by ldh2013 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:54 am
LAS VEGAS -- A sleek B. .J. Penn, in his first fight at featherweight, weighed in on the button at 145 pounds Saturday in advance of his third meeting with Frankie (The Answer) Edgar. The 35-year-old Penn, who has always been a fan favourite, was warmly welcomed as he walked onto the stage at the UFCs Fan Expo. Edgar (15-4-1) weighed in at 145.5 pounds. The two former champions face off Sunday in the main event of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 19 finale televised card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Penn, a former lightweight and welterweight (170-pound) champion, came out of retirement to face Edgar a third time after the two served as rival coaches on the reality TV show. "Frankie asked to fight me the last couple of times," said Penn. "This is the one I wanted and Im here to give it my best shot." The 32-year-old Edgar, a former lightweight title-holder, won the two previous meetings between the two at lightweight (155 pounds). Edgar took the championship belt away from Penn at UFC 112 in April 2010 and then beat him again four months later at UFC 118. Both were five-round decisions. "He keeps calling my name," said Edgar. "He probably wants to get revenge but Im not going to let it happen." Penn (16-9-2) looked ripped as he weighed in, with plenty of belt loops seemingly available as he pulled on his jeans and buckled them up. Penn has been working with diet guru Mike Dolce. Canadian lightweight Jesse (The Body Snatcher) Ronson weighed in at 155 pounds for his lightweight bout with Kevin (The Motown Phenom) Lee, who was 156 pounds. Fellow Canadian Sarah (Cheesecake) Moras weighed in at 139 pounds. The 26-year-old bantamweight from Kelowna, B.C., will fight Alexis (Sneaky Zebra) Dufresne at a catchweight of 143 pounds. Moras (3-1) tweeted that she had already made weight at 135 pounds, before learning Dufresne (5-0) was eight pounds over. The two then agreed on the catchweight. "Cant wait to fight, hard part over!" tweeted Moras. Saturdays weigh-in got a lot more colourful when Mexican lightweight Juan Manuel Puig arrived on stage with a sombrero and Mexican flag. Chinese bantamweight Jumabieke Tuerxun added some class by donning a robe, complete with fur collar and UFC embroidered on the back. Dan Spohn of Team Penn takes on former Ohio State wrestler Pat Walsh of Team Edgar in the final of the TUF 19 light-heavyweight competition. Dhiego Lima takes on Eddie Gordon in an all-Team Edgar matchup to decide the 185-pound winner. . – The field is now set for the Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials next month in Winnipeg. . Driven on by a partisan pro-Colombian crowd that turned the Estadio Nacional into a sea of yellow, the South Americans scored through James Rodriguez and substitute Juan Quintero in a devastating six-minute spell in the second half to beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Thursday. . -- Sebastien Auger stopped 53 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Saint John Sea Dogs blanked the host Val-dOr Foreurs 2-0 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.SEATTLE -- Collin McHugh didnt know he was starting Tuesday until late the night before. When he took the mound, he surprised just about everyone with his performance. McHugh struck out a career-high 12 in his season debut to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-2 win against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, extending Seattles losing streak to eight games. McHugh (1-0) was told he was being called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday and flew to Seattle. It wasnt until he got to the team hotel late Monday night that he found out he was going to start for the Astros on Tuesday. Before the game, Houston coach Bo Porter characterized McHugh as a "pitch to contact guy," but the Mariners made almost no contact. McHugh struck out the first three batters he faced to set the tone for his first win in 10 career starts. "That was outstanding. Thats what you call seizing the opportunity," Porter said. The right-hander didnt walk a batter, giving up three hits in 6 2-3 shutout innings. "I dont think anybody prepares to go out and strike out a bunch of people. But I knew I had pretty decent command today with two or three pitches," McHugh said. "It was really good to kind of get the proverbial gorilla off your back with a W." McHughs stuff caught the Mariners off guard as well, as they only reached second once against him. "He was a little different than the scouting report we got. He was 94 (miles an hour) with a pretty good cut slider," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He threw exceptionally well tonight." The Astros offence gave McHugh plenty to work with, as Jason Castro and Chris Carter each hit homers to give Houston a 3-0 lead after two innings. Seattle starter Erasmo Ramirez (1-3) struck out eight over six innings and only allowed three hits, but they included the two costly homers. Three at-bats into the game, Castro just cleared the left field wall for a two-run homer, his fourth. Carter followed in the second inning with a shot to left that landed in the second deck for hhis first homer of the year. . Seattles Dustin Ackley tried to counter with a deep ball to left in the bottom of the second, but Matt Dominguez made a leaping catch at the wall to end the inning. Dominguez added a homer of his own in the top of the seventh to give Houston a 4-0 lead. The Astros have now won two in a row after a seven-game losing streak, and their offence -- which entered Tuesdays game with a major league-worst .196 batting average -- is finally showing some signs of life. "Once the whole offence is flowing like it is the last couple games, you kind of get in a little groove with it," Dominguez said. "Its been nice being able to score some runs." McHughs 12th strikeout came against Robinson Cano to leadoff the bottom of the seventh, but Porter brought on reliever Raul Valdes with two outs in the inning. McHugh had thrown 89 pitches, well above his high of 73 pitches in his minor league outings this year. Valdes walked Kyle Seager and then gave up a two-run home run to Justin Smoak, Seattles only offence of the game. McHughs call up came after Scott Feldman was placed on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis. Feldman will miss at least one more start, possibly giving McHugh more chances to show what he can do. "He didnt do anything to hurt his chances of sticking around," Porter said. "He definitely earned his keep." NOTES: The crowd of 10,466 was the fifth-lowest in Safeco Field history. Six of the seven lowest crowds at Safeco have been matchups with the Astros, all coming since the start of last season. ... Seattle RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (finger) was scheduled to pitch in a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Tacoma, but instead threw a simulated game at Safeco Field on Tuesday afternoon due to weather concerns. McClendon said the outing went well, and Iwakuma will have a rehab outing with Tacoma on Sunday. ... Astros RHP Lucas Harrell, designated for assignment on April 16, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. ' ' '
