Chuck Mindenhall

1 week ago | sports.yahoo.com | Chuck Mindenhall

When he was in his 20s, Rafael Fiziev was running in the tall clover. He’d won six straight fights (with five performance bonuses), and was building a head of steam toward a lightweight title shot when the UFC did him the courtesy of matching him against Justin Gaethje at UFC 286. With Gaethje having lost two of his last three, this was meant to be a catapult for Fiziev. A win would have thrown him into the upper reaches of the division.

1 week ago | ca.sports.yahoo.com | Chuck Mindenhall

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — The fictional hockey world had the Hanson brothers, a bespectacled trio who came to the Charlestown Chiefs from the North American Hockey League, where gooning it up was a way of life. The nonfictional Ice Wars, which came into existence with its first-ever event this past Saturday at the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino in the middle of central Michigan, has the LaPorte brothers, Nick and Will, 6-foot-6 hockey specimens who throw hands more for simple pleasure.

2 weeks ago | sports.yahoo.com | Chuck Mindenhall

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — For years there’s been an outcry among hockey purists who’ve seen just about enough of the goonery that had come to mark the game — get the fighting out of hockey. If you’re one of those, you might want to cover your children’s eyes. Because as we reach the quarter mark of the 21st century, there’s a group of organizers who are taking things a step further. They are attempting to take the hockey out of fighting.

2 weeks ago | sports.yahoo.com | Chuck Mindenhall

Back in 2005, when he was just 16 years old, Rico Verhoeven made the walk for the first time as a professional fighter against a full-grown adult named Wilbert Dam. It was in the southern part of The Netherlands, not far from where he grew up in Bergen op Zoom near the Belgium border, and kickboxing was already a huge part of his life. His father, Jos, was a karate black belt who had for years been pointing Rico towards the ring lights.

2 weeks ago | sports.yahoo.com | Chuck Mindenhall

Did Saturday night feel like a coronation for Kayla Harrison, who came into her women’s bantamweight title fight at UFC 316 as a historical favorite to beat Julianna Peña? It kind of did, yeah. Like a train-tossing Godzilla, we saw her coming from several city blocks away. And when she crashed through the "Venezuelan Vixen," there was a feeling that she’d been coming for that one last gold accessory all along.