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I have three rules...
Practice, practice and more practice.
Leon Dogan
I have asked sifu many times about his martial arts training and have been lucky enough to hear many stories. Some funny, some shocking, but all undoubtedly reflecting someone that has been bornwith martial arts engraved in their heart. I therefore wanted to share this short biography of Leon sifu. It certainly does not contain everything, but will hopefully provide you with a glimpse into how Leon became the sifu we all greatly respect. I have to note that sifu has never been concerned with telling anyone about his training, the numerous articles he has written or the behind the scenes work involved in promoting Lam family. He has always been truly humble in the skills and experience he has gained over many years and it has taken us a long time to convince our sifu to step out ofthe shadows, and this short article is that first step and first insight. He has many training stories that we believe are worth sharing and could not be featured here. We therefore have a feature that will appear in our monthly newsletter dedicated to it. Hope that you enjoy the read. Best wishes, Heather (senior student of Leon Dogan)
Sifu Leon Dogan has always had a deep passion for martial arts, and has devoted his time and effort to train that passion from a very young age. Sifu grew up in Turkey, in a city where martial arts training was limited at the time, and the opportunity just to walk into a school of your choice was absent. The two main combat orientated sports available were wrestling, the Turkish national sport, and Taekwondo, a sport which grew in the 60's, and for which Turkey gained a good reputation for producing high quality competitors. Initially, sifu began to wrestle, as this was the only one out of the two available in the city he lived in.
Leon Dogan demo in China
In 1983, at the age of 10, a taekwondo school opened in the city, but unfortunately, like most things, classes had to be paid for and sifu did not have the money to do so. Like any 10 year old child, he turned to his parents and begged, pleaded, for the opportunity to go (every child would naturally die without it, right?), yet his parents stood firm and persisted they would not pay for lessons. Undeterred by this, Leon decided to find jobs to fund lessons and began selling pastries for commission from a bakery, rising at 4am to sell everything before school, and even shining shoes with friends after school to make enough money to go. When he finally had the money together he went back to his parents for permission to train. Impressed by his determination and will power to succeed, he was allowed to start Taekwondo, his first and certainly not his last taste of martial arts. His teachers were impressed, not just by his skill, but his mature attitude and dedication to training. What is still clear to this day and something I'm sure his teachers saw in him then, was a hunger to train/ learn driven straight from the heart. A strength/ quality I believe has shaped him into the great martial artist he is today.
Leon Dogan with Lam Cho Sigung
Martial arts training has changed dramatically over time, but back then, your teacher was seen as an important figure in your life, a second parent if you will, trusted unconditionally to do the right thing by his students. As a result, training then was very different and extremely tough. Children were often paired with adults, learning immediately to deal with the strength of someone at least three times their weight and twice their size. Focus pads and kick shields were non-existent, so you became the kick shield or your hand became the focus mit. Leon sifu was taught the effectiveness of strikes and kicks through experiencing them himself. Hands-on teaching was paramount. At the time, classes were disciplined; the teachers at school had sticks, his taekwondo instructor had his hands and his feet to deal out punishment. Competitions between members were frequent; a fond memory of Leon sifu'swas the 'circle of pain.' Surrounded by five individuals (mostly adults), you had to defend yourself against all of them at once for a set period of time. This was full contact, no pads, no guards and no mercy. Cuts, bruises, excruciating pain and the occasional joint dislocation were all delightful parts of training in those days, but although this may sound brutal, the underlying lessons to be learnt were clear. It was not mindless. For sifu this training was invaluable and he learnt to work hard, to be disciplined, and to persevere regardless of what got thrown at him. Something that has never left sifu since.
Leon Dogan with Lam chun Sing sifu
He moved to the UK in his early teens, unsure whether he would like London, but excited for the ample opportunities that would be available to do other martial arts. He quickly immersed himself in that world, reading books and magazines and training all different types of martial arts, including Hung Gar. Every spare moment around his education was spent training. For many, martial arts is merely a hobby, but for sifu it became a lifestyle. He would train as much as he could and with as many different people he could find. This allowed him to practice what he knew and discover through that practice the effectiveness of what he had learnt. This is something that shows clearly through his teaching. Always challenging what you think you know and opening your eyes more and more to what Hung Gar has to offer. After spending a few years in London and following advice from his teacher, he pursued his learning/ training of Hung Gar further under Lam Family's guidance in Hong Kong.
Leon at Lam Cho sigung's School
This was certainly not a straightforward or easy task. Leon worked several jobs and sold everything he had to make his first initial trip to Hong Kong. Armed only with a picture in a magazine, he set out to find Grandmaster Lam Cho's school. Unable to speak the language, travelling school to school with no clue on where to go or who to talk to, at times completely disappointed and unsure what to do when people were unwilling to help and doors were slammed to his face, he finally found Grandmaster's school through a friend he met in Hong Kong. This was a life changing moment for Leon sifu. He became part of Lam Family, training at Great Grandmaster Lam Cho's legendary school, under the personal guidance of his sifu, Lam Chun Sing. After training for many years, Leon sifu knew he had found where he belonged and after travelling back and forth many times, he made the decision to move to Hong Kong to fully immerse himself in his training and dedicate his time to the practice of Hung Gar. He also pursued other interests, learning traditional lion dance and certain aspects of Chinese medicine. Leon sifu trained every day and was lucky to have the opportunity to still train at the school at times when most students could not. His training was intense, and he was fortunate enough to learn from different members of the Lam family and indeed has fond memories of all of them. Leon sifu was pushed to his limits and beyond. Phrases such as 'lower,' 'faster,' 'again' from Master Lam have not left him and are very familiar sounds used in his own school today. Master Lam continually challenged him and was extremely hands-on, readily showing applications/ techniques. Leon sifu was also extremely lucky, as despite Great Grandmaster Lam Cho officially being retired, he would still correct and help the students training at the school. He was a perfectionist and naturally demanded that perfection from everyone and Leon sifu was no exception. He often referred to Leon sifu as "Ying Gok Jai"(English boy) correcting/ helping him as he saw fit.
Leon showing Lau Gar Gwan
As a student, it was also important to him to help promote Lam family and help them as much as he could. Leon sifu has always remained selfless in that respect, doing all he can, writing articles, designing web sites, helping new students, often driving and participating in projects without wanting any acknowledgement or credit in return. A rare quality to be admired and perhaps one of the main reasons this article has taken so long to write. Leon sifu has always made it clear that it is completely unnecessary. It does not contribute to his training or make him a better Kung Fu practitioner, but as his student, I feel it's my duty to merely highlight his commitment to martial arts goes beyond just training and teaching.
Leon is forever grateful to Lam family for accepting him into their Kung fu family and openly teaching him their family art of Hung Kuen. He is also thankful to all his senior Kung fu brothers in Hong Kong for all their guidance and help. Leon has spent many years following and learning from Lam Chun Sing sifu and his family and still continues to do so today. He has assisted his sifu with teaching Lam Family Kung Fu to students from all over the world, organizing seminars, workshops and private lessons, promoting and representing the family style in many different countries. Leon sifu is the official representative of Lam Family Hung Kuen in the United Kingdom and has dedicated his life, time and effort to the practice and promotion of Lam Family Hung Kuen.
Now with over 30 years experience, Leon sifu is dedicated to teaching and passing on the system the way he learnt it, holding martial values, such as honesty, perseverance, loyalty, generosity and humility close to his heart. We are lucky that Leon sifu teaches from the heart and therefore cares about every single student at his school, demanding perfection from everyone and openly teaching the system the way he learnt it. Since I have been here, sifu has always said that there are three key ingredients to make a good martial artist. A good teacher, a good method of teaching and a good student. There are certainly two out of the three here already, and I believe it is up to you and and I to become the third.


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Saipan's Lucrative Casino Lures Filipino Gaming Aficionados
There has been a "gradual increase" in the number of Filipinos gaming aficionados traveling to Saipan for casino gambling, a tourism marketing group said Wednesday.
Aviareps, a leading tourism, hospitality, and aviation representation company, said Filipino high stake rollers visit Saipan because they want a break from the traditional destinations such as Macau and Las Vegas.
Saipan is home to what has been cited in reports as one of the most "lucrative" casinos in the world, the Best Sunshine Live Casino.
Recent data from Aviareps showed that there has been a 15 percent increase in the number of Filipino tourists visiting Taiwan this year. More than 1,000 Filipinos are traveling to Saipan monthly this year.
Aviareps Philippines Office Director Jean Lugan said that although Saipan has only one casino, it is strategically integrated to other places of activities within the island.
"It is increasingly becoming a buzzword for Filipino gaming aficionados," Lugan said in a press statement.
Lugan further said that Saipan is also becoming a very attractive destination for Filipinos with the existence of direct flights from the Philippines courtesy of flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).
She said that Saipan has an advantage because of its proximity and the large Filipino community in the island. Filipinos currently account for close to 40 percent of Saipan total population of 55,000.
Saipan quickly catapulted to the top in terms of its reputation in the gaming industry rivaling some of the world's biggest gambling enterprises with its Best Sunshine Live Casino which only opened in 2015.
Last year, the casino reported revenues amounting to USD 32.40 billion from its VIP Tables, higher than gaming giant Venetian Macau which generated USD 28.90 billion.
In the same year, Best Sunshine Live also collected more than 50 percent in income compared to Macau's Wynn Resorts Ltd.
Best Sunshine Live is a temporary casino run by Best Sunshine International which is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International.
The temporary casino will be running until the five-phase construction of the permanent casino. The target for the integrated resort project is to have 4,252 rooms, 300 villas, 1,600 gaming tables and 3,500 slot machines.
Estimates of Imperial Pacific's total investment for the resort is now at USD 7 billion. The first phase of the project started last January. The second phase will be acquiring the lease of the land now housing the Mariana Resort & Spa when it expires in 2018. (PNA)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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tv News Al Jazeera December 30, 2015 11:00pm-11:31pm EST
>> gierchg everyone. good evening everyone i'm jonathan betz and this is al jazeera america.lives lost and evacuations ordered. missouri facing heavy rains and a rising mississippi river. plus. no laughing matter, an icon of american comedy out on bail after being hit with sexual assault charges. and trouble in paradise. puerto rico ahead of schedule is
announcing it will default on part of its nearly $1 billion in debt. and we begin tonight in missouri, the mississippi river is reaching heights never measured before. rising water is breaching levees protecting farms and homes and people are now scrambling to get to higher ground. al jazeera's andy rosegen is out there in the middle of it all. andy what are you seeing night? >> jonathan, take a look, the merrimac river is covering the intersection for days. 46 feet, 20 feet above flood stage. the mississippi river as you mentioned which the merrimac
needs 52, is about 20 feet above flood stage. trouble brewing interstate 55, out of st. louis, they are putting sand bags there, water is starting to get close there. the head of i dot, missouri department of transportation, are keeping their fingers crossed. adding to the thousands of people that have already been chased from their homes by the floodwaters. missouri's governor calls it the worst. >> water levels are predicted to exceed, the historic crest of the flood of 1993, which caused significant and widespread devastation. >> always missed flooding in the past realized their luck had run out and for others the race to recover what they can is still on. >> sounds brutal. we just been working to get everything out and didn't get it all but we got what we could.
>> the merrimac river has never been this high before. and it just keeps creeping up on this convenience store in fenton, missouri. >> this is insane. i've never seen it this bad before. >> neither has the state's department of transportation. authorities have closed a 24 mile stretch of interstate 44 just outside of st. louis. mother nature has closed highway 141. >> this is a very important highway to the region, it has 150,000 vehicles that trafer on it now it has water on it. >> it is worrisome. in this neighborhood of about 100 homes no one can get in or out by car, including loorissa's parents. >> that car is stuck and my car is pretty low to the ground so i walk. >> the rising water means many people are using whatever they have to get around. these guys were relying on an inflatable raft.
>> we feel bad for all the people who have lost houses and homes. my uncle hasn't done very well. >> an emt reminded them that the water even overwhelmed a sewage treatment treatment plant. andy rosegen, al jazeera. expected to crest sometimes in the next few hours jonathan but the tough news jonathan once they do crest it will take about 24 hours for them to start receding. >> the damage is far from over. you mentioned the sandbagging and other things done to try to stop this but what has the governor announced to try deal with this flooding? >> well he has brought in the national guard. also he is focusing an st. louis for the national guard because that's where all this water is heading right now, in fact. he has called a state of
emergency in missouri to deal with this and he did talk to president obama today who told him there would be help from the federal government if the governor asks for it. jonathan. >> thank you andy. franklin county initially one of the worst hit counties. what is the sentence of the is e there. >> we are facing a lot of damage, both to our fracture to infrastructure and places of employment. the extent of the damage is not known fully at this point, just because the water has not receded. we are looking forward to the water receding so we can evaluate and continue our next
steps into recovery. >> help us understand how extensive this is. how many homes flooded, how many neighborhoods underwater right now? >> within franklin county we are looking at two municipalities specifically and many unincorporated areas throughout county. this is just one portion of this large event. and look at this from a regional approach, we're going to be looking at as very, very large incident, all the way from the polaski county area which is just west tall way into the boot hills of missouri. >> a large incident with a very, very long recovery. how does that look for you guys right now? >> right now our recovery process is beginning. we are getting our citizens the information they need to take the next steps as far as cleanup and when that's available as well as providing them with information as to how to get back into the residence. how to ensure that thef the pre.
so evacuation came early. it was effective and efficient, i know that it's always hard to leave your home and there are many residents that decided to stay. but there's also great success. and the preparation efforts that were taken throughout the county. >> well, lit bright spot there amid a plot of devastation there. frank cook, emergency management office, thank you very much for your report tonight. >> thank you. >> one of the most famous tv dads has been arrested and charged with assault of a woman. bill cosby has claimed to have consent wall sexual contact with his accuser.
john terret has the story. >> jonathan, good evening. bill cosby appeared to be a broken man. he walked with his lawyers. one of whom said the charges against cosby are unjustified and he will be exonerated. >> cosby, arriving in an office in the philadelphia suburb. first criminal charge, aggravated assault filed in pennsylvania. >> these charges stem from a sexual assault that took place on an evening in early 2004. at mr. cosby's home in cheltenham township. this is a felony of the first degree. >> he's pledged to be tough on sexual predators referring to cosby in particular.
>> charges today are filed as a result of new information that came to light in july of 2015. statute of limitations in this type of case is 12 years. >> that statute runs out this week, as a result of a civil suit in 2005, stemming from an alleged 2004 incident in which andrea constant went to his home in 2004. in a civil suit filed by constant, cosby said they had consent wall sex. wednesday constant's lawyer issued a statement saying: >> gloria allred who represents many of the women who alleged
cosby sexually assaulted them, says in 40 years of practice she's never seen anything like them nor their clients. >> some of them are really concerned that there was never a criminal prosecution and were very concerned there never would be. so we're happy that this is receiving criminal scrutiny. >> he was one of the first black actors to have a leading role in a network drama, i spy. he's one of the giants of television, and became america's favorite tv dad, cliff huxtable. the cosby show played all over the world, cementing his fame. but there have long been rumors about his conduct towards women.
cosby was driven to the police station for fingerprinting and the posting of $1 million bond. he's due in court in about two weeks. >> when cosby came out of court, someone said to him, good luck to you sir, he said thank you. they'll now have to decide who they believe, andrea constant or bill cosby. thank you. john terret, thank you. i previous spoke to a woman who said cobs assaulted her in 1970. asked her what she thought. >> it was so emotional. it's hard to process evening now. >> conflicting why do you say that? >> i think it's probably going to take -- you know, it made me feel i wanted to cry, seeing his
mugshot and at the same time, i was seeing him looking frail, and stumbling and thri thinkingo myself, he's an actor. he's doing this very well. he's a good actor. he fooled all of us. i just want him to be exposed so that no other woman can ever experience what we experienced. >> and as she says she will testify against cosby if asked. chicago police department is overhauling its tactics after several officer involved shootings. tasers, officers will be trained ouse them first before drawing their guns. embattled chicago mayor rahm emanuel cut his vacation to announce this. ash-har quraishi last more. >> just because you train you
can use force doesn't mean you should and helping officers have that distinction and the training that goes with it is essential. >> reporter: he says the changes will focus on deescalation training, to help officers use training before using deadly forced. >> a lot of officers are trained to make sure they get home safely. when you take this all together, what was said the oarl day, the goal is to make sure everyone goes home safely. >> the goal is to double the number of tasers, from 700 to 1400. >> we're looking for best practice, and by no means, was our policy ever shoot first and ask questions later. quite the contrary. >> the changes come after weeks of unrest following release of dash cam video the city withheld
for over a year. that showed the chicago police officer shooting 16 shots, into la quan mcdonald carrying a small knife. shet dead two piem people, quinntonio lagrier and his neighbor, bettie jones. >> on tuesday, a small number of protestors demonstrated outside mayor emanuel's north side home calling for him to step down. >> i don't foresee rahm emanuel standing down or resigning but he understands because he's a politically savvy animal and somebody who knows the lay of the land that he has an awful lot of fence-mending to do and
it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be fast. >> it's unclear whether the mayor's plan will be enough to calm the voice calling for his resignation. but it is not going to be the last. the department of justice is also investigating cpd. ash-har quraishi, al jazeera, chicago. >> also ahead on al jazeera america, close encounter. one of the world's busiest waterways confrontation. plus eavesdropping on israel, reports that america was spying on israeli president benjamin netanyahu.
>> new moms forced to choose. >> the united states does lag behind other countries on this. >> now a revolution in workers' rights... >> my story is so many
peoples' story. >> that could decide the election. >> it can be different. >> syrian forces say they are making progress in the southwest part of that country. syria's army says it's regaifned territory stretching from dplasks down to darrah. helped bashar al-assad's government. first offensive in the south since russia entered the war back in september. there are new tensions tonight between united states and iran. the united states is accusing iran of launching a rocket near war ships of united states and
france. >> u.s. carrier harry s. truman is on duty in the strait of hormuz, greeted by what could be seen as a gesture of defiance from some small iranian fast attack boats. according to the u.s. navy, the small boats fired several unguided rockets in close proximity about 1500 yards to the u.s. carrier truman, the u.s. ship buckley and the french carrier province. the u.s. navy's fifth fleet issued a statement calling the action he by the iranian islamic navy highly provocative.
it says, firing weapons so close to passing ships within an internationally recognized maritime traffic lane is unsafe unprofessional and inconsistent with international maritime law. the u.s. navy has said there have been two similar incidents in the past one more than a year ago, another back in april but in those cases the rockets were fired miles away from the shipping lanes. senate armed services committee chairman senator john mccain was quick to poa tra or the pore incident as an unftc violate of its swrcial commitments for fear iran will walk away from the nuclear deal. iran has often tried to intimidate the united states navy and assert control over the strait of hormuz.
u.s. navy spokesman says the navy is confident in its ability to deefngd its forces if necessary and operate in what it insists on call the aarabian gulf not the persian gulf. jamie mcintire, the pentagon. eastward dropped on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the wall street journal first broke this story. unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. al jazeera's rosiland jordan has more from washington. >> the israeli government is suggest that it may file a formal complaint with the obama administration because of allegations published in the wall street journal that the white house has continued to spy on the prime minister, bssments anbenjaminnetanyahu and on othep israeli officials.
continuing to spy ton israeli government because of concerns that israel was going to try find a way to derail the-e glos between the p-5 plus one and iran over that country's nuclear program. even though the white house has not condemned or rejected the story officials unnamed in the wall street journal piece suggested they had to continue to do things like at a this for national security purposes. something that one israeli noicial said, friends don't to do to one another. >> puerto rico will default on its debt, for the second time in two months. the governor said at the time not make a $37 million interest payment. hopes that house speaker paul ryan will push for legislation that will allow the island to
restructure its debt. >> i think he can lead the house to produce a comprehensive bill that will how puerto rico to restructure its debt. we present what they ask, a five year fiscal control plan. so they now have our part. we need theirs. >> and without help governor padilla said the island may not have the money to make future payments. art that delivers a powerful message about climate change. and speaking of completelying ice. freak temperatures that could have santa stuck in the mud on his way back to the north pole. pole.
>> so listening to this. a freak storm at the north pole has pushed temperatures well above freezing. this is the same storm that's caused disastrous flooding in the midwest and the southern parts of the united states. but temperatures in the north pole were 50 degrees higher than average for this time of year. it was so warm that at least for part of the day today, the north pole had the same temperature as chicago and was actually warmer than a lot of other u.s. cities.
let that sink in there. finally tonight, mural artist sean, also known as hola, went to paint oglacier there. as the ice melted so did his images. here is his message in a first person report. >> i created these pieces with my usual techniques of kind of using the environment as my canvas. i used my stand-up surf board to get to the iceberg in the water. it took a couple of days to scout the right one. it had to be right the texture and size. but finally found it and i had about a day to get it done. i decided the main iceberg that i painted in the water was of a girl floating in the water. she had her chin back and as it melted, she had this last
gasping brefts ifnlg. gasping breath as i was painting it. it was a quick are life span than i originally thought. originally i thought it would last a couple of months but after seeing that it was more like ocouple of weeks if that. this project was especially personal for me, i felt like i had to get out. growing up from hawaii, we have a value, we say malama aina, protect the land. i want the art, for people who stumble upon it to see this fing melting into the ocean like a wake up call like a whoa, what's going on? i really like that aspect of it being more a performance piece and showing people that you know, this is a real problem for a lot of people nowadays, and
it's kind of a foreshadow of what's going to be happening everywhere. >> real artist sean uro. i'm jonathan betz, thank you. fully time for more news head to aljazeera.com. "inside story" right now. [ ♪ ] looking at the river of money flowing through not for profit schools, for profit businesses wanted in on the action, and they have gotten huge, offering students flexible degree programs and professional training. thousands of students that take government-backed loans end up heavily in debt with no degree and little to show for the experience. with the recent bankruptcy of one of biggest for-profit corporations, we ask if the schools are a good deal for students.
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Production of the Harley-Davidson LiveWire Has Been Put On Hold
Following the discovery of a "non-standard condition"
By Leandre Grecia for Topgear.com.ph | Oct 17, 2019
IMAGE TopGear
The Harley-Davidson LiveWire deviates a bit from the usual Harley—not only is it quieter, it packs an electric powertrain as well—but that's what makes it such a revolutionary bike. As innovative as it is, however, recent findings have forced the LiveWire and its makers to temporarily take a step back from going into production.
"We recently discovered a non-standard condition during a final quality check; stopped production and deliveries; and began additional testing and analysis, which is progressing well," Harley-Davidson said in a statement, according to a report by CNBC. "We are in close contact with our LiveWire dealers and customers and have assured them they can continue to ride LiveWire motorcycles. As usual, we're keeping high quality as our top priority."
The American motorcycle maker has yet to reveal more information regarding the LiveWire's 'non-standard' condition, nor did it give a specific timeline as to when production will resume.
Harley-Davidson has begun distributing units of the LiveWire to its dealers only recently. There have even been talks about bringing the electric Harley to the Philippines during the opening of a new showroom earlier this month. If that had you hoping for a chance to see one in the metal right here on our streets, then we're sorry to burst your bubble—it's safe to assume that it won't be arriving anytime soon.
This story originally appeared on Topgear.com.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
Leandre Grecia for Topgear.com.ph
View Other Articles From Leandre
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Monster in the City: Test-Riding the Ducati Monster 821


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San Diego Strip Clubshotadmin2017-07-09T09:28:45-04:00
Strip Clubs in San Diego California
It is expressive, fun and an amazing way to meet People. Dancing plays a large role in San Diego nightlife scene and the strip clubs around town offer music to suit a variety of tastes. Keep in mind that most of the top strip dance clubs are placed in the Gaslamp Quarter, with a few sprinkled around other parts of the nation.
One of the large-city style San Diego strippers strip dance clubs, FLUXX, is literally in rival motion with globe renowned DJs and an interior theme than replaces every few months. The atmosphere is upscale, sexy, and sophisticated. Its expert staff reads like a who's who of nightlife San Diego California industry.
If salsa, tango, or flamenco is more your speed, have a look at Café Sevilla where over fourteen taps are on offer. This Spanish restaurant revs up strip dancing after dinner, including salsa lessons.
Country music fans now head to Moonshine Flats, a more high country strip bar in the Gaslamp Quarter that is a hit with guests regardless of musical flavor. Dan Diego biggest dance floor I s here, along with arcade games, modern twist and old-fashioned rinks and more.
Bar Dynamite
Bar Dynamite amazing history includes a former life as Club Nagasaki which provided to mostly San Diego thriving aerospace industry. It became Bar Dynamic and in the 80s it was little much a dive bar for who like an early tipple and domestic bands. Music varies between electronic club music, reggae, hip hop, soul, and funk with strip girls.
Moonshine Flats
Moonshine Flats is a ton of country excitement in the Gaslamp Quarter. It is one of the 2 places in San Diego to strip dance to country. The 10,000 square-foot venue specs dozens of interactive elements, multiple levels, 5 bars throughout, including the longest bar on the west coast spanning eighteen feet, San Diego female strippers and biggest strip dance floor, 2 raised platforms for dance shows, a 6 x6 raised "dance pod" and a moveable DJ booth, a big stage that hosts home bands in face of a floor-to-ceiling LED display.
Bang Bang features are 3 separate concepts in one space – 1 part Asian fusion restaurant, one Part Theater, one part sushi par which hosts DJs, live music, strip females, and is home to the biggest disco ball west of the Mississippi. Backed by Johnny Shockey, nightlife impresario, and LED, Bang Bang provides unparalleled fun, with some of the hottest ladies, inviting guests to come for dinner and stay the rest of the night.


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Chris Christie: "I Can't Take My Eyes Off" NFL Draftee Smoking Pot From Gas Mask
"When I was a prosecutor, I would've gone in and cuffed this guy," Christie said.
By Christopher Massie
Christopher Massie BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on April 29, 2016, at 1:23 p.m. ET
Mel Evans / AP
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Chris Christie says he can't take his eyes off the video showing NFL draftee Laremy Tunsil smoking marijuana out of a gas mask.
Christie, a notorious Cowboys fan, spent much of Friday morning filling in for Boomer Esiason on the Boomer & Carton show on WFAN radio and analyzing Thursday night's first round of the NFL draft. The video of Tunsil, a top prospect ultimately drafted by the Miami Dolphins, showed him smoking from a bong connected to a gas mask.
"It's unbelievable," Christie said. "Because the bong hits aren't enough. Give me the gas mask too. It's incredible. I can't take my eyes off it. It's unbelievable."
Earlier in the interview, Christie, who opposes marijuana legalization, said, "When I was a prosecutor, I would've gone in and cuffed this guy," adding, "I would've been all over it."
Christie also expressed sympathy towards Tunsil, saying, "Poor kid in that respect. I mean, he did it. But who's the guy that hates him enough that they had access to the video and put it on. I mean, wow."
In the interview, Christie and regular host Craig Carton also joked about Knicks head coach Kurt Rambis, who in February, was caught having liked pornographic photos on Twitter.
"Live and let live," Christie said, before the two men joked about what it would be like if they viewed similar pictures on Carton's phone.
"Oh, what is she doing there?" said Carton. "Oh, what is that upside down?"
"I didn't know a human being could do that," Christie quipped.
"That's flexibility," Carton replied.
Here's the full interview:
Christopher Massie is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Christopher Massie at Christopher.Massie@buzzfeed.com.


So I have lived in Orpington the whole of my life. And as it falls in zone 6, under the category of London Borough, and qualified me with a free oyster card as a teenager I have always proudly claimed to live in London.
However, I have recently moved into Putney with my boyfriend. Real life central London. And now I'm here I'm loving finding new and exciting things to do in, what is my opinion, the best city in the world!
This week my boyfriend and I headed over to the Barbican to check out the Rain Room.
When I told my dad about what we did he sarcastically asked me why I would que to go stand in the rain when I could go outside any time of day and stand in it for free.
The rain room is the brain child of Random International. In a nut shell the installation makes its own rain. You are effectively standing indoors in a room full of rain. However, onto the cool part, where you walk the rain stops. Some kind of sensors, or science hobojobo I don't quite understand, sense where you are walking and the rain stops. It's like walking in a protective bubble. Seriously cool. Ironically it did rain the whole journey there and back. Sods law.
The exhibition is free, available until March at the Barbican Centre, and the queue time is around 2 hours.
Today I went with two friends to the Prince Charles Cinema in Leciester Sq to watch a breakfast club showing of Stand By Me (a really cute film about four boys friendship in 1950s America, proving that your mum jokes have been around for decades). For £6.50 we got free tea and coffee, DOUGHNUTS! and cheap bacon and egg sandwiches, they were £1.50 each. The cinema was really nice, really big, with comfy, plush seating.
The cinema does all kinds of eccentric showings, such as a Mean Girl quote along, Lion King Sing Along, South Park swear along, Ice cream, wine and good times, along with much more!
Have you uncovered any of London's secrets? Let me know!
Mean girls quote along sounds like the best thing I've ever heard of!


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We're excited to share insights from our lawyers working at the forefront of legal developments in the technology and media sectors. With our Digital Business blog, our aim is to bring you insightful content about how the law can affect your digital business, or the expansion of your physical business into the digital realm. Or, take a look at our Media Writes blog where our media & sports specialists are pairing up with our tech experts and clients to create insights on how tech developments are affecting media & sports.
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Germany – The use of influencers in social media – The latest "hat trick" of the BGH
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Influencer posts in favour of a third-party company for consideration
According to the BGH, influencers offering goods and services (e.g. fitness courses, online shops, advertising for other companies for a fee) and advertising them via their posts on social media…
Netherlands – Publication of Advertising Code for Online Games of Chance 2021
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Relationship between ROK and RVK
The RVK, which came into force in 2015, partly covers the same subject matter as the ROK. For example, both advertising codes contain similar provisions regarding unfair advertising, responsible participation, cooperation of participants in advertising…
Technology Projects: Managing the Risks of Innovation and Change Part 3: Contract Reset and Dispute Resolution
By Jeremy Sharman
Customers in long-term technology projects can find that while they have been working towards their chosen solution a more advanced, cheaper, or simply more desirable technology has become available. The benefits of switching solutions may be very significant, but exiting…
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Smart contracts, where some or all of the contractual obligations are defined in and/or performed automatically by a computer program, are expected to have a significant impact on the way business is done. Whilst already being deployed for relatively straightforward…
Cybersecurity: Council adopts its position on the NIS2 Directive
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On 15 December 2020, the European Commission published proposals for two regulations to regulate digital services, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. According to the Commission's press release, the two proposals are a central part of the…
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text:
Q: Does the initialization vector (IV) for AES encryption in Java contain the password? After reading different threads I've put together the following test code to encrypt and decrypt a string. In the real application the encrypted string will be stored in a file and decrypted after restarting the application and reading the file. Therefore I've to store the initialization vector (IV), too. In test code this is simulated by holding the IV in a member variable initializer. After all, application and test code work fine.
But I wonder, whether the password becomes somehow part of the IV: password goes into keySpec, keySpec is used to generate the secretKey, secretKey becomes part of secretKeySpec which is used to initialize cipher, the IV is retrieved from the parameter spec of the parameters of cipher ...
... so the password is potentially part of the IV, isn't it? And I don't want to store the password along with the encrypted text, of course.
@Test
public void test06() throws Exception {
    char[] password = "password".toCharArray();
    String s = "an unencryted string to be encrypted and decrypted";
    byte[] sEncrypted = encrypt(password, s);
    String sEncryptedDecrypted = decrypt(password, sEncrypted);
    Assert.assertEquals(s, sEncryptedDecrypted);
}

private static final byte[] KEY_SALT = { (byte) 0xc7, (byte) 0x73, (byte) 0x21, (byte) 0x8c, (byte) 0x7e,
        (byte) 0xc8, (byte) 0xee, (byte) 0x99 };
private static final int KEY_ITERATION_COUNT = 1024;
private static final String CIPHER_TRANSFORMATION = "AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding";
private static final int KEY_LENGTH = 128;
private static final String SECRET_KEY_FACTORY_ALGORITHM = "PBKDF2WithHmacSHA1";
private static final String CIPHER_ALGORITHM = "AES";
private static final String CHARSET_NAME = "UTF-8";
private byte[] initializer;

public byte[] encrypt(final char[] password, final String s) throws Exception {
    KeySpec keySpec = new PBEKeySpec(password, KEY_SALT, KEY_ITERATION_COUNT, KEY_LENGTH);
    SecretKeyFactory secretKeyFactory = SecretKeyFactory.getInstance(SECRET_KEY_FACTORY_ALGORITHM);
    SecretKey secretKey = secretKeyFactory.generateSecret(keySpec);
    Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance(CIPHER_TRANSFORMATION);
    SecretKeySpec secretKeySpec = new SecretKeySpec(secretKey.getEncoded(), CIPHER_ALGORITHM);
    cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, secretKeySpec);
    initializer = cipher.getParameters().getParameterSpec(IvParameterSpec.class).getIV();
    return cipher.doFinal(s.getBytes(CHARSET_NAME));
}

public String decrypt(final char[] password, final byte[] sEncrypted) throws Exception {
    KeySpec keySpec = new PBEKeySpec(password, KEY_SALT, KEY_ITERATION_COUNT, KEY_LENGTH);
    SecretKeyFactory secretKeyFactory = SecretKeyFactory.getInstance(SECRET_KEY_FACTORY_ALGORITHM);
    SecretKey secretKey = secretKeyFactory.generateSecret(keySpec);
    Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance(CIPHER_TRANSFORMATION);
    SecretKeySpec secretKeySpec = new SecretKeySpec(secretKey.getEncoded(), CIPHER_ALGORITHM);
    cipher.init(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE, secretKeySpec, new IvParameterSpec(initializer));
    final byte[] sByteArray = cipher.doFinal(sEncrypted);
    return new String(sByteArray, CHARSET_NAME);
}

A: No, the IV is not generated based on the password. The IV is randomly generated, and used to ensure that you don't get the same ciphertext if you encrypt the same plaintext twice with the same key.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Meetings of boards, major committees, and councils bog down when there are arguments, personality clashes, or fixed viewpoints. Any of these blocks productivity of the meeting. Dissent and argument are valuable, so lubrication is the way to proceed.
If I'm a member, I sit where I can feel everyone, only contribute when needed, and then from intuition. Often someone who readily dissents will become a contributor to a consensus or even suggest a consensus that allows the group to accomplish its tasks.
When I forget to suspend judgment my efforts don't work. If I don't feel everyone in the room, my efforts don't work.
Even more effective is to scribe for the meeting. Write key phrases and summations of discussion on paper on an easel all can see. That evening, turn these into draft minutes, ask the chair to edit, and send the final version to everyone who attended.
I did this for the committee that set direction, values, and policies when two Red Cross Chapters merged. The best practices from each chapter were to be incorporated into the new one. Scribing was am effective contribution. The tools of consciousness lubricated discussion. The new chapter was very effective. Two other key committees of the new chapter asked me to scribe to keep them effective.


The Workmate 425 is a Black and Decker portable project center and vise. This sturdy and functional workbench is steel-constructed and can hold up to 550 pounds. This Black and Decker workbench features adjustable claws and swivel pegs, dual height adjustment and a one-handed clamp system for independent clamp adjustments. The Workmate 425 is designed for normal and heavy-duty projects and comes partly assembled.
Open the Workmate 425 box and empty the contents onto the floor. Make sure you have all the essential pieces and parts.
Insert the raised post on a top block into the small holes on the underside of the rear jaw. Insert a bolt through the top of the rear jaw and into the top block. Use the supplied wrench to tighten the bolt. Repeat this for the other side of the rear jaw.
Repeat Step 2 to assemble the middle jaw with the two remaining top blocks.
Remove the protective white clip from each of the vise screws and discard.
Line up the hole in the vise crank with the hole in the vise screw, which is protruding from the front of the vise jaw bracket. Push the vise crank onto the end of the vise screw. Use a hammer and strike one of the included pins into the aligned holes. Repeat this step to assemble the other vise crank.
Press the two snap-in knobs into the indicated holes on the vise cranks.
Assemble the front jaw with the two front top blocks as instructed in Step 2. Place the assembled jaw onto the folded frame, aligning the holes with the pivot nut holes. Insert a bolt into the holes of the front jaw and use a socket wrench to tighten the bolts into the pivot nuts.
Pull the front of the Workmate up and let it rest against your knee. Pull up the left and right release levers to unlock the workbench. Hold the footrest with one hand and use the other to push the top of the workbench up and away from you. This will lock the frame into place.
Close the Workmate when you are not using it by pulling the two release levers upward to unlock the unit. Pull the workbench back and down while holding the levers up.


Jeff knows that it takes the backing of his community and the voters to allow him to represent District 13. He is thankful for the continued support of those who dedicate their time and talents to his campaign.
If you would like to join the Agenbroad for Senate team, please contact us by filling out the form below or calling (208) 466-9315. Please consider putting up a yard sign, joining our email list and allowing us to name you as a supporter.
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text:
Game of Thrones breaks its own viewership record before season 6 finale
HBO says it's mainly due to streaming
By Julia Alexander Jun 23, 2016, 1:00pm EDT
Source USA Today
Share All sharing options for: Game of Thrones breaks its own viewership record before season 6 finale
HBO Now may have been down for this season's biggest Game of Thrones episode, "Battle of the Bastards", but HBO is crediting streaming as one of the main reasons Game of Thrones is seeing its biggest season yet in terms of ratings.
According to recent data, more than 23 million people tuned in for "Battle of the Bastards," after all avenues for viewing were taken into consideration — streaming, playback on DVRs, repeat viewings after the episode has aired and, of course, the original episode. That's a solid increase from last year's numbers, and marks a 15 percent rise in viewership overall from last season, even with the finale still looming on the horizon.
Most interesting, according to data collected by USA Today, while live viewership on Sundays increased 6 percent overall, viewing on platforms like HBO Go and HBO Now shot up 70 percent. It's because of those numbers that HBO is crediting its streaming platform with the record-breaking numbers for Game of Thrones.
There's still one episode left in the season, "The Winds of Winter", which will air this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. After this season, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are hoping to conclude the show with two shortened seasons, but HBO has yet to confirm whether those plans have been cemented.
Telltale's Game of Thrones - TV Cast Featurette


I love everything about Logan Square, and I couldn't have been more excited to explore the the neighborhood with them! First up on our trip we went to the far south side to one of their favorite fish shacks, and I was not disappointed! It's a gorgeous location right on the river with a cool rustic industrial vibe.


Let's see how we can take advantage of this new engine!
Firstly you need to enable the hidden menu under Tools -> Options, scroll to the bottom of the Application pane and tick the box next to the 'Show development menu'.
Drop this into any browser and your report will display as it would when published to Web Player. This could come handy if you just want to double-check that everything looks as it should in different browsers before published. It opens instantly so there is no need to wait for linked data to load, it will basically just open up that same session what you have in your Spotfire client. Also worth mentioning, that this is not a permanent link, once you close the client it will no longer work.
This is the coolest among the three, that's why I left it to the end. Open it and you'll face with the familiar Chrome developer tools.
If you messed up the appended style tag, you can easily get rid of it by reloading the browser with the above method.
This method worked for me even in 4.0 which didn't have a built in way to edit the HTML code of a Text Area as there was a way to edit it with an IronPython script but luckily you can do it from the GUI now.
That's it for this post. If you have any ideas what you can use this for let me know in the comments down below.


The Gold Label Barbie for Halloween 2014 is this lovely Haunted Beauty Mistress of the Manor. She wears an elegant purple gown, and carries a candelabra in one hand and the keys to the manor in the other.
She was scheduled to be released this week on September 15, 2014.
You can watch a video of her on YouTube courtesy of BFCSpotlight.


Following the Cambodian premiere of Angelina Jolie's new film First They Killed My Father in Siem Reap, Cambodia Saturday, co-screenwriter, rights activist and author of the book that inspired the movie, Loung Ung, spoke to PEOPLE about what it was like working on set, the challenges of portraying the Cambodian genocide on film and eating tarantulas to lighten the mood among the cast and crew. Read more….
The world premiere of Angelina Jolie's highly anticipated film First They Killed my Father is set for February 18 in Siem Reap, seven months before its release on Netflix. read more….


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The UFC Lightweight Division: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Frank Anguiano
For years in the UFC, the 205 pound weight class was the glamour division for the promotion. With stars such as Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, and a plethora of others, light heavyweight was the weight class that seemed to fill the most main events, grab the most headlines, and create the most memorable moments.
This begin to change about the year 2015. By this time, the UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had basically cleaned out the division, and whatever he left over, Daniel Cormier has taken care of in subsequent years. Also around that time, this dude from Ireland named Conor McGregor came along and brought excitement we had never seen to the 145 pound featherweight division, which had been locked up for most of its existence by Jose Aldo.
When McGregor moved up to the 155 weight class in November 2016, it was the beginning of the lightweight division becoming the new glamour division. McGregor's star power was able to provide spotlight to a division that was breeding killers such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
2018 has seen the division finally begin to meet its full potential with tons of exciting matchups and a top fifteen that it is unmatched by any another division in the sport.
Going into 2019, there is no telling what this division is going to produce, but whatever it is, it seems to be destined to be out of this world.
With eyes towards this future, Fightbooth will be looking at the top fighters in the division and what their future may be for 2019. First off, let's start at the top.
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0, 10-0 UFC)
For many years "The Eagle" was the best kept secret in MMA, this super-strong grappler from Dagestan would just slam people to the ground and obliterated them. But for so many years, injuries kept him from being the star that he could have been. Even after he burst into the consciousness of many when he destroyed Michael Johnson at UFC 205 and then called out McGregor, his third pullout against Tony Ferguson in March 2017 seemed to doom him to the category of "what might have been?"
Yet all of that has changed in the last twelve months as Khabib has seemed to figure his weight cut and training issues and he has notched three wins in that time period. After mauling Edson Barboza last December, Nurmagomedov was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 223 and instead found himself in the middle of the craziest day out of the Octagon in UFC History.
After Nurmagomedov had been caught on video bullying McGregor's teammate Artem Lobov, Conor responded by famously throwing a dolly at the window of a bus carrying Khabib. At the same time, Khabib had both Ferguson and UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway fall out as opponents, Max on that same day. So Long Island's Al Iaquinta stepped in and Khabib battled him to a five round decision victory that was nowhere near as dominant as people expected. The important thing was that Khabib was finally UFC Lightweight Champion of the World.
Then we finally got the matchup we wanted on October 6 at UFC 229, which after a very fun press tour and a lot of hype, turned out to be well worth the wait and more. Khabib dominated McGregor for most of what was an excellent fight until he finally submitted McGregor with a neck crank to get a submission victory in the fourth round. Then in the moment which should have cemented him as a worldwide star, Khabib went nuts.
The culmination of what had been a highly personal buildup to the fight boiled over, with Khabib jumping over the cage to attack McGregor's friend Dillon Danis. It was a disgusting act that soured Khabib in the eyes of many and currently has his future on ice when it comes to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. We don't know when Khabib will be able to fight again and ironically after months of Conor being rightly accused of holding up the division, you could argue that Khabib's actions have resulted in him doing the same thing!
Six months ago, Khabib was one of the biggest babyfaces in the UFC with the awesome hat, the quotes in his cool accent, and awesome fighting ability. But lately he has become quite the heel, talking about boxing Floyd Mayweather, criticizing female MMA fighters, mocking homeless people in the US, and inciting the near riot on October 6.
Also, it has to be said, if you let Dillon Danis get under your skin, are you really that mentally tough?
That being said, all of this mess has made Khabib as captivating as ever. Yet while people once paid to see him beat people up, now they may be paying to see the opposite. But as to whom and when he will be fighting, it all seems up in the air.
1) Tony Ferguson (24-3, 14-1 UFC)
MMA has always been a sport filled with ridiculous characters, but Tony Ferguson is one of the most enigmatic fighters we have seen in the sport. From his training techniques to his fashion sense (sunglasses indoors) to his unique social media posts (he capitalizes the first word on every post he makes), everything about this dude is unique. He has drawn a huge cult following online and everywhere you look in MMA related posts, you see "Tony Ferguson is the kind of guy" comments. But the real thing that makes this guy so interesting is that all he does is win.
Ever since losing a decision to Michael Johnson at UFC 166 in October 213, Ferguson has notched eleven straight wins, seven of them by stoppage, and most of them have been entertaining as hell.
From decisioning Josh Thompson in an excellent fight, to coming from behind to D'Arce Choke Edson Barboza in a bloody war, to coming off the canvas to stop last-minute replacement Lando Vannata, Ferguson has been in great fight after great fight. His come from behind victory over Kevin Lee in October 2017 to take the interim UFC lightweight title seemed to finally set him up to be a huge star.
Then, a week before he was supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 Brooklyn, Ferguson tripped on a television cable and torn his ACL, resulting in this fight being canceled for an unprecedented fourth time. It broke the hearts of fight fans everywhere and set off a chain reaction of events that resulted in the craziest week in UFC history.
What happened next made many believe that Ferguson wasn't just crazy, he was not human at all. Choosing to do all of his rehab on his own, Ferguson declared himself ready to return a mere six months later, an unprecedented return after such an injury. So Ferguson found himself in the co-main event of UFC 229, facing a surging Anthony Pettis. The result was one of the best fights of the year with Ferguson remarkable coming out and walking Pettis down, taking some big leg kick and just keeping coming.
Even though Pettis dropped him in the second, Tony managed to cut him up with elbows from the bottom and rip him for the duration of the second round. The fight was stopped between rounds because Pettis had broken his hand, with Pettis trainer Duke Roofus realizing that there was no way Pettis was beating Ferguson with one hand. Tony Ferguson is way too good for that.
With that win and Khabib's victory over McGregor, it seems clear that Ferguson vs Khabib has to be the next fight, It has always been the next fight, with only clear acts of God preventing this from happening. Yet putting Khabib's problem with the Nevada Commission aside, you have to wonder if the UFC will be gun-shy about scheduling this fight. Who can blame them at this point? Otherwise, Ferguson should keep training and keep healing his knee, which couldn't possibly have been one hundred percent against Pettis. Destiny seems to be bound to come knocking at his door sometime, and Ferguson should concentrate on being ready…
2) Conor McGregor (21-4, 8-2 UFC)
What can be said about this man who hasn't already been said? He is the biggest star the UFC has ever seen and few people in any sport evoke the kinds of emotion that he does. His out of the cage exploits are so insane that you forget just how good a fighter this man is at this point. When he destroyed Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title at UFC 205, he put the kind of attention this division had long deserved and even though he didn't fight for two years, he kept the attention there! This is a star of the rarest kind and no matter how many times he loses, he is going to keep this aurora. Don't believe the podcasts that tell you any different.
That being said, not even Conor McGregor can get away with not fighting for two years and be at the very top of his game. The other fighters in this division are so good that you have to fighting and training at a different level in order to be champion and Conor clearly hasn't been doing that. He was way too content to be on the ground against Khabib and even though he looked great in the third round on his feet, he got caught on the ground and neck cranked out in the fourth. What you saw that night was no illusion — it was simply a great fighter who hadn't fought in a long time.
But ever since the bell rang to end the fight on October 6, Conor's stock has risen. Khabib's actions after the fight, including his teammates attacking Conor, have all of sudden made McGregor a babyface! Conor also spent the weeks after the fight on what looked like a fucking victory tour, hyping up the Dallas Cowboys, Proper 12 Whiskey commercials everywhere, and parties every weekend on his Instagram. Hell, if I hadn't seen him tap with my own eyes, I would have sworn he won the damn fight!
Conor's status remains up in the air with the Nevada Commission the same as Khabib's at this point, but since he for once wasn't the instigator that night, he should be cleared to fight soon. No matter who he is in the cage next, the best thing for Conor as a fighter would be for him to get back into the cage as soon as possible; none of this waiting for a title shot shit. Fighter's fight, and if Conor wants to be a fighter, he needs to be back in training camp, back in the cage soon. I mean, it's not like he won't have his share of opponents…
3) Dustin Poirier (24-5, 16-4 UFC)
In the eyes of many, Poirer's career was left for dead when he was knocked out in the first round by McGregor in September 2014. He had been ripped apart by the trash talking and taken out by a big McGregor left hand. But the King of Lafayette pulled himself together, moved back up to lightweight and rebuilt his career, and despite being flattened by Michael Johnson in October 2016, Poirier rebounded again to cement himself as probably the hottest fighter in the division.
The night that seemed to change everything was in May 2017 in Dallas, when he fought former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Poirier had dominated the first round but Alvarez managed to come back in the second round and hurt Poirier, but then nailed him a clear as day illegal knee, resulting in a no contest. Poirier urged the fans not to boo Alvarez that night, and Alvarez responded by calling Poirier a quitter during interviews and on social media. He may have unleashed a monster.
After stopping Pettis in a bloody battle last November, Poirier was booked to face former WSOF champ Justin Gaethije in the main event on Fox in Glendale in April. The result was one of two or three best fights of the year, with Poirier somehow managing to match Gaethije's pace the whole fight, even when he was fighting backwards! He took "The Highlights" signature leg kicks and kept coming, eventually stopping Gaethije with a fusslage of punches, the first to do so with hands alone. He followed that up with a potent encore, settling his rivalry with Alvarez with a dominant performance, knocking him out and sending him to ONE Championship in another Fox main event, this time in Calgary.
Poirier has the look and fighting style to be a star; all he needs now is that marquee fight. He was supposed to get that at UFC 230 against Nate Diaz, but "The Diamond" had to pull out with a back injury. It might have been the best thing to ever happen to Dustin, as Dana White has said that he is the frontrunner to face Conor McGregor, a rematch that Poirier has to crave. It would be a tremendous fight for both men, but if that fight gets made, the winner will ultimately be the fans-and the rest of the lightweight division. It would be just another gift in division that just keeps on giving them.
Next up; Lightweights 4-7.
Related Topics:Conor McGregorDustin PoirierFeatureKhabib NurmagomedovMMATony FergusonUFC
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"Frank has been a wrestling fan since he was two years old. (Don't worry, he's got proof.) He's also a huge boxing and UFC fan and has a long standing love affair with Popeyes Chicken. He still owns a VHS copy of the first Ring of Honor show ever and was watching NXT before it was cool (or good). Bret Hart > Shawn Michaels. You can follow him on Twitter at @FightFanaticPod and on Tumblr at FrankTheFightFanatic." He's also starting his own podcast soon!
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As your form can jump.
I love the funny way you tuck your rump.
And your total joy of living.
Your sniffing at a Summer breeze.
I love how you enjoy your meal.
Oh, the way you make me feel.
Just to find that squeeky noise.
And popcorn scent of Whippet feet.
And know, for certain, you'll be there.