Tauschbörse » desperately pursued the tie-breaking goal.

Stefan (Skyscraper) Struve showed early on in his UFC career that he should never be counted out. At UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, in June 2009, the six-foot-11 Dutch heavyweight was gushing blood out of his forehead after taking a string of hammer blows from Denis Stojnic while on his back in the first round. Stojnics forearm looked as if it had been dipped in blood. But a bloody Struve rallied in the second round to take Stojnics back and choke him out. The German crowd roared as Struve, his face a crimson mask and long torso tinged red from blood, rose in victory. "Thats one hell of a Band-Aid," UFC president Dana White said dryly, referring to a plaster the size of a cigarette package on Struves forehead at the post-fight news conference. Struves size -- he is the tallest fighter in UFC history and is tied for longest reach with light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones -- combined with slick kickboxing and submission skills have helped him rise up the heavyweight ranks while compiling a 9-4 record in the UFC. But his career appeared over last year when he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. Given the OK to resume fighting by his doctors in the Netherlands and the UFCs cardiologist, Struve (29-6) returns to the cage Saturday when he takes on Matt Mitrione at UFC 175 in Las Vegas. "It looks good," Struve, who divides his training between the Netherlands and Los Angeles. "I just need to do checkups two times a year with my doctors in Holland and two times a year with my doctors in LA. "Thats no problem for me. I actually like that I know for sure that my heart is healthy." Mitrione (7-3) is a former NFL defensive lineman who switched to MMA via Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show in 2009. Struve, ranked 12th among heavyweight contenders, last fought in March 2013 when he suffered a broken jaw in a knockout loss to hard-hitting Mark Hunt in Japan. Struve says he had been sick for six weeks before the bout and was still under the weather during the fight. "I felt horrible." And he just couldnt recover after. "I just couldnt get over the jet lag. I couldnt sleep at night," he said. "I just didnt feel good and I didnt have any energy." He returned to full training some three months after the loss. Then one day at his parents house, he got dizzy standing up after working at the computer. He sat down and blacked out briefly, "which scared me because I had never had that." He went to the hospital, which couldnt find anything but asked him to come back for a stress ultrasound test which uses high frequency sound waves to examine the hearts anatomy and function. "Thats where they found it," he said. Struve was diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve, as well an enlarged heart. It meant that his heart was only pumping 60 per cent of his blood into the aorta and then the rest of his body. The remaining 40 per cent was ending up back in the heart chamber. Doctors used medication to control his blood pressure and the demands on his heart. Struve says he will probably have to undergo surgery at some point but hopes to do it after his fighting career. "As it is right now, its getting better every day," he said. He kept training throughout, raising his regimen as his health improved. He also taught MMA, which he said he enjoyed immensely. "I just enjoy being healthy and living a good life," he said. "I love this sport." MMA takes a toll, however. While Struve puts on exciting fights, he has endured punishing knockouts losses at the hands of Junior Dos Santos, Roy (Big Country) Nelson, Travis Browne and Hunt. The big Dutchman says he feels a lot more energy these days. "And a lot more joy in life, if you want to say so, because if you feel tied all day long, youre just miserable." But Struve says he may have taken time off from fighting even if it hadnt had the heart scare. He had plenty on his mind. "This was by far the hardest year of my life," he added. "Not only because of this but my father passed away in October after being sick for a year and a half. And then there were some other things that happened close to me that really impacted me." Back training, his performance in the gym gives him confidence that ring rust wont be an issue Saturday night. While Struve says he has got on well with Mitrione in the past, he says its a "little strange" the American asked for the fight before he was cleared to compete again. Middleweight champion Chris Weidman defends his title against former light-heavyweight champion Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida -- ranked No. 3 among 185-pound contenders -- in the main event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Womens bantamweight title-holder (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey takes on No. 2 Alexis Davis, a native of Port Colborne, Ont., who fights out of San Jose, in the co-main event. Kobe Bryant Lakers Jersey . Curtis Davies and Robert Koren secured the victory with goals inside 35 minutes of the fifth-round replay against the second-tier side. Shaquille ONeal Lakers Jersey . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Customized/ . In an interview with La Presse this week, the five-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time NHL scoring leader specifically took aim at wingers Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, saying they cant show up in a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final and come up empty in Game 6. Robert Horry Lakers Jersey . It took five games, but the Celtics finally helped Stevens earn his first NBA victory. "Im going to celebrate for a whole 12 minutes, and then Im going to start watching Orlando and trying to figure them out," the first-year Celtics coach said after Boston beat the Utah Jazz, one of the leagues other winless teams, 97-87 on Wednesday night. Vlade Divac Jersey . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said.For Team USA it was T.J. Oshie or bust. With the United States and Russia engaged in a shootout after a tightly-contested preliminary game, the St. Louis Blues centre took six shots, scoring four times, to lead his team to a 3-2 victory. Unlike the NHL where players can only take one shot in the shootout, international rules allow for players to go as often as they want after the first three shooters have gone until the game is decided. So, after each team scored once through three shooters, Oshie took his teams next five shots in a row, scoring three times. "Ive never seen anything like it," said American teammate Ryan McDonagh. "I never realized he had all those moves for the shootout. He was pretty clutch. He stepped up and kept going and helped us get the extra point." The Russians also used individuals multiple times in the shootout. Ilya Kovalchuk shot four times, scoring twice, while Pavel Datsyuk took three shots connecting once. The United States and Russia engaged in a low-scoring, tight-checking game that looked at times like it was being played in a phone booth. Despite the 200 ft by 100 ft dimension of the ice surface, there was precious little room to manoeuvre as both clubs placed a high priority on keeping the puck out of the net rather than trying to put it in the net. And yet, with only bragging rights on the line for two teams expected to contend for the gold medal, the game had the same feel as a Stanley Cup final encounter. It wasnt until Joe Pavelski of the United States gave his team a 2-1 lead midway through the third period on a sweet one-tiimer that things opened up a bit.dddddddddddd Then, with American Dustin Brown in the penalty box, Russian captain Pavel Datsyuk struck on the power play thanks to a well-timed screen by teammate Alexander Radulov who took away the eyes of Team USA goalie Jonathan Quick. Suddenly what had been a marathon match turned into a dash as the teams desperately pursued the tie-breaking goal. The Russians appeared to get it when defenceman Fedor Tyutins rocket from the point beat Quick, but the goal was waved off because the American net was dislodged. That opened the door for the game to be decided in overtime, but neither team was able to score so it went to a shootout. Patrick Kane of the United States had a glorious opportunity to win the game midway through the five-minute overtime period when he broke in alone, but he was turned back by Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovski when he tried to score through the five-hole. Kane had a second scoring chance with 30 seconds remaining in OT, but failed to direct his backhander from in tight past Bobrovski. Veteran centre Datsyuk scored a beautiful goal at 9:15 of the second period not long after Russian president Vladimir Putin entered the Bolshoy Ice Dome to watch the host hockey team tangle with the United States. The Russian captain slithered between three American defenders and snapped a low shot to the corner of the net to beat USA goalie Jonathan Quick. Putin was clearly delighted to see his team take a 1-0 lead. The president was one of 11,678 in attendance – the largest hockey audience of the Olympics thus far. ' ' '