Urijah Faber: Jose Aldo mentally tough enough for bantamweight, but cut is concerning

While Urijah Faber thinks Jose Aldo is mentally tough enough to make 135 pounds, he’s not sure if it will be good for him.

WASHINGTON – [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag] recalls the first time he cut down to 135 pounds and can relate to [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag]’s current situation.

Faber, who bounced around between bantamweight and featherweight early in his career, ultimately decided to stick with 135 and has been competing at that weight class for the past nine years.

And like most people, Faber also has concerns over Aldo’s cut and how drained he’s looked in photos ahead of his fight vs. Marlon Moraes on Saturday at UFC 245.

“Aldo, in my opinion, is one of the best fighters to ever grace the sport,” Faber told MMA Junkie. “Seeing him make this weight cut, I know that he’s mentally tough enough to do it. I don’t know if it’s going to be the best for his body. I remember the first time I did (135), I was over-cutting because I was nervous about how it was going to go, so I was getting too small too early. I think he might be doing the same thing. I don’t think it’s going to be good for him. Hopefully he’s able to perform to the Aldo that we all know, but only time will tell on that one.”

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Faber will share the same card as Aldo, when he takes on Petr Yan at UFC 245. Should Faber prevail, the former four-time UFC bantamweight title challenger will find himself back in 135-pound title contention and could cross paths with Aldo.

The two fought in 2010 for the WEC featherweight title, where Aldo was able to unleash an array of brutal leg kicks, en route to a unanimous decision win to retain his title.

While Faber is not too concerned about a rematch, he’d be happy to face Aldo if the stars aligned.

“I’m not trying to fight everyone in the division,” Faber said. “I’ve got a couple of key fights. I’ve got one right now that I’m focused on. If that’s a fight that the people want to see, absolutely. But one fight at a time and I’ll fight whoever.”

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Eagles RB Miles Sanders heads to the locker room to be evaluated for leg injury

Miles Sanders heads to the locker room to be evaluated for a leg injury

The Philadelphia Eagles pulled within a touchdown of the New York Giants on a Boston Scott touchdown.

The mini-sized running back was in the game because Miles Sanders headed to the locker room after suffering a leg injury.

Sanders joins Alshon Jeffery and Lane Johnson, as both players were carted off in the second quarter with lower-body injuries.

Good and bad from 49ers’ win in New Orleans

The 49ers got some good and some bad showings in their win that put them back atop the NFC playoff picture.

The 49ers on Sunday pulled out their best win of the season to move to 11-2 and regain their spot atop the NFC. The wild, back-and-forth contest had its share of good and bad showings from the winning side. While the generally stout defense faltered, the up-and-down offense had a game full of ups to help guide San Francisco to a win.

Here is some of the good and some of the bad from the 49ers’ electric victory:

Good: QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Garoppolo is building a fine resumé as an NFL starter, but Sunday was his best performance yet. He completed 26 of 35 throws for 349 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. That was good for a 131.7 quarterback rating. Garoppolo went blow-for-blow with Drew Brees in the Superdome, and helped orchestrate a comeback from a 13-point first-half deficit. The 49ers needed their franchise signal caller’s best, and he gave it to them.

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Anthony Joshua: Andy Ruiz Jr. should get back to work, not make excuses

Anthony Joshua said Andy Ruiz Jr. should now do what it takes to answer his critics, rather than make excuses.

Andy Ruiz Jr. said after he was embarrassed by Anthony Joshua in their rematch Saturday that he didn’t train properly for the fight.

That might or might not be true – although it apparently was – but excuses don’t go over well in boxing. Joshua, who regained his titles by a wide decision in Saudi Arabia, made light of Ruiz’s comments but they obviously didn’t sit well with him.

“I would have loved to have trained the way Andy trained,” joked Joshua, speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “I would’ve loved that, but that’s not the way of a champion. Andy can say all these things, but he knew he had a fight, and he knew the best way to prepare.

“Unfortunately it didn’t go his way and I’m sure he can make those changes, and learning life’s lessons come in different forms. And Andy’s was in the form of a loss as well (as mine). He knows his mistakes, whatever they were or maybe they’re excuses. He just needs to go out there and get it right and come back again.”

Ruiz overwhelmed in their first fight, in June, putting Joshua down four times and stopping him in seven rounds in a stunning upset to take the titles.

Anthony Joshua relished his ability to prove his doubters wrong on Saturday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing

Afterward, evidently, he was more interested in living the highlife of someone who had just gained great fame and fortune instead maintaining the life of a professional boxer.

Ruiz weighed in Friday at 283.7 pounds, roughly 15 more than in their first fight.

“We started training too late,” he said. “I don’t want to say that the three months of partying and celebrating affected me but to tell you the truth, it kind of did.”

Meanwhile, Joshua, obviously determined to save his career, worked hard in training camp. He came in about 10 pounds lighter than in the first fight, which presumably made him quicker and more agile.

He thoroughly outboxed Ruiz to regain his titles and prestige, proving wrong those people who thought he’d never recover from the June beating. Now, he says, it’s Ruiz’s job to prove his critics wrong.

“No excuses for the last time,” Joshua said, “and I don’t want anybody to write Andy off. He’s a great former champion, and he done well, and he beat me fair and square. Sometimes you just have to recheck yourself, and that comes in many different forms, and mine was in a loss, and this time I was really concentrated on my job.

“I just didn’t listen to these so-called boxing experts who claimed that I wouldn’t be able to reclaim my belts. It’s dangerous going straight into a rematch – not many heavyweights have been able to reclaim their belts – but I believed in my team. I kept my same team that everyone told me to get rid of, and I feel like loyalty proves strength and we went out there and proved how good we really are now.”

Cardinals’ Week 14 offensive snap counts and observations

See how the 60 snaps were divided up.

The Arizona Cardinals played 60 offensive snaps on Sunday in their 23-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. How was the playing time divided up and what can we take away from the playing time?

Quarterback

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Kyler Murray, 60

Nothing new here. Murray has played all but three snaps this season.

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First Look At Hawaii Bowl As Hawaii Hosts Rival BYU

Get ready for the Hawaii Bowl!

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First Look At Hawaii Bowl As Hawaii Hosts Rival BYU

Former WAC foes meet again on the islands.

Contact/Follow @PBake14 & @MWCwire

Get to know the bowl game.

It’s bowl season for the Bows. Hawaii will get the honor of staying home to play in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl. After a loss in the Mountain West Championship game, the Rainbow Warriors will look to finish their season on a high note, as the BYU Cougars come to town. This game is technically a neutral site game, although it is being played at Aloha Stadium. BYU is listed as the home team, and opens up as a two-point favorite.

The Rainbow Warriors were expected to be here, but not in the fashion they did it. The Bows finished out the regular season at 9-4, winning the West division of the Mountain West. They went into Boise Saturday and put up a fight against the #19 Broncos, but it wasn’t good enough as they lost 31-10. 

Nick Rolovich’s first season at the helm went very well. In a possible retooling year for the Warriors, they found a way to go 9-5, winning the West. Led by senior quarterback, Cole McDonald, the pass game for Hawaii was one of the top in the country. The Bows averaged 326 yards per game in the air, the sixth most in the country. Four different Hawaii receivers had over 800 receiving yards this season. 

BYU comes in looking a little different. The Cougars have a 7-5 record, with wins over Tennessee and USC. The Cougars are 1-1 against Mountain West opponents, they gave Boise State their only loss of the season so far. 

Zach Wilson is the starting quarterback for the Cougars. He has thrown for 2,108 yards, but only having played in eight games due to injury, and there are some small murmurs of BYU going back to either Gunner Romney for part of the game.

Their tight end, Matt Bushman, is the leading receiver for BYU. He has 41 receptions for 597 yards, breaking the 100 yard mark in the game against Boise State.

Their head coach is Kalani Sitake. This is his fourth season at the helm of the BYU football program. He has led the team to a winning record in three of the four seasons he’s been with the Cougars, this year being the third. Sitake looks to defend his currently undefeated bowl record at 2-0. 

This game is the only game on the docket for Christmas Eve, December 24th. These two teams go at it on ESPN at 8 p.m. eastern time, 3 p.m. locally in Hawaii.

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Grant Williams finally made his first 3-pointer with the Celtics

Williams entered the evening as the leader in the NBA with the most 3-point attempts without a make during his first 20 games of the season.

Boston Celtics first-round pick Grant Williams finally made his first 3-pointer of the season on Monday night after missing his previous 25 attempts to begin his rookie campaign.

Williams entered the evening as the leader in the NBA with the most 3-point attempts without a make over his first 20 games of the season. The 22nd overall pick finally found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc in his 21st game of the season.

Williams finished with three points in 13 minutes of work during the 110-88 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The former Tennessee forward is now 1-of-26 this season from deep.

Despite struggling to find his shot, Williams kept a sense of humor about his cold streak. Williams said head coach Brad Steven came up with quite a few nicknames for him during the streak, something he found to be quite humorous.

Williams was a career 29.1% shooter from 3-point range in three seasons at Tennessee so he was bound to begin hitting shots at some point, much later than he would have liked. Now that the first one has fallen, perhaps it won’t take as long for the second to drop.

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Eagles Lane Johnson, Alshon Jeffery ruled out for 2nd half vs. Giants

Lane Johnson, Alshon Jeffery both ruled out for 2nd half vs. Giants

If the Eagles are going to make a second-half comeback at home against the New York Giants, they’ll have to do it without both Alshon Jeffery and Lane Johnson.

The two Eagles stars were both ruled out for the rest of the game with lower-body injuries.

Jeffery left the contest in the second quarter and was carted off after limping off when he came down wrong while running a play.

Johnson was also carted off in the second quarter after Carson Wentz rolled up on his leg after being sacked on a third down play.

Yary, McDaniel and Tingelhoff among NFL 100 All-Time finalists

We’ll find out on Friday at 7 p.m. CT who makes the team.

The Vikings already have defensive linemen Alan Page and John Randle on the NFL’s all-time team to celebrate the league’s 100th season.

They could have three more.

On Monday, the NFL announced that former Vikings tackle Ron Yary, former Vikings guard Randall McDaniel and former Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff have been nominated to make the team.

There will be a total of seven tackles, seven guards and four centers that will make the team.

It feels like McDaniel is probably the favorite out of the group to make it, but it wouldn’t be crazy to see all three of them make it.

We’ll know if they are on Friday at 7 p.m. CT.

Raiders defensive lapses ‘sickening’ to Jon Gruden, vows ‘there will be changes’

Raiders defensive lapses ‘sickening’ to Jon Gruden, vows ‘there will be changes’

Fool me one, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, blow it up. Ok, that last one I made up. But that’s where the Raiders are right now. They’re coming off their third straight blowout loss with each game allowing more points than the last. It’s enough to make you want to throw up. Especially if you’re Jon Gruden.

“I don’t know, it’s sickening,” said Gruden. “It’s tough, but it’s a necessary evil. Right now, we’ve got to play better, and we’re going to play better, and there will be changes. There will be changes. What happened yesterday will not happen again. I can’t allow it to happen.” 

There were a lot of drives by the Titans that would make you want to toss your cookies if you’re on the Raiders’ sideline. Three of the Titans’ touchdown drives began inside their 20-yard-line — one at their 16, one at their own 11, and the third time in the second quarter that had them line up at their own 9-yard-line and in one play was a 91-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to AJ Brown. Oof.

“It’s like getting punched in the stomach,” Gruden said. “It knocks some wind out of you. Anytime a team takes the ball the length of the field that many times, it’s hard to do in this league. We’ve done a pretty good [job] this year offensively of sustaining some long 80-yard drives, but sometimes you got to win the game of field position, you’ve got to force a three-and-out. We weren’t able to do that yesterday from the jump and very, very concerned about it and we’re going to make some changes. We’re going to get it right.”

Gruden doesn’t just say he’s going to make changes to appease people. He means it when he says it. The day after the team allowed Aaron Rodgers to have a perfect passer rating while throwing for five touchdowns, Gareon Conley was traded to the Texans. Last week, after the Raiders receiving corps put up a pitiful showing in KC last week including Trevor Davis fumbling a kick return and getting stopped on a 4th down play, Davis was cut and Rico Gafford got his first start.

Conley being traded was doable because the team had Trayvon Mullen waiting in the wings and enough other corners to step up the depth chart. Cornerback was the one position on the team that had that kind of depth. It’s harder to see what other positions could see any kind of major changes that might actually improve their situation.

That leads to the question of coaching. Which leads to Paul Guenther. Could Gruden be considering letting Guenther go? Giving up 552 yards of offense should naturally put any defensive coordinator under fire. And those touchdown drives over 80 yards? Well, the Raiders have 16 of them this season, tied for the most in the NFL.

If the previous changes were any indication, we may not have to wait long to find out what Gruden has in mind. With just three games left and the playoffs a long shot, there’s no reason to draw it out. Purge and press on.

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