Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive

Romulo “Rominho” Barral, a five-time BJJ world champion and one of the most respected grapplers in the world, is looking to make a serious run at mixed martial arts.

But unlike other recent crossovers such as Robert Drysdale and Braulio Estima, jiu-jitsu wasn’t always Barral’s dream.

“I came from a small town in Brazil and my friend showed me this MMA fight on tape and then I said, ‘Man, this is nice. I want to do this,’” Barral recently told MMAFighting.com. “And he told me if you want to do this, you need to learn the ground game.’

“I was supposed to be a striker,” continued Barral, with a laugh. “And then I turned until a jiu-jitsu guy.”

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Romulo Barral Crossing Over and Back to MMA

Filed under: UFC, News

The UFC 121 main event between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez is expected to be one of the most anticipated UFC fights of the year, and the organization is ensuring it will receive the full promotional push.

UFC announced on it’s weekly Ultimate Insider show Thursday that a three-part Primetime series will air on Spike TV in the weeks leading up to the fight.

The series will debut on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 11 pm ET/PT, and subsequent episodes will air on Oct. 13 and Oct. 20 on the cable network.

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UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez to Receive ‘Primetime’ Treatment

Filed under: UFC

On The Ultimate Fighter 10, heavyweight Matt Mitrione tells the audience that the reason he fights MMA is to silence the voices in his head.

For his own well-being and others, it’s nice to know Mitrione wasn’t serious.

During an appearance on this past Monday’s The MMA Hour (full video below), host Ariel Helwani asked the former NFL player if his villainy was all an act.

“Yeah, brother,” Mitrione responded. “I don’t really hear voices, man.”

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Matt Mitrione’s Voices in His Head Came From Boredom

Filed under: Dodgers , Red Sox , White Sox The Manny Ramirez homecoming tour continued Friday, and even though what would have been his first game against Boston while playing for the White Sox was postponed thanks to Hurricane Earl, Ramirez took time to ponder life with reporters at Fenway Park.

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Manny Ramirez Opens Up in Return to Fenway Park

Filed under: PGA, FedEx Cup

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Zach Johnson and Jason Day beat up on the course and beat the weather at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Johnson (pictured) strengthened his Ryder Cup case Friday by rolling in putts from everywhere in easy scoring conditions ahead of Hurricane Earl, giving him an 8-under 63 to share the early lead with Day.

Geoff Ogilvy, without a top 10 on the PGA Tour since he won the season-opener at Kapalua, was 8 under with three holes to play.

On perhaps the easiest day players will see all week, Tiger Woods made it hard on himself.

Woods put his FedExCup playoffs in jeopardy by making four bogeys through six holes, and he had to fight back in occasional bursts of rain for a 1-over 72. He was nine shots out of the lead, likely to start the second round three shots below the cut line.

If he were to miss the cut, he would not make it to the third round next week outside Chicago.

“I’m going to have to shoot something good tomorrow, hopefully move up a little bit,” Woods said. “Obviously, get off to a better start than I did today.”

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Johnson, Day Share Lead While Woods Struggles at Deutsche Bank

Filed under: Nationals , MLB Injuries The good news for the Nationals and their fans Friday was that there apparently were no surprises when Dr. Lewis Yocum performed surgery on Stephen Strasburg ‘s elbow.

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Stephen Strasburg’s Tommy John Surgery Judged a Success

Filed under: U.S. Open, WTA

Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic won the last nine games of her match on Friday to advance into the fourth round at the U.S. Open. She will face defending champion and No. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters in a matchup between two red-hot players.

Ivanovic defeated Virginie Razzano of France in straight sets 7-5, 6-0. Ivanovic, currently ranked No. 40, played solid all-around tennis — generating 22 winners to Razzano’s eight. She also converted on 78 percent of her first-serve points, while limiting her opponent to 49 percent.

Before the U.S. Open, Ivanovic was blistering the competition in Cincinnati, winning four matches in a row before injuring her left foot in a semifinal match against Clijsters. Ivanovic was forced to retire down 1-2 in the opening set.

Since Cincinnati, Ivanovic has recovered from her foot injury and is playing world-class tennis again at Flushing Meadows. The 2008 French Open Champion from Serbia last reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open in 2007.

Clijsters also won her third-round match earlier on Friday in straight sets. She defeated Wimbledon semifinalist and 27th-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0. Clijsters has won 10 of her last 11 matches, including the tournament title in Cincinnati.

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Ana Ivanovic Rolls, Faces Kim Clijsters in Fourth Round at US Open

Filed under: Red Sox , MLB Injuries BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has undergone season-ending surgery for a broken bone in his left foot. A screw was inserted into the foot in Friday’s operation

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Surgery Ends Dustin Pedroia’s Season

Filed under: Rangers It looks like Mark Prior is going to get a chance to see if he can make it back to the majors. The Rangers announced Friday they have agreed to terms with the injury-plagued right-hander on a minor league deal.

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Mark Prior Agrees to Deal With Rangers

Filed under: U.S. Open, ATP

American John Isner answered any lingering questions about the health of his ankle on the court Friday, defeating Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

No. 18-seeded Isner broke Chiudinelli during the ninth game of the fourth set to grab momentum of the match at 5-4. The hard-serving American then closed the match out on his serve and advanced into the third round of the Open for the third time in four years.

Isner moved well on an ankle that he rolled and damaged ligaments in at the Cincinnati Masters two weeks ago.

Isner generated 24 aces and converted on 84 percent of his first-serve points. He generated 70 winners in comparison to Chiudinelli’s 40, and demonstrated he was healthy by moving comfortably on his ankle to win 30 of 42 net approaches in the match.

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John Isner Advances to Third Round at US Open