Category: News

Magomed Ankalaev was dominant in the final three rounds, but a split draw meant the UFC light heavyweight title is still vacant after his main event of UFC 282 against Jan Blachowicz from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ankalaev opened up the first round showing off his speed, precision, and counter strikes. While he looked for openings from Blachowicz, the former champion chipped away with leg kicks early, and then went up top for big shots of his own.

In the second, Ankalaev focused on staying up top, attacking Blachowicz’s head and body, while Blachowicz peppered the top contender with devastating leg kicks. Late in the second, a leg kick appeared to hurt Ankalaev, and a second caused him to lose his balance.

The third forced Ankalaev to remain in orthodox stance as Blachowicz chipped away at big shots to his leg. Ankalaev found a bit of aggression early in the round, moving forward and finding his range with overhand rights and stinging jabs. Ankalaev was determined not to allow Blachowicz to land leg kicks, moving forward so fast that his opponent couldn’t set his feet and it paid off. Toward the end of the round, Ankalaev earned a takedown and was able to wait out the round.

Early in round four, Ankalaev earned the takedown and controlled basically the entire round with a dominant ground game. In the fifth, a shot to the midsection sent Blachowicz falling backwards, allowing Ankalaev to jump on top and control the ground yet again. With about a minute and a half remaining, Ankalaev poured it on in half guard, ground and pounding Blachowicz in his attempt to earn the referee stoppage.

The Blachowicz-Ankalaev main event came following a slew of changes to the UFC 282 card, which included Jiri Prochazka vacating the belt due to a shoulder injury that required surgery and would keep him out of action for six months. Former champion Glover Teixeira, who was slated to face off in a rematch against Prochazka following his submission loss, reportedly declined a title opportunity and last-minute switch to fight Ankalaev.

The new main event offered an opportunity for Blachowicz to avenge his submission loss to Teixeira in October last year, needing just one win this year against Aleksandar Rakić to find himself in title contention yet again. Blachowicz previously won the belt via knockout against Dominick Reyes, and proceeded to prove his worth with statement wins over Corey Anderson and later Israel Adesanya.

Ankalaev entered Saturday night’s showdown with Blachowicz with his lone professional loss coming in his UFC debut four years ago. Within the last year he’s earned significant wins over former title contenders Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith.

Tonight, Americana singer Brandi Carlile graced the Saturday Night Live stage with her presence. For her first performance of the night, Carlile performed “The Story” from her sophomore album, also called The Story.

During her performance, Carlile was joined by a band, and showed off her guitar chops playing electrifying riffs.

The song originally came out in 2007, however, it has remained a fan-favorite of Carlile’s for the past 15 years. Carlile, alongside her bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth, spoke about the song’s creation in a 2015 interview with Acoustic Guitar. The trio spoke to each other’s strengths as songwriters.

“With me, it’s a real crap shoot, because it has to do so much with what’s going on in my life, and it’s based solely on lyrics,” Carlile said.” I tend to focus on my feelings and my environment lyrically. I like to really say what I mean and mean what I say, and say things that are special. So all three of us bring something interesting to the band. Tim brings total consistency and a prolific nature, Phil brings eccentricity, and I bring communication.”

Check out the performance of “The Story” above.

Brandi Carlile is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There is no chance we ever get instant replay in high school football for a million different reasons. Having said that, the Georgia high school football Class 3A championship game between Sandy Creek and Cedar Grove could have really used the opportunity to go back and look at things, as a stunning decision to give a touchdown on a third-and-goal where the ball carrier was easily tackled short of the goal line ended up deciding the winner — Sandy Creek came out on top, 21-17.

Another angle showed how this looked from down the right side of the goal line. What makes this so bad is that it shows almost the exact angle that the official who called it a touchdown for Sandy Creek saw, and it’s clear that the ball-carrier doesn’t break the plane.

Of course, if the officials determine that he did not score on this play, Sandy Creek gets the ball on the doorstep on fourth-and-goal, so it is certainly possible they would have punched it in to win a state title, regardless. And as an added bonus for Sandy Creek, they were able to enact a measure of revenge with the win. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the two teams played earlier this year, with Cedar Grove picking up a 49-34 win.

Though Beyoncé hasn’t officially announced her Renaissance tour, it’s become one of the buzziest of the upcoming year. Plans of the Renaissance tour were revealed back in October at WACO Theater‘s Wearable Art Gala 2022, where a lavish tour package was up for auction.

According to The Sun, Beyoncé is in high gear planning for her tour. A source close to the tour told The Sun that Bey is enforcing a ban on alcohol and drugs during rehearsals and tour dates.

“Bey knows the new performances will require intense choreography and precision, so everyone has to be clean and sober,” said the source. “There won’t be any crazy partying on the road either.”

The source also revealed that each crew member will be thoroughly background-checked, in order to prevent sexual misconduct during the tour.

“She is also carrying out #MeToo checks with the dancers, band and crew with hopes doing so will make the tour a safe and friendly work environment,” said the source.

Additionally, Bey will be providing her tour crew with access to mental health support and resources.

“She knows people are happiest when they know their well-being is fulfilled,” said the source, “and wants to use what she has learned in the business to lead by example.”

The Heisman Trophy is headed to Los Angeles. USC quarterback Caleb Williams lifted college football’s highest individual honor on Saturday night in New York City, beating out a field that included three other signal callers as finalists: Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, TCU’s Max Duggan, and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.

It was not viewed as a foregone conclusion for much of the year that Williams would win the award, as things were pretty wide-open for large portions of the season. On. Nov. 19, Williams and the Trojan offense played a high-profile game against UCLA in which he had 503 total yards and three total touchdowns, which led to him getting thrust into the Heisman conversation as one of the favorites.

On the year, Williams completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 4,075 yards with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. He pitched in another 372 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns on the ground.

Williams becomes the second quarterback in a row to win the award, as Alabama’s Bryce Young earned the honor last season. It marks the sixth time in seven years that a signal caller won the Heisman, and Williams is the third QB coached by Lincoln Riley to win the award — Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray went back-to-back under Riley at Oklahoma in 2017 and 2018, while Jalen Hurts, another Riley protégé, was the runner-up in 2019.

The Trojans will take the field one last time this season, as the team is slated to play Tulane on Jan. 2, 2023 in the Cotton Bowl.

Miley Cyrus is planning to end 2022 and kick off 2023 with a bang. Last month, it was announced that Cyrus would return to NBC and Peacock for Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, which she hosted last year with Pete Davidson. Although this year, Davidson won’t be returning as Cyrus’ cohost. Instead, she will ring in the new year with none other than America’s treasure — her own Godmother, Dolly Parton.

While plenty will be tuned into already to see Cyrus and Parton, the “Midnight Sky” hitmaker announced that she will be bringing in even more exciting guests to her annual New Year’s party. Yesterday (December 9) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cyrus revealed Latto, Sia, and Rae Sremmurd would be performing throughout the night.

Cyrus also noted that these aren’t the only performers who will be taking the stage at her New Year’s Eve celebration.

“As we get closer to the show, I want to start revealing who else we have,” she said. “But the lineup is very me. It is curated in a way that makes no sense, but makes total sense.”

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live on Saturday, December 31 on NBC from 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET. The special will also stream live on Peacock.

It appears Diddy has welcomed a baby girl this weekend. Today (December 10) the rapper, producer, and entrepreneur announced via Twitter that his baby daughter was born.

“I’m so blessed to welcome my baby girl Love Sean Combs to the world,” he said. “Mama Combs, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, D’Lila, Jessie and myself all love you so much! God is the Greatest!”

The news seems to be a surprise to everyone, as Diddy’s rumored girlfriend Caresha Brownlee, better known as Yung Miami of City Girls, hadn’t announced she was pregnant within the past year. The last time Miami announced a pregnancy was in 2019, when she revealed she was expecting her second child in the trailer for City Girls’ BET documentary, Point Blank Period, Part 2.

While the news of a baby may come as a shock, some fans are speculating that Diddy may not even be talking about a baby at all. Some believe the mogul is hinting at something else. Perhaps an album, or a liquor partnership, or fashion line.

“is this the new Album? It’s gotta be the new album,” said one Twitter user. “A new…. liquor? A new clothing line? A new self-help book. “Anyway, congrats on the new marketing!”

As some Twitter users had theories, some simply weren’t buying it, and immediately concluded that he was bluffing.

“Diddy talking about an Album and GossipTwitter losing their minds thinking he got somebody pregnant,” said another Twitter user.

At the time of writing, Miami had not commented on Diddy’s announcement.

Donald Trump has a lot of critics, but one of his biggest ones comes from his own family. For the last few years, Mary Trump, the former president’s estranged niece, has been a thorn in his side, using her insider status to trash him with intel few have. Now she’s taking her hatred of him one step further: She’s coming for his money.

As per Bloomberg, the psychologist and bestselling author motioned to revive a lawsuit from a couple years ago, which alleged that she’d been defrauded of millions during a family settlement. That case was thrown out in November of this year by a judge who said her claims were barred by a settlement she had signed back in 2001.

However, the new filing alleges that the agreement was signed “through coercion”:

A release from claims is only valid under New York law if it was “fairly and knowingly made,” Mary Trump’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, argued in the filing. The Trump family settlement, on the other hand, was achieved through coercion, she said, including threats to swamp Mary Trump with tax payments she couldn’t afford and discontinue health insurance for her nephew.

The former president and his siblings, Maryanne Trump Barry and the late Robert Trump, “placed young Mary in profoundly unfair circumstances, not only by threatening to bankrupt her” but also “by terminating the health insurance that was literally keeping her newborn nephew alive in an intensive care unit,” Kaplan said in the brief.

Donald Trump’s lawyer, James Kiley, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Another Trump lawyer, Alina Habba, has previously called the suit “frivolous.”

Things sure aren’t going so hot for Mary Trump’s uncle. Last week his business was found guilty of 17 counts of fraud. On top of that, he’s having trouble finding money for his third presidential campaign, which has gotten off to a very bumpy start. Then again, the Donald somehow always manages to weasel out of his problems.

(Via Bloomberg)

The 2024 election is still a good ways away, but the GOP already has two candidates: Donald Trump and Kanye West. Already neither campaign is going well. Ye outed himself as a fan of Hitler. Trump, meanwhile, is under fire for having dinner with [checks notes] Kanye West, as well as Holocaust denying white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The former president is having trouble raising money, which is especially not great considering his other legal/financial woes. To make matters worse, a new poll has him getting decimated by a noted frenemy.

As per Mediaite, a new poll about the 2024 election shows GOP voters in Florida greatly favoring their governor over their most famous president. The poll was held by the GOP firm Ragnar Research Partners, and it shows that 86% of the state’s Republicans have a “favorable impression” of DeSantis. What’s more 79% of them have a “very favorable impression.”

How did Trump do?

In contrast, Trump’s “very favorable” rating is 48 percent in the poll. With 70 percent approving of him overall and 26 percent disapproving, Trump’s total net favorable rating is 44 points — 32 points lower than DeSantis among Republicans.

There’s more bad news for Trump:

The survey also found that, by 41-37 percent, more considered themselves Trump voters than traditional Republicans. Yet DeSantis marginally edged Trump with this subsection of voters, too, with a 95-point net approval rating compared to Trump’s 91 points.

So things aren’t going great for the big guy, who could really use a win these days.

(Via Mediaite)

France are headed to the World Cup semifinal. The tournament’s reigning champions battled England on Saturday, and thanks to a penalty skied by Harry Kane in the 84th minute, France was able to pick up a thrilling 2-1 win.

France started the scoring thanks to a wonder strike by Aurélien Tchouaméni. The 22-year-old Real Madrid standout found the ball at his feet in the 17th minute after a lovely passage of play by the French and ripped a shot from 30 yards out that snuck past Jordan Pickford.

England kept trying to pick the lock but was unable to find the breakthrough in the first half. And then, less than 10 minutes into the second half, the breakthrough came. Bukayo Saka made his way through the French box, with Tchouaméni’s attempt to challenge him wiping him off his feet for a penalty.

Kane stepped up to the spot and stared down Hugo Lloris, his teammate at Tottenham. Even if Lloris guessed correctly, he had no chance of stopping this effort from hitting the back of the net.

England seemed the more likely of the two sides to break the deadlock until Olivier Giroud, in the 78th minute, got his head to a ball whipped into the box by Antoine Griezmann. It was a picture-perfect cross, while Giroud got inside of Harry Maguire and rifled the ball past the outstretched arms of Pickford.

goal https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1601677954081234950

England was thrown a lifeline less than 10 minutes later. A rash and unnecessary foul by Theo Hernández on Mason Mount in the box originally went uncalled, but after a VAR review, it was determined that England would be awarded its second penalty of the game.

Unfortunately for the Three Lions, the usually-reliable Kane put the ball over the crossbar. England hardly threatened again until essentially the final kick of the game, when Marcus Rashford got a free kick just outside of the box. Lloris was dead to rights, but the ball simply did not find the back of the net.

The win sets up a semifinal matchup between France and Morocco on Wednesday.