Archives for April 2024

UFC CEO Dana White is beyond shocked at the recent performance by Francis Ngannou.

Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion, parted ways with White’s company late last year – and the breakup had a lot of tension. 

Ngannou became a free agent and secured a tremendous payday to make his professional boxing debut last month in Saudi Arabia against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

While most expected a complete mismatch, Ngannou would stun most experts with his performance.

He dropped Fury in the third round and then took the unbeaten champion the full distance in a very competitive fight.

Fury edged the victory with a razor-close ten round split decision win. Two judges favored Fury with tallies of 95-94 and 96-93, while the third had Ngannou the victor with a tally of 95-94.

White didn’t watch the fight, but appeared stunned that Ngannou was able to make it to the finish line.

“I didn’t see the fight, but the fact that he went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury is crazy,” White said. “So, if you look at, he just went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury, Conor made it nine or 10 with Floyd, Anthony Pettis just beat Roy Jones Jr., I know Roy’s freakin’ 60 years old or whatever, but I mean I don’t know what the hell is going on. It’s crazy. I didn’t see the fight, but the fact that he went 10 rounds is unbelievable.”

White is not concerned that Ngannou’s departure will influence more fighters to leave the UFC to pursue other ventures.

“I don’t care,” White said. “Listen, these guys, at some point everybody’s gonna move on and everybody has to do what’s right for them and make money for their families. So, whatever they gotta do, they gotta do.”

However, White still believes his company’s current heavyweight champion is the best fighter in the world.

“The best fighter in the world and the best fighter ever is Jon Jones,” White said. 

No joke: 50 Cent to replace Chris Brown at Dreamville Fest 2024 A major lineup change was announced Monday for this weekend’s Dreamville Festival in Raleigh. Organizers announced that Chris Brown was being replaced by 50 Cent. Brown was set to headline the first day of the festival, alongside SZA. In addition, rapper Hunxho was announced as a replacement for Muni Long, who could no longer perform at the event. The announcement initially caused some confusion as many thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke, but Dreamville spokesman Trey Hicks told WRAL the lineup change is “definitely real.” “50 Cent and Hunxho are replacing Chris Brown and Muni Long who can no longer perform due to unforeseen circumstances,” Hicks confirmed Monday morning. The Dreamville Festival is planned April 6-7 at Dix Park in Raleigh. Some tickets still remain for the event. SZA, 50 Cent, J.I.D., Lil Yachty, Schoolboy Q, Sexxy Rd, Jeremih, Earthgang, Teezo Touchdown, Amaarae, Lute, Luh Tyler and Domani are set to perform on Saturday, April 6. J. Cole and Nicki Minaj are headliners for April 7. Other performances that day will include Rema, Jeezy, Monica, Rae Sremmurd, Key Glock, Bas, Hunxho, Cozz, Omen, Tiacorine and Chase Shakur. “I woke up and I noticed that they posted the change. It is April 1st, so my first thought was like, you know, maybe it’s a prank or April Fool’s joke,” festival ticket holder Toni Cooper said Monday. Cooper is planning to drive up from South Carolina for the event. Cooper was “bummed out” to hear Brown was no longer on the bill. “It’s just short notice for people to make arrangements if they do decide to sell their tickets and everything, so it was kind of shocking that it happened,” Cooper said. Sharie Taylor of Franklin County also thought the announcement was an April Fool’s Day joke. “I was like, ’50 Cent?’ I am 26-years-old, so Chris Brown is like a little more nostalgic for me than 50 Cent was,” Taylor said. “I was really just kind of disappointed…I was like, ‘I want to see Chris Brown.'” While Taylor said she will still enjoy the festival, “the vibe will definitely be different.” Henry Gilmore of Kings Mountain, N.C., said he isn’t selling his ticket, but some of his friends are, in light of the new lineup. “If I were to see the lineup today, I wouldn’t buy a ticket,” Gilmore said.

Though we know why we want to be friends with dogs, sometimes we wonder why they want to be friends with us? Scroll down to see some of the cutest Akitas, compiled by The Dogman. in Awww Though we know why we want to be friends with dogs, sometimes we wonder why they want to be friends with us? Scroll down to see some of the cutest Akitas, compiled by The Dogman.

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With roughly a trillion shows on TV, the ending of a series is no longer the “cancel all my plans” event it once was. Nowadays it’s hard to imagine that the 1983 finale of “M*A*S*H” was watched by a staggering 106 million people — nearly half the country at the time. Or that “Cheers’” last episode snagged 84 million viewers in 1993. And that, in 1998, 76 million tuned in for the controversial closer of “Seinfeld.” Sunday night’s finale of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” by “Seinfeld” creator Larry David, won’t do numbers like those. Not even pretty … pretty … pretty close. But, after 24 years on the air, the finish line for “Curb” feels momentous all the same. That’s because it’s one of the last comedy series — if not the last — to let us laugh without cumbersome strings attached.    The brilliant show, which ran 12 seasons, had no morals, no grand causes and no hug-it-out, heartwarming conclusions. Unless, of course, you count Bill Buckner successfully catching a baby thrown from a fiery Manhattan apartment. building as heartwarming. With its largely improvised dialogue and personalties so huge they should be Wonders of the World, “Curb” was all about the bit. Unsparingly so. David, who, like Jerry Seinfeld, played a fictionalized version of himself, was my kind of television hero: a perpetually annoyed Jewish man in Los Angeles who just wanted to play golf and be left the hell alone. And yet, everybody else was hellbent on bothering him. Yes, Larry got into some adventures. In Season 4, he played Max Bialystock in the LA production of “The Producers” with David Schwimmer. In Season 6, Larry and wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) amusingly housed a displaced Hurricane Katrina family called the Blacks. In Season 7, the miser worked on a “Seinfeld” reunion. And in Season 8, he moved back to New York solely to avoid attending a charity event. But, like the title suggests, Larry was never particularly excited about any of these developments. They’d simply happen to him, much to his chagrin. Oh, how I’ll miss his shouting matches over nothing with Susie “You bald motherf – – ker!” Essman. Or when J.B. Smoove as Leon uttered the craziest, filthiest similes imaginable. I cherish the old-school chops that the late actors Richard Lewis and Bob Einstein (as Marty Funkhouser) kept alive. Larry also delivered almost as many lexicon-worthy catchphrases as “Seinfeld” did. For losers who don’t use coasters: “Do you respect wood?” For opportunists who try to weasel their way to the front of a line by starting a conversation: “The chat and cut!” For a bored partygoer who wants to elevate a casual conversation: “Medium talk!” There are too many unforgettable scenarios to mention, but I still howl when Larry messes up the obituary for Jeff’s (Jeff Garlin) “beloved aunt.” And, my God, the time the little girl at the movies called him out for sneaking in a water bottle inside his trousers. There was Ted Danson quietly admitting, “I’m Anonymous,” and Larry, the social assassin, chastising his friend’s wife for constantly saying “LOL” out loud. The past three seasons have been more hit-and-miss, I know, but last year’s KKK saga and the recent “I’m disgruntled!” plot were as inspired as ever. The truth is we barely watch so-called comedies to chuckle anymore. Audiences enjoy “The Bear” and “Only Murders in the Building” for their story, writing and acting. Not the jokes. At the Emmys, comedy no longer means hilarious — it means lightish. “Abbott Elementary” is the funniest of the pack that’s left. But seeing that the ABC sitcom is set in a poorly funded school, there is still an undercurrent of seriousness and a primary aim of kindness. In “Curb” there were no niceties. Ever. Death was hysterical. Divorce? A riot. The show had Michael J. Fox mock his Parkinson’s disease, and in another episode, a Holocaust survivor got into a fight with a contestant from CBS’s reality show “Survivor.” “ I’m a survivor!” they yelled back and forth at dinner. Nothing was sacred — except laughter. And that’s pretty … pretty … pretty rare. The “Curb Your Enthusiasm” series finale airs on HBO Sunday, April 7, at 10 p.m. ET.