Stipe Miocic wants to fight boxer Tyson Fury, not interested in Daniel Cormier trilogy

UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic expressed an interest fighting former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Despite their series being tied at one fight apiece, UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] isn’t interested in a trilogy against former champ [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag].

Instead of facing Cormier (22-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) for a third time, Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) wants to taken on a different former champion – one outside of the MMA bubble.

In an interview with ESPN on Monday, Miocic made it clear he wants to fight boxing superstar Tyson Fury upon his return.

“I saw Tyson Fury is coming into the mix now here,” Miocic said. “I like a new challenge… With DC, I didn’t fluke knock him out – I beat him. I decisively beat him. Our first fight, congrats to DC. But he caught me with a punch in the first round.

“There was a lot going on in my mind that night. No excuses, but he beat me. The second fight I won. There’s no taking it away from me. I didn’t get lucky, I just straight outworked him.”

Throughout the interview, Miocic praised’s Fury’s abilities calling him a “good fighter” and a “good dude.” However, Miocic believes he has what it takes to defeated him inside the cage – or the boxing ring.

“He’s a talented fighter, so he’s definitely going to have good striking,” Miocic said. “But anyone can make a (30-second) highlight reel. It’s still good, but I can do that too.”

“… Definitely if he wants to step into the Octagon, I’ll love it. I’ll step in the ring. I’d love to box him. I would love to box him. He’s a great fighter. He’s a good dude and we’d put on a good show.”

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In fact, Miocic said the prospect of fighting Fury inside the ring was more intriguing to him than inside the cage. A new challenge, Miocic said, is what he’s striving for.

“It’s something new – something different,” Miocic said. “In mixed martial arts, there’s a lot more to go with. You’ve got a bunch of martial arts to work with. In boxing, we’d just go toe-to-toe and slug it out.”

Since he defeated Cormier at UFC 241 in August, Miocic underwent eye surgery. Miocic said he procedure was done to repair a retinal tear as a result of eye pokes sustained in the first two matchups against DC. He’s not sure exactly when, but he’s planning on a 2020 return.

“Probably multiple eye pokes from my last two fights,” Miocic said of why his eye was damaged. “Yeah, I mean it didn’t help my cause, but getting punched doesn’t help either.

“I got done with the fight seeing spots in my eye. I (saw things) I’ve never saw before. It just didn’t feel right. We actually went to the retinal doctor. He’s like, ‘Yeah, you have a tear in your retina.’ A little procedure will fix it up, so hopefully it’ll heal up and stay that way.”

Monday’s interview wasn’t the first we heard of Miocic wanting Fury in MMA. After Fury posted a video training elbows, knees, and takedown defense alongside former UFC title challenger Darren Till, Miocic issued a statement on Twitter.

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Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is seeing improvement with Tyler Herro

Tyler Herro has been among the top rookies so far this season and his head coach believes he is improving each time he steps onto the court.

Miami Heat first-round pick Tyler Herro has been among the top rookies so far this season and his head coach believes he is improving each time he steps onto the court.

Herro is currently averaging 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in nine games this season while he is shooting 37.2% from 3-point range. He ranks seventh in scoring among first-year players and ninth in 3-point percentage among players logging at least 10 minutes per game.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his game is his level of confidence. Despite being a rookie, Herro has not backed down from an opponent yet and has shown a willingness to guard the best player on defense, such as Devin Booker on Thursday.

Erik Spoelstra believes Herro is improving in the early going.

He’s working at it. I’m not condemning any of our players for miscues, that’s going to happen; that’s basketball. He is learning the league, he’s learning our system, he’s learning what he can do in this league versus college or high school. He spends time working to get better. I’m seeing improvement.

As is the case with each rookie, there will be a learning curve as the season progresses. Some players have shown an ability to pick things up quickly and others have needed more time. It appears as though Herro has learned the system pretty well for the most part as his play indicates.

The Heat return to action on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons.

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Alabama PG Jahvon Quinerly’s appeal denied by NCAA

Alabama transfer point guard Jahvon Quinerly will not be suiting up for the Crimson Tide’s basketball team this season. On Monday, the former five-star prospect had his appeal for eligibility denied by the NCAA. Michael Casagrande with AL.com shared …

Alabama transfer point guard Jahvon Quinerly will not be suiting up for the Crimson Tide’s basketball team this season. On Monday, the former five-star prospect had his appeal for eligibility denied by the NCAA.

Michael Casagrande with AL.com shared the statement made by the University of Alabama in response while also giving an appropriate rebuttal about the lack of transparency from the NCAA:

In addition, several people, including Quinerly’s mother, took to Twitter to share their displeasure with the NCAA for this decision:

It’s obviously a tough situation for Quinerly, his family and the Alabama basketball program, which was already dealing with multiple season-ending injuries before the season even started.

Quinerly originally signed with Villanova out of high school, but chose to transfer after only one season. He was the nation’s No. 29 overall player, No. 7 point guard and No. 3 player from the state of New Jersey, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Alabama will play its second game of the season on Monday night against Florida Atlantic, which is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

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Jon Gruden lays out Raiders top nickel option(s) should Lamarcus Joyner be unable to go

Jon Gruden lays out Raiders top nickel option(s) should Lamarcus Joyner be unable to go

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Following the Raiders’ Thursday night win over the Chargers, Jon Gruden was initially most concerned about the apparent hamstring injury suffered by nickel cornerback Lamarcus Joyner. He pulled up without contact on the Chargers’ final possession. Those non-contact injuries are often the worst ones.

As it turned out, it was fellow defensive back Karl Joseph who had the more severe injury, and he was placed on the injured reserve list two days later.

While Joyner’s hamstring injury is not season-ending, he may still miss some time. The Raiders signed free agent DJ Swearinger to try and fill the void left by the loss of Joseph, but at cornerback, they recently traded away one of their starters, leaving them with some serious depth issues now that Joyner is a question mark.

So, who replaces Joyner at the nickel cornerback spot? Well, that depends…

“Nevin Lawson is a guy that can play inside,” said Gruden. “Worley can play inside. Isaiah Johnson can play outside, so we have some options. But we’ll see where Lamarcus is here in the next couple days.”

Lawson is the first option. Worley had been tried out at safety and nickel earlier in the season as the Raiders explored their best five options for the secondary. Moving to safety may have been an option had Joyner not been injured, but now Worley is desperately needed at the cornerback spot.

Whether Worley could be tried at the nickel spot is dependent upon where rookie Isaiah Johnson is in his development. Johnson was activated from the injured reserve list just last week and plays exclusively outside.

“We’ll see where Isaiah is with a full week of practice. Remember last week was his first full week active, and we didn’t even have a full-speed practice before the Charger game. So this will be really the first time we get a chance to see him on the practice field for a full week.”

Experience is undoubtedly a concern with Johnson, while Lawson is a veteran cornerback with 54 NFL starts in 66 appearances under his belt. So, it would seem there is a very good chance the cornerback trio will be Worley and Trayvon Mullen on the outside, Lawson in the slot, and Johnson and Keisean Nixon off the bench.

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Report: Texans work out journeyman DL Caraun Reid

The Houston Texans worked out journeyman defensive lineman Caraun Reid on Monday, giving him a physical after.

With the bye week over with, the Houston Texans are molding their roster for the stretch run. On Monday, they worked out defensive lineman Caraun Reid, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

Reid, 27, last played with professional football with the Dallas Cowboys. In 2018, the 6-2, 292-pound lineman tallied 10 combined tackles, a half-sack, a tackle for loss and three QB hits in 10 games, one start, for the Cowboys.

Reid was a Detroit Lions fifth-round selection out of Princeton in 2014. He spent two seasons in Michigan — starting 12 games in the second — before waiving him in the preseason. The then-San Diego Chargers claimed him, only to see him play seven games before tearing his ACL.

The Lions claimed Reid off of waivers after the 2017 preseason. From there, he spent short visits with the Washington Redskins and Indianapolis Colts before landing in Arlington. The Cowboys released him on Sept. 1, leading the Colts to sign him and waive him two months later.

Seahawks will not activate Ed Dickson in time for Monday night

The Seattle Seahawks opted not to activate Ed Dickson from the injured reserve ahead of their Monday night game against San Francisco.

The Seattle Seahawks chose not to activate tight end Ed Dickson off the injured reserve before Monday night’s bout with the San Francisco 49ers, delaying his season debut another week.

The Seahawks only have one more week before they will either have to activate Dickson, or cut him loose.

Dickson was placed on the injured reserve just before the start of the season. He was eligible to return against the Buccaneers in Week 9, but the team decided to keep him on the IR while he got his legs back.

That appears to be the plan again this week as well. The Seahawks will go with the trio of Luke Willson, Jacob Hollister, and George Fant against the 49ers.

Dickson missed the first half of last season as well, before returning to haul in 12 receptions for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

That kind of production would be great for a Seattle team that lost Will Dissly to season-ending surgery for the second year in a row.

However, Seattle will have to wait another week to see Dickson in action.

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Falcons OC credits Matt Ryan’s toughness, no-huddle ability

The Falcons offense played well in Sunday’s win, even if the team’s breakout defensive performance stole the show.

The Falcons offense played well in Sunday’s win, even if the team’s breakout defensive performance stole the show.

Quarterback Matt Ryan, who still isn’t 100 percent due to an ankle injury he suffered against the Rams, helped keep the Saints offense off the field. He executed well in no-huddle situations, and made a couple of uncharacteristic scrambles when the team needed it.

Ryan may have been fighting through injury for a 1-7 football team, but he put it all on the line in New Orleans on Sunday.

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter praised Ryan and said the former MVP QB doesn’t get enough credit for his toughness.

Atlanta came out with more aggression on offense, mixing things up and keeping a really talented New Orleans defense on its heels for most of the game.

As for his quarterback’s scrambling ability, Koetter thought the reported 17 MPH which Ryan was clocked at during one of his runs was a typo:

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Matt Kuchar returns to Mayakoba Golf Classic and site of ‘Caddie-Gate’

Matt Kuchar returns to the Mayakoba Golf Classic this weekend as the reigning champion. However, this is also the site of the infamous “Caddie-Gate” involving a fill-in caddie, David Giral Ortiz. After his win last November, a story broke that he had paid his caddie far less than the normal 10-percent rate of the winner’s check. The story grew into national news and the social media uproar that ensued sullied his former choir-boy image. Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized for his initial actions and wrote Ortiz a check for the wrongdoing. Kuchar tees off Thursday morning at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Matt Kuchar returns to the Mayakoba Golf Classic this weekend as the reigning champion. However, this is also the site of the infamous “Caddie-Gate” involving a fill-in caddie, David Giral Ortiz. After his win last November, a story broke that he had paid his caddie far less than the normal 10-percent rate of the winner’s check. The story grew into national news and the social media uproar that ensued sullied his former choir-boy image. Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized for his initial actions and wrote Ortiz a check for the wrongdoing. Kuchar tees off Thursday morning at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Matt Kuchar returns to Mayakoba Golf Classic and site of ‘Caddie-Gate’

Matt Kuchar returns to the Mayakoba Golf Classic this weekend as the reigning champion. However, this is also the site of the infamous “Caddie-Gate” involving a fill-in caddie, David Giral Ortiz. After his win last November, a story broke that he had paid his caddie far less than the normal 10-percent rate of the winner’s check. The story grew into national news and the social media uproar that ensued sullied his former choir-boy image. Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized for his initial actions and wrote Ortiz a check for the wrongdoing. Kuchar tees off Thursday morning at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Matt Kuchar returns to the Mayakoba Golf Classic this weekend as the reigning champion. However, this is also the site of the infamous “Caddie-Gate” involving a fill-in caddie, David Giral Ortiz. After his win last November, a story broke that he had paid his caddie far less than the normal 10-percent rate of the winner’s check. The story grew into national news and the social media uproar that ensued sullied his former choir-boy image. Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized for his initial actions and wrote Ortiz a check for the wrongdoing. Kuchar tees off Thursday morning at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.