Author Archives: Ryan Plessl

Canadian Wrestler Could Sign With WWE!?

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Kenny Omega is widely regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers in the entire world. This is a rare title to be given out to someone who has never fought for the biggest wrestling promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Kenny Omega is a Canadian born professional wrestler who has been on the scene for nearly twenty three years.

In all his time wrestling though the closest Kenny ever got to the WWE was through the companies training centre. Kenny spent some of his earlier career there and has since stated multiple times that he hated his time there. Kenny left the training centre and joined the independent scene. Omega has been wrestling with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) for the past four years now.  Before that Kenny wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Ring Of Honour (ROH), and even Total NonStop Action (TNA).

Now the time has come though that Kenny may finally be joining forces with WWE.

Omegas contract with AEW came to a close back in January and wrestling insider Dave Meltzer reports that the WWE is interested in signing him.

This would be a huge signing for the WWE and Omega.

Omega has massive star potential that has clearly been showcased in the smaller promotions over the past few years. However, there is no better place to show off your star power then the WWE. Kenny has stuck with AEW for the moment though and is wrestling on his old contract, delaying his decision making for the moment.

Time will tell if a deal gets done with the WWE but wrestling fans are hoping they finally get the chance to see Kenny Omega in the biggest wrestling promotion there is!

Who Will Win At Aston Martin?

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Canadian owned Formula One (F1) team Aston Martin looks to be on track for a phenomenal season this year. Both drivers have produced incredible results so far and the season is just beginning. What Aston Martin driver will score more points by the end of the season though, and if Lance does beat Fernando will it be the end of the two time world champions career?

Aston Martin was formally known as Racing Point in 2020 and the team was pretty solid. The car was fast scoring pole position and even a race win throughout the 2020 season. The team ended up finishing fourth place for the season. However, when the team changed over to Aston Martin they’re speed significantly decreased and the team dropped to seventh place for the past two years in the Constructors Championship.

The team was smart though and used those two years to invest money into their 2023 car. With the changes they’ve made to the car they’re seeing massive improvements in their overall speed, lap times, and finishing positions!

The team has scored three podiums in three races and finished in the points five out of six times (with the exception being Lance Strolls unlucky DNF).

However, curiosity has started to get the best of F1 fans as they are curious to see which driver will finish ahead on points. F1 posted a photo asking this question last week and fans were quick to engage and give their opinion.

Shortly after F1 posted the question former driver Damon Hill stated that Lance should make it his mission to end Fernando Alonso’s career. That statement holds a lot of weight and it’ll be interesting to see if Lance takes that to heart the next few races.

While Alonso may be ahead so far, Stroll has just been suffering from some bad luck and could make a comeback soon! If he does will it be the end of Alonso’s career? Time will tell though which driver comes out on top of this title race!

Let’s hope they both do well so the Canadian team can keep the momentum rolling and secure solid rankings in the Drivers and Constructors Championship throughout the course of the year!

Amanda Nunes VS Juliana Peña III In Vancouver!

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Dana White, president and partial owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has finally announced a date and main event for the UFC’s return to Vancouver!

It’s been a long time since the UFC came to B.C. The last event held in Vancouver was UFC Fight Night in September 2019. That event was headlined by Justin Gathje and Cowboy Cerrone. Justin Gathje won the fight launching his 2020 title run campaign.

Now the UFC is set to make its return to Vancouver, for UFC 289! There was deliberation between Vancouver and Calgary for the event but ultimately the decision boiled down to the Calgary Flames still being in playoff contention, and the Canucks having no shot.

Dana took to Instagram last week to share the good news with fans. He announced the event will take place in Vancouver on June 10th, at Rogers Arena. Local fans were ecstatic to hear the UFC would be making its return as multiple local fighting promotions and fighters shared the news.

Shortly after Dana made the announcement the UFC announced that the headliner of the pay per view (PPV) would be Amanda Nunes VS Juliana Peña three. Peña won the first fight to claim UFC gold but Nunes battled back in the second to regain her title. Now the two will settle the score in Vancouver.

Tickets go on sale April 21st, don’t miss the UFC’s return to Vancouver and Canada!

ADCC Canada Has Some Big Names Competing!

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ADCC recently announced that they would be hosting another huge competition, this time in Ottawa on April 23rd. The event is now one week away and some of the biggest names in all of grappling have entered to compete! Here’s an updated list of all the big names coming to ADCC Canada!

ADCC is without a doubt the biggest Jiu jitsu event and promotion of all time.

Known as the olympics of Jiu jitsu, the well known ADCC event only happens once every two years. That event is for the professionals only though, with only the best of the best in the sport getting an invite to compete.

ADCC has decided to expand their horizons these past few years though, recently hosting a competition in Vegas that was open to anyone, not just the professionals. Now ADCC has announced that they will be coming to Ottawa with another open tournament on April 23rd.

That date is just one week away now and registrations are closed due to the event reaching its maximum capacity. That means we have a final look at the competitors that will be showcasing their skills in Ottawa. Some notable names are Justin Mullin, Matt Kwan, Micah Brakefield, Morgan Littlechild, Kieran Kichuk, Reynaldo Camacho, Amr Gohneim, Gregor Burton, Kenny Blicharski, Chad Baird, David Garmo and more!

This event is stacked with great competitors and you’ll be able to watch all the action live on UFC Fight Pass. Don’t miss your chance to see high level jiu jitsu in Canada!

Dante Leon Is Making Headlines!

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Canadian grappling superstar Dante Leon is making waves in the jiu jitsu community over the course of the past month.

Dante Leon is a very well recognized grappler that has been in the news as of late due to his passive aggressive Instagram posts directed to Jits Magazine, followed by his impressive win over black belt world champion Jeferson Guaresi in a very exciting no-gi jiu jitsu title fight, and now his up-coming match announcement against another tough opponent.

Coming off his controversial loss to Roberto Abreu “Cyborg” at Grappling Industries, Dante looked to bounce back at Faith and Violence III against Jeferson Guaresi.

Dante proved why he is a world class competitor taking Jeferson to the mat with his superior wrestling skills. Jeferson tried to enter into a potential leg locks exchange shortly after hitting the mat but Dante was able to roll through and take the back. Dante then locked in the rear make choke and got the tap to win the match.

After the match Dante was clear that he was going to be staying active announcing on his Instagram that he had two match announcements lined up.

The first match announcement came shortly after his initial story as Dante announced he would be facing Vinícius Lino, a multiple time IBJJF champion. That match is scheduled for May 6th in Los Angeles.

Time will tell how Dante does in that match. It certainly is good to see Dante Leon consistently being talked about in the jiu jitsu community though as it’s important for Canadian grapplers to have someone they look up too.

Canadian Journalist Shares His Thoughts On Max Holloway

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Ariel Helwani shared his opinion on Max Holloways performance at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night tonight!

Ariel Helwani is a Canadian born combat sports journalist. In his two decades of experience he’s covered promotions like UFC, Bellator, Pride, and many more. His large popularity in the sport is due to his hard hitting questions, and professionalism he brings to every interview. He is without a doubt the face of combat sports journalism.

Bottom line-Ariel knows what he’s talking about.

Ariel took to Twitter to shares his opinion on Max Holloways comeback fight against Arnold Allen tonight.

Ariel was very impressed with Max’s comeback and shared his one major takeaway from the fight. He said that Max Holloway has still got it which was up for question coming into this fight as Holloway was coming off of a very long lay off after his last Alexander Volkanovski fight. While Alex has proved he is the best fighter in the world right now, it still hurt Max Holloways stock to lose to Alex three times in a row.

Ariel was impressed how Max was able to bounce back though as Max proved to the world he is still number one at Featherweight. Time will tell if Alex and Max will face off in the octagon for a fourth time.

AVA Tournament Announces New Trophy!

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All VS All (AVA) grappling tournament are ready to put on a show for their upcoming season.

AVA is a submission only grappling tournament that has taken British Columbia by storm these past few years. The event is popular due to its ruleset and submission only structure. Competitors are put into a round robin bracket which means maximizing matches for competitors, with a heavy reward for submission wins.

The tournament has upped their game this year though. AVA is running a championship tournament that will take place throughout the course of 2023. March 4th the event held their first tournament for the new series. The next tournament will be held June 10th and 11th at Riverside Secondary School! AVA is pulling out all the stops for this tournament, creating new medals for the championships and awarding the Pro Division winners a title belt if they take home the gold.

The biggest trophy of them all though is the AVA Cup. AVA posted their new trophy to Instagram the other day:

Every team and competitor in Vancouver will be fighting for this title which will lead to a super exciting and entertaining series.

Come watch the next AVA June 10th and 11th!

A Port Coquitlam Friend Group Are Taking Advantage Of The Nice Weather!

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The sun has finally showed it’s face on a more permanent basis as of late and a group of Port Coquitlam friends have decided to take full advantage of the nice weather!

Mattias Cipriano decided to invite his friends out during the summer of 2022 to play the popular game Spikeball. The day was a success and the group decided to play more often. The games started out pretty casual, but one day Mattias and a few others had the idea to turn it into a competitive league:

“We played basically every weekend, sometimes 2 times a day so we were basically already playing scheduled weekly games. Eventually we reached a point where we felt like we were all pretty good from a technical aspect and really the only way to improve was through developing strategies. Obviously strategic gameplay lends itself to playing with a consistent partner rather than playing with 10 of your friends in individual games. So we figured by building set teams that we can practice within and play with consistently, we can work on taking our games to the next level and continuing to improve.” Said Mattias.

While the introduction of a league may sound intense at first, Mattias assures that the emphasis is still on the friend group coming together to have a good time:

“Healthy competition makes things fun and I think at the end of the day we are still just a bunch of friends smacking balls at the trampoline, we just gave our games a little more structure and added an extra competitive element.”

The group now has 20 players consistently and teams have been made for a full on summer league.

Their season will start in June but that hasn’t stopped the group from coming out to participate in some games over the course of the past few weeks.

While this group of friends may be turning a fun game into a competitive one, at the end of the day it’s just a group of friends getting outdoors and playing some sports, which is always nice to see.

Brandon Briglios Return To BFL!

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Brandon Briglio has had a wild start to his fighting career and things only got crazier when he made his return to the cage at Battle Field Fight League (BFL) 76 at the Harbour Convention Centre.

Brandon is a promising mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter with a 1-0 amateur record.

Brandon has only been training in MMA for just over a year now, but was quickly offered an amateur title shot at BFL 76 for just his second ever fight. It’s not often that a fighter gets offered a title fight this early in their career even at the amateur level. Brandon had a impressive performance in his first fight though which led to BFL owners and promoters offering him the opportunity:

“I dominated my MMA debut back in December and I guess the owner liked what he saw. I’m really grateful for the opportunity, to show off my skill/ hard work I’ve been into this sport thus far.”

It’s not just the early title shot that is unprecedented about Brandon’s career though. This type of progress for a fighter just over a year into their career is unheard of in the fight community. Brandon says at the end of the day it just comes down to his hard work and mentality:

“I think it comes down to my mentality. I refuse to give up on myself and everyone who has put the time and effort to help me in my training.”

Brandon faced off against Varun Sunder, a talented up and comer at BFL 76.

The first two rounds were very competitive but Brandon seemed to come out on top of both. Varun was able to land a hard punch in the third though that knocked Brandon against the cage. Brandon seemed to be stunned but he threw a wild hook that caught Varun and put him to the canvas. Brandon was able to get the technical knockout (TKO) victory.

Brandon left BFL 76 as the new 125 pound amateur champion and increased his record to 2-0. Time will tell what’s next for the new champion but a professional debut can’t be far away for Brandon.

The Raptors VS Diar DeRozan?

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The Toronto Raptors season has come to an end after a devastating loss to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the play-in tournament.

The Raptors were able to secure the ninth seed in the Eastern conference after one of the most competitive seasons the National Basketball League (NBA) has seen in a long time. That put them in the play-in tournament where they would have to win two games in a row if they hoped to advance to the playoffs.

The Raptors were scheduled to face off against the Chicago Bulls in their first game. If they were to win they would face off against the Miami Heat.

The Raptors got out to a great start in their game against the Bulls even leading by twenty points in the first half at some points. However, Demar DeRozans daughter fought back for the Bulls to get them the lead.

Every time the Raptors went to the free throw line Demar DeRozans daughter Diar would scream at the top of her lungs distracting the Raptors team. The Raptors shot 50% from the free throw line which ended up costing them the game. Final score 109-105 for the Bulls.

This was an unfortunate way for the Raptors season to end, especially since the team didn’t really lose to the Bulls, they lost to Diar DeRozan.

The team has some positives to take away from the season but overall changes are needed if they want to decisively make the playoffs next year.