By Brian Mallon:

At their core Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit are fighters. Unlike some former wrestlers or ju-jitsu aces looking for a medium to compete as professional athletes, both these fearsome scrappers fight because it’s in their blood. The fact that they are facing mirror images of each other merely adds to the intrigue of this unpredictable bout. With both being high octane strikers, boasting slick ground games and exceptional cardio few observers are predicting a winner in UFC 143’s main event.

As if meeting inside the octagon for a potential twenty five minute war isn’t enough to fully occupy their minds, the shadow of GSP looms large for both men. Both have been slated to lock horns with the UFC’s most high profile star in recent months and they do battle next weekend knowing that whilst a belt is on the line it will only be when they share the octagon with Canada’s favourite son that they can truly claim to be world champion at 170lbs.

Come fight time Diaz will seek to use his slightly superior boxing ability to keep Condit guessing. Condit will look to prove that he will not wilt under the striking onslaught that has simply ground down the Stockton native’s most recent opponents. Whilst Condit has high profile victories over Rory MacDonald and Dan Hardy on an already glittering CV, I believe Diaz’ superior stand-up may be the telling factor in what will be an all out war. I expect Diaz to emerge victorious after four gruelling rounds of hectic action.

For analysis of last weekend’s pivotal Chicago fight card check out my review piece in The Independent

This column is brought to you by the author’s personal sponsor, Quality Fridge Filters Global

By Brian Mallon

The UFC has this week announced that they are coming to Sweden and that a local rising star will headline the country’s first such event. Alexander Gustafsson will star in the 14th April Ericsson Globe arena fighting extravaganza in Stockholm. The 24 year-old from Arboga will be tasked with defeating highly ranked light heavyweight contender Rogerio “Lil Nog” Nogueira in a bout that could put him in the upper echelons of the light heavyweight division. The 1.95m Gustafsson defeated respected veteran Vladimir Matyushenko in his last outing at UFC141 in December and looks set for a long career, if he can continue his momentum.

MMA in Scandinavia in general, and Sweden in particular, is booming. With a young, media-savvy fan base this vibrant sport has captured the imagination of the region’s many fight fans. With this high profile event on the horizon and Gustafsson’s career progressing at such a pivotal time, he could be best positioned to spearhead the promotions entry into the waiting Scandinavian market.

In other UFC news the promotion’s highly anticipated “UFC on Fox” card is fast approaching. If you asked a selection of industry observers and UFC fans who the most explosive and talented current UFC fighter never to hold championship gold is… the name Melvin Guillard would feature prominently.

“The Young Assassin” has exhibited enormous potential and athletic prowess in his surge through the UFC’s shark infested lightweight waters. Something in Guillard’s tool belt is missing, however but it is not of a physical nature. Of the many assets needed to be victorious in any sport, mental toughness and poise under pressure are often labelled as the innate intangibles that an athlete must display in the white heat of battle. This is where the 28 year-old New Orleans native has been found distinctly lacking. Guillard is sometimes overly confident, bordering on contemptuous towards his Octagon opponents when fight time arrives. Prior to UFC136 in Houston, talk within the MMA world was not if Guillard would be champion but rather a question of when. After a mere 47 seconds of a fight he was predicted to dominate, Guillard was again left wondering where it all went wrong. The brief bout was a microcosm of a career which has proven electrifying and frustrating in equal measure.

Next Saturday night the likeable knock-out artist will be well served not to take his opponent, fellow 70kg contender Jim Miller for granted. Miller is as tough as they come and with an unrivalled work ethic and cardio to burn he may well hold the mental kryptonite to the Greg Jackson student’s title aspirations once again.

UFC on Fox can be viewed on ESPNUK on Saturday 21st January

This article written by Irish sports journalist Brian Mallon

Club officials told reporters on Tuesday that the move comes as a result of a disagreement about how the team should be run. Nilsson, a former defender for Sweden, took the position in June of last year from former head coach Staale Solbakken of Norway. He spent only six months at the helm, despite having signed a three-year contract in May.

The team’s website reads, “After an evaluation of the first six months of this season, the management of FC Copenhagen has decided to end their relationship with head coach Roland Nilsson.”

Anders Horsfolt, chief executive of FC Copenhagen, said in a statement, “We have had to realise that there hasn’t been an understanding between FC Copenhagen and Roland Nilsson about how to take the team further and therefore our paths have to part,” Reuters reported.

Some speculate that Nilsson’s opposition to the decision to sell off midfielder William Kvist to Stuttgart amid this year’s transfer window is among the rows leading to his termination.

FC Copenhagen is currently the Superliga league leader, edging FC Nordsjælland by four points; however, the club did not make it through to the group stages in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Carsten Jensen, the sports director for the squad, is set to take over as manager in Nilsson’s absence.

A family of sports enthusiasts from Motala complained to TV4 after the inappropriate sound-check apparently went out live before coverage of a biathlon competition in Hochfilzen, Austria.

”They didn’t seem aware that they were on air. Suddenly the reporter says ‘Hi and welcome to the women’s naked relay’,” said Johanna Engström to daily Aftonbladet. ”It is obviously not family friendly to watch the biathlon any longer,” she added, urging the presenters to be more wary of what they broadcast.

Engström claims the goof was aired on TV4’s Premium pay service, where subscribers get 15 minutes of extra sports coverage instead of commercials. In an email to Aftonbladet, the programme’s editor Fredrik Olofson, however, said he did not catch the comment, but admitted that presenters have been known to get a little rowdy before the show airs.

“But if the reporter said something like that while we were rehearsing I will naturally remind him that we shouldn’t be silly in rehearsal,” Olofson promised the paper.

Jyrki Järvilehto, who raced under the name ‘JJ Lehto’, was going at least 79km/h in a 5km/h zone when he struck a bridge in Tammisaari’s narrow Jomalvik channel in June 2010.

He has been found guilty of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated endangerment of traffic safety and operating a vessel while intoxicated and sentenced to two years and four months behind bars by West Uusimaa District Court. The speed demon, who raced in F1 teams in the 1980s and early 1990s, will remain free while he appeals the conviction; such a process could take years.

Järvilehto claims he was not driving the boat at the time of the crash and is not responsible for the death of his friend, who has not been named. The court, however, concluded that the injuries of both men proved that the former racer was at the wheel at the time of the accident.

Amer Sports is an international company which owns a variety of successful trademarks. The company has an annual turnover of around EUR 2 billion and it employs 6,000 people, RÚV reported.

Nikita, on the other hand, designs snowboards and fashion clothing. It was founded in Iceland in 2000 and its goods are sold in 1,500 shops in 30 countries.

The value of the Finnish buy-out has not been made public, but the Economic Innovation Fund holds investment in Nikitia for ISK 100 million (EUR 625,000) and a representative yesterday said the fund would get all its money back “and more besides”.

Nikita will continue to operate out of Iceland.

The man called the emergency services on the 112 telephone number at 22.20 last night, saying he was lost, cold and scared. He had been walking the south Iceland hiking route for six to eight hours and said he was located on a glacier (which, if true, would mean he had taken a serious wrong turn onto the Eyjafjallajokull or Myrdalsjokull glaciers, which the mountain path goes between).

ICE-SAR volunteer rescue workers were called out from all over South Iceland to look for the man last night. More joined them this morning and at midday it was believed as many as 300 search & rescue experts were looking for the Swede, RUV reported.

Svanur Saevar Larusson is head of the ICE-SAR division in Hella and is co-ordinating today’s mission. “We have begun to move further in to the glacier after having analysed the man’s telephone call with the emergency services more closely,” Larusson says. Tracked vehicles and snowmobiles are being used for the glacier search; but the weather is poor. “The forecast is pretty ugly but we hold out hope for a small let-up between two and four which could give us the chance to use the helicopter,” Larusson adds; saying that a Coastguard helicopter has been on the scene but needed to give up several times because of the weather.

A journalist at Skogar, where the rescuers come to rest, says that rescuers’ expectation for a successful rescue remain generally high, although they admit conditions are difficult. There is heavy rain in the search area and high winds.

Nothing has been heard of the man since his phone call last night.

The Swede Lars Lagerback was publicly appointed to the post at a press conference at the national stadium in Reykjavik yesterday — as was his deputy; former IBV coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

Lagerbeck is 63 years-old and has previously been main coach for the national teams of Sweden and Nigeria.

Under his regime, the Swedes competed in the European championship finals in 2000, 2004 and 2008 — and in the World Cup finals in 2002 and 2006. He also got Nigeria to the World Cup finals in South Africa last year, RUV reports.

Iceland has never made it to the finals of any European or World Cup championship so far.

Lagerback is Iceland’s 15th foreign coach; but the first since 1989.

The Atlantic halibut, which was 2.51 metres from teeth to tail, tipped the scales at 244 kg, beating the previous record by a whopping 26 kg. Mr Wuhrmann has now honoured a bet made with his shipmates to shave off his beloved beard.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, skipper Ulrich Alstetter, 53, said, “It was an incredible experience and we are very proud. Reinhard was very tired afterwards but also intoxicated by the experience and by claiming a world record. We had made a bet to shave his beard if he caught the biggest fish. Like a good sport he went through with it.”

He added, “The halibut took Reinhard’s little jigg bait and his rod bent over double. We all watched for a few minutes and then it became clear this was going to be a big fish. After about 90 minutes of Reinhard trying to reel it in, his rod broke in two from the pressure it was under. It was his favourite rod.”

“Because I am taller than him I took what was left of his rod and after another hour the fish was alongside the boat. It was then seen for the first time and it was a huge fish. It then shot another 100 metres deep and it took me another 15 minutes to bring him up and another 15 minutes to get a rope around it. It was a team effort but Reinhard was the official catcher.”

In the Freestyle.ch competition, snowboarders jump from a giant ramp and perform mid-air stunts. Professional snowboarder, Halldor Helgason, from Akureyri in northern Iceland, was one of many famous snowboarders who took part in the event and ended the weekend victorious. A statement from Freestyle.ch stated:

Blue skies prevailed this weekend as over 32,000 freestyle.ch visitors soaked up freestyle sports at its finest. Making its debut on European soil, the impressive mini-MegaRamp stole the show. Snowboarder Halldor Helgason (ISL), freeskier Elias Ambuehl (SUI), FMXer Dany Torres (ESP) and skateboarder Pierre-Luc Gagnon (CAN) all came out big winners during a blockbuster weekend of action in Zurich.

High-level action dominated the Snowboard Finals. It was his first time at freestyle.ch for style icon Halldor Helgason from Iceland. The 20-year old came, snowboarded and conquered! He landed a Frontside Double Cork 1080°, an especially hard trick to stomp as the jump has to be landed backwards and claimed the victory, right away! Seppe Smits (BEL) and Ståle Sandbech (NOR) complete the podium of the snowboarding contest.

Dany Torres (ESP)continued his winning streak and adds the freestyle.champ award to his long list of victories. After placing 2nd in the semi finals, he conviced the judges with a perfectly executed Backflip Double Seat Grab, which got him the highest score of the event. Tom Pagès (FRA) and Petr Pilat (CZE) placed 2nd and 3rd. Semi final winner Maikel Melero (ESP) crashed in his final run and had to be taken to the hospital for further examination. But fortunately the injuries were not that severe and he could leave the hospital yesterday morning.

The Swiss freeski talents Elias Ambuehl and Kai Mahler pulled off quite a feat in the electrifying and technically impeccable Freeski Final, scoring themselves a double victory at freestyle.ch. The freestyle.champ Freeski Elias Ambuehl could hardly believe his luck. After two second places in
2009 and 2010 he finally managed to step on the very top of the podium by landing a Double Cork 1440°. Jossi Wells from New Zealand completes the podium on 3rd place.

It’s been a long time since freestyle.ch’s skateboarders have basked in this much limelight. This year, the buzz was all centered on the European entrance of the mammoth mini-MegaRamp in the skateboarding category. All of the starting athletes couldn’t wait to get to Zurich, and their dazzling show left no doubt about this ramp’s bright future. Pierre-Luc Gagnon from Canada proved to be the Dominator of the MegaRamp and pulled off a sovereign victory. 2nd place went to Rony Gomes (BRA) and Adam Taylor (USA) took 3rd.