Gina Carano gets naked to make weight (w/video)

Gina Carano. MMAJunkie.com Photo.

MMAJunkie.com reports that it took female MMA superstar Gina Carano multiple times to make weight for her fight at EliteXC: Heat.

...Gina Carano failed to make the 141-pound limit weight on her first few attempts. She first weighed in at 142.75 pounds. Although visibly embarrassed at the necessary next step, Carano appeared intent on not missing weight for yet another EliteXC card.

Behind the cover of four separate towels in front and behind the undefeated young fighter, Carano removed all of her clothes and stepped back on the scales. An incredulous Carano showed her frustration and presumed embarrassment when the scale showed 142.5 pounds.

Officials on stage suggested a third attempt might be beneficial as the scales appeared to have an issue during the second attempt. After Carano stepped on the scales a third time, an acceptable weight of 141 pounds was registered. The weight was one pound over the contracted 140-pound limit, but the same as Carano's opponent, Kelly Kobald.

And the entertainment didn't stop with a naked Gina Carano. Jake Shields and Paul Daley had to be pulled apart after Daley spewed obscenities at Shields during the stare down. Then, instead of Kimbo Slice posing for the obligatory post weigh-in pictures with Ken Shamrock, Slice turned his back to the UFC veteran and tried to walk away. Shamrock didn't take too kindly to being disrespected, so he pushed Slice from behind and brawl number two of the night broke out.

If the fights tomorrow night can match the energy of the weigh-ins, we're in for a hell of a night of fights.

Posted by Jared Barnes

Original here

Armstrong responds to Tour organizer's 'embarrassment' quip

Enlarge AP file photo Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong responded strongly to the Tour organizer's new president's comment that he has "embarrassed" cycling's premier race. From staff and wire reports PARIS — Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong responded strongly to the Tour organizer's new president's comment that he has "embarrassed" cycling's premier race. "We can't say that he has not embarrassed the Tour de France, as he has had a quite a complicated history with it," Jean-Etienne Amaury said earlier Saturday in French sports newspaper L'Equipe. The 32-year-old Amaury was named president of the Amaury Sport Organization earlier this week, replacing Patrice Clerc, who was known for his hard line against doping. Some observers interpreted the change as a sign that the ASO intended to soften its position. Armstrong released a statement later in the day saying: "The last time I checked I won the Tour seven straight years and was never once found to be guilty of doping despite seven years of intense scrutiny. Not to mention that my team of 25 riders over those seven years was also never found to be positive," he said. "We won clean and fair. Also, according to industry standards, TV ratings, worldwide media impressions, spectators along the route, and global sponsorships were at an all time high. Where's the embarrassment in that? In the article, Amaury also reiterated the race's fight against doping remains a top priority. This came on the same day other reports said Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov would soon reveal his intentions to return to action after serving a one-year doping ban. "The Tour de France's position has always been very strict and that will not change in the years to come," he said. "(ASO) is quite conscious of the fact that doping undermines cycling's credibility." Asked whether a comeback by the 37-year-old Armstrong, who retired in 2005 after winning his seventh consecutive title, would throw suspicion on the race, Amaury said that "today's tools in the fight against doping are different." Energized by the comments, Armstrong took the opportunity to make clear that while he may contend for the Tour title, he doesn't need the race's cache to continue his efforts to raise "the global awareness of cancer." "...while I love the event and France's people, I cannot accept this sort of grandstanding which distracts from the Livestrong message that is urgently needed, and being sought out, in many other places around the world." Armstrong announced last month he was coming out of retirement. — The Associated Press contributed to this report Original here

F1 prepares to tighten its belt

LONDON, England (CNN) -- As the global economic crisis deepens, Formula One is starting to feel the pinch.

Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger wants F1 to be more tight-fisted as the global economic problems start to bite.

The sport's lavish image is in stark contrast to the belt-tightening going on in the outside world.

Many in F1 are well aware that the sport will have to make changes to how it does business to ensure it emerges from the credit crunch mostly intact.

Super Aguri, even with the might of Honda behind them, failed to make ends meet and folded after just 39 races earlier in the year.

But for Eddie Irvine, Michael Schumacher's team-mate at Ferrari from 1996-99, financial problems might work in F1's favor -- particularly for the grid's also-rans.

"Everyone is selling a lot less cars and these are the guys who are paying for F1," the Ulsterman told Sky News.

"The sponsorship deals are subsidized by car manufacturers. You're going to see spending [cut] back and it has to [be cut] back because it has been madness for years.

"It will be good for F1 because it will level the playing field off a little bit. Money hasn't made the show any better, it has made it worse."

Read more about F1 at The Circuit.

Whether the show is better or worse because of money is debatable. There are many factors determining the quality of the product and after the second shock winner in two races at last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, the argument for F1 being in rude health spectacle-wise is a convincing one.

What is not debatable is that F1 needs money -- there is no more cash-hungry sport around.

As is the way in any business, the haves, such as Ferrari and McLaren, are best placed to weather any financial storm.

There are no have-nots in F1, not with budgets that run into the millions of dollars. Independent teams such as Williams have a reported $160.6m to play with each season, while Toro Rosso have to get by on $128.2m.

But Toro Rosso and Williams are not operating in the same ballpark as McLaren or Ferrari. They lack the backing from a car manufacturer, meaning they have to buy engines, compromising them in other areas.

Red Bull-funded Toro Rosso have been up for sale all season, but no buyer has yet been found. The team's future is further clouded by the fact that from 2010 it will only be allowed to compete in F1 with a car that is designed and built at its own factory.

At the moment, Toro Rosso's machinery is designed at Red Bull Racing's facilities in the UK and their chances of building on Sebastian Vettel's incredible win at the Italian Grand Prix last month depends on them finding a buyer with deep pockets.

"I would struggle to carry on alone [without Red Bull]," Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I need the backing of a car manufacturer, which isn't there."

Williams lost BMW as its engine partner at the end of 2005 and the following year they made a $49.5m net loss as revenues dipped 30 percent to $102.6m when IT firm Hewlett Packard also ended their sponsorship deal.

And new sponsors, as well as stay-away car manufacturers, are part of the problem as far as Berger is concerned.

"I think it is going to be difficult times, no question, and if you look at new sponsors coming into Formula One, it is very seldom, especially the big ones," he said.

"As I see it, it is not going to be easy the next two years. I think it is going to affect all of us."

A spending cap is to be introduced for 2009 for all outgoings bar engines (for which cost-cutting measures are already in place), marketing and PR and the salaries of drivers and team principals.

And, it might be said, not before time. The combined costs of all UK-based F1 teams rose by $39.4m to just over $1bn in 2006.

This level of spending could soon be considered a glaring anachronism. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner believes the teams and the sport's governing body, the FIA, must keep a lid on expenditure.

"The global economy at the moment isn't in great shape and it affects all areas of the pit lane," he said.

"It is down to the teams to work collectively with the governing body to make sure that we are responsible in what we do to control our costs."

F1's spendthrift days may soon be at an end.

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