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Leon Edwards (20-3, 1NC) pulled off a shocking upset by knocking out Kamaru Usman (20-2) in the fifth and final round with a huge head kick to claim the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 278 from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The first round saw Edwards land the first takedown of Usman in his UFC career, tripping the champ and taking the mount position before moving into back control. Edwards held a body triangle and worked over the last minute of the round to get a rear-naked choke, but Usman managed to survive to the bell.

In the second, Usman walked Edwards back against the cage and poured it on with a slew of strikes, piecing together upper cuts, hooks and jabs. But Edwards fought off the champ, locking him up in the clinch and working to stop any momentum built early in the round. Late in the round, Usman moved Edwards yet again against the cage, changed levels, and took the challenger to the mat to solidify a great bounce back round.

Usman again showed his dominance to open the third, controlling every bit of the Octagon as he took Edwards down and maintained his positioning against the cage. Usman proceeded to walk Edwards back against the cage, tossing a handful of shots before taking the challenger to the ground and having his way with Edwards.

Edwards started strong to the championship round, moving in for a takedown, but a cage grab from Usman kept him on his feet. Unable to get him down, Edwards let the champ go, who proceeded to take Edwards down immediately. Edwards took some punishment on the ground before making his way back to his feet, where Usman held him against the cage for the better part of the fourth.

In the fifth and final round, Usman continued to maintain his positioning before referee Herb Dean moved the fighters back into the center of the cage due to inactivity. Late in the round, Edwards stunned Usman with a walk-off knockout to claim the title.

Edwards finally stepped into the main event after three years of vying for a title shot. Over that span, Edwards had four fights cancelled and won in the only bout he fought, a decision over Nate Diaz.

Usman has been on a tear since winning the welterweight crown in 2019, earning a decision victory over Tyron Woodley, knocking out and later earning a decision victory over Colby Covington, earning a decision victory and later knocking out Jorge Masvidal, and knocking out Gilbert Burns.

With the loss, Usman misses out on tying Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive wins in the UFC with 16. For what happens next after, Usman has said he’s planning to jump two weight classes into light heavyweight, interested in a showdown with current champ Jiri Prochazka, per an interview with TMZ sports. But with the knockout, one has to assume they’re running this back.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan will be found below.)

The first episode of season two of Power Book III: Raising Kanan set the scene for things going forward. Kanan is back home after spending the summer away from Queens following his murder attempt on Detective Howard. Raq wants to expand the drug operation to New Jersey and Lou-Lou wants to build his record label upward — he’s even found a new artist that he thinks can help him do that. Marvin is still at odds with his daughter Jukebox and Jukebox herself is numb to the world after losing her first love.

In episode two, each of the main characters are introduced to obstacles that will certainly test their abilities to persevere. Detective Howard, who remembers Kanan shooting him despite telling people otherwise, informs Raq that he will tell Kanan that he’s his father. This leaves Raq scrambling in search of a solution on how to deal with the matter. Lou-Lou is granted a unique chance to prove himself with his record label thanks to a new opportunity that forces him to bet on himself. Marvin must endure anger management classes despite every bone in his body going against it. Jukebox discovers where her estranged mother is living and is left to decide whether to approach her. Famous has to jumpstart his rap career to support himself after his mother kicks him out of the house.

Here are some of the biggest questions we had after the second episode of season two:

Will Raq Be Able To Stop Detective Howard From Unveiling The Truth?

Episode one ends with the assumption that Detective Howard remembers Kanan shooting him based on his actions. This week, he confirms it during a conversation with Raq. It’s during this same conversation that he reveals plans to tell Kanan that he is his father after a paternity test confirmed it. It’s well-known that Raq wants to do everything in her power to make sure that Kanan doesn’t find out who his real father is, but how far will she go? She tried to have Howard killed and that didn’t work. She’s moved on to warning Kanan about some “crazy ass nonsense” that Howard may say, but that will only do so much. It’s going to take a lot more work and effort to hide this information, especially with Howard approaching the world as confident as ever thanks to a new lease on life.

How Does Marvin’s Anger Management Class End?

At the end of season one, Marvin gets arrested for an outstanding drug warrant. However, in the season two premiere, we learn that most of his charges are thrown out because the woman who snitched on him did not show up in court. Still, he’s left with a charge for possession of marijuana, and as a result, he’s ordered to do community service or an anger management class to avoid jail time. Marvin is told by his lawyer that the anger management class will be a breeze, so he chooses that option as the easy way out. However, it turns out to be the complete opposite. A woman named Renée leads the class, and she’s determined to have Marvin participate to the fullest extent in the class, despite his extreme desire to do less than the bare minimum. Push will come to shove and Marvin or Renée will have to let the other have their way, and from the looks of it, it seems like Renée will win this battle.

Can Unique Bounce Back?

Raq framed him for attempted murder, but Unique (played by Joey Badass) was successfully able to beat the charge thanks to a lack of evidence. However, the damage has already been done as he returns to Queens with nothing to call his own. His drug connect no longer wishes to work with him, his former partner moved on to work with Raq, and his main base has been completely ransacked. Unique quite literally has nothing, but with a child and their mother to support, he’s determined to find a way to win. Despite some telling him to seek a fresh start elsewhere, Unique is set on making a comeback in Queens. He’s driven by rage and an overflowing motivation to win, which could serve him well or lead to his own demise — especially with Raq and her crew standing in his way.

Who’s To Blame For Famous’ Failing Rap Career?

Famous’ rap career is not going as well as he planned. With his sister Jessica playing his manager while Lou-Lou stands as his record label more or less, the trio points a finger at each other to blame for Famous’ failures. Lou-Lou cites Famous’ lack of skill and motivation while Jessica points to Lou-Lou’s refusal to give Famous a fair chance while also blaming Famous for not working hard enough. Famous himself believes that Jessica is not doing her part in helping him reach success. The fact of the matter is that everyone could do more to help the situation. Now, with Famous homeless essentially and Jessica on to bigger things in Los Angeles, Famous has no time to blame anyone else for his minimal success as a fruitful rap career is something he needs now more than ever.

Is Jukebox Really Ready To Meet Her Mother?

In the first half of episode two, Jukebox asks Raq about her estranged mother who is Raq’s sister. After a conversation that involved Jukebox learning a little about her mother and why she left her at a young age, Jukebox sets out to find her. With help from Detective Burke, she learns that her mother is back in New York after some time out of the state. She even spots her mother at the address that Burke gave her. Jukebox is certainly a woman who goes after everything she wants, but the depth of this situation is one that has her a bit hesitant to attack it. Attempting to reconnect with her mother will require a level of vulnerability she may not be ready to give, in addition to the risk that her mother may reject her. However, running from the situation will leave her questions unanswered for the foreseeable future.

How Will Scrappy’s Death Affect The Group Going Forward?

Scrappy’s gambling itch landed him in hot water as he was picked up in a police raid during a game of poker in episode one. He’s then interrogated for the situation and it’s incorrectly relayed as him snitching to the police by Detective Howard to Raq. Despite him being a longtime worker of theirs, Raq makes the rash decision to kill him to protect the operation. This choice is objected to by Lou-Lou while Marvin is unsure that it should go down this way. Nonetheless, Raq pulls the trigger on Scrappy and kills him as Marvin wipes away a tear and Lou-Lou walks away as he’s too torn to watch. Scrappy’s murder is painted as the best decision for the business, but the logic of it all doesn’t seem to trump the emotions behind it. If and when the truth about Scrappy’s last days comes out, there’s no doubt that it will cause problems within the trio’s dynamic. We’ll just have to wait for the next episodes to learn how it plays out.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available to watch on Sundays at 12:00am EST.

The Las Vegas Aces are headed to the WNBA Playoff semifinals after routing the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of their first round series, 117-80, to secure a 2-0 series win.

While the first game was competitive for the majority before Vegas pulled away late, it took far less time for the Aces to assert their dominance in Game 2. The shorthanded Mercury, who lost Shey Peddy in Game 1 on top of the absences of Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith, hung tough for a quarter in Game 2 but simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up with a sensational offensive performance from the Aces.

Las Vegas bombed away from three early and often, going an outrageous 23-of-36 (63.9 percent) from distance in the game, setting a WNBA record for made threes in a playoff game. The Aces were led by Chelsea Gray’s 7-of-8 effort from three-point range — Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Kierstan Bell, and Riquna Williams all made at least three 3-pointers in the game as well — on her way to a game-high 27 points (alongside eight assists). Gray put on a clinic in the closeout game, showing off the full compliments of her game on Saturday night, with vicious handles, ridiculous passes, and plenty of buckets from deep.

Joining Gray in having a 20-plus point night was Plum, who was 6-of-10 from the floor on her way to an efficient 22-point effort, splashing in four threes of her own.

A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young were likewise lethal in their efficiency, as Young was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep as she went for 15 points, while Wilson did a bit of everything with 17 points (on 7-of-9 shooting), six assists, and four rebounds.

It was the Aces at their absolute best, bombing away from three, attacking the paint, and playing stifling defense. For Phoenix, Diamond DeShields (21 points) and Kaela Davis (23 points) did their best to keep them in touch, but they simply lacked the depth and scoring power up and down the roster to match the Aces in a game where seemingly everyone on the Vegas roster had their A-game. There aren’t many teams (if any) that could keep up with Vegas on a night like this, and it’s a reminder of why the Aces are the favorites to win it all, because like A’ja Wilson says, when they get out of their own way and let it rip, they are terrifying as they showed in this one.

The Aces now await the winner of the Storm-Mystics series that saw Seattle take a 1-0 lead in thrilling fashion on Thursday night, with either of those teams creating a sensational semifinal matchup.

Some people might not remember this, but there was a time when Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski did not play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All jokes aside, it was a big deal when the pair left the New England Patriots and decided to head to the NFC — Brady went to Tampa in free agency, while Gronkowski retired before deciding to come back and help his quarterback win a Super Bowl.

As it turns out, the pair had the chance to stay in the AFC, although not with the Patriots or the team that famously tried to lure Brady, the Miami Dolphins. Dana White appeared on UFC 278 With The Gronks on ESPN+ and dropped a bombshell: He personally was involved in getting the pair to the Las Vegas Raiders, which nearly happened until then-coach Jon Gruden decided he was against it.

“I worked to put that deal together for Brady and Gronk to come to the Raiders,” White claimed. “And it was almost a done deal, and at the last minute, Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn’t want them, and all hell broke loose, man. It was crazy, and Brady was already looking at houses, and it wans’t being said yet that Gronk was coming. So Las Vegas would have had Brady and Gronk the year that the Bucs won the Super Bowl, except Gruden blew the deal up.”

White said he was never going to tell that story, while Gronkowski said that this was “exactly what happened and you told the story.” Still, Gronkowski said that he was happy the pair opted to go to Tampa, because everything worked out for him and Brady in the end.

A number of NBA stars headed to Seattle on Saturday night to participate in The CrawsOver, an annual pro-am put on by Pacific Northwest legend Jamal Crawford. While some of the biggest players in the league right now who are from the area showed up, a trio of dudes decided to show Crawford and the fans some love by making a cameo: LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, and Aaron Gordon.

But unfortunately for those in attendance and those who tried to play, the game was unable to go beyond the second quarter. According to multiple folks in attendance, the sheer amount of people packed into the gym caused it to be so humid in the building that condensation built up on the floor, making it unsafe to play.

Prior to the game getting called, the two teams broke down like this: The home side featured James, Tatum, Dejounte Murray, and recent draft pick MarJon Beauchamp. They went up against Gordon, Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Tari Eason, and Isaiah Thomas. There was one unfortunate moment early on in the game, as Holmgren rolled his ankle and eventually called it a night while trying to slow down James in transition.

But despite that rough moment, the little bits of the game that were able to take place served as a chance to celebrate basketball in a city that had an NBA team taken from it years ago. Guys like James, Tatum, and Thomas looked like they had a blast in this sort of environment, while the fans reciprocated that by cheering on everything they did.

The moment that appeared to lead to the game ending came when Beauchamp went up for an uncontested dunk but could not get his feet under him, leading to Crawford deciding it couldn’t go on any longer.

It’s too bad that the game wasn’t able to go on for longer, let alone finish, even if we did get a moment between Banchero and Murray that might have squashed their recent beef. Here’s hoping the NBA returns to Seattle sooner than later so the fans in the city get the chance to see these guys more frequently.

One of the strangest beefs to pop up during the 2022 NBA offseason is between Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, and Dejounte Murray, the former San Antonio Spurs All-Star who got traded to the Atlanta Hawks this offseason. The duo, both of whom are from the Pacific Northwest, played at Jamal Crawford’s The CrawsOver earlier this summer, where Murray got Banchero with some trickery.

After the game, the pair went back-and-forth on their Instagram Stories, with Murray saying that he’s “lost all respect” for someone who “made it and changed.” Fast forward to Saturday evening, and the two went up against one another at Crawford’s event once again, this time with some star-studded running mates.

Early on in the game, Banchero got the chance to go at Murray, with the crowd rising to their feet to celebrate the occasion. It didn’t end with anyone getting one over on anyone else — Murray got called for a foul while Banchero hit the ground — but in a cool moment of sportsmanship, Murray helped Banchero up and the pair exchanged a hug.

At the very least, the crowd seemed to appreciate this moment between the pair of local dudes who made it to the league. Here’s to hoping that the two are on good terms now.

Things have gone cold on the Donovan Mitchell trade front. While the New York Knicks reportedly very much want to acquire the Utah Jazz star, the team has not met Utah’s reported gigantic asking price for the All-Star guard and Empire State native.

One of the big questions has been whether or not former top-3 pick R.J. Barrett will be moved in the deal, because while he might be New York’s top prospect among its collection of young players, the former Duke standout is extension eligible and might be a bit ahead of of Utah’s timeline considering the potential scope of this rebuild.

As such, the player who has most frequently been mentioned as the potential headliner of the deal from New York’s perspective is second-year guard Quentin Grimes, but according to a new report from Marc Berman of the New York Post, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau might have some reservations about moving on from the 2021 first-round pick, who is likewise coveted by the Jazz.

There is belief around the league Thibodeau would prefer to give up Barrett in a deal than shooting guard Quentin Grimes, who is coming off a solid rookie year, and a summer league in which he looked quicker and more sculpted. Grimes is a better defender and 3-point shooter than Barrett.

Ainge is hot to acquire Grimes for his Jazz rebuilding plan. One individual believes Grimes would likely be amenable to joining Utah since a Brunson-Mitchell backcourt would be a roadblock to ever becoming a Knicks starter. Grimes is a Houston native who played part of his college career at Kansas.

Grimes was one of the top performers at Summer League this year after averaging six points in 17.1 minutes per game as a rookie.

Right now in my apartment sits something that, to be completely honest, I never thought I would have: an arcade machine for NBA Jam. But this machine doesn’t only have NBA Jam on it — there is also NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, and the not as well-known but just as fun NBA Hangtime. Arcade 1 Up, a development studio known for creating home editions of popular arcade machines, has taken all three games and combined them to form NBA Jam: Shaq Edition. It turns out Shaq is a huge fan of NBA Jam, so Arcade 1 Up partnered with him to put his name on the machine.

As for the machine itself, it’s kind of difficult to review a game that everyone knows is great. Everyone loves NBA Jam and its sequels, so me telling you that all three games on here are fun would be stating the obvious. Let’s instead focus on what this machine offers and if it’s worth the pricey $700 tag for your home.

NBA Jam: Shaq Edition is designed for the at-home experience. That means you’re not going to find very many of this specific machine at many of the Barcades that are popping up all over the place right now. It also means there are some really fun perks that only an at-home machine is going to offer owners, such as the ability to connect to Wi-Fi and play against other machines online. It’s a really simple process to connect, but finding games is a little difficult because not everyone out there possesses one of these machines.

The real fun of the machine, and all arcade machines, still comes from playing shoulder to shoulder against your friends. That experience was recreated perfectly and this edition of the machine, in particular, offers a few extra perks to make it more fun for owners. For example, you can turn on bighead mode straight from the main menu, adjust the difficulty, and many classic cheats are still within the game. Want to unlock a few secret characters? This definitely is not a link to a whole bunch of them. Everyone knows cheats are part of what makes classic games fun and it was absolutely the correct decision to keep them as part of the experience.

On the downside, the process of putting it together was a lengthy one and a second person is essentially required. The box the machine came in was extremely heavy and the instructions for putting it together were entirely image based. Also, it didn’t come with any hardware, so make sure you have a basic toolkit on hand. Also, as mentioned earlier, a $700 price tag is a lot for what really comes down to three arcade games. This is a big ask for anyone who is not a huge fan of NBA Jam and also has the money to throw around.

At the end of the day, it’s a great machine and if you are someone who is capable of buying this, then it’s a definite recommendation. You can even argue that it’s a must-have for fans of the NBA Jam franchise, but at the end of the day, it’s a total novelty purchase. If you’re like me and have always wanted an NBA Jam machine, then this is definitely the one to get. Everyone else, go find a friend who has it and mooch off them. After all, arcade machines are best when played with friends.

Kanye West can be nitpicky when working on an album; we know this after Donda got delayed many times. But producer Mike Dean, in a recent conversation with Nile Rodgers for Deep Hidden Meaning Radio, revealed that the rapper/producer scrapped a whole album’s worth of material while working on Ye.

When asked if Kanye is precious about his parts in productions, Dean answered, “You can’t be. You’d get your feelings hurt like every day. Especially working with Kanye or Travis [Scott], where sh*t changes and everything’s real malleable.

“‘Til it’s over, anything can happen, especially Kanye,” he continued. “In Wyoming, for the Ye album, we had 10 songs, I guess. And we were trying to do a seven-song album. I came in one day and he’d erased the whole board and said, ‘We’re starting over.’”

Kanye has been making lots of headlines recently, especially with Kid Cudi refusing to denounce his beef with him. “With all due respect, I’m not Drake, who’s about to take a picture with him next week and be friends again, and their beef is squashed,” he said. “That’s not me. What I say, I mean. I will be done with you. It’s gonna take a motherf*cking miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk.”

Listen to the conversation below with Mike Dean below.

Mark Zuckerberg may have helped invent social media as we know it, but that doesn’t him from being dragged online. Like Jack Dorsey, he’s a frequent figure of mockery. Last week, he inadvertently threw some red meat to the Internet hounds, posting an impossibly crude image, including a boyish avatar, from the metaverse he’s been trying to foist on a so-far resistant world. After it was met with heaps of mockery, Zuckerberg quickly rushed out a replacement.

Admittedly, it’s an improvement. Where the first avatar drew comparisons to the Miis on Nintendo Wii — which is to say, technology from over 15 years ago — the new one is more detailed and professional looking, giving the Facebook co-creator a more realistic animated look. In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg even acknowledged the blowback, writing that “the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic,” claiming “it was taken very quickly to celebrate our launch.” (The image commemorated the launching of Horizon Worlds, Meta’s VR game, in the U.K. and Spain.)

Alas, even the Horizon Worlds launch was an agent of chaos, with developers neglecting to translate it into Spanish for Spanish players. Whoops! The slip-ups have only served to remind people that Zuckerberg has poured billions and billions into this metaverse mishegoss. And honestly, even the newer avatar looks like it could have come from the Bush II years. Then again, unlike some old colleagues, at least he hasn’t started a cover band.

(Via Insider)