By Simon Samano

For FOX Deportes

It’s hard to believe, but this is it for Tito Ortiz.

The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will step into the octagon for the final time on Saturday night at UFC 148 to take on Forrest Griffin.

They’ve done this twice before, with each one earning a hard-fought victory by split decision. And if the first two fights between two of the most popular fighters in UFC history are any indication, you can pretty much guarantee this final battle to the settle the score will be close.

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano

For FOX Deportes

What else could Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva possibly have to say ahead of Saturday night’s middleweight championship rematch at UFC 148?

Nothing.

Sonnen has spewed enough trash talk to get under the champion’s skin, and Silva uncharacteristically has fired his share of salvos in response.

So now it’s time for the most anticipated rematch in UFC history to finally happen. Sonnen nearly made history at UFC 117 in becoming the first man to defeat Silva in the UFC. Sonnen beat up Silva for nearly 25 minutes before the champ pulled out a miracle triangle choke to escape with a win.

What will happen this time around? Below is a breakdown of the matchup:

Striking advantage: Silva And it’s not even close. Don’t get me wrong, Sonnen can throw down. But this is Silva’s domain. He’s the most dynamic striker in UFC history (in time, Jon Jones, in time). Given what he’s said he will do to Sonnen, it sure as hell better be on display.

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
Back in 2001, when he reigned as one of the most dominant light heavyweight champions in UFC history, Tito Ortiz took a trip to Mexico City, one you might call life changing.
 
Ortiz remembers visiting the Aztecs’ Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacán, and the connection he felt, then and there, to his Mexican heritage. It was this experience that prompted a change to Ortiz’s octagon entrance that has become his trademark ever since.
 
“I said, why do I just come out with the American flag?” Ortiz recently told FOX Deportes. “I’m Mexican-American, I’ve got Mexican sangre all through me, let’s put a Mexican-American flag together. I’m Mexican-American, I’m going to represent. I’m going to show our worth with hard work and dedication, no matter what job we do.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
It’s safe to assume that, if he could, Aaron Rodgers would likely trade last season’s NFL most valuable player award for a better performance and victory in the playoffs over the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
 
However, individual accolades will have to continue to suffice, as the Green Bay Packers quarterback garnered another one in being voted No. 1 by his peers on NFL Network’s “The Top 100: Players of 2012”.
 
“It’s very humbling, it’s a great honor,” Rodgers said Wednesday night on NFL Network. “Any time you’re recognized with that professional respect from your peers, that really means a lot to me. So I’ve got to thank them for the votes.”
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
The NFL is on a mission to make money, with one of the league’s primary methods being to transform American football into a global game by tapping into markets beyond U.S. borders.
 
So it should come as no surprise that, to Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, “it’d be terrific” for the NFL to someday host a game there.
 
“We came over before back in 1997 and played a preseason game,” Rooney said in a story posted on the BBC’s web site Wednesday. “But now, with the regular-season games in London at Wembley proving so successful, and tickets selling out almost as soon as they’re put on sale, I would think it would be good to play a game here, at Croke Park, as the interest in the sport is so strong.”
 
As Rooney alluded, it’s clear the league is pleased with its experiment in England. The Patriots and Rams will play Oct. 28 at London’s Wembley Stadium, making this the sixth-straight year a regular-season game has been played across the pond.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
When LaDainian Tomlinson was at the top of his game, busy scoring boatloads of touchdowns and passing Hall of Famers on the all-time rushing list seemingly by the week, he was frequently asked how long he thought he could play in the NFL.
 
To which his answer always echoed the same sentiment: until he was ready to walk away from the game.
 
That day came Monday when Tomlinson, after an illustrious 11-year career, signed a one-day contract with the San Diego Chargers to officially retire as a member of the team that drafted him fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
Leonard Garcia just wouldn’t give up his Corn Pops.
 
Garcia, 8 years old at the time, was at the grocery store with his family when his turn came to pick his favorite cereal for him and his siblings. He was thrilled. His older sister, however, wasn’t happy he chose Corn Pops, and she demanded he give them up for her favorite Fruit Loops.
 
But Garcia had to have his Pops. He wasn’t about to back down. He even hugged the box as his sister tried to pry it away. When that didn’t work, she took a different approach. She punched him in the face … hard.
 
“Man, she let me have it,” Garcia said in a phone interview with FOX Deportes. “She gave me one good one, and it was like a perfect shot. As soon as the knuckles stopped landing on my face, the knot started coming out. I’m talking my eye was swelled up like two inches from my face.”
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
It’s no secret that Tito Ortiz and Dana White used to hate each other with a passion.
 
White still might feel the same way, but Ortiz said in an interview with FIGHT! Magazine posted this week that his very public and very heated feud with the UFC president is his one regret from his illustrious career.
 
“I probably shouldn’t have said some of the things I said. Some of the things I should have did, I should have carried myself a little different,” Ortiz said. “I’m a very emotional guy. I wear my heart on my sleeve, a little too much I think. It gets me in trouble a lot. But I know I have integrity, and I believe in the things I do.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
Mark Sanchez did what a starting quarterback secure in his own skin would do.
 
He invited the competition into his own backyard.
 
We found out Monday, courtesy of the New York Daily News, that Tim Tebow has accepted Sanchez’s offer to participate in “Jets West” passing camp in Southern California, which Sanchez and his family have hosted at his alma mater, Mission Viejo High School, the past two offseasons.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For FOX Deportes
 
The DeMarcus Ware we see on Sunday’s is a man possessed, so feared and ruthless in proving himself as the best pass rusher in the NFL.
 
Off the field, though, the Cowboys’ outside linebacker is as soft and gentle as they come. Nothing makes him that way more so than his children.
 
For proof, you need only to refer to Ware’s interview Monday on ESPN’s “Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable”. His voice softened, and his dimples sprung to life when talking about his “little sweetheart” Marley.
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For Fox Deportes
 
So Brock Lesnar apparently can’t seem to make up his mind.
 
We saw the former heavyweight champion cage side during the main event of UFC 146 over the weekend, which set the internet abuzz with rumors about a Lesnar return to the octagon. Not surprisingly, UFC president Dana White was rather coy about the possibility.
 
“He texted me and said, ‘I want to come to the fight, but keep it quiet because I don’t want to tell anybody,’” White said. “He said, ‘What are you doing tonight? … I want to talk face to face.’
 

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By Simon Samano/@sjsamano
For Fox Deportes
 
Football fans (at least those with HBO), raise your hand if you’re pumped about an all-access pass to the quarterback competition between Matt Moore, Ryan Tannehill and David Garrard.
 
If not, well, that’s what you have to look forward to on “Hard Knocks”.
 

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By Simon Samano
For Fox Deportes
 
They showed up in droves and packed the sold-out Honda Center to the rafters, excited to see their new champion fight. With as electric as the atmosphere was that night in Anaheim, Calif., you’d have thought Maná was playing a concert.
 
It’s been six long months since the night Cain Velasquez first tasted defeat, six long months since he was knocked out in 64 seconds to lose the UFC heavyweight title to Junior dos Santos. Not only did Velasquez let down himself and his team, it happened in front of a huge Southern California Mexican-American crowd that was there to support him.
 

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By Simon Samano
For Fox Deportes
 
When Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva meet in the octagon this Saturday at UFC 146, both fighters will have plenty at stake.
 
For Velasquez, who’s fighting for the first time since losing the heavyweight championship six months ago, this is his opportunity to bounce back strong. It’s conceivable that a victory, especially a dominant one, would likely earn him a shot at the belt.
 

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