Unbeaten. Eric Ebron Lions Jersey . Champion. Ben Askrens move from amateur wrestling to mixed martial arts has been pretty much seamless. "I could have got a few more finishes. That would have made it nice -- and a lot easier," said the former U.S. Olympic wrestler, who stopped his four MMA opponents in the first round but has gone to decision his last five outings. "But, yeah, its been great so far." Askren looks to defend his Bellator welterweight title when he takes on Douglas Lima on Friday at Bellator 64 in Windsor, Ont. Lima (21-4) has had no trouble cutting fights short. The Atlanta-based Brazilian has stopped his opponent in 18 of his 21 wins. Askren left wrestling after competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where he pinned a Hungarian before losing to a star Cuban. The five-foot-11 Askren kept his hand in wrestling as a college coach but started training and fighting MMA. "Fighting started going better and better and better. And then last spring I just decided it was time to be a full-time MMA fighter," he said. "Im 27 now, going to be 28 soon (in July). Only got a few years left in my prime, essentially, and so might as well make the most of them before I fade away into the sunset." Askren was a wrestling phenom at the University of Missouri, where he was a two-time NCAA champion at 174 pounds (2006, 2007) two-time runner-up, and four-time all-American from 2004 to 2007. His career record at Missouri was 153-7. He went undefeated his last two years, winning 87 matches in a row. His 93 wins by fall were the fourth-most in NCAA history. After graduating in 2007, he did some volunteer coaching at Missouri but focused on his Olympic dream. MMA was already on his mind but Beijing was just 18 months ago. Coming into Beijing as U.S. champion, he had high hopes for a medal. Falling short hurt. "At that point Id got very used to winning and so getting set back like that was obviously real hard on me," he said. He marched in the opening ceremonies in Beijing, calling it a great experience. But the competition left a sour taste in his mouth. "When I was there, I was just focused on winning and doing the things I needed to do to win," he said. "And then when I lost, I was just kind of bitter about losing. It isnt a great feeling." He decided to try MMA for a year, knowing that if it wasnt right for him, he had three more years to prep for the next Olympics. "But I tried it, I did like it and I stuck with it," he said. The success of Askrens aggressive, scrambling wrestling style has carried over into MMA. He says it bridged nicely into jiu-jitsu -- he already has a brown belt. "Now when I get (opponents) to the ground, Im really comfortable and I have a significant advantage there also," he said. "Whereas some wrestlers, theyre able to take people down but when they get there, they dont have that jiu-jitsu base to be able to really win that position." A student of the game, Askren has looked to noted Muay Thai coach Duke Roufus to improve his striking. Askren points to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre as a fighter whose striking skills have helped make his wrestling more dangerous. "Hes such a good striker and he uses his striking to set up his takedowns very well," he said. "When hes hitting you in the face, its hard to stop a takedown, essentially. "And thats what he does so well. His MMA wrestling is very good." Striking, Askren admits, did not come naturally. But he says Roufus and his coaches have made it easier to pick up. "Wrestling and jiu-jitsu, Id say like theyre cousins," he said. "Theyre very similar in a lot of ways. But wrestling and kickboxing have very few similarities, so it was a whole different world. "Its something Im getting more and more used to and Im getting a lot better at." By the end of his amateur career, Askren was growing tired of wrestling. "I was learning small, new things but Id been wrestling for close to 20 years so there was very little I could see that I hadnt seen before," he said. "That was getting kind of boring. So that switch over to MMA where everythings new ... that was a lot of fun." Askren grew but Hartland, Wisc., about 40 kilometres outside Milwaukee, but only moved back last August to train at Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee after spending time as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State. Askren also runs the Askren Wrestling Academy, which takes in five- through 18-year-olds. He has another coach running it day-to-day but looks in regularly. "Its great. I really like working with the kids. And its probably something Ill do in the future going forward," he said. The 24-year-old Lima is riding a nine-bout win streak of his own. He has fought at Caesars Windsor before, stopping UFC veteran Terry Martin in just 74 seconds at MFC 29 in April 2011. He has gone 3-0 in Bellator since, earning a decision over Steve Karl and stopping Chris Lozano and Ben Saunders to win the Season 5 welterweight tournament and earn a shot at the champion. Askren is coming off a split decision win over Jay Hieron, the Season 4 tournament winner. "I wanted it to be a dominant performance. And essentially it was a fairly close fight," he said. "I think its one I won, no doubt, but it definitely wasnt dominating, it was far from dominating. "So I was disappointed in myself. I have a lot better performances in me and I expect a performance considerably better this weekend." He believes his progress in striking will allow him to be more aggressive, although he is aware of the stylish Limas punching power. "But in MMA a lot of people hit hard and I think he has some other weaknesses that other people are neglecting to see -- wrestling being an obvious one," he said. "So I should be able to take advantage of all that stuff." Askren, an avid disc golfer when not training, won Season 2 in Bellator before dethroning 170-pound champion Lyman Good. Larry Webster III Blue Jersey .Va. - New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is eager to work with Michael Vick, even if it means a hotly contested competition for the starting job.http://www.shopjerseyslions.com/Womens-Nevin-Lawson-Authentic-Jersey/ . Kuhn, 27, played 111 games last season at the Class AA and Class AAA levels. In 61 games in the Colorado Rockies system with Class AA Tulsa of the Texas League, he hit .SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Dan Boyle is one of the older players in the NHL and hes still looking to learn a few new tricks. He learned just enough to give his team momentum heading into the post-season. Boyle scored his second goal of the game with 1:02 remaining in overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night in the regular-season finale. "You still learn something every year," Boyle said. "I have the worst backhand in the league probably so I got a little lucky there. You want to go out with a win and for pride. The reason you play is to win and I like the way we fought back the last few games." Patrick Marleau also scored in the third period to tie the game for the Sharks. Joe Pavelski hit the inside of the post with a minute remaining. "No one was pleased with the way we played in the first two periods," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We had to find ourselves in the third period. It felt like we were always chasing this year. We never felt comfortable. Well see if facing all that adversity will help us." Thomas Greiss replaced Antti Niemi after the second period, making six saves to record the win. Jonathan Quick had 20 saves for the Kings. The Sharks clinched the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and will meet the St. Louis Blues in the first round. "We start over now," Boyle said. "We want to erase what weve done against St. Louis this year. It wasnt very good." Justin Williams and Mike Richards each scored power-play goals for the Kings, who took a 2-0 lead into the final period. The Kings will face Presidents Cup winner Vancouver in the opening round. "Weve done it before and well do it again," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "They are similar to the Sharks to be quite honest. They have really good offences, really good power plays. Well have our hands full." Neither team had a chance to win the Pacific Division after Phoenix beat Minnesota 4-1 to clinch the No. www.shopjerseyslions.com/Womens-Eric-Ebron-Authentic-Jersey/. 3 spot in the playoffs. "Once they announced the Coyotes game it seemed the team was satisfied with just being in the playoffs," Sutter said. "Now it is my responsibility to make sure theyre not satisfied anymore." A scoring frenzy down the stretch helped both teams secure playoff berths. The Kings recorded 21 points over their last 14 games and the Sharks had 23 points in their previous 18. "Its going to be all business here the next couple of days," Jarret Stoll said. "Then travel to Vancouver and look forward to Game 1." The NHL playoff schedule will be announced Sunday. Williams opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period. Stoll took a long shot that bounced off Niemis pads and right to Williams stick. Los Angeles scored on another power play in the final minute of the second period after killing off two penalties, one a two-man advantage. This time it was Williams, who took the shot Niemi could not hang onto, with Richards there for the easy rebound. Boyle sliced the lead in half 35 seconds into the third period and Marleau scored his 30th goal 8 minutes later to tie it. The Sharks played the third period without defenders Ryane Clowe and Colin White. Notes: C Logan Couture was voted Sharks Player of the Year by the Bay Area media. ... Richards has points in five straight games. ... Martinez has points in three of his last five games after scoring in two of his previous 12. ... Sharks F Martin Havlat has points in his last four games. ... Marleau reached 30 goals for a fourth straight year and sixth in seven seasons. ... Pavelski left the ice after getting hit in the face with a puck in the first period. He returned after being treated for a cut lip. ... The Sharks had three 30-goal scorers for the first time in franchise history in Pavelski, Marleau and Couture. ' ' '
