After a heartbreaking loss to Danny Garcia last March 15th, Mauricio Herrera gets another shot at a world title when he challenges interim WBA Light Welterweight champion Johan Perez in the Canelo-Lara undercard on July 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada USA.

Man on A Mission

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya says that Mauricio Herrera is a man “on a mission” following his controversial loss to Danny Garcia earlier this year.

De La Hoya says Herrera’s style is “suited for any fight that he’s in.” He adds that Mauricio can “fight you or box you and that mentally he’s going to beat you no matter what it takes.” De La Hoya points out to Herrera’s decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov and the mental toughness he showed against Danny Garcia, a fight which he agrees Herrera should have won.

According to De La Hoya, Herrera is in “great shape” and is ready to give the fans “an exciting fight” on July 12th.

Fight of His Career

Herrera fought the fight of his career against the heavily favored Danny Garcia last March in Puerto Rico. Many fight observers believed that Herrera did enough to upset Garcia, but the judges awarded the “hometown” fighter the majority decision win.

Although Herrera admits that “it was frustrating for a while” and that “he is not over it”, he said that he “wasn’t surprised at that decision” because “nobody expected him to do well” in the Garcia fight. Herrera adds that his mentality is just “to keep going, keep moving forward and keep proving himself.”

The fight against Perez is no different.

Going for the Knockout

Herrera believes that he may need a knockout to beat Perez considering how his last fight was scored by the judges. Herrera knows that he can “box Perez all day” but he thinks that he needs to “switch it up at times” and “try to look for a stoppage of some kind” to really secure the belt this time around.

He admits that he is not a “power puncher” but says that “that doesn’t mean that he can’t stop a fighter.” Herrera’s record is 20-4 with 7KOs.

No Pushover

But Johan Perez is no pushover. The Venezuelan slugger is coming off a 10 round KO win over Fernando Monte De Oca last May. Perez won the vacant title last November in a majority decision win over the previously unbeaten former world lightweight champion Paul Spadafora. He has won four straight matches since dropping a seventh round technical decision to Juan Pablo Cano in July 2012. Aside from Spadafora, Perez has beaten former champion Steve Forbes and Japanese Yoshihiro Kamegai.

Aside from the fact that 13 of Perez’s 19 wins have come via knockout, he is very tall for a light welterweight at 5-11. Against Herrera, he will be enjoying a four inch height advantage. Perez says that he is looking forward to giving the fans a great fight and that a victory over Herrera will show the world who he is.

Four division champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico could be headed for a December date with two division champion Timothy Bradley.

What’s in A Weight Class?

After moving up in weight to face Sergio Martinez at 160 lbs last June 7th, newly crowned WBC and Ring Middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is now being groomed by his promoter, Top Rank, to fight Bradley- a welterweight at best, in a December showdown at Madison Square Garden in New York USA. Nothing is official yet, but word is that the Bradley camp is being offered a catch weight of 156 lbs to take the fight.

Should the fight happen, Bradley will be competing for the first time in a weight class two ranks higher than his own. If the bout is for Cotto’s WBC and Ring belts, Bradley will become an unranked fighter challenging for the title, bypassing the Top 15 ranked middleweight fighters to get a shot at Cotto. And while Arum thinks it’s a good business prospect, it will be a mockery of sorts for boxing’s weight classes which were put in place to give fighters equal chances of winning a boxing match. Worse, if ever Bradley wins the bout, it would be interesting to see if he would defend it against regular middleweight contenders or vacate it immediately.

Deserting the Storm

Bradley is coming off an April 12th loss to Filipino ring legend Manny Pacquiao, in a rematch of their June 9th, 2012 encounter. Bradley was awarded a split decision victory Pacquiao in their first fight although most ring insiders concur that Pacman beat Bradley handily. In their rematch, Pacquiao used superior hand speed and footwork to pick apart Bradley and take away his WBO Welterweight title. The loss was the first in 33 fights for the 30 year old Californian pug.

Bradley has only 12 KOs in his career and although his ability to take a punch is unquestioned, Bradley had problems with the power punching of Pacquiao and former WBO Light Welterweight king Ruslan Provodnikov. Those problems were more obvious against Provodnikov when Bradley got concussed in the second round of their bout.

Mr. “Desert Storm” even was counted by the referee in Round 12 as he took a knee after getting hammered hard by the “Siberian Rocky. Luckily, Bradley won the middle rounds by boxing around the hard hitting Provodnikov.  In the end, the judges favored Bradley’s activity rather than Provodnikov’s power punches and awarded Bradley the “W”.

The main concern about Bradley will be his ability to take punishment from a much bigger man like Cotto. Even Manny Pacquiao fought Cotto at a catch weight of 145 lbs when the two met in November 14th, 2009. Cotto is even heavier now, as he has moved up from welterweight to light middleweight and then middleweight. Bradley’s punches, which never really threatened any welterweight, may not even hurt Cotto at all.

PPV Numbers Down

This unbelievable proposition from Arum comes at the heels of the announcement of the PPV numbers of the Cotto-Martinez bout last month. According to HBO, the bout did only an estimated 350,000 buys on PPV, much lower than expected. The promoters were hoping a turn in of around 500,000 buys, considering Cotto’s huge Latino following.

Arum shot himself in the foot when he said that the reason for the decline in numbers was due to” too many PPV cards.” He said that back in the old days, PPV as was designed to for “true super fights and not just good fights.” It’s a wonder what he thinks about Cotto-Bradley at this point.

From the business standpoint, Bradley is not a good PPV player. His fights with Pacquiao and Marquez did not generate big numbers in the PPV market even if his opponents were two of the top PPV draws of today. It’s pretty certain that a fight against Cotto won’t do better.

Belonging to One Stable

Yet it won’t be a surprise to see the fight being made. After all, both fighters are under the umbrella of Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. Arum is also thinking two steps ahead of us. He believes that his reconciliation with Oscar De La Hoya will allow the fight between Cotto and Canelo Alvarez to materialize. Arum just doesn’t want to do that fight this year yet and wants to bridge Cotto to May of 2015. He plans on making more noise and money by pitting the two popular fighters during the Cinco De Mayo weekend.

The reconciliation of GBP and Top Rank was supposed to give the fans fights that they deserve. Nobody thinks that Bradley deserves a shot at Cotto, The fight that the world wants to see is Cotto-Golovkin.

Perhaps Tim Bradlesy should pick someone his own size.

BJ Penn said the only reason why he wanted to come back to the Octagon is Frankie Edgar. He’ll have that wish granted on July 6.

Return From Exile

Penn went into a self-exile after a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Rory MacDonald in 2012. Penn had lost three straight matches and has won just once in his last six fights. But his back to back losses to Frankie Edgar in 2010 have been, in the words of UFC President Dana White, “burning deep inside him for three years now.” Sometime in 2013, Penn decided that he wanted to back to the UFC for one reason: He “begged” White for the opportunity to fight Frankie Edgar again and told him that “this was all he wanted.”

White obliged and Penn may get more.

Fighting in the Finale

The UFC gave Penn the opportunity to coach opposite Edgar in the 19^th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show which started last April 19. As with previous seasons of the TUF, the coaches will fight each other in the season Finale. In their case, Penn and Edgar will fight for the third time on July 6 in a televised event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada one day after the UFC 175 pay per view event, also in Las Vegas.

Edgar has beaten Penn twice, taking the BJ’s UFC Lightweight title in April 2010 and defeating him in a rematch four months later. But both fights were fought at 155 lbs. This one will be in the featherweight division, and Penn will be fighting in this weight class for the first time in his career.

More Than A Grudge Match

But UFC President Dana White said that this fight isn’t just about vengeance or closure. It could have title implications. In a statement released in 2013, White said that Penn won’t only be out to avenge the defeats, but he will “have the opportunity to try and become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three weight classes”. Penn previously held both lightweight and welterweight titles in his prime.

Edgar too, has the opportunity to shoot back to the top of the ratings. Edgar has been 1-1 in the 145 lbs weight class, including his UFC 156 unanimous decision loss to Jose Aldo in his featherweight debut.

Aldo will be facing Chad Mendes at UFC 176 in August, and while another title contender, #3 ranked Cub Swanson won convincingly on Saturday night, there is a possibility that the winner of the Penn-Edgar 3 bout will get a title shot, especially because both men are household names in the UFC.

The Prodigy

Penn is more than just a household name. He is a UFC legend and a hall-of-famer once he retires. Penn is only the second title to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. As a lightweight in 2008, Penn became the first UFC Undisputed Lightweight Champion after defeating Sean Shrek at UFC 84.

Penn is one of the biggest stars in UFC history, headlining at total of ten main event bouts, nine of which were on pay per view. On July 7, he will add another televised bout to his name. If he wins, he will add to the legend of “The Prodigy.”

Former Strikeforce Welterweight champion Nate “The Great” Marquardt ended a three fight losing streak by submitting James Te Huna at UFC Fight Night 43 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Must Win Fight

The 35 year old Marquardt found himself in a must-win situation after three straight losses in the welterweight division. Marquardt had been fighting in that weight class for the last three years after winning the Strikeforce welterweight title against Tyron Woodley in 2012. But Marquardt immediately yielded the belt to Tarec Saffeidine in his first defense on January 12, 2013. Since his return to the UFC, he suffered back to back first round knockout losses to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 158 and Hector Lombard at UFC 166.

The Te Huna bout marked his return to the middleweight division. Te Huna himself was fighting in the middleweight division for the first time since dropping from the light heavyweight division. But the night belonged to Marquardt who made a triumphant return to the 185 lbs weight class.

Marquardt never gave the hometown crowd anything to cheer about as he circled around Te Huna from a distance with his push kicks. After Te Huna attempted a takedown, he was reversed and Marquardt moved to half guard and land vicious elbows from the top position.

The tough Kiwi was able to return to his feet but as he tried an inside trip, Marquardt reversed him in midair and Te Huna was mounted by the American again. Marquardt was able to secure a double wrist lock grip as Te Huna tried to escape. Marquardt then extended the arm and forced the tapout at the 4:34 mark of the first round.

Just Happened

Marquardt told Kenny Florian after the fight that the armbar “just happened” and that he “didn’t necessarily have a game plan of what to do and where to go.” Marquardt added that he just wanted “to mix things up.”

On his return to middleweight, he said that he “believed that God guided him into moving back to the middleweight division.” Marquardt admitted that “things didn’t work out for him” in the welterweight division and that the middleweight division is “where he belongs.”

Marquardt improved his record to 33-13-2 with 9 KOs and 16 submissions. Te Huna fell to 16-8 with 10 KOs and 3 submissions.

The Undercards

In the co-main event of the card, emerging heavyweights Soa Palelei and Jared Rosholt fought to a three round grinder. Palelei tried to surprise Rosholt by attempting several takedowns, but Rosholt’s wrestling background came through as he was able to counter everything that Palelei tried and take control of the bout.

It wasn’t impressive but Rosholt was able to land enough clean punches and knees to earn the nod of the judges. In the end, the former Oklahoma State Wrestler hammered out a unanimous decision win with a score of 30-27 across all the judges’ scorecards.

Rosholt improved to 11-1 with 3 KOs and 3 submissions. Palelei dropped to 21-4 with 17KOs and 4 submissions.

Earlier in the night, Submission expert Charles Oliveira defeated Japanese Hatsu Hioki in what could be one of the early contenders for Submission of the Year. Both men fought a very technical fight before Oliveira used a Peruvian Necktie submission after avoiding a choke attempt by Hioki. Hioki was forced to tap at the 4:32 mark of round two after he could not escape Oliveira’s submission hold. The Brazilian improved his record to 18-4-0-1 with 6 KOs and 11 submissions while Hioki slides to 27-8-2 with 4 KOs and 12 submissions.

Riding high on the momentum of his dominating win over Rustam Khabilov last June 7th, Benson Henderson will fight again on August 23rd. The former UFC Lightweight champion will face Brazilian Rafael Dos Anjos in a five round main event bout at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Legit Draw

The fight will mark the eight time in a row that Henderson will be headlining a UFC Fight card. In his last appearance on June 7th at UFC Fight Night 42, Bendo officially proved himself as a legitimate ratings draw. Although UFC Fight Night 42 went head to head with boxings Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez Pay per view card, it did a 0.82 rating and drew 1.2M viewers.  According to the Nielsen ratings, the UFC Fight Night shows attract an average of 817K viewers.

Overall, UFC Fight Night 42 was the third highest rating Fight Night on FS1 behind Sonnen-Shogun (1.78M) and Machida-Mousasi(1.4M). But Henderson was clearly the main attraction of the night. The viewership numbers peaked to 1.562M during the main event when he battled it out with Rustam Khabilov.

With that in mind, it was obvious for the UFC to get him back to the Octagon as soon as possible.

Reclaiming the Gold

For Henderson though, it’s not going to be just another big night at the TV ratings. It will be another step closed to reclaiming the gold that Anthony Pettis took away in August 2013.

Henderson was the alpha dog of the UFC’s lightweight division. He had won his first seven bouts in the UFC and won the title in his fourth fight. He defended the title three straight times against class A opponents Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez until he ran across his WEC nemesis Antony Pettis.

Bendo’s Krytponite?

Before the WEC merged with the UFC, Henderson also  lost to Anthony Pettis in his swansong bout at the WEC. Pettis beat Henderson via unanimous decision in an epic five round battle which was highlighted by Pettis’ “Matrix” kick on Henderson which many experts believe was crucial in the judging for that very closely contested bout.

The two fighters met again in a rematch at UFC 164, but this time it wasn’t even close. After a couple of early exchanges, Pettis submitted Henderson via armbar at the 4:31 mark of the first round. It was by virtue of this definitive loss and his WEC defeat to Pettis that UFC President Dana White refused to give Henderson an immediate rematch despite the fact that Bendo was on top of his game.

Spurned for a rematch, the former champ found himself trying to prove himself all over again in order to climb the UFC lightweight mountain.

The Dos Anjos bout will be his third of a busy 2014. He beat Josh Thompson via split decision last January 25th, and then submitted Khabilov last June 7th. Another win will put him in a serious conversation for a title shot.

Titanium Jaw

Dos Anjos is 21-7 with 3 KOs and 8 submissions. The 29 year old Brazilian has won six of his last seven bouts in the UFC. He won five straight bouts before losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in his first fight of 2014. He rebounded with an impressive win over Jason High last June 7th.

Dos Anjos is well-known for having a titanium fused jaw after he broke his jaw at UFC 117  in his loss  to Clay Guida. That jaw has broken the hands of some of his opponents who tried to punch it.

He’ll need more than a titanium jaw to stop Mr. Smooth.

After a disappointing loss to Rory MacDonald at UFC 174, Tyron Woodley gets an immediate shot at redemption.

Stepping In

After an injury forced Hector Lombard off his UFC Fight Night 48 bout against Korean Dong Hyun Kim on August 23 at the Cotai Arena in Macau, UFC President Dana White announced on Tuesday that Woodley would be stepping in for Lombard.

It was learned that Lombard had to withdraw from the match due to a “pretty-sized herniated cervical disc that was “pinching one of his nerves”. His doctor told him that he would be out action for at least three months. However, it was not yet determined if the injury would require surgery.

Out for Redemption

Upon learning of the vacancy, Woodley immediately agreed to take the fight, hoping to erase the stigma of his lackluster performance against Rory MacDonald barely two weeks ago.

Woodley had started the year big with an impressive second round finish of Carlos Condit at UFC 171 which moved him up the #3 rankings in the UFC’s Welterweight division. He got his chance to fight #2 Rory MacDonald at UFC 174 to get closer to the title picture. But MacDonald virtually shut him down for three rounds, rendering him heavy punishment while keeping him off his game.

But with this new opportunity, Woodley hopes to hop right back into the rankings and back to contender status. Woodley is 3-2 in the UFC but has a record of 13-3 with 4 KOs and 5 submissions.

Korean Stun Gun

Dong Hyun Kim is a 13 fight UFC veteran who used to compete in Japan’s DEEP circuit and Korean promotion Spirit. He owns a record of 19-2-1 with 8 KOs and 1 submission. Kim is 10-2-1 in the UFC with 3 KO’s. His only losses were to Carlos Condit at UFC 132 (by KO) and to Demain Maia in UFC 148 when he was forced to retire with a major muscle spasm.

The Korean Stun Gun has won four straight matches including wins over prospects Paulo Thiago and Erick Silva. Kim’s last fight was a sensational spinning back elbow KO of John Hathaway last March 1 in Macau which earned him the Performance of the Night award.  Kim also won Knockout of the Night honors when he punched out Erick Silva in Brazil last October 9, 2013.

Lombard (34-4-1 with 19 KOs and 7 submissions) was on a two fight winning streak since moving to the welterweight division. He was dominant in both victories as he submitted Nate Marquardt at UFC 166 and decisioned Jake Shields at UFC 171. But his injury will keep him from his rise to the top of the 170 lbs. weight class. Lombard was the former Cage Fighting Championship Middleweight champion and the Bellator Middleweight champion.

Co-main Event

The Kim-Woodley bout will be the co-main event in the fight card which headlines a middleweight battle between Michael “The Count” Bisping and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. The bout will be Le’s first since his Knockout of the Night victory over Rich Franklin at UFC on Fuel last November 10, 2012. Bisping meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Tim Kennedy in the Ultimate Fighter Nations finale last April 16, 2014.

Cornelius “K9” Bundrage ( 33-5 19KOs) will get another crack at the IBF Junior Middleweight title as he will challenge defending champion Carlos Molina( 22-5-2 6KOs) on or before September 6 in Cancun, Mexico after both camps reached an agreement to co-promote the fight.

Avoiding the Purse Bid

Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing , the promoter of Molina and Bundgrage’s K-9 Promotions have reached an agreement to co-promote the bout and avoid the June 24 purse bid which was ordered by the IBF. Both camps had initially failed to reach a deal, with Bundrage’s advise Bill Waller citing that Margules was unable to guarantee that his fighter, Molina would “show up for the fight” if it happened on American soil after his legal woes in the USA.

Molina was jailed in Las Vegas earlier this year on an outstanding warrant for “failing to register as a sex offender for a past conviction”. While in prison, it was also discovered that Molina entered the US illegally, and that caused his deportation to Mexico after his release on May 28. Molina has been training there while he is working out his immigration documents.

With the fight now in Mexico, it’s all systems go for this mandatory title match.

Reclaiming the Gold

Bundrage will be fighting for the same belt he lost to Ishe Smith via majority decision on February 23, 2013. He bounced back earlier this year by winning the IBF title eliminator against Joey Hernandez via  unanimous decision and earn this title shot.

Bundrage started to make a name for himself in 2006 as a participant in the second season of ESPN’s Contender reality boxing series. Bundrage lost to Steve Forbes in the semifinals but redeemed himself by winning the bronze medal match against Norberto Bravo via spectacular 7th round KO.

Pride of Detroit

After a long and hard fought career, Bundrage finally got his first crack at a world title on August 7, 2010 against former undisputed Junior Middleweight champion and then current IBF Junior Middleweight champion Cory Spinks. Bundrage traveled to Spinks’ hometown and literally took the title away in five rounds when he knocked out Spinks. Bundrage not only won the title but he became the first Detroit native in 26 years to hold a world boxing title since Thomas “Hitman” Hearns.

After defending the title against Sechew Powell in 2011, Bundrage fought Spinks in a rematch in his second title defense on June 30, 2012. Bundrage started out hot, decking Spinks in Round 1. Bundrage again knocked down Spinks three times in Round 7 to earn a TKO victory.

Bundrage was eyeing a unification bout with Canelo Alvarez last year when he ran into Ishe Smith and lost the belt. But barely a year later, he has a chance to win the belt again at age 41.

The New 25

Last March, Bundrage told RingTV that turning 41 is just a number. He said that 40 is the new 25, citing the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins and heavyweight Tony Thompson. Bundrage added that pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr is three years away from being 40 and yet ” he’s looking better than ever.” Bundrage went on to say that he is a “fresh 40” and that he’s never “suffered a beatdown in the ring”. He believes that he can fight until 47 or 48 if he wants to.

Bundrage also boasted that when he first won the title, he took it from Cory Spinks in his hometown.

Three months after that interview, Bundrage found out that he’ll be challenging Molina in Mexico later this year. He’ll have to take back his IBF belt from another champion’s hometown to prove that 41 is just another number.

Ring, WBC and WBA (Super) Junior Welterweight champion Danny Garcia returns to action on August 9 at the Barclays Center, New York against Pennsylvania’s Rod Salka, according to Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya.

The bout will be Garcia’s third at Barclays in his last five bouts. Barclays was the site of his famous 4^th round knockout of Mexican legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales in 2012 and his unanimous decision victory over former undisputed welterweight champion Zab “Super” Judah in 2013. Garcia was last seen in action on March 15th, when he won a controversial majority decision win over Mauricio Herrera in Puerto Rico.

Garcia said that Barclays “feels like a second home” to him and that he will give his Brooklyn fans “another great show”. The undefeated Philadelphia native added that he “will be ready” for Rod Salka on August 9.

Garcia’s three year title reign has been impressive. He has made five successful title defenses against Amir Khan, Erik Morales, Zab Judah, Lucas Matthyse and Mauricio Herrera. His popularity has grown leaps and bounds with his willingness to take on all comers. But this latest bout is a big question mark in the minds of fight fans and experts.

A Bridge

Rod “Lightning” Salka has a record of 19-3 with only 3KO’s. He has won four out of his last five bouts including an April 18 unanimous victory over the erstwhile undefeated prospect Alexei Collado. The 31 year old Salka has been a pro since 2007 but this will be his first world title bout. He was previously the NABA USA Lightweight champion and the IBO International Lightweight champion. He will be moving up in weight to challenge Garcia.

Salka said that this will be “the biggest stage he has fought in his career” but he is “not intimidated” at all because Danny Garcia is “beatable”. Salka said that his experience has “prepared” him for this bout and he’ll show the world “how it’s (beating Garcia) is done.”

But boxing rumors point to Salka as a bridge between Garcia and IBF Junior Welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson especially since Salka is a natural lightweight. Incidentally, Peterson is also slated to fight on the same August 9th fight card. Garcia and Peterson are rumored to be fighting each other later this year and GBP wants them to be bridged “safely” to their title unification bout.

Collision Course?

Peterson will be facing New York’s Edgar “EL Chamaco” Santana in the co featured bout of the fight card. Peterson has a record of 32-2-1 with 16 KOs. Like Garcia, he is a resident champion in the Junior Welterweight class. He owns victories over Amir Khan and Kendall Holt. Peterson is coming off an impressive win over the previously unbeaten Canadian Dierry Jean last January 25th.

Like Garcia, Peterson will be defending his belt against an unheralded opponent in Santana. Although Santana is the NABA light welterweight champion, this will be his first shot at a world title. The 35 year old Santana’s most notable career win was a majority decision win over contender Josesito Lopez in 2008. Otherwise, Peterson’s 29-4 record with 20 KO’s were against unknown foes.

With Peterson and Garcia fighting lowly opposition on August 9, their paths are expected to collide later this year in a heavily anticipated unification match which will determine the true king of the junior welterweight class. The other major player in this division is Ruslan Provodnikov, but with his recent upset loss to Chris Algieri, the winner between Garcia and Peterson would be the consensus best fighter in the light welterweight class.

After months of speculation, Carmelo Anthony has decided to opt-out of the final year of his contract with the New York Knicks on Monday to test the free agency waters, according to his agent Leon Rose.

Rose added that his client loves New York and the Knicks, but at this point in his career, he just wants to “explore his options.” But where could these options be?

Here are the Top 5 destinations for Melo:

1. Growing Horns: Chicago Bulls

When the Bulls traded Luol Deng in the middle of the season, it was obvious that they wanted someone bigger. Late in the season, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose made it public that they were campaigning for the Knicks’ star to join them in the Windy City. Chicago’s route is not easy, but it is very much possible:

First they have to amnesty Carlos Boozer’s $16.8M salary for the 2014-15 season. Then they have to trade someone like Mike Dunleavy Jr., who has a $3.3 payroll, in a salary dump. That would give them enough cash to offer Carmelo the maximum contract allowed by the CBA.

2. Ready for Take-Off: Houston Rockets

The Rockets lost in the first round of the playoffs. And although they already have Dwight Howard and James Harden, they believe they can still sign one more superstar with the maximum salary. But this one is more difficult than Chicago’s case because they have to move more pieces here.

Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik will make $8.3M each next season. The Rockets need trade partners to dump their salaries. Asik can be dumped easily because of his size as Atlanta and Boston were reportedly interested. Shopping Lin would be difficult, and perhaps they need to add a sweetener like a Patrick Beverly or Terrence Jones.

Then there is Chandler Parsons. If Carmelo asks for the max, then Parsons will not be re-signed. But if Melo takes a pay cut to retain a key component, Parsons stays. Houston needs to part with a lot of pieces to get Melo, but they believe he is worth all the sacrifices.

3. California Dreaming: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have all the salary cap in the world with only three players under contract for next season. Only Kobe, Steve Nash and Robert Sacre are on board, so Mitch Kupchak has a chance. But because of Kobe’s $23.5M salary, the Lakers will have a line-up of minimum wagers to support Kobe, Carmelo, Nash and the 7th pick in the draft. But regardless of who else is on that squad, the one-two punch of Kobe and Carmelo is a lethal one and has no limitations.

Business wise, Los Angeles is good for Carmelo since aside from New York, it’s the biggest market in the NBA. Anthony will get plenty of advertisement and endorsement deals in Hollywood. When Kobe retires two years from now, Carmelo Anthony will become the next franchise player of the Lakers while his wife Lala Anthony should fit well in the bright lights of tinseltown.

4. Taking it to South Beach: Miami Heat

Really? From the Big Three to the Fantastic Four. Realistically, this is farfetched because the Heat already have three high paying superstars. But if the Big Three and Carmelo are willing to take huge pay cuts for a chance to assemble an improbably good team, then this one is possible.

The most important thing here is motive, and it won’t be cash because James, Wade and Bosh would make at least $20M a piece next season. But if each of them are willing to make “just” $15M each and give the remaining $15M to Carmelo, well then it’s mathematically possible. With Pat Riley steering the Miami ship, you’ve got to believe in magic. For Carmelo, this is the best shot at winning a title.

5. Madison Square Guardian: New York Knicks

When Carmelo opted out, it did not mean that he won’t sign with the Knicks again. The Knicks can offer him a maximum of $129M for five years while the other teams can only offer him $96M for four years. Financially, this is the soundest decision for Anthony. Realistically, this is probably where he is going.

Exploring options doesn’t necessarily mean leaving town. It just means testing your market value. At the same time, Carmelo is telling Phil Jackson that he is the master of his destiny. He is telling the Knicks to build now and win next season. The Knicks are on the way.

It started with Jackson’s hiring. Phil’s job is to woo Melo back. Once he does, everything else will be easier and the Knicks should be in the playoffs next season.

Ovince St. Preux and Ryan Bader both came up with big wins in the undercard of UFC 174. Four days later, they agreed to face each other in the main event of UFC’s Fight Night card on August 16 in Bangor, Maine USA.

Red Hot

St. Preux has been red hot. The Knoxville Tennessee native has an MMA record of 16-5 with 7 KOs and 5 submissions. But he has won 13 of his last 14 bouts, including 4-0 in the UFC. That lone loss was dealt by Gegard Mousasi on December 17, 2011 when both men were still fighting for the Strikeforce promotion.

St. Preux is coming off a second round submission of Ryan Jimmo in UFC 174. Jimmo was forced to a verbal tap out after suffering a broken arm against the very physical St. Preux.

Going into the August 16 fight, St. Preux carries a five fight winning streak which is the longest in the light heavyweight division oustide of champion Jon Jones.

Darth Bader

Bader is best known as the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8: Team Noguiera vs Team Mir in 2008. The 31 year old Reno, Nevada native went undefeated in three fights before squaring off against Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu black belt Vinicius Magalhaes. Bader dropped Magalhaes with an overhand right a few seconds into the bout, and finished him off with ground strikes at the 2:18 mark of the very first round to earn the traditional “six-figure UFC contract.”

Bader has gone 9-4 since his arrival in the UFC, holding unanimous decision victories over Antonio Rogiero ” Little Nog” Noguiera and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. His four losses were all to big name fighters: Jon Jones, Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida and Glover Texiera. Although Bader had the reputation of losing his big fights, he changed that in UFC 174.

Bader faced former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Rafael “Feijao” Calvacante in a three rounder. Bader dominated he Brazilian for fifteen minutes and shut him down in all the judges scorecards at 30-27. Bader set the tone and avoided Calvacante’s striking by taking him down to the ground early in the fight. Bader worked from the top position with a heavy ground and pound and solid knees to the body. It was perhaps the best-all around effort of Bader’s career and it proved that he has evolved into a more mature fighter. The Ryan Bader of old would have recklessly went in for a shoot-out against his opponent. Against Calvacante, that would have been a disaster.

Bader is on a two fight winning streak. His overall record is 17-4 with 6 KOs and 4 submissions.

The Maine Event

UFC president Dana White said that he “loves this great fight” because St. Preux is a guy “who looks better each time he fights.” White believes that Bader is a good test of how good St. Preux really is. He added that both Top 10 guys have a chance to break into the elite Top 5 rankings and inch closer to a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.

St. Preux carries the longer winning streak and much of the hype this time around, but Bader has another shot at getting back to the top. Let’s see whose