Ilir Latifi will have his hands full in his UFC heavyweight debut when he takes on Derrick Lewis on Feb. 8.
[autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag] will have his hands full in his UFC heavyweight debut.
A former member of the light heavyweight ranks, Latifi (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) moves to the 265-pound weight class, where he is expected take on [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] on Feb. 8.
A person with knowledge confirmed that the booking is in the works to MMA Junkie on Monday after an initial report by ESPN. The event currently doesn’t have a set location, but is targeted for Houston.
Latifi’s ascent to heavyweight comes on the heels of back-to-back losses at light heavyweight. After winning consecutive fights against Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux, Sweden’s Latifi lost an unanimous decision to Corey Anderson at UFC 232 in December 2018.
In his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN+ 14 in August, Latifi was finished by Volkan Oezdemir by second-round stoppage due to strikes.
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Feb. 8 will mark a three-month turnaround for Lewis (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) who just competed at UFC 244 on Nov. 2. In a back-and-forth brawl, Lewis defeated Bulgarian heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision.
The victory at Madison Square Garden snapped a two-fight skid for the American, who had lost fights against Junior Dos Santos and Daniel Cormier.
Check out the current lineup for the UFC’s Feb. 8 event below:
One of Paschall’s best attributes is his ability to score in multiple ways. He can bully opposing players in the paint. He can move without the ball and score. He can take opponents to the rim. He’s capable of making open jumpers.
Though he’s shooting 27.3% from the 3-point line this season, his shooting from the midrange has been where he’s thrived. According to Basketball Reference, Paschall is shooting 66.7% on field goals 10-16 feet from the hoop.
Paschall is third on the Warriors in points per game (16.7), and he’s also third in the league for points per game among rookies behind Ja Morant and Kendrick Nunn, according to NBA.com.
Along with his scoring, though, Paschall grabs rebounds well and can set up his teammates. Paschall ranks fifth among rookies in rebounds per game (4.8). Paschall is also averaging 1.3 assists per game.
Full list of #NBARooks with multiple 30+ point games this year:
Earlier this month, coach Steve Kerr compared Paschall’s defense to Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker’s, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
Steve Kerr on Eric Paschall’s defense: “He’s got the speed and quickness to stay in front of a guard and obviously the strength and size to stay with a big guy down low…We feel like he can be maybe even a little like P.J. Tucker. That’d be a good comp for him.”
Tucker is one of the best defenders in the league, being able to defend guards and wings on the perimeter. He can also defend bigger players around the rim.
With Paschall defending in multiple places, he contests 3.0 2-point shots a game, according to NBA.com. But his work defending on the perimeter is a bit more prevalent, as he contests 3.3 3-pointers a game. That number ranks fifth among rookies this season.
Through 13 games, Paschall has showed a quality all-around game. An early Rookie of the Year candidate, Paschall has an opportunity to be a key player in the Warriors’ future.
The Steelers and Bengals do not like each other very much.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals have been playing against each other since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. The teams have squared off 100 times and the Steelers hold a 65–35 advantage. But regardless of records, these two teams don’t like each other very much and it shows when they square off. This week the 5-5 Steelers take on the 0-10 Bengals and with that, we look back at the best pictures from the rivalry.
The Jags have placed both TE Josh Oliver and DE Lerentee McCray on injured reserve after both sustained injuries against the Colts.
The Jacksonville Jaguars went into their most recent game against the Indianapolis Colts relatively healthy but unfortunately loss two players for the rest of the season. The team announced that both tight end Josh Oliver and defensive end Lerentee McCray were placed on injured reserve with back and hamstring injuries, respectively.
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Jaguars are putting TE Josh Oliver (back) and LB Lerentee McCray on IR today and will promote TE Charles Jones from the practice squad and sign TE Nick O'Leary.
As we previously mentioned Monday afternoon, the Jags added veteran tight end Nick O’Leary to the roster with Oliver’s situation and practice squad tight end Charles Jones was promoted to fill McCray’s spot. The Jags also filled Jones practice squad spot with the signing of tight end Matt Sokol.
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Jones was signed as an undrafted rookie to the practice squad after the Jags made their final cuts. He played collegiately at Tulane where he garnered a career total of 61 catches for 460 yards and eight touchdowns.
As for Sokol, he previously signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as and undrafted rookie back in May out of Michigan State. While with the Spartans, he accumulated a career total of 31 catches for 348 yards and two touchdowns. He also participated in all four of the Chargers’ 2019 preseason games and hauled in a catch for 17 yards.
Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is shooting less than LeBron James is so far this season, but he doesn’t care.
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For as much talk as there was both in the preseason and in the early stages of the regular season about LeBron James moving aside to let Anthony Davis be the No. 1 option for the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s still looking more like an equal scoring partnership while LeBron himself still controls the offense as the team’s primary point guard.
LeBron has a slightly higher usage rate of 30.4% compared to 30.1% for Davis and their field goal attempt averages mirror that with 19.2 shots per game for LeBron and 18.1 for Davis. Davis took only 14 shots in Sunday’s win over Atlanta, causing head coach Frank Vogel to say he needed more shots, but Davis is not worried at all about juicing his individual stats when the Lakers are blowing out their opponents.
“We winning. I don’t really care about any of that. We’re going to find ways to get a shot. When it’s in the flow in the first half and we’re running, getting fast breaks points and guys getting open shots, finding guys when I do get the ball I just try to play the right way. We were up big in the first half, I’m not worried about shots, I’m worried about winning.”
Davis has been instrumental in the Lakers having the league’s top-ranked defense through the first 13 games. He remains well ahead in the NBA’s block category and while his shooting and scoring numbers are slightly down, it’s clear the trade of having individual accolades while losing in New Orleans in exchange for more wins in Los Angeles and slightly worse offensive numbers is one Davis would make again. And if you’re at all worried about Davis’ free agency, moments like this are the most reassuring thing you’re going to get from a star of his caliber.
Tom Brady didn’t have to say much after the New England Patriots’ 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11. He made his message clear: He’s unhappy with where the offense has progressed — or regressed — to this point in the 2019 season.
Brady said very little during his postgame press conference at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Sunday, but he didn’t seem to be reveling in the team’s win. He barely smiled when asked about Julian Edelman’s perfect passer rating. “We needed that,” Brady said Sunday. Perhaps Brady was concerned a trick play produced the only touchdown on the day.
“It’s just frustration with the offense. Just trying to grind them out. I am happy we won on the road, but at the same time just wish we would have scored more points,” Brady told “The Greg Hill Show.”
New England was 5 of 16 on third downs, and averaged a paltry 4.2 yards per play. Brady completed 55.3% of his passes – his second-lowest percentage this season – for 216 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. After receiver Phillip Dorsett suffered a head injury, the quarterback was forced to work on chemistry with new wideouts like Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels also seemed to be pushing Sony Michel into a bigger role in the passing game — with mixed results. With so many players in new or growing roles, the offense looked like it was going through growing pains.
In the meantime, Brady is an accessory to his defense, which is winning games. So long as the Patriots quarterback and his offense avoid turnovers, New England can keep winning games. But as the competition gets better, particularly in the playoffs, the Patriots might be in more trouble. They might need their offense to be better.
“I just think to win the game ultimately you just have to score more points than the other team,” he told WEEI. “That goes without saying. I don’t know what it is going to be on a particular week. We won the Super Bowl 13-3, that was pretty good. We lost the Super Bowl 41-33, that wasn’t good. I don’t know how many points it is going to be. The reality is it is a team sport. It’s complementary football.
“The strength of our team is our defense and our special teams. On offense we just have to take advantage when we get opportunities and understand where our strengths lie and try and play to them — not giving any short fields, not turning the ball over and try and take advantage when we get into the red area to score touchdowns. That is kind of where our offense is. That is kind of where our team is.”
It seems Brady isn’t comfortable putting the game in the hands of his defense. He’d prefer the offense gets its act together and works as in complement with and not just a dependent upon the defense.
The latest 2020 mock draft from Draft Wire has the Buccaneers looking to shore up their offensive line.
The Bucs sit at 3-7 right now and at the bottom of the NFC South.
With another losing season potentially in their future, Tampa Bay could find itself sitting at or near the top of the 2020 NFL Draft. The good news for them, should they decide to move on from quarterback Jameis Winston, is that next year’s draft will likely be filled with talented young signal-callers.
So, if one of the top quarterbacks in the 2020 class falls into their laps, the Bucs will have to draft them, right? Not according to the latest mock from Draft Wire, which predicts the Buccaneers taking Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs in the seventh spot, passing on both Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. (LSU’s Joe Burrow is pegged to be the top pick by the still-winless Cincinnati Bengals.)
While Wirfs would certainly help shore up the offensive line, would the Bucs really pass up the chance at drafting either Tagovailoa or Herbert? Tagovailoa’s recent hip injury might scare some teams away, but Herbert looks to be the ideal quarterback for a guy like Bruce Arians.
The Washington Redskins interim head coach, Bill Callahan, feels bad for the fans of the team.
He feels bad for the people who tune in, day-in and day-out, following along with every roster move and every report, hoping for an improved product on Sunday. He feels sorry for the men and women, boys and girls, who put on the burgundy and gold every week, counting down the days until Sunday, when they get to watch their favorite team take the field, hoping that the outcome will be different from a week before. He feels bad for all of the people whose confidence borders on delusional at points.
He didn’t mention a fool-proof plan for the future, nor get into details about how things will start looking up if the right moves or made; Callahan just said that he felt bad for those who are subjected to whatever it is that the Redskins do on Sundays.
Sometimes sorry isn’t enough. Until some real action is taken, sorry is just another meaningless word.
Four of the five best heavyweights will be in action within a two-week period. And they’re not fighting stiffs; they’re facing each other.
GOOD
Four of the five best heavyweights will be in action within a two-week period. And they’re not fighting stiffs; they’re tangling with each other. How often does that happen?
On Saturday, Deontay Wilder defends his title in a rematch with Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas. On Dec. 7, Andy Ruiz Jr. defends his belts in a second fight with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. And Tyson Fury, the fifth heavyweight, is in the wings waiting to see how it all plays out.
If you like heavyweight boxing, this is good.
These are tough assignments for all involved, at least on paper. Wilder survived a scare in the seventh round to stop Ortiz in Round 10 in March of last year. Ortiz clearly has the ability to give Wilder trouble – we’ve seen it – and the 40-year-old Cuban seems to understand that this might be his last chance to strike it rich. By all accounts, he’s remarkably fit.
I think Wilder, with the experience of the first fight in the bank, will win again but to say that Ortiz is a live underdog is an understatement.
Many questions surround the Ruiz-Joshua rematch. Ruiz stunned the boxing world by stopping Joshua in seven rounds in June. And it wasn’t a lucky punch that did the trick. Joshua went down four times and seemed to give up in the end, a psychologically damaging fate from which it’s difficult to bounce back.
Should Joshua have taken an interim fight to rebuild his confidence? Will he simply make necessary adjustments and reclaim his rightful position in the heavyweight hierarchy? Does Ruiz have Joshua’s number?
Fascinating stuff.
BAD
Please: Don’t subject us to more of this rubbish. Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images
One main event between YouTubers was enough, even if it did increase DAZN subscriptions and attract some new fans to boxing, as those involved insist. Now promoter Eddie Hearn is hinting that there might be more of that nonsense to come
Ugh.
Hearn had told BoxingScene.com before the KSI-Logan Paul “fight” that he didn’t expect to stage more silly spectacles. Now, after what Hearn and Co. perceive to be a success, they apparently are open to more fights involving YouTubers or other non-boxers on otherwise legitimate cards.
Hearn told BoxingScene: “What we can’t do is turn it into a circus and have random people fighting each other all over the place.”
Guess what: KSI and Logan Paul are random people, at least to boxing fans in general. And, if what Hearn seems to be suggesting becomes reality, we could be headed in the direction of them “fighting each other all over the place.”
The good news is that Hearn said he doesn’t expect YouTubers to headline a boxing card again, although I won’t be surprised if KSI-Paul III ends up as a main event. An exhibition low on the card is much more palatable.
Here’s a better idea, though: Have separate cards featuring only internet personalities and the like. You’ll still make money. You’ll still attract some non-fans to the sport. And you’ll give true fans the ability to opt out if they wish to do so.
I guess I’m a purist. I still cringe when I think of Devin Haney and Billy Joe Saunders fighting on the KSI-Paul undercard. And I know I’m not alone.
WORSE
Did Joe George (left) get enough done against Marcos Escudero to deserve his victory? Dave Mandel / Showtime
I don’t know whether this is bad, worse or something else.
The 10-round light heavyweight fight between Joe George and Marcos Escudero on the ShoBox card Friday in Iowa produced yet another controversial decision, with George winning a split decision even though he was clearly outworked by Escudero.
The Showtime commentators gave George only a few rounds. And I scored it 97-93 for Escudero, seven rounds to three. The official scores? 97-93 and 97-94 for George, 96-94 for Escudero.
I’m still scratching my head.
My instinct is to bemoan yet another example of poor scoring but I’m not so sure I have it right. George (10-0, 6 knockouts) seemed to spend half the fight covering up with his back against the ropes, taking far more punches from Escudero (10-1, 9 KOs) than he was delivering.
Many of Escudero’s shots hit gloves and arms, which means they weren’t scoring blows, but plenty of them did hit legitimate targets. Or so it seemed. I wasn’t at ringside, as the judges were.
I presume that the two judges who scored the fight in George’s favor – Bob LaFratte and Carlos Sucre – saw those exchanges differently. They must’ve thought that George blocked the vast majority of those punches. And I suppose one could argue that the winner landed the bigger blows when he didn’t open up and let his hands go.
I don’t know, though. It sure felt from watching on TV as if Escudero won that fight.
