Stewart: Vettel not one of the greats

Vladimir Rys / Bongarts

Former Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart does not believe that Sebastian Vettel potentially winning three consecutive titles earns him 'legendary' status.

The Red Bull driver has already racked up 25 grand prix victories in his career and is the favourite to win the drivers' championship this season. He trails Stewart by just two races and is well-placed to become the sixth-most successful driver of all time with only Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost ahead of him on the list.
In fact, even Mercedes' Schumacher, widely considered by many as the best driver of all-time, only had one world championship and 10 race wins to his name at the age of 25
But Stewart, who is the only Briton triple world champion, does not rate Vettel as highly as the statistics seem to suggest. He feels that the Red Bull mechanics are the true stars of the show and the reason why Vettel has been so successful over the past three seasons.
"If you've got a superior car, it's relatively easy to win the championship," Stewart told BBC Sport
"To really show you're one of the greatest, you have to deliver when you haven't got the best machinery."
"I have the highest respect for Sebastian, but he could not have achieved what he has without the [Red Bull design chief] Adrian Newey factor.
"I'm a big Sebastian Vettel fan. He completely dominated the Korean Grand Prix and drove in such a mature fashion for a 25-year-old. It was more than impressive.
"Vettel has established himself as the favourite and Alonso is now on the back foot.
"Led by Adrian Newey, Red Bull have bounced back from a slow start to the season and have now come up with superior equipment."
The 73-year-old has also heard of the recent rumours linking Vettel with a switch to Italian marquee Ferrari but he feels that the young German should not let monetary concerns dictate his career and stick with the Milton Keynes team.
"I think that's premature. He would be mad to leave Red Bull at the present time.
"I know there would be a difference in their basic salary, but he's in a position where he's winning grands prix.
"He's won 25 races and is going to knock me off my perch before the end of the season - but he's only 25 and still has time to move."
Vettel currently leads the championship with 215 points with Ferrari's Alonso six points behind with four races remaining in the season.

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Terry decides against ban appeal

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Chelsea defender John Terry has decided not to appeal against a four-match ban and fine of £220,000 for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

Terry had until 6pm on Thursday evening to contest the sanction issued by an independent Football Association regulatory commission.
However, in a statement released via his representatives Elite Management, Terry said: "After careful consideration, I have decided not to appeal against the FA judgment.
"I want to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone for the language I used in the game against Queens Park Rangers last October.
"Although I'm disappointed with the FA judgment, I accept that the language I used, regardless of the context, is not acceptable on the football field or indeed in any walk of life."
"As I stated in the criminal case, with the benefit of hindsight my language was clearly not an appropriate reaction to the situation for someone in my position.
"My response was below the level expected by Chelsea Football Club, and by me, and it will not happen again.
"Looking forward, I will continue to do my part in assisting the club to remove all types of discriminatory behaviour from football.
"I am extremely grateful for the consistent support of Chelsea FC, the fans and my family."
Terry was found guilty by the independent FA commission of calling Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" during a Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and QPR on October 23.
He has always maintained that he was merely repeating an accusation levelled at him by Ferdinand, but the commission found that his words were used as an insult.
The commission described Terry's version of events at Loftus Road as "improbable, implausible and contrived" in their written reasons for issuing the ban.
The three-man panel also questioned why Terry's team-mate Ashley Cole had changed his statement to give more support to Terry's story, sparking a furious response from the Chelsea and England defender who described the FA as a "bunch of t***s" in a tweet sent on October 5.
Cole has since issued a full apology for that and has admitted a misconduct charge.
The commission said in its written reasons: "The commission is quite satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that there is no credible basis for Mr Terry's defence that his use of the words 'f****** black c***' were directed at Mr Ferdinand by way of forceful rejection and/or inquiry.
"Instead, we are quite satisfied, and find on the balance of probabilities, that the offending words were said by way of insult.
"Accordingly, the commission finds that there is 'clear and convincing' evidence.''
The commission said that character references from a number of people, including black players, made it clear that Terry was not racially prejudiced.
"It is accepted by everyone involved in the criminal and disciplinary proceedings that Mr Terry is not a racist,'' added the commission.
Terry had been cleared in Westminster Magistrates Court in July of a racially-aggravated public order offence, partly helped by the testimony of Cole.
However, the commission found that there were discrepancies in Cole's initial statement to FA interviewers of what he heard Ferdinand say to Terry compared to later statements.
Cole did not mention the word 'black' in the initial interview with the FA on October 28. On November 3, Chelsea club secretary David Barnard asked the FA for the specific word 'black' to be inserted into Cole's witness statement, suggesting that Cole may have heard Ferdinand use the term.
The commission saw an email exchange between the FA and Barnard and said that should be regarded as "cogent new evidence".

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Armstrong steps down from Livestrong

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Lance Armstrong has stepped down as chairman of his cancer charity, Livestrong, and has been dropped by sponsor Nike.

The fallout from the United States Anti-Doping Agency's report into doping continues.
The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life by USADA after he chose not to contest charges despite maintaining his innocence.
Last week USADA published their report, including evidence from 11 of his former team-mates, and concluded the US Postal Service team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Armstrong made the decision to hand over the chairmanship of Livestrong to vice-chairman Jeff Garvey "to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career".
Nike will continue to support Livestrong but have terminated their contract with Armstrong "due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade".
Armstrong set up Livestrong in 1997 following his recovery from cancer and the charity has raised nearly 500million US dollars to help people affected by the disease.
In a statement, Armstrong said: "It has been a great privilege to help grow it from a dream into an organisation that today has served 2.5million people and helped spur a cultural shift in how the world views cancer survivors. This organisation, its mission and its supporters are incredibly dear to my heart.
"I have had the great honour of serving as this foundation's chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities.
"Today, therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.
"My family and I have devoted our lives to the work of the foundation and that will not change. We plan to continue our service to the foundation and the cancer community."
Nike had previously stood by Armstrong but on Wednesday announced they could do so no longer.
In a statement, the sportswear giant said: "Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.
"Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in any manner. Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer."
Lance Armstrong Allegations Timeline
2010
May - Armstrong's former US Postal team-mate Floyd Landis launches allegations against the Texan.
2011
May - Forced to deny claims made by former team-mate Tyler Hamilton that they took performance enhancing drugs together.
2012
February - An investigation into alleged doping by Armstrong is dropped by federal prosecutors in California.
June 13 - The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) confirm they have initiated legal proceedings over allegations of doping against Armstrong.
June 30 - The USADA confirm they will file formal doping charges against Armstrong.
July 9 - Armstrong files a lawsuit in a US federal court asking for a temporary restraining order against the agency. Armstrong also claims the USADA offered "corrupt inducements" to other cyclists to testify against him.
July 11 - Armstrong refiles lawsuit against the USADA after initial lawsuit was dismissed by a judge as being a "lengthy and bitter polemic", designed to attract media attention and public sympathy.
August 20 - Armstrong's legal action dismissed in court.
August 24 - Armstrong announces he will not fight doping charges filed against him but insists he is innocent. He is stripped of all his titles and banned from cycling for life by USADA.
October 10 - The USADA claim 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates have testified against him, revealing "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
October 17 - Armstrong resigns as chairman of his cancer charity, Livestrong, on the same day that he is dropped by sponsor Nike.

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England won't rush Pietersen recall

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Kevin Pietersen returned to South Africa on Thursday night after holding a series of clear-the-air meetings with England captain Alastair Cook and other squad members.

The talks, held in Oxford, were part of Pietersen's programme of reintegration into the England team following the text message scandal which split the dressing room.
England head out to India in a week and even Cook was uncertain whether Pietersen would be added to the Test squad, although he conceded time was running out.
But Cook also stressed that it was more important that the England management made the right decision rather than rushing through a quick decision which could backfire horribly.
"The meetings have been going on and the process is well under way," Cook said.
"It is important we don't rush this process so we get the best opportunity of that. We want all our world-class players playing for England.
"We have got to get it right. It is a very important decision for the sake of the England team moving forward. We have got to be thorough.
"We all know how important team harmony is and team ethos is and that showed when we were successful, how tight we were as a side.
"That is a very important thing to make a good side.
"We do need to draw a line in the sand at some stage and move forward for the sake of English cricket.
"We need to move forward as a team. We have an amazing 18 months ahead of us."
England will host the final Champions Trophy next June before it is scrapped to make way in the international calendar for a new World Test Championship from 2017.
Cook has led England to the top of the one-day rankings but he insisted there is much more to come from his team.
"We don't feel like we are the number one. We have a huge amount fo potential and work to do," he said.
"The Champions Trophy is a very important event for us as a side. We don't often get the opportunity to play at home in a tournament. We have only won one ICC tournament and we would love to win another.
"We have a great winter in India and New Zealand, the ICC Champions Trophy and then Australia. We have the opportunity to do something special if we play well."

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Caribbean flair burns Australia

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The West Indies were unstoppable as they crushed Australia and entered the final of the ICC World Twenty20.

 
Australia were battered and destroyed by a West Indies side that combined power, guile, spin and seam to terrifying effect, paving the way for a huge 74-run win for the West Indies and a slot in the ICC World Twenty20 final.
Chasing the West Indies’ mammoth 205 for four, built around a 75 not out by the inimitable Chris Gayle and contributions all the way down to Kieron Pollard, the Australians were dismissed for 131 with 3.3 overs left.
Skipper George Bailey’s defiant 63 didn’t really solve anything for Australia. All it did was reduce the deficit.
But it was a great effort, under the circumstances.
Samuel Badree was the bowler to watch. He opened the bowling, dismissed David Warner and then took care of Shane Watson to end the contest within five overs.
Samuels added the scalp of Mike Hussey and Rampaul got rid of Cameron White and David Hussey in the same over.
Narine then gobbled up Mathew Wade. It was almost too painful to watch. Pollard then came in to end Bailey and Pat Cummins’ defiance. The rest were just stats.
What the batsmen had begun, the bowlers finished with great aplomb. Chasing over ten runs an over, Australia’s batting was cracked by Samuel Badree to begin with, with Marlon Samuels and Sunil Narine also sending down the slow stuff effectively.
Whatever little fight was left was ended by Ravi Rampaul’s seam-up stuff. It was a procession of batsmen that never halted.
Earlier, the West Indies, apart from their insane ability to hammer the bowling, also showed some great tactical acumen. It was evident that Gayle would play for as long as he could, while his mantle would be taken over by the others.
Right from the beginning, Johnson Charles began the assault as Gayle dug in. The process continued with Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo and culminated with Kieron Pollard joining in.
So Gayle played a ‘sedate’ inning, even taking singles to rotate the strike. But sedate is a subjective word. His sedate was a 75 not out off 41 balls with five boundaries and six monstrous sixes.
But the others too, were in business. Samuels was in great nick and while his scoring was at less than a run a ball, the overall impact was such that the scoring rate just kept going up.
This West Indies team is an amazing one. Any one of these batsmen can win a match on his own. When you have three or four of them getting into the act, it was sheer murder.
The Australian bowlers were clueless. Once it was clear that Gayle won’t hit everything, they were at a loss as to how to deal with him, as well as how to control the runs from the other side. They never even got close.
The line and length went all over the park. Wides and byes flowed, simply adding to the torrent of runs. They were hammered when they bowled full-length. They were hammered when they bowled short.
The match was over in the first innings itself. That score of 205 was way above anything that this pitch promised. The bowlers couldn’t have imagined anything like this.
Bailey’s captaincy wasn’t close to being good, but to be fair to him, no skipper could have done much. However, choosing two left-arm spinners against a team with Gayle to lead the charge was a little presumptuous – the presumption being that he would get out and the left-armer would be more effective against the right-hand batsmen.
That too was a fallacy. The biggest folly was to leave Xavier Doherty to bowl the last over. Gayle and Pollard got 25 runs there and whatever chance Australia had of being in the game, ended right there.

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Rahman has plan to conquer world

ONE FC.

ESPNSTAR.com profiles Singapore's first MMA fighter Radeem Bin Abdul Rahman as he bids to become champion of the world.

By Marcus Chhan
Mike Tyson once said: "Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the face."
For 25-year-old Mixed Martial Artist Radeem Bin Abdul Rahman that proverbial punch to the face has yet to materialise. It is early days, of course, in the career of Singapore's first MMA fighter, but Rahman's plan to become the country's first world champion in the sport is progressing quite smoothly.
Rahman made his professional MMA debut at One FC's Champion vs Champion event in September 2011 - stunning everyone except himself and his team-mates at Evolve MMA with a three minute destruction of Indian Susovan Ghosh in Singapore.
"Basically I just focused on the game plan," Rahman told ESPNSTAR.com.
"I stuck to the game plan. I just went in and did what I had to do. The moment I knew I won I was like ‘It's unbelievable'.
"And then everyone was cheering for me. I was like: ‘Wow, I will never forget this moment.'".
The moment Rahman was talking about came when 7,000 fans inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium reacted with delirious joy to his TKO win over Ghosh in the first round. According to the Singapore fighter, the fans played a part in his victory. Their role began as soon as Rahman stepped into the cage and felt the full force of the boisterous support surrounding him - even before he had aimed a kick at Ghosh.
"I felt excited. I felt pumped up," he said.
"When there's a crowd behind me and cheering for me and motivating me, I don't want to be a disappointment. I want to show them what I can do."
With great support come great expectations, but Rahman insists he does not feel the pressure of being the poster boy for MMA in Singapore - a rapidly growing sport in the country.
"Nah, I don't feel under any pressure at all because for me I am usually focused more on the Martial Arts [perspective]. So I don't really care that ‘Oh man they put high hopes on me.' I look at myself in terms of self-improvement," he said.
"Every day I want to improve bit by bit. In Mixed Martial Arts you have to constantly evolve. You can't just be the same person all the way. And that's why if you want to be a champion you have to do this."
And Rahman has been doing it.
He's dreamed of being a professional since he was 11-years old and set off on the long road to perfecting his fighting technique.
When he was in primary school, his parents fed his love for Martial Arts by taking him to watch local Taekwondo competitions. When that wasn't enough to satisfy his appetite, Rahman had to supplement it by watching DVDs of fights. From this early age, he took to the art of Muay Thai and submerged himself in books and YouTube videos to learn this violent yet graceful craft.
Three years ago he finally found an academy where he could take his basic Muay Thai skills to the next level - Evolve MMA. It was the chance of a lifetime for Rahman, an opportunity to train with Muay Thai world champions. He took it with both fists and has even gone on to test himself against Thai fighters in their own backyard. Quite a gung-ho thing to do, but it's all part of the philosophy Rahman has adopted on self-improvement and rounding the edges of his game.
"Fighting Thai guys was, of course, tough because they grew up in a country that is really established [in Martial Arts] with Muay Thai. And I have just started learning, but because I trained here [at Evolve] with world champions, my defence, my strategy, and my attack was put to good use," Rahman said.
However, a true MMA fighter knows how to fight standing up as well as on the ground and even mix things up a bit with some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, if need be. For some, this sort of all-around dedication might be a turn-off, but for Rahman this is the reason why becoming a professional MMA fighter appealed to him much more than simply becoming an expert at Muay Thai.

"Basically when you talk about Mixed Martial Arts, it's about the combination of all Martial Arts. Usually, the Martial Arts which are commonly used are Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and even Wrestling," Rahman said.
He added: "I feel that MMA is exciting. What matters to me is unpredictability. So you never know [what will happen next] even though your opponent is a grappler or he is standing up, you never know if he knows additional background in other martial arts. And that is what makes it exciting."
Rahman's Muay Thai background was on full display during his debut victory over Ghosh in September 2011. His powerful strikes set him up for the TKO win and earned him an early reputation for being aggressive.
"I prefer it that way," he said.
"In the cage I like to be aggressive. I don't know why but it is exciting to be aggressive."
Don't be mistaken though. Rahman is not some brawler from the streets of Singapore who happened to find his way into the Evolve gym and Mixed Martial Arts. He understands perfectly that Martial Arts is about developing the Body, Mind and Spirit.
Body is developed through the physical exercises involved in martial arts training - by all accounts Rahman already was a very fit individual. The type of person who "would go for a 12KM run if there was nothing to do at home".
Training the Mind and Spirit is a slightly more highbrow affair. Meditation may be involved but the idea is to coordinate thinking with movement - this aids the MMA fighter with his footwork and teaches him how to relax and focus on the task at hand.
Even if the goal is to beat your opponent until he surrenders - Rahman says you do not have to be an angry person to be a professional in MMA.
"I disagree with that," he said.
"Usually when I am in the cage, I don't feel pressure, I tell myself ‘okay now I have an opponent this is the challenge for me'. It's like taking an exam. You train so hard and now it is time to put the real work in.
"I tell myself to relax and also that the biggest opponent is myself. I want to see how much I have improved."
The pursuit of personal improvement is a massive part of what makes Rahman tick. He trains six days a week for up five or six hours. He has a notebook where he jots down new moves so he does not forget any of the minor details told to him by his trainers.
"I have a dream to be a world champion just like my instructors [at Evolve]. Every day I see them training even though they are world champions, it is amazing to watch," he said.
"When I go against them [in practice], of course I lose out to them. The positive thing is that let's say I get taken down 10 times, I want to try and minimise this to five or six the next day."
Pushing yourself to the limit in training does have its own perils - something which Rahman experienced late last month. He dislocated a finger two weeks before his scheduled fight at One FC's Rise of Kings, October 6th event. This disappointingly ruled him out of a second appearance at the Singapore Indoor Stadium but it should be seen as just a minor bump in the road of a burgeoning career.
In Mike Tyson's terms it was more of a slight poke in the eye rather than a full-blooded punch to the face.

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Snooker: Trump tops group with Ebdon win

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Judd Trump went top of Group B in Premier League snooker with a 4-2 victory against Peter Ebdon in Southampton.

Ebdon took the opening frame on the black, lost the second in similar circumstances and then edged a tactical third to move 2-1 in front.
Trump, the UK champion, levelled for a second time with a 131 total clearance and forged ahead with a contribution of 90 in the next.
And he finished off the comeback with breaks of 27 and 47 in the sixth and deciding frame.
In the opening match of the night, Stuart Bingham beat Ding Junhui 4-2 for his first win of the campaign.
The Englishman opened with a 75 and added a scrappy second frame before Ding drew level at 2-2 thanks to runs of 54, 38 and 73.
But Bingham rolled in breaks of 75 and 50 to close out a victory that moves him above Ding into second place in Group A.

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Orlando Cruz comes out

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Orlando Cruz has become the first active boxer to publicly reveal he is gay.

The Puerto Rican featherweight, who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games and has a professional record of 18(9)-2-1, went public regarding his sexuality in a press release today.
"I've been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself," he said.
"I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career.
"I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man."
The revelation comes just two weeks before Cruz takes on Jorge Pazos for the WBO Latino featherweight crown in Florida, a bout that could propel the 31-year-old to a world title fight.
Cruz has bounced back with two victories since being stopped by Cornelius Lock - his first professional defeat - and knocked out by Daniel Ponce de Leon in successive bouts.
Former two-weight world champion Emile Griffith is the only other professional boxer to come out as bisexual in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine, but his admission came after he had retired.
"I've chased men and women. I like men and women both....I don't know what I am. I love men and women the same," he said.
In Britain, only Surrey's wicketkeeper-batsman Steven Davies, footballer Justin Fashanu, who died in 1998, and dual-code rugby international Gareth Thomas have come out during their careers.

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Vettel races to pole position in Japan

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Sebastian Vettel boosted his World Championship hopes by claiming a fourth consecutive Japanese Grand Prix pole position while Fernando Alonso struggled at Suzuka.

The Red Bull driver produced a superb lap of one minute 30.839 seconds to secure the 34th pole of his career, moving him third on the all-time list - behind only Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
Mark Webber made it an all-Red Bull front row while home hero Kamui Kobayashi will start third for Sauber as McLaren's Jenson Button, who set the third fastest time, serves a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
But World Championship leader Alonso, who holds a 29-point advantage over Vettel, will only start sixth as Ferrari's recent struggles continued.
It was a bitterly disappointing day for Lewis Hamilton, on a weekend dominated by his move to Mercedes for 2013. He will start behind Button even with his team-mate's penalty.
Hamilton radioed his team in Q1 to tell them he felt he was in for a "struggle" and it proved to be the case as he could only manage the ninth fastest time, putting a dent in his own hopes of closing his 52-point deficit to Alonso.
As a result of Button's grid drop, Romain Grosjean will line up fourth in the leading Renault with new McLaren signing Sergio Perez underlining Sauber's pace this weekend as the Mexican secured fifth on the grid.
Alonso will start sixth as he benefits from Button's penalty, but the Spaniard will be concerned as Ferrari find themselves off the pace of Red Bull and McLaren for the fifth race in a row.
Kimi Raikkonen, who had a spin at the Spoon Curve late in Q3, will line up seventh ahead of the two McLarens.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was 10th fastest but he also serves a five-place grid penalty after his gearbox was changed following an off in final practice on Saturday morning.
Felipe Massa could not repeat his impressive performance in morning practice as he failed to get into Q3 with Paul Di Resta and Michael Schumacher next up, although the seven-time champion is another driver serving a penalty. The German's 10-place drop will see him start on the back row of the grid.
Schumacher, who announced his retirement at the end of the season on Thursday, had only just scraped into Q2 with a last-gasp lap after opting not to try a set of soft tyres.
Pastor Maldonado headed Nico Rosberg as Mercedes had a miserable qualifying followed by the Toro Rosso pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Vergne may yet face sanction from the stewards after Bruno Senna complained bitterly that the Frenchman had blocked him on his flying lap in Q1, meaning it was the Brazilian who was eliminated and not the Toro Rosso man.

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Gianni: I'll punch Bruce in the face

ONE FC.

Malaysian Gianni Subba has told his Singapore rival Bruce Loh he'll "punch him in the face" when they clash at One FC's Rise of Kings event on Saturday.

By Marcus Chhan
Both fighters made weight on Friday at 56.7kg which means the Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd will get the chance to cheer on one of their local fighters against the old enemy Malaysia.
"I'll punch Bruce in the face. They [Singapore crowd] can expect that," Subba told ESPNSTAR.com.
"Hopefully kick him a few times and then take him down."
The 19-year-old was certainly in confident mood following his weigh-in on Friday and plans to go on the offensive early against the 36-year-old Loh (pictured) come fight night in order to silence the partisan support.
"Yeah, that's always the plan," he said.
"I want to show them tomorrow [Saturday] what I can do.
"I am expecting a few boos, but I think as we fight the crowd will cheer me on too."
Loh can count on having the majority of the support on Saturday - and not only for being Singaporean. The veteran fighter has won admirers for taking the fight on just 10 days notice. He got the call from One FC following the late injury to rising star Radeem Rahman which forced his compatriot out of Rise of Kings.
Pressed on why he accepted the bout, Loh said: "Life is too short."
"You can't say no. I would rather lose a fight than regret not taking it."
The thrill of performing in front of home support as part of a strong fight card put together by One FC for their Rise of Kings was too great an experience for Loh to turn down.
"It [the atmosphere] is going to be crazy. This is the first time I'll be fighting in a major event in Singapore, usually I am overseas and nobody knows me," he said.
"The cheering might help [me win]."
The entire card is headlined by the clash between Lightweight Champion Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki and French MMA Champion Arnaud "The Game" Lepont and features two One FC World Championship title fights.

There will also be an eight-man Bantamweight Grand Prix which kicks off with American MMA legend Jens Pulver taking on China's rising star Zhao Ya Fei while Korean slugger Min Jung Song clashes with Japan's very own Masakatsu Ueda and Russian Top Team Fight Club Champion Yusup Saadulaev takes on Kevin Belingon.
The Bantamweight Grand Prix will culminate in late 2013 when the finalist will get a shot at the prestigious One FC Bantamweight World Championship title belt.
Super Fight
Arnaud Lepont (70.2 kg) vs Shinya Aoki (69.9 kg)

Lightweight World Championship Title Fight
Kotetsu Boku (70.1 kg) vs Zorobabel Moreira (70 kg)

Bantamweight World Championship Title Fight
Soo Chul Kim (61.2 kg) vs Leandro Issa (61.2 kg)

Main Card
Ryo Kawamura (83.6 kg) vs Melvin Manhoef (83.9 kg)

Bantamweight Grand Prix
Zhao Ya Fei (60.9 kg) vs Jens Pulver (61.2 kg)
Min Jung Song (61.2 kg) vs Masakatsu Ueda (61.2 kg)
Yusup Saadulaev (61.2 kg) vs Kevin Belingon (61 kg)

Prelims
Gianni Subba (56.7 kg) vs Bruce Loh (56.7 kg)
Ngabdi Mulyadi (65.7 kg) vs Mitch Chilson (65.6 kg)

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Villiers backs Goosen to shine

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South Africa captain Jean de Villiers has backed rookie fly-half Johan Goosen to handle the pressure against New Zealand in Saturday's Rugby Championship finale.

Goosen made his Test debut in last week's victory over Australia but he relinquished the kicking duties after just two strikes at goal due to a bruised heel.
But the 20-year-old came through a fitness test on Wednesday and he will start in Soweto with a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
South Africa should have beaten the All Blacks in Dunedin three weeks ago but Morne Steyn, Goosen's predecessor at fly-half, had a disastrous day with the boot and saw 22 points go begging.
Coach Heyneke Meyer said: "If we get into a position to win then we have to win. We played so well in Dunedin but in the end it's who wins on the scoreboard that matters.
"Maybe the All Blacks underestimated us in Dunedin. They won't do so again. It will be harder to win this Saturday. We have to take our opportunities.
"The All Blacks are a quality side and to beat them you have to be kicking at 80%."
De Villiers is confident that Goosen can deliver.
"Can he handle the pressure? I can tell you not much bothers the Goose," he said.
"To me it seems the bigger event, the bigger response from him. He just gets on with the job.
"I am very confident in Johan's ability. He kicked in training on Wednesday and it went well for him and there is no reason he can't carry that form into Saturday's game."
The Springboks are unchanged from their 31-8 victory over Australia, although prop Coenie Oosthuizen replaces Pat Cilliers on the bench.
The All Blacks were crowned inaugural winners of the Rugby Championship with a commanding victory in Argentina last week but they are refusing to rest on their laurels.
Number eight Kieran Read said the test of true champions was to win away from home.
"It would really cement our number one status to win away from home against one of the top sides. If we don't win, then a lot of what we've achieved goes out the window," Read said.
"To be number one, you can't just win at home and it's really important to win this weekend, there's no bigger challenge than playing the Springboks at home."

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