
  1. Årsjø
  2. Bjørnson
  3. Radzikowski
  4. Hicks
  5. Felix
  6. Wildauer
Next event on the cards was the forward hold and the implement being held – Thor’s hammer – suggested that there could only be one winner. Despite Bjørnson being far from built for the event with long arms and, relatively, weaker shoulders he persevered to victory.
  1. Bjørnson
  2. Hicks
  3. Radzikowski
  4. Årsjø
  5. Felix
  6. Wildauer
The athletes then moved onto the 100kg dumbbell for reps. Following on from his last event win, Bjørnson took another scalp in this one too.
  1. Bjørnson – 7 reps
  2. Hicks – 6 reps
  3. Radzikowski – 5 reps
  4. Årsjø – 5 reps
  5. Felix – 3 reps
  6. Wildauer – 2 reps
The unstoppable Bjørnson then proceeded to take a third event win on the atlas stones:
  1. Bjørnson - 6 stones
  2. Årsjø – 5 stones in 22.61 seconds
  3. Hicks – 5 stones in 30.18 seconds
  4. Felix - 5 stones in 41.25 seconds
  5. Radzikowski – 4 stones
  6. Wildauer - 1 stone
This event saw another athlete fall, with Wildauer pulling out due to injury before the final event, loading. After the final event, with only five athletes left,  Bjørnson was declared Europe’s Strongest Man.
Overall standings:
  1. Bjørnson
  2. Årsjø
  3. Hicks
  4. Radzikowski
  5. Felix

Posted on 10:31 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Tyson Fury v Dereck Chisora fight rescheduled for 22 November


Dereck Chisora Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury, left, and Dereck Chisora pose for the cameras ahead of their London rematch in November. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
The much-anticipated heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora has been rescheduled for 22 November at London’s ExceL arena.
The British pair had been due to meet in a rematch in Manchester on 26 July until Chisora fractured his hand and the long-awaited bout had to be postponed.
The promoter Frank Warren said: “It’s been a rollercoaster few weeks, but I’m delighted to say that the fight is definitely on with Chisora and Fury ready to clash on Saturday 22nd November at the Excel.
“It was an extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that caused Chisora to pull out with a fractured hand. Despite the setbacks, they were both determined to fight each other and I believe that we could see a genuine old-fashioned ring war between them.”
Posted on 07:22 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Shannon Briggs threatens Wladimir: Team Klitschko adds extra Security



It has been a little over a week since Shannon Briggs stormed into a restaurant where Wladimir Klitschko was having a meal, and took it took far with his antics, eating Wladimir’s food and promising to follow him everywhere he goes. This must have been that very last straw, because this time, even though calm and composed, Klitschko poured a glass of water over Shannon’s head, sending Briggs into a frenzy, resulting in broken glassware and cuts.
(VIDEO)
Clearly this incident did nothing to settle the situation, as Briggs is back on Wladimir’s back, threatening more action: “As soon as I see you, I will hot you in the face. Your fat security guard approached me from the back and grabbed me. That’s cool. I even cut my foot on your glass jaw. Nobody cares about your fight against Pulev, while the entire world is talking about us. Let’s do this!” said Briggs.
“This was 100% real, not staged,” added Briggs about that restaurant brawl.
These kinds of actions are nothing new to boxing, as they are the purest form of self marketing in this sport. Being a contact sport, the fans see anger and hate as a potential fuel to more action. Briggs is adding more and more fuel to his hate relationship with Klitschko, and it would be absurd to deny its effectiveness.
Slowly but surely their drama is getting more popular, with the potential of their fight gaining momentum. All this is generally within the normal parameters of self marketing in boxing, but when things get rough, and physical damage results, compromising one of the fighter’s upcoming bouts, these stunts becomes too risky.
Due to the escalading nature of Briggs’s behavior, team Klitschko has added extra security for Wladimir while he is in training for his September 6 bout against Kubrat Pulev, in Hamburg Germany.
“Until now it was funny, but not anymore,” stated Berndt Boente, Wladimir’s manager.
Shannon Briggs will no doubt continue to provoke Wladimir to a fight, and it is entirely possible that he will eventually get the fight that the boxing fans are clamoring for.

Posted on 07:19 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Angel Di Maria Transfer Rumours: Latest Speculation Surrounding Real Madrid Star

Angel Di Maria Transfer Rumours: Latest Speculation Surrounding Real Madrid Star
Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press 

Updates from Wednesday, Aug. 13
Angel di Maria is reportedly being urged to stay at Real Madrid by none other than UEFA Super Cup match-winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo's former club Manchester United are believed to want Di Maria at Old Trafford, but the Daily Mirror's Liam Prenderville cites the following report from El Confidencial:
It has been reported United would bid £55million to land Di Maria but according to El Confidencial, Ronaldo could stand in the way of a deal.
The Portuguese believes his team-mate is a key player and wants to convince him to remain with the club.
United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward headed to Cardiff for Tuesday's Super Cup clash in order to attempt to lure Di Maria to Old Trafford.
The Daily Mail's Simon Jones writes:
Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward was understood to be in Cardiff for the UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Sevilla ahead of talks with Madrid for the Argentina international Di Maria, considered by United manager Van Gaal as one of the best wingers in the world.
Madrid have already priced him out of a move to Paris Saint-Germain after demanding £50m, but United hope to strike a more reasonable deal.
Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 12
Angel di Maria is expected to stay at Real Madrid this summer, according to coach Paul Clement.
Di Maria has been linked to PSG and Manchester United all summer, but Clement told talkSPORT's Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show, perAlex Varney:
As far as we know at this stage everyone will be with us for this season.
Things can very quickly change - the window doesn’t close until the end of this month. But currently we have 20 outfield players and three goalkeepers, so it is not a big, big squad.
I can’t see too much movement because that is not a large squad.

Updates from Monday, Aug. 11
Manchester United are said to be readying an "ambitious" bid for Angel di Maria, after boss Louis van Gaal name-dropped the Argentinian as the type of player his squad lacks.
The Daily Star's Gary Jones reports:
United are understood to be in the driving seat in the race for the 26-year-old, after PSG bosses pulled out due to the price needed to land the winger.
[...]
The fallen Premier League giants are still being linked with an ambitious attempt to sign the player and could be ready to splash as much as £50m to secure his signature.
Van Gaal had spoken of United's needs over the weekend, confessing the Red Devils don't have a world-class wideman of Di Maria's ilk.
He was quoted saying by the Daily Mirror's Simon Mullock:
At this moment, we have five No.9s and four No.10s – and we don’t have wingers to give us attacking width.
Or, I should say, we don’t have wingers of the highest level, like Ronaldo or Di Maria or somebody like that. So, I have to play in another way – and you have seen that already. I only buy when I think we need to buy – in the position that is necessary.

Updates from Thursday, Aug. 7
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has ruled out the signing of Angel di Maria due to the size of the fee demanded by Real Madrid.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Al-Khelaifi was quoted saying by Get Football News:
The Daily Mail also noted his comment:

Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 5
The future of Angel di Maria can be expected to be settled quickly after agent Jorge Mendes met with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Monday.
Di Maria is expected to join PSG but is also attracting reported interest from Manchester United. AS reports the following on Monday's meeting:
Perez is not a regular presence at the club’s offices unless there are urgent matters to attend to. In this instance, there are.
[...]
Mendes was involved in Monaco’s interest in signing Madrid’s Ángel Di María, whom he also represents, with the Argentine now seemingly destined for Paris Saint-Germain.
Above and beyond Pérez and Mendes' excellent general relationship, it appears evident that there are negotiations in process. The likelihood of Falcao joining Real Madrid is increasing, while Di María's move to PSG could be close.

Updates from Tuesday, July 29
Angel di Maria favours a move to PSG, rather than Manchester United, according to ESPN FC's Miguel Delaney.
Both clubs are interested in the Real Madrid man, but it appears the Ligue 1 side from Paris are closest to landing him:
Manchester United are continuing to monitor the possibility of a move for Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria, but sources have told ESPN the player would favour a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Di Maria's preference is believed to be down to his desire to keep playing Champions League football, although UEFA's financial fair play rules could yet open the way for United.

Original Text
Argentina ace Angel Di Maria appears to be on his way from Real Madrid in a record deal to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Pablo Polo of Marca reports that the move is "virtually a done deal" and will constitute a club-record sale by the Galacticos.
Polo says the deal may be worth up to €80 million, breaking the amount paid by Arsenal last year for the services of Mesut Ozil. It was previously thought that PSG would be restricted by Financial Fair Play rules, but the probable sale of Edinson Cavani to Manchester United has changed the landscape of the Di Maria deal.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
However, Los Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti refused to confirm any such transfer was in the pipeline when asked by press.
He said, per John Drayton of the Mail Online: "There is nothing new in the market. Di Maria finished the World Cup and he is resting."
After Madrid's purchase of James Rodriguez, the chances of Di Maria achieving game time are now limited. Journalist Fabrizio Romano alluded to this when he tweeted:
Manu Fernandez/Associated Press
Despite this, Harry Pratt and Steve Millar of the Daily Star claimed on Sunday that Di Maria is desperate to join United and had issued a plea to Louis van Gaal to sign him.
Pratt and Millar report that LvG says his squad is not "balanced." The capture of Di Maria would go some way to addressing this issue.
They also point out that United believe the player would be available for £45 million, but the information of PSG's new bid will far exceed this figure.
Cavani would certainly be a glamourous consolation for the Red Devils, if he becomes available as a result. 
Di Maria contributed toward Argentina's strong World Cup campaign during the summer, but it was in the white shirt of Real Madrid where he showed his best qualities.
In 43 games for Los Blancos last season, the player provided a fantastic return of 22 assists in the Champions League and La Liga, per WhoScored.com. He also scored seven times during the period.
However, Bleacher Report's French football journalist Jonathan Johnson expressed his disappointment that PSG have moved for Di Maria rather than prodigy Antoine Griezmann.
He tweeted:
Di Maria is a wonderful player, but it is highly questionable if he is worth the reported sum that PSG are willing to pay. Even Madrid's asking price of £45 million is an incredible tag for a player who might find life a lot more difficult without Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Balenext to him.

It is a huge outlay from PSG, but they might have decided to cut their losses after the uncertainty of Cavani's future. The Uruguayan has been played in a wider role since his arrival in Paris, and Di Maria's inclusion will mean that the team has a specialist in the position, rather than a disgruntled striker.
PSG are very much building their own team of Galacticos, and Di Maria may yet go back to Real Madrid with his new club and haunt them
.
Posted on 07:15 | Categories:

PuaPuadedeh : Why Neymar Is Now More Important to Barcelona Than Lionel Messi


Why Neymar Is Now More Important to Barcelona Than Lionel Messi
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Neymar will be the star of Barcelona's show this season.

To suggest that Neymar is now more important to Barcelonathat Lionel Messi is quite the claim.
After all, the genius Argentine has been at the heart of everything positive that the Catalans have achieved over the last few seasons.
Be it goals, assists or general play, Messi can and has been relied upon to deliver the goods time after time. To date he has rarely let the side down.
In his prime as a footballer, we can expect more of the same from "LaPulga."

Yet the young Brazilian wunderkind is really coming into his own after a stop-start beginning to his career in Catalonia.
Despite the nasty injury that curtailed his own World Cup tournament, Neymar had already shown the whole world that he was, and is, more than ready to cut it on the biggest stages of all. That the responsibility sits well on those 22-year-old shoulders.
Yes, Messi got his side out of trouble on more than one occasion, but few would argue that it was Neymar and James Rodriguez who were the true stars of the tournament.Team-mate David Luiz noted to DPA via China Daily Asia:
If Neymar made it rain on the pitch, I wouldn't be surprised. In fact, I would see it as something almost normal, because I know exactly what he is capable of.
Whilst Bernard also told them:
Neymar is a different player from the rest, and it is he who makes the difference in our favor. For my money, he is more important to Brazileven than Messi is to Argentina.
Were it not for him, it's likely that the Selecao could have exited the tournament much earlier than they eventually did.

Without him and Thiago Silva in the side against Germany, look how they crumbled.
Neymar showed brief glimpses of his form at international level during his settling in period in Catalonia.
It's easy to take the "bottle half empty" approach and suggest that Neymardidn't do this or that, but the plain fact remains that here was a young man in a new, tougher league, in a new country, completely different surroundings, etc.
For even the most seasoned professional, it takes time to adjust to such changes.
As Dermot Corrigan pointed out via his Twitter account, Luis Enrique is in no doubt as to the youngster's standing within his side:

And it's that type of backing which will allow the youngster to flourish in a new, more dynamic Blaugrana.
In an interesting 3-2-3-2 setup as proposed by Sport h/t Tom Conn of Inside Spanish Football, even if Messi is bogged down in a tightly packed midfield, which so often happened last season, Neymar will have the freedom to drive at defences.
Neymar will show, as he did in Brazil, how incisive and decisive he will be in the final third. Alongside Luis Suarez, he is sure to find space easier than he did during the last La Liga campaign, and indeedEnrique's setup will be conducive for him to do so.
Messi can be supplementary to the attack and his late runs into the box will provide an extremely inviting alternative. But his work will now get done at the tip of the midfield rather than as the false nine.
His role will be far from peripheral, but Neymar will prove beyond any doubt next season who the main man now is at Camp Nou.
Posted on 07:11 | Categories:
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