Never say never again, because Kimbo Slice has officially fought in the UFC. Slice fought his first UFC match against former IFL champion Roy Nelson on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. Slice lived up to the billing of his MMA critics. Slice was great on his feet, but in the end his weak ground game was exposed by someone who looked like they just left Burger King.

Whether UFC or Dana White says so or not, The Ultimate Fighter Heavyweights has been completely built around Slice. Slice made a grand entrance on the first show and was immediately singled out as the star. No other competitor in the history of the show received an entrance like that. The irony of tonight’s fight is that when Dana White gave Slice a star-like introduction, Roy Nelson immediately thought White was talking about him.

Like most hyped TUF fights, this fight didn’t live up to expectations. Slice did not come out as explosive as most viewers were hoping he would do. Both fighters looked real tentative and almost afraid to get in close. Nelson started pushing the pace with some jabs which woke up a sleeping giant. Slice countered and started to explode. The veteran Nelson wisely tied up avoiding a sure knockout.

Slice did a better job than I thought he would at this point. Nelson was trying to take him down and Slice showed great balance in preventing the takedown. A rookie mistake allowed Nelson to take Slice down. This was a completely different fight once it went to the ground. It was as if Slice was mentally defeated once he hit the ground. Slice just had nothing in the ground game and was at Nelson’s mercy.

The end of the first round was very controversial. Nelson had Slice’s arm pinned and repeatedly punched a defenseless Slice on the ground. Think Lesnar-Mir. Slice had nothing and wasn’t doing anything to defend himself. This went on for almost 30 seconds until the bell rang. I really don’t understand why Herb Dean didn’t stop the fight at this point. Slice did absolutely nothing as Nelson continued peppering him with shots. Any other fight on this show would have ended if this had happened.

The second round started out somewhat like the first. Once again Slice started to explode with punches. Nelson looked like he was in big trouble and went for the takedown. Slice remained vertical until he lifted his leg for a knee strike which allowed Nelson to take him down. Nelson fought his way back into the same position pinning Slice’s arm and punching him repeatedly. Once again Slice was defenseless except attempting to bridge out of the position. Dean rightfully stopped the fight and awarded the match to Nelson.

I give Nelson a ton of credit here. He remained composed and didn’t seem as star-struck as one of the more inexperienced guys could have been. More importantly, Nelson had a gameplan, stuck to it, and won with it. Earlier in the show Nelson was sitting with his teammates telling them exactly what he had hoped to do. Nelson explained in detail that if he could pin his opponent’s arms, his opponent would be helpless and the referee would have to stop the fight. In the end it turned out to be a very prophetic statement.

I was a bit disappointed in Slice. I think he would have had a shot here if he came out more explosive. He overwhelmed Nelson twice with punches and probably could have won if he was more aggressive. As I said before, it almost looked as if Slice was mentally defeated once they went to the ground. Slice barely did a thing and just seemed content on the inevitable. I also have to question whether he over trained leading into the fight. Slice was training all the way up until fight time. It is likely that he just may not have had anything left to move 264 pounds around on the ground.

It will be interesting to see where the show goes from here. The show has had monster ratings thus far due to Slice. Now that viewers know that Slice is done fighting, it will be interesting to see how many of them tune out. Slice will remain in the house and train on the show even after losing. He just won’t fight anymore on the show. It is possible he fights as an alternate. The show not only touched on this, but teased that it could happen again next week. I suspect that they too fear the ratings drop or they would have never aired the tease.

Slice may have lost the fight, but he won a lot more on TUF. Slice has completely reinvented himself and changed his image. He has gone from a street fighting bully to a humble, religious man hungry to learn MMA and compete. Slice had a bad reputation in my opinion because of the You Tube videos. The fact is a lot of great MMA fighters morph from street fighting into MMA. As long as he continues to learn and train properly, he should be given the same opportunities as someone else that didn’t have their bar fights taped for You Tube.

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 No matter how perfect your fantasy football draft is, you can’t prepare for injuries, bad coaching, and other intangibles. The beauty of fantasy football is that you aren’t stuck with who you drafted. Drafting is only one third of the equation. Trading and playing the waiver wire are just as important. Manipulating the waiver wire can turn around your season like instantly.

Fantasy Football Week 4 is absolutely critical if you have done anything but play to a perfect record. The bright side of being in last place is having the first pick on the waiver wire. This is a great week to turn around your week with the waiver wire. There are several players available at wide receiver, running back, and quarterback that could take you from the outhouse to powerhouse by next Monday.

It is also very important not to get caught up in one-week hype. Greg Lewis may have had the catch of the season, but he has no long term value. Mario Manningham was the fantasy darling last week. One week later he produced a disappointing five points. So be careful not to be blinded by a great week or a bad matchup which turned one week into fantasy gold.

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News broke out last week that Bret “the Hitman” Hart was considering coming back to work for Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Entertainment, once again, as an on-air personality. This news is huge, and quite shocking.

Why is it huge? Why is it shocking? The Montreal Screw Job! I even wrote two articles about the Montreal Screw Job, one for here, CamelClutchBlog.com, and the other on my own personal blog site. Let me get into where I would love to see “the Excellence of Execution” be if he does come back and play some kind of on-air role for McMahon and the WWE once again.

“I’m the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. That’s why I am your new Raw General Manager! I got screwed once here in the WWE, I am back to make sure no one else get’s screwed!”

I would absolutely love to see Bret Hart as the Raw General Manager. I believe Hart can be even better than Eric Bischoff as the on-air Raw General Manager, and for me to say that, that’s huge. I am a huge Eric Bischoff fan, and I won’t go into why I am an Eric Bischoff fan here in this article, because this article is about Bret Hart.

Bret Hart back in the World Wrestling Entertainment. That’s hard for me to believe, if this does come true. I cannot see this happening. Why? The business has changed so much since he retired almost a decade ago. The WWE has changed greatly since he left 12 years ago after the 1997 Survivor Series. This whole topic boggles my mind, and not that much boggles my mind as of late. Bret Hart back in the World Wrestling Entertainment?

Back to the role I would love to see Bret play: the Raw General Manager. The reason is because Triple H and Shawn Michaels are on Raw. Hart can make them “pay” for “screwing with the piper” twelve years ago in Montreal. I can see this being a modern day Austin versus McMahon storyline, but Bret coming back to seek revenge against the two degenerates that screwed him out of the company in the first place.

Another thing I would love to see is Bret bringing over the Hart Dynasty over to Raw after they make a name for themselves and after they prove themselves worthy as top players in the WWE. Why would this be great for the Hart Dynasty? They can feud with Michaels and Triple H as D-Generation X and DX can help put them over and make them main eventers in the fans eyes. Also getting a rub from Uncle Bret, the Hart Dynasty would finally make it, if done right, if done properly.

Bret Hart can also help with the direction of the storylines, which is what I hope most out of everything; if he does decide on to go back with the company. Bret has been in the business his whole life and even helped with his father’s Stampede Wrestling on booking for the territory, when wrestling was heavily territory based. Bret can help with what worked back in the day and help guys with their in-ring technical skill. Hart isn’t considered to be the best on the mic, but he can tell a beautiful story inside the ring when it comes to his technical wrestling. Hart can defiantly help out with wrestlers and their body language.

Bret is a great resource that the new talent can learn from. Bret can help mold the new guys and help find the future of the company. McMahon would be stupid for not getting Hart and use him as much as possible.

These are all my opinions. But honestly, I would love to see Bret Hart come back, especially if he comes back as Raw General Manager. I believe that if Bret was the Raw GM, he could very well bring in a lot of old-school wrestling fans back the sport that they once loved. So Mr. McMahon, or if anyone in the WWE is reading this, please get Bret Hart signed if Bret wants to come back. The WWE could use Bret in a great way, and could bring fans back into the sport and help get new fans into the business. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, happy that it stopped raining outside, because rain sucks. Good job sun on coming back, goodbye!

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 1997

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Win a brand new copy of the WWE Best of SmackDown 3- disc DVD set. The new set counts down the top 100 moments and matches in WWE SmackDown history. Everyone from Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, Brock Lesnar, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, to the Undertaker are featured in the collection. CamelClutchBlog.com is giving one copy away and winning doesn’t get much easier than this for WWE fans.

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Looking back at NFL Week 3 we finally got to see the 2009 NFL Season begins to take shape. Confidence is starting to grow in some locker rooms while urgency is growing in others. “Hot seats” are getting warmer and new coaches are getting a heroes welcome. Quarterbacks have lost their jobs and teams are feeling the Super Bowl hangover. These are the Top 5 stories coming out of Week 3 of the 2009 NFL Season.

5. The Denver Broncos are 3-0.

This by far is the most surprising 3-0 team in all of football. Let’s be honest Kyle Orton is not the best Quarterback in Football by far and I’m not sure if Denver is 100% behind their Quarterback still. I’m sure Denver loves that they are 3-0 but let’s be honest, most Broncos fans would prefer Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy lining up at center in 2010. If the Broncos have a winning record by Week 6 (next three games are Dallas, New England & San Diego) then we can consider the Broncos as a team to be reckon with in the AFC.

4. The Patriots finally look like the Patriots.

It has taken 8 years for Patriots fans to see the calm, cool and collect Tom Brady to lose his mind during a game. The usually laid back and quiet leader in the Patriots locker room clearly had enough of his team looking like trash the last 2 ½ weeks of the 2009 season as he gave a reported inspirational speech heading into the 2nd half of their game with Atlanta. As finally New England fans were able to see the team they know & love come out and outplay & outscore a very dominant Atlanta Falcons team.

The Patriots quickly reminded all of the NFL what this team is capable of and that the first two weeks of football this year were clearly them cleaning out the rust. For a team that has been atop the NFL Mountain for so long they are starting to play with a large chip on their shoulder because they know they can repeat what they accomplished in 2007. Patriots fans are hoping they can carry the same energy & swagger into Week 4 and beyond.

3. The Pittsburgh Steelers & Arizona Cardinals are 1-2.

In the history of the NFL there have been times where the runner-ups in Super Bowl struggle the next season (i.e. 2007 Chicago Bears, 2003 Oakland Raiders for example), sports writers refer to it as the “Super Bowl hangover. It now appears for the first time in a while that both teams from the following year Super Bowl are dealing with this hangover.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were considered a favorite heading into this season, most writers saw them either repeating or at least appearing in this year’s Super Bowl. No one figured that by Week 3 we’d be looking at a 1-2 Steelers team, a team that could have been 0-3 if not an overtime victory in Week 1 against the Titans.

The Steelers have the same team on paper from the Championship team minus an injured Troy Polamalu who is clearly suffering from the Madden cover curse. Could it be that this Steelers team had to much “swagger” heading into the 2009 season figuring that they would just dominate every team in their path towards another Super Bowl Championship? Or could it be that the off-season distractions (that the media for some reason has blown off) from Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger truly did affect “Big Ben.” I’m sure guest hosting Monday Night Raw will rejuvenate this Steelers team…

As for the Arizona Cardinals this start is a little bit more believable then the Pittsburgh Steelers. When you have a Quarterback that is 78 years old lining up under center every week you can’t expect the same results from “the greatest show on turf” era or even the Kurt Warner from last year’s playoffs. The clock is ticking on the Matt Lienart era in Arizona like a countdown to St. Patrick’s Day in an Irish pub. It’s only a matter of time before we see the “American Bad Ass” Matt Lienart carry this Arizona team back to the top of NFC.

2. Brett Favre does it again.

Despite not having the NFL ticket I was able to watch the end of the very competitive 49ers/Vikings game on Sunday. For the time being Brad Childress looks like a genius for splitting his locker room in half and pissing off two capable starters (Sage Rosenfels more then Tarvaris Jackson) in the NFL to enjoy their headsets & clipboards for the year.

Brett Favre drove his team down the field yet again to give them the win with little time remaining. When ESPN does another Brett Favre highlight reel when he retires this will be one of the plays that captures the “gunslinger.”

The Vikings beat the toughest team they have faced on their schedule thus far as they head into the very emotional Week 4 Monday Night game against the Green Bay Packers. But what many people seem to not be talking about is how many times the 40 year old Quarterback coming off of shoulder surgery threw the ball.

Brett Favre went 24/46 for 301 yards. If Brett Favre wasn’t hurting after Sunday’s game and wishing he could take painkillers again he’d be lying as if he was on the couch of Joe Buck Live, talking into Rachel Nichols microphone or text messaging Chris Mortenson. How many more games does Minnesota think Favre can play this season if he continues to throw the ball this much? Thankfully they have the running game to protect ol’ #4 but I wouldn’t bet on Brett playing every game this season.

1. FINALLY…The Lions Win.

The largest travesty to come from this game was that the fans of Detroit could not watch it. I’m sure that helps the economically stricken area of Detroit’s morale when they can’t watch their beloved Lions team finally win a game since December 2007. Great job NFL, way to play to your fans and not the owners of the NFL!

For that moment in time Lions fans were able to take the paper bags off their heads, turn their frowns upside down and not drink so heavily after a Lions game. The Lions BARELY beat a self-destructing Washington Redskins team, but a win is a win and the Lions finally won.

It was by far the best moment & story from Week 3 as the Lions fans were able to go out and celebrate with their fans following the game thanking them for hanging in with them through thick and thin. Matt Stafford is shaping into a hero for the time being and Detroit fans aren’t wishing they drafted Mark Sanchez…yet.

Cheers to Detroit and the state of Michigan. At this point in Week 3 of the NFL season you have the same record as the two teams from last year’s Super Bowl and have better records then two teams (Titans & Panthers) who had first round byes in last year’s playoffs.

Congrats to the Detroit Lions and the Lions faithful on getting that large winless monkey off of your back!

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse

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ESPN, Saturday, September 26, 2009

Anchor: “We have breaking news to report out of Lexington, Kentucky this evening. Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Florida Gators, and the possible second coming of our Lord, has been taken to a nearby medical facility after sustaining a concussion. Again, Tim Tebow, Gators quarterback, and a better man than all of us, has just been taken to a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky after sustaining a concussion in tonight’s game at Commonwealth Stadium. We go live to our stereotypical airhead reporter, who is live at Commonwealth Stadium with the latest. What’s the situation?”

Reporter: “Well, it’s a very somber scene here, as you can imagine. Despite it being after sundown, it appears just a bit darker here in Lexington. A candlelight vigil is taking place here in the parking lot, as thousands of Florida fans are gathered in collective prayer for Tim Tebow, possible son of God.”

Anchor: “I understand we have the footage, is that correct?”

(Video airs of the ambulance with Tim Tebow inside, leaving for the hospital)

Anchor: “Do you have a video of the actual injury?”

Reporter: “We do, but who wants to see that? That’s too upsetting to watch. No one wants to see Tim Tebow, savior of humanity, getting his skull cracked.”

Anchor: “I concur. I’ve seen the video of President Kennedy’s assassination. I watched on September 11 a scant eight years ago when the second plane slammed into the World Trade Center. This sounds, at the very least, just a little bit worse. Hang on, we have our stereotypical Southern football analyst on the line. Sir, what can you tell us about what you saw here this evening?”

Analyst: “Bear with me, please….I….I don’t know…..if I can…..if I-”

Anchor: “I know this is very traumatic, and if you can’t-”

Analyst: “Tim Tebow is a truly wonderful human being! I’ve watched every one of his games since he came to Gainesville and I tell you, I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone more noble.”

Anchor: “I understand your sorrow-”

Analyst: “One time in my playing days, I took a nasty hit and was unconscious for twenty minutes. During my infirmed state, I tell you, I actually talked to God! He was a wonderful man, so benevolent and stately and amazing, and he showed me his Kingdom of Heaven. And let me tell you something, compared to Tim Tebow and his greatness, it was like a hobo showing me his tin can collection!”

Anchor: “I concur. What happened in the actual injury to Tim Tebow, healer of sick and homely children?”

Analyst: “That heathen Taylor Wyndham of Kentucky sacked Tim Tebow, and spiked his head into the knee of Tim Tebow’s lineman, Marcus Gilbert. Gilbert, first of all, should have done a better job of blocking for Tim Tebow, greatest person that has ever lived. Secondly, I fully expect for Gilbert to have his scholarship revoked upon his return to Gainesville. One day, maybe Tim Tebow will forgive him, but the rest of us common folk aren’t as nice and forgiving!”

Anchor: “Which brings us to our poll question on ESPN.com, which is “Who is to blame for Tim Tebow’s injury?”. The choices are Marcus Gilbert, Taylor Wyndham, poor playing surface, and breakdown in divine intervention. We now go back to our reporter on the scene, who is with a drunken Florida fan. What’s the scoop?”

Reporter: “Sir, what can you tell us about what happened tonight involving Tim Tebow, Christ reborn?”

Fan: “We’re not leaving yet! Lexington, your city will burn! We got gasoline, we got matches, and we’re angry! Tim Tebow was on a holy mission to protect the world…..through throwing a football….and we’re not going to let you punks get away with this!”

Reporter: “Sir, don’t you feel this is a bit extreme?”

Fan: “Extreme?!? Tim Tebow’s in the hospital!”

(Pause)

Reporter: “Back to you in the studios. GET ME A GAS CAN!!! I HAVE A LIGHTER!!”

(Aerial footage is shown of Tim Tebow’s ambulance leaving the stadium)

Anchor: “If you’re just joining us, folks, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, our holy spirit, has been injured. He sustained a concussion in tonight’s game against the University of Kentucky and has been rushed to the Chandler Medical Center. We’re joined in studio by our NFL expert. Given the fact that he has a concussion, possibly severe brain damage, and that the NFL is more physically demanding than NCAA football….what does this do for his draft day status?”

Expert: “Well, I’m sure he’ll be in attendance so that the ESPN cameras will be on him approximately 800 times during the first hour, but as far as his draft projection goes, it’s up in the air. He still just might be the first overall pick. It’s believed that to have a man like Tim Tebow, who makes all of our lives worth living, on your team will make things brighter and will likely lead the club to as many Super Bowls as they want.”

Anchor: “And if he’s not taken first?”

Expert: “Then we go to ‘code blue’: ESPN will ignore whoever gets drafted first and spend the entire pre-season gushing over the pretty white guy. The debacle with JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn comes to mind.”

Anchor: “Debacle?”

Expert: “I mean ‘understandable situation’.”

Anchor: “Preliminary results are in for our poll, and it’s a dead heat between Marcus Gilbert and Taylor Wyndham for the near fatality of Tim Tebow, The Chosen One, this evening. We’re also getting e-mails, asking us to tone down the excessive coverage of this story, but what do these people know? They must be self-loathing atheists who derive pleasure from the sinful aspects of this mortal coil that we call ‘life’. Back to Lexington, where our reporter is standing by. What’s the latest?”

(Footage is shown of the reporter, several Florida fans, and local clergy firing flame throwers at Commonwealth Stadium while cackling maniacally.)

Anchor: “We’re going to take a commercial break, but when we come back: continued coverage of the injury to Tim Tebow, Modern Messiah.”

(Hubble telescope footage of Tim Tebow being rushed to the hospital is shown)

When he isn’t watching WWE, TNA, or his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies, Justin Henry can be found writing. It is his passion as well as his goal in life to become a well-regarded (as well as well-paid) columnist or author. He tweets at twitter.com/notoriousjrh and facebooks himself at http://www.facebook.com/notoriousjrh.

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