Actually a Sports Blog

57K Taekwondo Fernanda Aguirre of Chile would've been the one facing Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkey.  *Originally, Aguirre picked up one of two qualifier spots from the Pan Am tournament after winning her semifinal bout. After Aguirre withdrew, Nishy Lee Lindo of Costa Rica, who won the third-place bout, earned the quota spot.  So while it wound up being Lee Lindo v. Kubra Ilgun in the round of 16, it would've originally been Aguirre v. Kubra Ilgun.  Super Heavyweight Boxing Justis Huni of Australia would've been the one facing Mourad Aliev of France.  *Originally, Huni was one of the four Asia/Oceania qualifiers. This is kind of confusing, but Huni defeated New Zealand's Leuila Mau'u in the quarterfinals after Mau'u defeated Siyovush Zukhurov of Tajikistan in the opening round. However, after both Huni and Mau'u withdrew Zukhurov took the spot.  So while it wound up being Zukhurov against Aliev in the round of 16, it would've originally been Huni v. Aliev...

Irene Aldana sets up a title eliminator, but Karol Rosa not far behind talent-wise.  Irene Aldana picked up a decision victory on the UFC 296 prelims, but #9 Karol Rosa showed that she can stand with the top of the division- case in point, you know you have a tougher-than-nails fighter when the winning fighter (Aldana) is the one in the hospital bed and the losing fighter (Rosa) isn't.  With second-ranked Raquel Pennington facing third-ranked Mayra Bueno Silva in a couple weeks for the vacant belt, I'd like to see Aldana face Julianna Pena. Meanwhile, Rosa can face someone like Holly Holm (#6), Pannie Kianzad (#7) or Yana Santos (#8) to see if she can really hang with the top of the division.  Ariane Lipski sets herself up for a big 2024. Lipski moved into the top fifteen following her submission victory over Casey O'Neill, her third straight win (but first finish in that span and a return to her Queen of Violence form). There are any number of fights that make sense for...

New title challenger at bantamweight? 5-ranked Irena Aldana faces 9-ranked Karol Rosa. A win for Rosa- particularly by finish- could give her an opportunity to call out either next month's vacant belt fight or Juliana Pena.  New name in the rankings at flyweight? Casey O'Neil defends her 12-spot in the rankings against Ariane Lipski, the Queen of Violence. A win for Lipski could set her up for another ranked opponent in 2024.  Why are these fights on the prelims? Who the hell knows. 

For some unknown reason, the California State Athletic Commission voted to allow slap fighting to take place in the state starting next year (they also voted to allow bare-knuckle fighting, but at least bare-knuckle offers some means of defense). Slap fighting, if you don't know what it is, is basically two people slapping each other (and the person being slapped has their hand behind their back) until one person can't continue- it's basically guaranteed brain injury.  I'm surprised that no one has brought this up, so here's my idea, and maybe if we get through to the CSAC that this is due to their slap-fighting decision, they'll reverse their (dumb, stupid, idiotic, horrible, terrible, no-good, very-bad) decision.  SoFi Stadium and Levi's Stadium are due to host Copa America matches next year, so let's find new stadiums.  These two venues are also due to host World Cup matches in 2026, so let's find new venues for those matches. I wonder what the CS...

UFC- January 14th 1. Sean Strickland replaces Kelvin Gastelum 2. Charles Johnson replaces Jeff Molina 3. Nick Fiore replaces Omar Morales 4. Nick Aguirre replaces Isaac Dulgarian  5. Scrapped bout between Jarno Errens and David Onama 6. Scrapped bout between Priscila Cachoeira and Sijara Eubanks UFC 283- January 21st (7. Jamahal Hill v. Anthony Smith originally scheduled for a March headliner) 8. Melquiziel Costa replaces Guram Kutateladze 9. Brunno Ferreira replaces Brad Tavares UFC- February 4th (10. originally was going to be held in South Korea)  11. Scrapped bout between Ji Yeon Kim and Mandy Bohm UFC 284- February 11th/12th  

This month: The day before Texas faced Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game, a dead longhorn (Texas' mascot) was found outside an Oklahoma State frat house.  Also this month: first the Florida governor announced $1 million in the budget to sue the NCAA over omitting FSU from the CFP (if this comes when they're also going to eliminate a couple thousand jobs, they have their priorities backwards), then the AG of the state announced that she's suing the NCAA. Why don't adults act like adults more often?  Another update: a Georgia state lawmaker is now demanding that the Georgia-Florida State game be added to the CFP (like UGA didn't release their 2024 schedule literally the same day ).  A second update: an Oklahoma offensive lineman transferred to Missouri, so some Oklahoma "fans" gave his dad's business one-star reviews on Google. Guys... sports aren't serious enough to want to wreck people's careers.  September: Death threats against a Color...

Let's be honest: Erin Blanchfield (one of my favorite MMA fighters) deserves the next flyweight title shot after three submission wins and a hard-fought decision victory over a former title challenger in Taila Santos. However, as much as it pains me to say it, in a continuation to the up-and-down 2023 she's had, that probably won't happen.  Case in point: her bout against Santos was stuck behind Nakamura v. Garcia AND Chikadze v. Caceres AND a Smith v. Spann rematch, whereas the Fiorot v. Namajunas bout is the co-main at UFC Paris. In the UFC's eyes, they have a winner that they want competing for the title, especially if that fight ends with a stoppage (I'll explain). For Erin Blanchfield fans like myself, this has been an interesting year. 1. It was looking up in February- she'd submitted a former strawweight champion and flyweight title challenger in Andrade and was looking to be next in line to face Shevchenko after Shevchenko defeated Grasso. 2. Then Grasso...