Posts from the Featured Stories Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Welcome to the FanHouse live blog of UFC 86, where we'll provide live, round-by-round coverage of all of tonight's fights, culminating with the main event between Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin.

The show has started and the live blog is underway below.

Put away the roman candles, y'all, Saturday night is right for racing in Daytona. Tune in on TNT for Wide Open coverage and join in the conversation as we follow the Sprint Cup stars under lights for 400 miles on NASCAR's most famed track.

Click the link below to find your way to the live blog!

The following guest post was written by Rami Genauer, contributor at FightMetric.

Let's say you wake up one day and find yourself standing across the Octagon from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. And it's not the jovial, wise-cracking Rampage either; it's the sneering, howling, intense Rampage who is ready to slam you into next Tuesday. Assuming that running away is not an option, what do you do?

To figure out what you'd be facing, FightMetric tracked all 20 of Rampage's fights in Pride and the UFC (and that one WFA show no one likes to talk about). Making some observations based on the statistical record, below are some things you might want to keep in mind. Forrest Griffin ought to study up before Saturday night's UFC light heavyweight title fight.

Be careful relying on the clinch

Many people have watched Rampage fall prey to the Muay Thai clinch of Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and figured that the clinch is where Rampage's game is weakest. That would be a big mistake.

Statistically, the clinch is actually the strongest part of Rampage's game.

Recently, a number of websites criticized a newly written Kansas Chief policy that would make "standing" a form of prohibited conduct at a football game. The Chiefs have amended their policy by changing it three times since more fans learned of the policy on the internet.

On Tuesday as illustrated in the NFL Experts Blog, the policy prohibited:

"Standing and/or obstructing the view of other fans."

Yesterday, the Chiefs clarified the rule stating that the policy prevented:

"Excessive standing and/or obstructing the view of other fans"

Today, as I prepared to write this story, I noticed that the Chiefs policy now prevents:

"Continuous standing and/or obstructing the view of other fans."

Congratulations fans and interwebs for making your voices heard. This morning, I spoke with someone from the Chiefs to ask about the clarification of their policy.

Mixed martial arts has been a global sport for as long as it has existed. The first UFC event featured a Brazilian defeating a Dutchman in the final. The current UFC champions are two Americans, two Brazilians and a French Canadian, and the sport's top fighters outside the UFC include one from Russia and several from Japan.

But while the sport has always been global in the sense that the athletes come from all over the world and fight all over the world, its fans are still segmented by language barriers. The internet gives fans access to MMA news, but there's not a lot of English-language coverage of MMA events in Japan.

A blogger named Suki Kubo is changing that. A 31-year-old woman who was born in Kyoto, Japan and has lived in the United States for six years, Suki figured that being an MMA fan fluent in English and Japanese put her in a unique position to help American fans learn more about what's going on with the sport in Japan.

So she launched her blog, Suki MMA, which translates Japanese MMA articles into English. In the interview below, Suki answers my questions about how she got the idea to start the site, and what the differences are between the way MMA is covered in Japan and in the United States.

This week, Joe Buck got pilloried. In case you haven't been around, Buck called in to Colin Cowherd's consistently irritating radio show to talk about modern sports media and the way fans don't watch weeknight games anymore. He also admitted the one thing sports personalities should probably never admit -- he's not all that enthusiastic about baseball anymore. Bad Joe. Bad.

The response has been predictable. Awful Announcing, who originally pulled the audio, is outraged; Big League Stew's Kevin Kaduk is angry; and our own Will Brinson followed suit. All of these responses go something like: "We love baseball. Joe Buck doesn't. How can he admit to that? Get somebody who loves baseball to talk about it. Screw Joe Buck." Fin.

That sentiment, while somewhat lacking in perspective, is understandable. It bouys a pervasive feeling among sports fans that those paid millions to cover the games -- our games -- don't have a tenth of the enthusiasm in a blogger's carpal-infected wrist. But is that fair? What do Joe Buck -- and Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser and Rick Reilly -- really owe us?

Seriously, no one works the day before our Independence Day. Just look at Devin's dance. That's his "Fourth of July dance."

Even your bosses know you don't work today. They accept it because it's a fact of life.

Why not come discuss some fantasy issues like -- but not limited to -- rookies that will/will not justify their hype, our previews, this year's Big Ben, this year's Braylon Edwards, or who is completely overhyped?

All this and more, at 1:00 on the day before a holiday ... at work ... you know you want to ...

So the Sonics will play home games in Oklahoma City next year. Actually, this collection of players employed by the Sonics will be playing home games in Oklahoma City next year, but with a different mascot and a different moniker. The 'Sonics' brand is the only thing staying in Seattle, besides $45 million of Clay Bennett's money. (The other $30 million will only pay out if the city has no NBA team by 2013.)

In his press conference (webcast by KING5.com), Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels confirmed the worst fears of fans: the city caved at the last minute. There is no guarantee of a replacement team in Seattle. There are no plans for NBA expansion on the table, nor any assurance from the league that Seattle will take priority should expansion be considered.

In fact, there are no freaking new plans! Nickels said the city would go back to the Legislature to ask for permission to collect taxes for a KeyArena renovation. This would be the same Legislature that has told everyone involved -- Bennett, David Stern, previous owner and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, prospective owner and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Nickels himself -- the Legislature has told all of them "no no no." The plan, as Nickels communicated it tonight, is to do the same, toothless maneuvering that has already failed repeatedly.

Even if that works -- there's no guarantee from the NBA they'll give Seattle a team! Stern released a statement, telling Seattle it needs to secure its funding plan for a $300 million renovation by the end of 2009 in order to have a shot at a potential, hypothetical team before 2013. His statement is replete with 'ifs.'

What exactly did the city get from this settlement? To me, it looks like a whole lot of nothing.

The last couple of days there have been all sorts of rumors about what's going on between Alex Rodriguez and Madonna, as A-Rod has been spotted at the Worn Material Girl's apartment in recent nights. Considering that Madonna is rumored to be getting divorced from her husband (where am I and when did I start writing for TMZ?), and A-Rod has been seen about town with other "ladies" before, people just started putting two and two together and assume the two are getting it on.

I'm not sure what to believe myself, but I should remind you that there have been times in history when a man and a woman can just be friends and not sleep together. It's insane to think about, I know, but it does happen once in a blue moon. Madonna and Alex could just share a common interest, like, say, kabbalah?

The Post has also learned that the two egocentric stars share something deeper than the same agent - kabbalah. In recent months, A-Rod has shown active interest in studying the Jewish mystical practice popularized by Madonna, her director hubby, and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, sources said.

Rodriguez has visited kabbalah centers in south Florida, where the all-star and the singer both have posh homes, the sources said.

See? A-Rod was only visiting Madonna's crib after the birth of his child because he probably wanted to know how exactly how a new baby's arrival is treated in kabbalah. Do you dunk them in water, or chant in tongues? How is a third baseman supposed to know these things!?

Besides, Madonna may be blonde, but she's no where near muscular enough to really attract A-Rod's interest sexually. He would never do that to Jeets.

UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson steps into the Octagon with Forrest Griffin Saturday night for what might be the best fight in a great summer of mixed martial arts. Jackson is a brutal brawler who has dominated the division in recent years, while Griffin is a beloved fan favorite who got his start in UFC on The Ultimate Fighter.

MMA fans are in a lather for this one. Here are the details:

What: UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin

Who: In addition to the main event, the televised fights on the card are Patrick Côté vs. Ricardo Almeida, Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau, Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle and Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio.

When: Saturday, 10 p.m. ET

Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas

How: Pay-per-view, $44.95 ($54.95 in HD), or just follow along with my FanHouse live blog.

Predictions after the jump.