Brian Bowles used a counter right hook late in the first round to defeat Miguel Angel Torres by TKO and win the WEC Bantamweight title in the main event of another exciting fight card from Zuffas MMA promotion showcasing the lighter weight classes.

One day after a UFC 101 card that was lackluster at best and disappointing at worst, MMA fans were hoping that the WEC would deliver an exciting event as they almost inevitably do. They werent disappointed, and there really wasnt a bad fight on the card which featured several brutal knockouts along with tightly contested decisions. The event will be remembered for the main event and the shocking upset of Torres, whom commentator Frank Mir had been championing as the pound for pound best fighter in the sport of late. Torres certainly had the credentials”a fighter equally as dangerous on his feet as on the ground, hed compiled a 37-1 record entering the fight against Bowles. Since a 2003 decision loss to Ryan Ackerman, Torres had run off 17 straight victories including his most recent triumph by decision over a tough challenge from Japanese striking machine Takeya Mizugaki.

Bowles, originally from Charleston WV and now training out of the Hardcore Gym in Athens, GA, entered the cage accompanied by the music of Johnny Cash. This prompted WEC commentator Todd Harris to quip “It takes a special man to walk in to Johnny Cash”. He wasnt kidding, and Bowles quickly announced his presence with authority rocking Torres with an overhand right and scoring a takedown within the first minute. After a groundfighting sequence, the two fighters exchanged punches again and initially it looked like Torres was getting the best of things as he landed a multiple punch combination that sent Bowles backing up. Almost out of nowhere, however, Bowles countered with a perfectly placed short right hook that sent the champion to the canvas. He followed up with some nasty ground and pound punches including a big left hand that knocked his opponent unconscious and forced the referee to wave off the fight.

In his postfight interview, Bowles sounded unsurprised by the outcome. His comments indicated that hed been very well prepared for Torres considerable skills and though he conceded that hed been stung by the punching barrage waited for the opening to throw the right hook that ended the fight. Bowles displayed considerable class in victory, and Torres conducted himself in a matter befitting a champion as he accepted the defeat.

A rematch between Bowles and Torres is almost inevitable, but theres plenty of talent in the WEC bantamweight division. The semifinal bout on the card pitted two of these competitors in what may have been an elimination match for #1 contender status as Dominick Cruz handed feisty Joseph Benavidez his first professional loss via unanimous decision. The unorthodox and insanely athletic Benevidez had a good deal of trouble with the superior height and reach of Cruz. Benavidez managed to give a good account of himself, but in the end the physical disparity along with Cruzs repeated takedowns and sharp striking skills spelled the difference in this matchup.

Further muddling the picture in the bantamweight division was an earlier fight on the card, in which Takeya Mizugaki outlasted Jeff Curran to win a split decision victory. Mizugaki scored takedowns in all three rounds and did enough from the top position while fending off submission attempts to earn the verdict and make his claim for #1 contender status.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Too often amazing talents are given to those people who are not able to handle them. Such was the case of poker legend Stu Ungar, who had skills at the card table unrivaled in history. Unfortunately, his ineptitude at every day life and self destructive behavior was equally legendary. Ungar would eventually succumb to his demons, and was found dead in his room at the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas in late’98.

For those unfamiliar with the big guns of high stakes poker, the only way to describe Ungar’s abilities is a metaphorical comparison to sports. With a green felt table and a deck of cards involved, Ungar was ‘Jordan-esque’. With Ungar, his greatest accomplishment was undoubtedly three World Series of Poker victories-a feat not unlike MJ’s six NBA titles. Texas Hold-em poker, the game of choice for the cognoscenti, is a seemingly simple game that belies its deceptive complexity. The successful player needs to be able to instantaneously plan strategy based on a number of ever shifting variables. Countless volumes have been written on the subject, but Ungar was able to perform complex analysis and strategy with amazing speed-almost instinctively. Between his three WSOP victories, and countless more informal victories and profitable poker room sessions, Ungar won millions of dollars playing poker. The amazing subtext to Ungar’s sheer mastery of Texas Hold’em was the fact that it was the third card game he had mastered. Ungar first came to Las Vegas as a gin rummy prodigy; he had beaten all of the good players on the East Coast and moved to the desert mecca in search of new opportunities. He had soon run the table of Nevada’s gin players, and then turned to blackjack out of necessity. He was quickly barred as a card counter at a number of Southern Nevada casinos. Needing a new vocation, he took up poker.

Ungar’s problem was that he was awful at basic survival skills. He fought a number of addictions-most notably to drugs and sports gambling. After his WSOP win in’97, he was nearly broke and wasted away from drug use by the time the’98 tournament rolled around. Vegas casino owner Bob Stupak provided the $10,000 he needed to defend his title, but as the games began Ungar cowered in his darkened hotel room unable to pull himself together enough to play.

There are countless other Ungar stories that evoke the same theme: he once paid cash for a new Mercedes and drove it until it simply fell apart from lack of basic maintenance. He signed his mortgage paperwork at the table in the Dunes poker room and was taken aback that he couldn’t make his down payment in chips.

Ungar’s death came as something of a shock as he’d shown signs of cleaning up his act. Longtime friend Bob Stupak and helped pay off his debts and staked him in the major poker tournaments. Ungar was found dead two days after the two had drawn up a formal contract. Ungar also left behind an ex-wife and a teenage daughter, who still live in Las Vegas. Though the official cause of death was listed as a ‘heart attack’, there were a mixture of drugs found in his system including cocaine and methadone.

Most of the famous gamblers of Las Vegas legend-guys like Puggy Person and Doyle Brunson– have been tough, larger than life individuals with a healthier than normal dose of self-preservation skills. In this respect, Ungar was an anomaly among gambling greats-he was physically frail and almost completely helpless away from the poker table. With a handful of cards and a pile of chips, however, he became a ruthless and indomitable warrior. His story is certainly not one that the modern day, publicity conscious Las Vegas will celebrate. He will be remembered, however, as part of the tradition that gives the city its unique character. From the mobsters that pioneered the city, to the Rat Pack that civilized it, to the corporations that cleaned it up, characters like Stu Ungar have provided the spice that makes Las Vegas America’s ‘Paris in the desert’. Ungar may never have a statue on Fremont Street, but his spirit will live on.

Ross Everett is a respected freelance writer who covers travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishiis demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before hed even stepped into the ring for the first time. The tentative plan was for Ishii to appear on the year end K-1/DREAM Fields Dynamite! joint show, if not fighting at least in a heavily hyped opportunity for FEG to unveil their investment.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans when immersed in Japans culture for the first time just how low the UFC ranks in the countrys fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP. Overall, the interest in and prestige of the UFC is well below not only boxing but even Japanese pro wrestling (puroresu). The UFC is making some progress, and big fights like GSP/Penn and Lesnar/Couture now get higher profile coverage (Lesnar/Couture owed most of its interest in the Japanese press to Brocks run as IWGP pro wrestling champ) but by no means is the #1 US MMA promotion considered on par with any of the major Japanese fighting groups.

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. Upon his return to Japan, he appeared at the Sengoku card in January addressing the audience from the ring and wearing his ubiquitous UFC shirt; his message was that he was going to fight in America for awhile but would eventually return to Japan.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value. On the other hand, it could be a risk hes willing to take given that hes got his celebrity both with the mainstream public and in the judo community to fall back on.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan. Ishii and the UFC develop a cordial relationship which could be to the benefit of both parties down the road.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting including the gym’s namesake, Randy Couture. Training at a high level facility like Xtreme Couture among such an abundance of talent is a career move thats difficult to second guess.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

South America will host the Summer Olympic Games for the first time in 2016, as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil was awarded the honor on Friday. Rio beat out the US choice of Chicago, Illinois along with Tokyo, Japan and Madrid, Spain to earn the right to host the games. Despite a high pressure effort from the American power elite–ncluding President Barak Obama and TV gabfest queen Oprah Winfrey–Chicago was the first city eliminated from contention. Tokyo was the next to go, before Rio got the nod over Madrid in the final round of balloting.

Bookmakers offered odds on the host city choice, with Rio listed as second favorite at +200. Chicago had been the wagering favorite at most books, particularly after President Obama got involved personally in the US bid effort. Chicago was bet as high as a -300 favorite, while Madrid and Tokyo were priced in the +250 range. Some suggest that Tokyo didnt deserve to have such short odds, but was the beneficiary of regional pride from the notoriously enthusiastic betting population of Japan.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, got the better of his US counterpart with a passionate speech that stood in marked contrast to Obamas typically baleful collection of talking points;

“It is a time to address this imbalance. It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country.”

The Olympic committee was apparently swayed by this presentation and paid no mind to Rios many downsides. It is without a doubt the most dangerous of the finalist cities, where drug cartels and armed bands of thugs roam without impunity. Well do to Rio citizens are used to removing watches and jewelry before they drive anywhere lest they be targeted by carjacking brigands. Rios murder rate is also one of the highest in the world. Brazilian bid officials have stressed that security will be a priority at the games and it better be lest the Olympics turn into a bloodbath. For the time being, however, the mood in Rio was one of celebration with over 50,000 residents dancing and partying in the streets.

Some IOC members suggested that the summary dismissal of Chicagos bid was more of a rebuke of the notoriously corrupt USOC. The last two Olympics held in the US were tainted by crime and corruption. The’96 Atlanta Olympics were disrupted by a terrorist bombing, while the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games were marred by a well known bribery and corruption scandal.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Southern California’s Del Mar Racetrack has been is often overshadowed by East Coast venues like Churchill Downs and Belmont Park. The reality is that the 72 year old track has a history to rival their better known counterparts that includes the greatest horses and jockeys in the sport, as well as a healthy dose of show biz glitz. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and located 20 miles North of San Diego, its perhaps most famous for its iconic slogan: “Where The Surf Meets the Turf.”

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was founded by a group of well heeled enthusiasts in the mid’30s, and they immediately turned their attention to building a world class horse racing venue. The names that were instrumental in the creation of Del Mar include a whos who of American entertainment–most notably Bing Crosby, Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy) and Jimmy Durante. At the time the facility opened thoroughbred horse racing was the second most popular sport in America behind major league baseball, and Del Mar quickly gained a reputation for being a player in the industry.

The show biz legends that have been Del Mar regulars could fill a book. Bing Crosby was one of catalysts behind the building of the facility, and he personally greeted guests on opening day. During the late 30’s/early 40’s it hosted stars such as W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Red Skelton, Ava Gardner and Paulette Goddard.

Del Mar was the site of the’38 match race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti. Seabiscut won the $25,000 winner take all challenge by a nose, and this race set Del Mar betting and attendance records and remains one of the most famous races in history. The racing at Del Mar continued to flourish until the start of WWII, when the track went ‘dark’ for racing. It was used at times by the military for, among other things, a training ground for Marines and later a production facility for bomber parts.

After the war, Del Mar reopened with a bang. Following the surrender of Japan, President Harry S. Truman declared a national holiday for August 15,’45 and on that day Del Mar attracted over 20,000 fans through its gates who wagered what at the time was a record $958,476. The postwar prosperity was also a boon to Del Mar, which also benefitted from the Santa Fe Railroads daily Racetrack Special that brought bettors down from Los Angeles to enjoy a day at the track. During the latter part of the decade a new crop of Hollywood glitterati would flock to Del Mar, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Mickey Rooney and Jimmy Durante. Durante would become such a regular that the turf course at Del Mar would later be renamed in his honor.

The annual race meet at Del Mar remains a highlight of the summer to this day. Del Mar remains one of the top tracks in the country, and have recently upgraded their facility with a state of the art grandstand and was one of the first tracks to install a new synthetic racing surface.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.