Olazabal arrives at Medinah with a gold prize

MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) -- Jose Maria Olazabal stepped off the plane carrying the Ryder Cup, a familiar sight considering that Europe has won six of the past eight times. It was who followed the captain off the plane that showed how much the dynamics of this event have changed over the years. Olazabal flew over from London with only three of his 12 players - Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolas Colsaerts. Everyone else was already here. Five of the Europeans - Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Peter Hanson, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia - have homes at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, among four players who were in Atlanta on Sunday for the Tour Championship, are moving to south Florida. Luke Donald lives about 45 minutes away on the north side of Chicago. It wasn't that long ago that Team Europe came over together because that's where so many lived and played - Howard Clark and David Gilford, Sam Torrance and Mark James, Ian Woosnam and Colin Montgomerie. Olazabal didn't see that as a problem. ''Obviously, when you look at some of the European players, they have their home base here,'' he said. ''They play the tour over here. They are very familiar with the golf courses around here, with their opponents, and in that regard, I think they feel really more comfortable with the whole situation of coming here to the States to play The Ryder Cup. It has changed in that respect, and also that they have realized through the years that they have been able to compete against the players here. ''And that somehow boosts your confidence, and that is a very important part when you are playing match play.'' Still, there was a certain charm about having the team arrive as one. U.S. captain Davis Love III remembers his first Ryder Cup in 1993 at The Belfry, when Tom Watson assembled his group in New York and spoke of a grand adventure to Europe with the sole purpose of bringing back the cup. Golf is different now. ''I miss that a little bit,'' Love said. ''We all gather and fly over. They fly over here. That was a really cool thing. But I think what we have got now is a much bigger event.'' Noting that so many of the world's best players are at Medinah Country Club, Love said that golf has become ''incredibly better.'' ''What we have in our team rooms now and the camaraderie between the two teams is just incredible, and it's amazing how much it's changed over the years,'' Love said. ''And we're playing against our friends, but it's still as intense - maybe even more - because we are more familiar with them.'' One thing hasn't changed. Both teams desperately want that 17-inch gold trophy. Europe is coming off a 14 1/2-13 1/2 win two years ago in Wales, a week of slogging through the rain that forced a Monday finish that made everything worth the extra day when it came down to the final match, with Graeme McDowell delivering the winning point. Medinah, the tree-lined course that has hosted five major championships, doesn't look anything like those events. Love has asked for the rough to be virtually eliminated and the greens to be slick as ever, hopeful that's an advantage to a U.S. team that he tried to stock with good putters. Even though Europe seems to have owned this event, The Americans have lost only once at home in the past 15 years - at Oakland Hills in 2004. ''We are playing here against a very strong team,'' Olazabal said. ''We are playing away. The crowds are going to be rooting for the home team really strong, so in that regard, we have to be prepared for that. I think I've said it all along, I think both teams are pretty much even and it's going to be a close match. From that point of view, I don't see any favorites, and it will have to be decided, obviously, on the golf course.'' The golf course was relatively quiet on a sunny, breezy day in the Chicago suburbs, which began with temperatures in the 40s and warmed beautifully by late afternoon. Steve Stricker drove from his home in Wisconsin straight to Medinah, dressed in shorts as he worked on his chipping and putting. Keegan Bradley, one of four Americans making their Ryder Cup debut this week, also was practicing along with Matt Kuchar. Assistant captain Fred Couples took four players to the movies. Tiger Woods, FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner were due to arrive Monday night. The first official practice day is Tuesday, along with the team photos. Love said his pairings for the opening day on Friday were close to being finished, and the Tuesday practice sessions would offer a strong hint whom he has in mind as partners. Both sides have been busy. The entire U.S. team and five of Europe's team members reached the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship. Snedeker has had only one week off dating to the British Open, while Kuchar has missed only two weeks. Love jokingly said Snedeker would have been at Medinah earlier except that he had to go to the bank and deposit the $11.44 million he won Sunday at East Lake from his victory in the Tour Championship that gave him a FedEx Cup title. ''Brandt doesn't ever need a week off. He's perpetual energy,'' Love said. ''But I've been stressing to them to make sure that they get some rest, and that they are prepared. We have four guys at the movies with Freddie this afternoon, four guys out chipping and putting and we've got another four coming in all during the afternoon. I think they are taking it easy today and they will be ready to go.''

UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort Gate and Attendance

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night for UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort. UFC 152 drew an attendance of 16,900 for a live gate of $1.92 million, according to UFC president Dana White at the post-fight press conference. Jon Jones put on another masterful performance, despite an opening round near-miss, submitting Vitor Belfort with an Americana in the fourth round of their bout. The promotion also headlined UFC 140 with Jon Jones last December, but drew a live gate of $3.9 million with an attendance of 18,303 fans. The UFC’s first foray into Toronto was a record-setter, pulling in 55,724 fans and earned $12.075 million with UFC 129 at the Rogers Center. UFC 129 featured Canada’s favorite son Georges St-Pierre defending his belt against Jake Shields. Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for full UFC 152 post-fight coverage.

Michael Bisping States Title Case; Dana White Thinks Anderson Silva Fight Would Be Interesting

Michael Bisping has been on the UFC's case for a long time now to get a shot at the UFC middleweight title wrapped around Anderson Silva's waist. His case became all the more stronger at UFC 152 in Toronto, as he took a unanimous decision over “All-American” Brian Stann. “I’m not the most talented person in the world, but I’m hungry and I want (the title shot), and that overpowers anything,” Bisping said after defeating Stann. “My desire to be the world champion is not going away. The owners of the organization: hook a brother up!” Bisping isn't lauded as the most talented fighter in the world, but throughout his time in the UFC, it's been obvious to see that he has worked on his overall game and added bits and pieces over the years. He also has a quality that his bosses and fans appreciate, he throws caution to the wind and tries to go for the finish. “I thought I had one obvious advantage and that's in the wrestling department,” Bisping told reporters at the UFC 152 post-fight press conference. “I wanted to stop the guy for the crowd and didn't just want to wrestle, but I tried for the finish and was unsuccessful. “It's fighting, you go out there and are going to get hit, but at the end of the first round, he did hit me with a good shot, but I took it, recovered and fought back.” While no one is sure if Bisping will be the next in line for the title, UFC president Dana White was impressed by what he saw by the former Ultimate Fighter winner and admitted that he spoke to matchmaker Joe Silva about a match-up between the Brit and Silva. “Me and Joe (Silva) were talking earlier about how interesting a fight between Bisping and Anderson Silva would be,” White said. “(Bisping) doesn't get the credit he deserves, but there's a line of guys that are next, the Middleweight division is stacked, but Bisping looked great and always brings it.” “My desire to be the world champion is not going away,” Bisping stated. “The owners of the organization – hook a brother up!” Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for full UFC 152 post-fight coverage.

UFC 152 Knockout of the Night Winner Cub Swanson Eyes Rematch With Jose Aldo

Cub Swanson left the UFC fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto in awe of his handywork. From the opening bell, you could see the fire in Swanson’s eyes and you could tell he was ready to mow through the tough Charles Oliveira at UFC 152. The 28-year-old was able to get in Oliveira’s face early and didn’t let up. Swanson finished Oliveira with a devastating body shot and an overhand right to the temple, earning the UFC 152 Knockout of the Night bonus. With the win, Swanson is one step closer to avenging his loss to Jose Aldo. And make no mistake about it, their last fight left a bitter taste in Swanson’s mouth. “I’d love that fight,” Swanson said at the UFC 152 post-fight press conference. “Ever since the first fight, it hurt to lose like that, just because I felt like the fans were robbed of that fight and I’ll do whatever it takes to get back there.” Swanson first fought Aldo at WEC 41 back in 2009. Aldo dispatched Swanson quickly with a horrific flying knee in the opening seconds of the fight. Since then, Swanson breathed new life into his featherweight career and has looked phenomenal. The victory over Oliveira is now Swanson’s second Knockout of the Night performance along with Ross Pearson. After earning his third knockout win in a row, the Jackson's MMA standout has made UFC president Dana White take notice. “He looked phenomenal tonight,” White said. “In his last fight, he looked amazing. He was awesome tonight; he had one of the craziest knockouts I’ve ever seen. I’m happy for him man. He’s on his way.” Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for all your UFC 152 post-fight coverage.

If You Didn't Like UFC 152 Flyweight Title Bout, Dana White Doesn't Want You or Your Money

Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez put on a fight for the ages in the inaugural UFC flyweight championship bout, but their efforts went unappreciated. Both men fought with a never-say-die attitude at a ridiculous pace. The fans at UFC 152 the Air Canada Centre, however, booed and UFC fans on twitter were fervent in their disdain of the two flyweights. After reading several tweets and listening to the boos, UFC president Dana White had enough and fired back at the people who didn’t appreciate Johnson and Benavidez's efforts. “It doesn’t matter what we do, how many fights in a row we put on, or how these guys perform,” White said at the UFC 152 post-fight presser. “I was reading Twitter tonight and these people were ripping on the flyweights. If you didn’t like that flyweight fight, please, and I’m begging you, don’t buy another UFC pay-per-view again. Don’t ever buy another one again; I don’t want your money. You’re a moron, you don’t like fighting and you don’t appreciate great talent or heart if you didn’t like that flyweight fight.” Benavidez came on strong for five rounds and fought tooth and nail against the eventual champ Johnson. Despite having two black eyes and being cut, Benavidez nearly finished Johnson in the fourth after dropping him with a right hand and going for a guillotine choke. The UFC president went as far as to say that if you didn’t like Johnson vs. Benavidez that he doesn’t want you ordering UFC pay-per-views any longer, because he feels if you can boo an all-out war, he doesn’t want you as a fan. Ultimately, White feels that the fight was an underappreciated, thrilling, five-round technical battle. “That kid fought his ass off tonight, look at (Benavidez’s) face, going after a guy who is incredibly talented and picking him apart and moving. He never gave up and went five straight rounds. When I get on Twitter and I see that stuff, I get crazy man. Please, please, please, those of you that said that, I don’t want your money. “I wasn’t surprised, I was horrified by the booing,” White continued. “I tell these guys in the back that after the weigh-ins are over and the way that this relationship works is that these guys are our partners. You know we go in and do this and that and everything else and these guys go out and they deliver. “Every fight you’re going to see in the UFC, two guys aren’t going to run into each other and just start swinging like mad men. These two guys worked their entire life to get to this point and it’s a five-round title fight. If they can get the knockout or the submission quick, sure they’re going to go for it. But the guys are so talented that you have the world champion right here and the second best guy in the world. It’s insane; it drives me crazy.” Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for all your UFC 152 post-fight coverage and other UFC news and updates.

Strikeforce Cancels Show After Gilbert Melendez Suffers Training Injury

The injury bug has now claimed Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, which has led to the promotion canceling Saturday night's event that was scheduled to air on Showtime from Sacramento. According to Strikeforce officials, Melendez suffered a training injury that forced him out of his bout with Pat Healy this Saturday night, and Showtime officials opted not to air the remaining portion of the card without the main event in tact. “When Showtime informed us that it would not be airing the event, we made the difficult decision to cancel Saturday’s card in Sacramento,” Strikeforce CEO Coker said in a press release issued late Sunday night. “Without a television partner, we simply could not move forward with this event. We wish Gilbert a speedy recovery and will work diligently and quickly to reschedule the fighters affected by this news on upcoming cards.” The cancellation of the card marks the second Zuffa owned show scrapped in the past month due to injuries. UFC 151 was cancelled prior to its scheduled Sept 1 date when Dan Henderson suffered an injury, and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones did not accept a late notice replacement fight against Chael Sonnen. It appears in this case with Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez suffering the injury, there was no secondary option for the promotion to plug in as a new main event. MMAWeekly.com will have more information on this cancellation as well as the fighters affected in the coming days.

TUF 16 Episode 2 TV Ratings Drift Down, but Still a “Home Run for FX”

The Ultimate Fighter 16 TV ratings for Friday’s Episode 2 recorded 872,000 viewers, drifting down from the premier’s tally of 947,000, the lowest number in series history for a TUF premier episode. Despite the lower than desired numbers for UFC officials, company president Dana White continues to insist that Fox officials are more than pleased with how TUF is performing on FX. “TUF was No. 1 in its time period for men 18-34, passing all cable and broadcast channels,” said White following UFC 152 in Toronto on Saturday night. “That's a home run for FX.” And that is what television is about. Television is about pulling in the best ratings that a network can, and TUF hitting No. 1 for its time period gives FX a strong presence on a typically slow night. That’s not necessarily conducive to what UFC officials would like to see. They of course want to maximize their audience not for a specific night, but as a whole. Friday nights on TV don’t exactly help in that regard, but it’s a tradeoff that the promotion has to make in order to have a television partner with the strength that Fox wields. “Is it a home run for us because we're not doing the number that I wish we could do if we were on Tuesday or Wednesday? No,” add White. “But it is an absolute home run for FX.” Such a tradeoff doesn’t mean the UFC is losing out. The Ultimate Fight franchise is still a valuable tool for the promotion to expand into new markets throughout the world and to discover more talented fighters that eventually fold into the promotion’s active ranks. Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more on The Ultimate Fighter as the season rolls on.