The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About UFC and Other Trending Topics
Now that the election fight is over we bring your attention back to New York where another historic fight is happening this weekend. Instead of crying or gloating, we present you with something else to talk about besides the election results.
You’re always a winner with us,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about UFC
- UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts ) refers to the sport, like baseball. UFC is the organization, like the MLB (Major League Baseball) is to baseball. It may appear that MMA is only a barbaric brawl but that is a misconception. It is sport of strategy, fought in the octagon (the ring), that is made up of many different disciplines some of which include boxing, judo, muy thai, jiu jitsu and wrestling.
- Dana White, current UFC President, and his high school buddies and Las Vegas casino owners, the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC franchise back in 2001 for $2 million. Fast forward to July 2016 when they signed a deal to sell the franchise for a reported $4 billion.
- One of the biggest fights for UFC outside of the octagon was obtaining approval of the rules and regulations by athletic commissions across U.S. and around the world. They needed this approval to host fights in each location. It took 14 years but this year they were given the green light in New York, the last state approval needed in the U.S.
- UFC 205 is this weekend and will be the first fight in New York, taking place at Madison Square Garden (MSG). The fight is already breaking records including the gate record for MSG (the gate is money brought in by ticket sales). According to Dana White, this fight has surpassed the current MSG record of $13.5 million and 21,284 spectators, a record set by a battle between Lewis/Holyfield (boxing) in 1999.
- Headliner Conor McGregor is the biggest financial draw in UFC history with three straight million-buy pay-per-views under his belt and UFC 205 appears to be his fourth. (This means more than one million people bought his previous fights on pay-per-view. Cha-ching)! McGregor will face Eddie Alvarez for lightweight title.
NCAA football (College)
- The results are in (no not those results). The new college football playoff rankings were released Tuesday and the Washington Huskies moved into the coveted number #4 spot. (The top four teams play for the national championship).
Alabama
Clemson
Michigan
Washington
Overtime
- The Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City is famous for being haunted, but NBA (National Basketball Association) teams still stay there. The hotel is haunted by Effie who allegedly threw herself off the 10th floor with her baby. Players have claimed to see a ghost in their room causing some scaredy cat players room with their teammates. For the record, this is the same hotel whose bed bugs caused Kyrie Irving to miss a game last season. I ain't afraid of no ghost, but bed bugs? Terrifying.
Sideline stat
- The Cleveland Cavaliers were the lone undefeated team in the NBA (National Basketball Association) at 6-0. Tuesday night the Atlanta Hawks handed the Cavs their first loss of the season.
Coaches’ Corner
- For some reason MLB (Major League Baseball) thought it was a great idea to announce their Golden Glove winners last night while election results were rolling in. (Yes there were other things on TV). The Gold Glove award goes to one defensive player per position in each league. The San Francisco Giants lead with three winners. Here’s the complete list of winners.
The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up – Extra Sleep Included
Normally falling back isn’t a good thing, but man that extra hour of sleep is like winning the lottery. Speaking of winning, we have the winners (Saturday Night Live viewers) and the losers (Cleveland Browns) from the weekend to start your Monday off on the right foot.
We have two left feet,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS – Need something besides politics to talk about in the voting line tomorrow? Here’s our Blueprint for Sports Talk Success – November Edition.
NFL (National Football League)
- Dancing to the top. The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos to take sole possession of first place in the hotly contested AFC West (American Football Conference West). It’s kind of a big deal since the Raiders have not won the division since 2002 (also the last time they made the playoffs). Raiders punter Marquette King celebrated with his non-punter like dance move. Beyoncé would be proud.
- Did your team win? Find out here.
NCAA Football (College)
- If you’re not going to say something nice. The University of Cincinnati is having a rough football season, with fans and sports writers alike calling for a coaching change. This weekend a fan started heckling head coach Tommy Tuberville, harassing him about his poor coaching. Maturely, Tuberville yelled back, saying “Hey go to hell, get a job." Take that college student. Burn.
- For a full scoreboard of this weekend’s winners and losers, click here.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- There’s an app for that. The Cleveland Cavaliers are just like us as they get stuck in traffic too. On the way to the game, their team bus was held up by VP Biden’s motorcade. The players were forced to ditch the bus and call an Uber car to get to the game. Their late arrival obviously messed with their pregame rhythm as they only beat the 76ers by one to remain undefeated.
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
- Rain dance. Carl Edwards punched his spot in the final round of “The Chase for the Cup” (NASCAR’s elimination-style playoffs). He was declared the winner when the race was called due to rain with 41 laps left. Edwards joins Jimmie Johnson in the final round. The race next week in Arizona will determine the drivers who will claim the last two spots.
Overtime
- Denver Broncos’ Brandon Marshall has taken a knee during the national anthem for the last eight games to raise awareness of police brutality. On Sunday, Marshall announced he will no longer kneel after seeing productive discussions and progress. Marshall has been a part of that progress by working closely with the Denver Broncos and the Denver Police Department to discuss sensitive issues such as the department’s use of force policy.
Sideline stat
- The Cleveland Browns (NFL) continue their downward spiral toward a winless season. They lost 35-10 to the Dallas Cowboys for a season record of 0-9.
Coaches’ corner
- Maybe Lorne Michaels has a future as a head coach? Members of the World Series Champions Chicago Cubs appeared on Saturday Night Live this weekend. They starred as dancers at Granny’s bachelorette party and as special guests on the “Weekend Update” segment, both good for a Monday morning laugh.
The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - That's All Folks
So not much has happened since we last chatted. Some basketball and football. Oh and a little game that everyone and their mother watched…game seven of the World Series. If you’ve been living under a rock without social media, then we have the spoiler alert on what happened.
They’re still partying in the streets,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS – We don’t know about you but our favorite party food involves anything where a tortilla chip substitutes for a spoon. For today’s Tailgate Treat, check out this great recipe for seven-layer dip.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- Finally! The Chicago Cubs did what only six teams had done before and overcame a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series. The Cubs finally broke the curse of the goat by defeating the Cleveland Indians in game seven and they even had to do it in extra innings. The game was a tense one. It was tied at the end of the regular nine innings and mother nature took over with 17-minute weather delay around midnight EST. The Cubs came out and scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning to win.
- First timer. Chicago’s Ben Zobrist became the first ever member of the Chicago Cubs to win the title of World Series MVP. (* - the award wasn’t created until 1955). Zobrist knocked in the game winning run in the top of the 10th inning.
- Retail therapy. With a short 108-year gap between championships, Cubs fans are streaming in to buy World Series Champions gear. Sales on MLB’s website are expected to top $70 million in sales in the first 24 hours (the most ever). More gear was sold in 15 hours after the Cubs’ victory than the league's best month of sales for all teams combined.
NCAA Football (College)
- They’re greeeat! College GameDay heads to Baton Rouge, LA for match-up between SEC (Southeastern Conference) powerhouses. Alabama Crimson Tide (#1) takes on LSU Tigers (Louisiana State University - #13). Alabama is undefeated and LSU is 3-0 since firing their head coach and promoting an interim coach. Will LSU channel their inner Tony the Tiger to topple the leader?
NCAA Soccer (College)
- Not cool. Harvard University abruptly ended their men’s soccer season after they discovered the men’s team had crafted a “sexually explicit” report on the women’s soccer team. That’ll land you on Santa’s naughty list and in some serious hot water.
Overtime
- A Cleveland sports fan thought he’d be a trendsetter with his body art, so before game seven of the World Series he added a “Cleveland Indians 2016 Champs” tattoo. He tweeted a photo of it with the caption “Some call it bold, but I call it faith in Kluber @Indians #rolltribe.” (Kluber was the Indians starting pitcher). You see the only problem is that the Indians lost game seven. We hope he has faith in the guy doing laser tattoo removal.
Sideline stat
- Wednesday night’s World Series game was the highest rated baseball game in the last 25 years - over 40 million people watched the game on FOX.
Coaches’ corner
- Now that the Cubs’ have finally won a World Series, who will be next? Well here are the major American pro sports teams with the longest overall title drought. None of them hold a candle to a 108-year drought though:
- Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – 1947 (69 years)
- Cleveland Indians (MLB) – 1948 (68 years)
- Sacramento Kings (NBA) – 1951 (65 years)
- Detroit Lions (NFL) – 1957 (59 years)