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The Cincinnati Reds’ tentative 2012 schedule has been released by Major League Baseball. It is subject to change.

The 2012 campaign will begin with Opening Day on Friday, April 6 against the Miami Marlins at Great American Ball Park. After that 3-game series, the Reds will host the St. Louis Cardinals from Monday through Wednesday, April 9-11 to complete the first homestand of the season.

"The Reds already are working with the Findlay Market Parade organizers on Opening Day 2012," said Reds Chief Operating Officer Phil Castellini. "No fans look forward to the start of baseball season more than ours."

Other featured matchups at Great American Ball Park in 2012 include a pair of weekend series against the National League Central Division rival Cardinals (July 13-15, August 24-26), plus weekend battles with the Milwaukee Brewers (July 20-22), Chicago Cubs (August 17-19) and Los Angeles Dodgers (September 21-23).

Highlighting the Reds’ 15-game interleague schedule are home series against the Detroit Tigers (June 8-10), Cleveland Indians (June 12-14) and Minnesota Twins (June 22-24) and road visits to new Yankee Stadium (May 18-20) and Cleveland’s Progressive Field (June 18-20).

OTHER OBSERVATIONS (From Lance McAlister)
--Opening Day on a Friday....April 6
--No off day prior to game 2 of season
--Season opens with six game homsestand: MIA, STL
--Season closes in St Louis Sept 1-2-3
--Road trips

10 games April 12-22: WASH, STL, CHIC
11 games June 28-July 8: SF, LA, SD....heading into All-Star break
7 games May 14-20: ATL, NYM, NYY

--Homestands

10 games July 13-July 22: STL, AZ, MIL....coming out of All-Star break
9 games June 5-June 14: PIT, DET, CLEV
9 games September 3-12: PHI, HOU, PIT
9 games April 24-May 3: SF, HOU, CHI
7 games August 6-August 12: MIL, CHIC

--One West Coast trip

10 games June 28-July 8: SF, LA, SF

COMPLETE MLB SCHEDULE

MLB, UFC cincinnati reds, 2012 mlb schedule

With everyone here craving some football we look back at last season's top plays...

COMPLETE LIST (TotalProSports.com)

College Football, Just For Fun, MLB, NFL, UFC best of 2010, best 2010 sports stories

Chuck Liddell Retiring From UFC? Many consider “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell to be the very first MMA big-name superstar in The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s history. According to UFC president and former manager Dana White, MMA fans might have witnessed Chuck Liddell’s last appearance inside the Octagon in UFC 97, last Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

In a non-title bout, Chuck Liddell took on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as the co-main event, leading up to what became a very disappointing Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites fight. Chuck Liddell Retiring From UFC?

Like he is accustomed to doing in his career, “The Iceman” came out swinging and ready to brawl against the Brazilian, but unfortunately it just wasn’t his night.

From the start, Liddell showed Rua no respect for his knockout power -- as he kept his hands down the entire time -- doing a poor job of protecting himself and paid the price. At four minutes and 28 seconds remaining in the first round, the Brazilian caught Liddell with a devastating left, pounced on him and finished the fight via TKO. 

We may have very well seen Liddell hit the canvas for the final time. 

COMPLETE UFC 97 RECAP (MMAJunkie.com) 

UFC ufc 97, chuck liddell, mauricio rua

Saw Intimidation Cage Fighting at US Bank Arean last week. The fighting was good, Julie stole the show...

COMPLETE PROFILE

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If you aren't a Mixed Martial Arts fan yet, do yourself a favor and watch tonight. You'll see two of the top 5 fighters in the world square off against one another tonight. Both fighters are in their prime and both are champions. B.J. Penn is attempting to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two world titles at one time. He's already the lightweight champ (155 lbs.) and trying to become the welterweight champion (170 lbs.). This will be an epic fight and will most likely go down as one the best in the history of the UFC.

Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) vs. Lightweight champ B.J. Penn (13-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) - for Welterweight Championship

These two fought once before at UFC 58 with Georges pulling out the decision victory. It could have gone either way in the eyes of many, but St. Pierre proved to be in better shape than Penn, the one knock against him in his career. Penn decided to change his attitude toward fighting after his 28th birthday and rededicated himself to training and endurance. Since dropping down to lightweight, Penn has been unstoppable. He wants to avenge another loss on his record against St. Pierre, who himself is a much better fighter than the one at UFC 58.

(Prediction: B.J. Penn via submission, round 4)

Lyoto Machida (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vs. Thiago Silva (13-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC)

Two undefeated light heavyweights face off tonight before the main event. This matchup will likely set up one of these two fighters to be the next, next in line for the light heavyweight championship. Machida is a very talented, yet painstakingly boring fighter. That is the biggest con against him, but he is one hell of a fighter and deserves a chance at the title. Fans may not agree because he simply isn't flashy enough. He has victories over B.J. Penn and Rich Franklin. Silva on the other hand is very agressive, not wanting to let his opponents take the fight to a decision with 10 of his victories by knockout or TKO. Silva has victories over James Irvin and Houston Alexander.

(Prediction: Lyoto Machida via decision)

Karo Parisyan (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC)

Parisyan is a judo black belt who has won eight of his past 10 fights, all but one going to the cards. Kim is also a judo black belt with a split-decision and TKO in his two UFC victories. Parisyan is likely the less talented of the two fighters, but his desire to re-establish himself in the top of his weight class could propel him to decision victory. But his inability to finish fights does leave the door open for Kim to take him out.

(Prediction: Kim via TKO, round 2)

Nate Diaz (10-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vs. Clay Guida (24-9 MMA, 5-3 UFC)

Diaz is the winner of the Ultimate Fighter 5 and is quickly becoming a force in the lightweight division. Guida is the gatekeeper to the division, putting on entertaining fights and likely launching the careers of those he faces to the next level. Diaz has great jiu jitsu skills and is improving as a striker. Guida will try to establish a hectic pace and get Diaz uncomfortable. Diaz will most likely get Guida down on the ground and submit him.

(Prediction: Diaz via submission, round 1)

Stephan Bonnar (11-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) vs. Jon Jones (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC)

Bonnar is attempting to comeback after a serious knee injury that has kept him sidelined for 15 months. Bonnar is most famous for his Ultimate Fighter 1 finale with Forrest Griffin, but he's a serious fighter with serious skils when healthy. Great striker with solid muay thai and jiu jitsu, he should have the edge against Jones. Jones is a solid striker and wrestler, undefeated in MMA, but doesn't have the experience to match with Bonnar. If Bonnar is 100 percent, it's a victory for him.

(Prediction: Bonnar, 2nd round TKO)

UFC bj penn, georges st. pierre, ufc 94

from MMAJunkie.com:

In the build-up to Saturday's UFC 93 main event, the common belief was that a long fight favored Rich Franklin and a short one favored fellow headliner Dan Henderson.

The three-round light-heavyweight fight went the distance, but it was Henderson who left The 02 in Dublin, Ireland, with a victory.

After taking the first two rounds on two judges' scorecards, Henderson earned the split-decision win with scores of 29-28, 27-30, 29-28.

COMPLETE RECAP

UFC ufc 93, rich franklin, dan henderson

from MMAJunkie.com:

Official weigh-ins for "UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson" took place today at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT) live from The 02 in Dublin, Ireland.

The weigh-ins preceded tomorrow's first UFC pay-per-view event of 2009, which features a main event between former champions Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson at light heavyweight.

All 20 fighters successfully made weight.

Both headliners came in light for the bout. With a 206-pound cutoff, Franklin weighed 203 pounds; Henderson was even lighter at 202.

Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson

While neither man is currently a champion, the luster of this match up hasn't been lost. It wasn't that long ago that both Franklin and Henderson were considered the top 185 pound fighters in the world. While Anderson Silva has since taken that title, both "Hendo" and "Ace" are clearly still very dangerous. Both are now fighting in the light heavyweight division with seemingly no ill effects. Henderson comes into this bout fresh off an impressive decision victory over hot shot prospect Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88. Franklin is coming off a one sided TKO victory over Matt Hamill at the same event. As usual, Franklin will likely try to keep the fight standing and use his southpaw stance, reach and precise strikes to pick apart Henderson. Conversely, Henderson will likely throw some big power shots from the outside to try to close the distance and work in his world class wrestling. Picking a winner in the fight is very difficult, but I like Franklin to win a very tough, entertaining fight.

Prediction: Franklin via decision.

COMPLETE UFC 93 PICKS

UFC ufc 93, rich franklin, dan henderson

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune on UFC 90 in Chicago:

Before each bout begins, the throbbing bass of the piped-in music vibrates inside legs and chests and brainpans. If you were forced to guess — if, say, an Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor threatened to separate your face from the front of your head — you'd hazard that it's the kind of music the Mayans played before ritual sacrifices.

And you'd be fairly sure this answer would allow you to live another day.

Except for the glowing octagon, where the fights are taking place, it's all darkness. And from that darkness comes the oohing and aahing of people who have come to Allstate Arena on a Saturday night to get a taste of blood that isn't theirs...MORE

UFC ufc 90

No sorry ... I'm not talking about the plan Mike Brown has been implementing since he took over in 1990. That's been well covered and well documented. No, I'm talking about the so-called MMA fighter Kimbo Slice.

While I was disappointed not to see an awful Ken Shamrock fight him and most likely destroy him, I was happy to see an very average at best journeyman fighter, Seth Petruzelli, only need less than a minute to dispose of the fraud that was Kimbo Slice.

Sorry I've been away from the boards for a while. I'll make some UFC and other MMA posts soon enough. And the Bengals still blow. But hey ... I'm going 3-0 this week in my Fantasy leagues.

...more from MMAJunkie.com

"Seth Petruzelli wasn't the only big winner on the third edition of CBS EliteXC "Saturday Night Fights." Affliction Entertainment scored in its first attempt at cross-promotion and emerged from one of the most fascinating nights in the history of MMA having raised the profile of its brand.

In the near term, Petruzelli's eleventh-hour decision to scrap his fight with Aaron Rosa and stomp Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson in less time than it takes to order a pint at the pub will be all the buzz. However, from a business perspective, Affliction was the clear winner Saturday night.

It took Andrei Arlovski a round to get his motor running, but the former UFC heavyweight champion clobbered Roy Nelson inside the distance. That solid KO performance, coupled with Slice's meltdown, meant Affliction ended the night with the best heavyweight on the card."

UFC kimbo slice, mma, ufc