Month: June 2020

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, June 30: Dustin Poirier on the up (and up)

Check out the latest moves in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings coming out of UFC on ESPN 12.

[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] came away with a thrilling victory in an instant classic at UFC on ESPN 12 and, as a result, is moving up on two lists.

In the “Fight of the Night” that is sure to remain a “Fight of the Year” candidate, Poirer earned a gutsy unanimous decision over [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] in this past Saturday’s main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The victory put Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) back in the win column after he lost to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last September.

For his efforts, Poirier, who’s won five of his last six fights, has made some major moves in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings. At lightweight, Poirier moves from No. 4 to No. 2, jumping ahead of current interim champ Justin Gaethje, whom he holds a head-to-head victory over. And on the pound-for-pound list, Poirier goes from honorable mention to No. 10, also ahead of Gaethje and dropping Tony Ferguson down to honorable mention status.

You can check out all the moves to come out of UFC on ESPN 12 in the dropdowns above.

“It’s about the culture that he wants …

“It’s about the culture that he wants to build here,” George said. “He tells us multiple times that ‘whatever that we need, or whatever is not in the locker room that y’all want, come to me. At the end of the day, I want this to be the destination for every player to want to come to. I want to build a history here.’ He understood the owner that was here before him, and he wants to separate himself from him. Honestly, it’s been a blessing.”

In a recent podcast, ESPN sportswriter …

In a recent podcast, ESPN sportswriter and commentator Brian Windhorst spoke on the cost of building and maintaining a self-contained “bubble” within Walt Disney World for the resumed 2019-20 season: “This is something I don’t think everybody understands. The Orlando ‘bubble’ is costing the NBA more than $150 million. More than 1.5 million dollars a day to put on. Not to mention all the lost revenue they have from not being able to sell tickets…”

“It’s 650,000 to a million expats …

“It’s 650,000 to a million expats living in Canada,” Nurse said. “I think like with anything, [voting abroad] is probably a really old initiative that’s hard to get the message out, and we’re hoping to help, we’re hoping to help raise awareness.” Nurse has a series of public service announcements planned, including some with Raptors players. They’ll guide voters on how to register and where to vote, to “get the wheels in motion, and then there’ll be a couple of other steps once we get closer [to Nov. 3 election day].”

A U.S. Senator is demanding answers …

A U.S. Senator is demanding answers from NBA commissioner Adam Silver on his league’s relationship with China. In a letter sent Tuesday to Silver, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) expressed “concern” over the NBA’s dealings with a country governed by a Communist regime that has abused human rights, squashed pro-democracy protests and hidden details on the coronavirus outbreak. Sports Illustrated obtained a copy of the two-page letter.

Blackburn is giving Silver a July 21 …

Blackburn is giving Silver a July 21 deadline to respond to three questions she poses at the letter’s end regarding China Central Television’s ban on NBA games, the league’s relationship with Chinese state-owned enterprise Alibaba and the league’s training center in the controversial region of Xinjiang. The relationship between China and the United States is at a “pivotal moment,” she writes, and it could eventually lead to a new Cold War.