Bilderecke » -- he was intercepted twice and lost one

UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader had no intention of pursuing free agency in 2016, but when it came time to negotiate his next contract, the same two words kept coming up: Why not?Bader (21-5) is scheduled to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The bout will headline UFC Fight Night -- and represents the final fight of his contract.According to Bader, the UFC offered him a new four-fight deal, but the terms just didnt excite him. The 33-year-old is approaching his 20th UFC appearance, and hes willing to at least explore what else is out there.The UFCs offer was par for the course -- nothing crazy or anything that made us say, Oh man, we need to take this! Bader told ESPN.com. It was one of those things where we were in a position to say, Why not fight out the contract? It doesnt mean Im leaving the UFC, but why not see what happens?There were times where I wasnt happy and we needed to renegotiate, like when I was on The Ultimate Fighter contract and they wanted me to fight Rampage [Quinton Jackson] in Japan. There was stuff like that. Sponsorship-wise, I took a hit with the Reebok deal. Im in a weird spot, though I cant bitch too much. But we all want more money for what we do.Baders contract situation adds a wrinkle to this weekend, which, to be frank, initially lacked a little significance.Although Nogueira (22-7) looked good in a first-round knockout over Patrick Cummins in May, a win over the Brazilian would do almost nothing for Baders stock in the 205-pound division. Theres also the fact hes already beat him once. The two met in 2010, with Bader taking a unanimous decision.If you look at it as far as a sequence of who Ive fought, this matchup might not make the most sense, Bader said. But when youre in training camp, every fight feels super important. To get where I want to go, I have to win. I do already have a win over him, and hes a little older now, but hes still a crafty, dangerous veteran.Fighting out of Arizona, Bader says he felt extremely relaxed during his last fight, a second-round knockout over Ilir Latifi in September. Between 2013 and 2015, Bader won five decisions in a row, which he says actually put an enormous amount of pressure on him to keep the streak going.He says he took very few risks because of that, and that showed a little in a quick knockout loss to Anthony Johnson in January. Now, Bader says hes taking chances and looking for knockouts, which would probably lead him to a title shot faster than a long streak of decisions anyway.Its one of those things, I won five fights in a row and didnt get a title shot, Bader said. Im not entirely focused on going out there and getting the win, per se. When I was on my winning streak, I was fighting a certain way because I was telling myself, If youre going to get a title shot, you absolutely cannot lose.Now, Im taking more risks. Im freed up more. Its a fun mindset to be in. Looking back on it now, especially with the way people are getting title shots these days, it probably would have been better for me to throw caution to the wind. I might have lost one or two fights because of it, or I might have won two or three in a row by knockout and got a title shot already. At that point, I really changed the way I look at things. Cheap Jerseys 2018 . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Wholesale Jerseys USA .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. http://www.wholesalejerseysnflusa.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Cheap NFL Jerseys USA . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Cheap Baseball Jerseys China . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The common belief is that Houston no longer has anything to shoot for this season.Cougars coach Tom Herman vehemently disagrees with that notion.Houston is no longer a factor in the College Football Playoff chase after suffering its first loss of the season but the No. 13 Cougars look to bounce back when they host Tulsa in an American Athletic Conference game Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).Houstons dream of an undefeated season and crashing the playoff party ended when it dropped a 46-40 decision to Navy last week.The defeat changes the national perception of the Cougars (5-1, 2-1) but Herman said the squads aspirations arent doused by a single loss.Our goals are completely ahead of us, Herman said at a press conference. Our goal was not to go undefeated, it was not to just beat Oklahoma, and our goal wasnt to be ranked in the top 10 or five. Our goal is to win our conference. That goal is still out there.The Cougars need help with their conference quest as they trail Navy in the AACs West division.But Herman isnt the least bit interested in having to apologize for the teams second loss in 20 games on his watch.The state of the program, after a season-and-a-half, in 14 months we are 18-2. Thats a .900 winning percentage, thats pretty damn good, Herman said. We are 5-0 against Top 25 teams, 2-0 against top 10 teams, and we have shattered numerous records on both sides of the ball.Some really cool things too. We have opportunity to have the best back-to-back seasons in the history of the University of Houston football. The win total for that over a two-year span sits at 21 right now. We are 18.Tulsa (4-1, 1-0) could represent another test for the Cougars because of its prolific offense.The Golden Hurricane have averaged 49.7 points during a three-game winning streak and have topped 500 yards in 10 of their 18 games under second-year coach Philip Montgomery.In each of the last two games, Tulsa had two running backs top 100 yards and two receivers go over 100 yards.Junior running back DAngelo Brewer has rushed for 434 yards in the two contests -- including a career-best 252 against Fresno State -- to raise his season total to 716 yards. Brewers average of 143.2 yards per game ranks fourth nationally. Senior sidekick James Flanders had rushed for 390 yards and four touchddowns.ddddddddddddSenior receivers Keevan Lucas (36 receptions for 508 yards and five touchdowns) and Josh Atkinson (32-354-2) are having solid seasons. Senior quarterback Dane Evans has passed for 1,135 yards and nine touchdowns but has been intercepted seven times.Senior middle linebacker Trent Martin has a team-best 35 tackles and junior linebacker Petera Wilson Jr. has a team-leading 3 1/2 sacks. But the defense has been shaky by allowing 81 total points over the last two games -- both decided in overtime.I dont think there are ugly wins, Montgomery said. For me, every win is beautiful. Every win that you get in college football is a beautiful, beautiful win.It could be challenging for the Golden Hurricane to slow down Houston junior quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who has passed for 1,684 yards and 11 touchdowns against four interceptions. Ward also has rushed for 272 yards and six touchdowns -- both team highs.The Heisman Trophy candidate passed for 359 yards and three touchdowns against Navy but his mistakes were also a factor in the defeat. Ward accounted for three turnovers -- he was intercepted twice and lost one of his two fumbles.Junior receivers Linell Bonner and Steven Dunbar are both enjoying fine seasons. Bonner had 42 receptions for 556 yards and two touchdowns while Dunbar has 30 catches for 438 yards and three scores.Defensively, the Cougars allowed 306 rushing yards in the loss to Navy after holding their previous seven opponents to fewer than 100.Senior linebacker Steven Taylor, who has a team-leading 5 1/2 sacks, will return after a one-game absence because of a violation of team policy. Sophomore cornerback Howard Wilson has three interceptions and junior linebacker Matthews Adams has a team-best 36 tackles.Houston won the last two meetings and holds a 22-18 series edge. But perhaps an element in this latest matchup is whether there will be a hangover effect for the no-longer unbeaten Cougars.Bonner promises that what occurred against Navy wont be a factor.We have a 24-hour rule where after 24 hours we cant think about the game anymore, Bonner said. Win or lose the game is behind us, and we cant think about it anymore. ' ' '