Offtopic/fun » lineup. In addition to the guys he ment

Meagan Martin got the monkey off her back.At the Indianapolis finals in Mondays American Ninja Warrior episode, the 26-year-old climber from Boulder, Colorado, punched her own ticket to Las Vegas (i.e., qualified without needing a wild-card invitation), joining Kacy Catanzaro and Jessie Graff as the only women to achieve that feat.Martin finished in eighth place after making it to the ninth obstacle, the Circuit Board, before her grip gave out and she hit the water. She knew shed made a mistake early in her run and needed to fix it, but she lost her balance in the process.It was a little disappointing, but Im still very pleased with my run! Martin said via text.Its hard not to be pleased. The former Vanderbilt pole vaulter has performed well in city qualifying rounds, hitting the buzzer in each of the past three seasons -- the only woman to do that. When it came to finals, however, shes come up short.It was really important to me to break that cycle, Martin said. I really made a point to stay focused on each obstacle as I got to it and not get ahead of myself.Martin, a member of the ninja training and rock climbing group known as the Wolfpack Ninjas, is no stranger to Vegas. After earning wild-card invitations to the finals the past two seasons, she became the first woman to complete the Jumping Spider in 2014 before stalling out at the Warped Wall. She equaled that performance again in 2015. Her success has earned her the respect of many, including ANWs biggest fans: kids.It means so much to me to be a role model, Martin said. Im the oldest of three girls, so I think Ive always made decisions with setting a good example in mind. Now with American Ninja Warrior, I am on a much bigger stage, so its great to have the opportunity to show girls that they can be and do anything they put their mind to.Indianapolis city finals specs: Finishers: 4Female finishers: 0Women moving on: 1New or modified obstacles on second half of course: 1 out of 4The course: Were into city finals episodes, where the first six obstacles remain the same as in each of the city qualifiers (except for a couple of tweaks). In city finals, the course builders added four obstacles on the second portion of the course (which well review below), bringing the total number of obstacles to 10.The first obstacle on the second part of each city finals course so far (i.e., the seventh obstacle overall) is the Salmon Ladder. Ninjas hang from a bar and must propel themselves upward to jump the bar up a series of rungs.The eighth obstacle in Indianapolis was the Hourglass Drop, which made its ANW premiere in Venice in 2015. Its a certified ninja killer. Ninjas hang from a bar, and then drop onto a trampoline to propel themselves to a hanging board. They must hop their hands along the unstable board, doing their best to keep it level, lest it tip and dump them into the water, before dismounting onto the platform.The Circuit Board is the all-new ninth obstacle on this course. In both a cerebral and physical test, competitors grip two movable pieces that hang from cutouts in a board. The pieces can be taken in and out of the openings, and ninjas must slide them along the boards cutouts to maneuver to the next platform.The Invisible Ladder returns as the 10th obstacle. So far, thats been the case on each city finals course. Ninjas grab rings suspended from a hole in a platform and pull. When their movement stops, the ring catches their weight so that it looks like they are pulling themselves up a ladder, through the hole at the top of the finishing platform.Looking forward: Next weeks episode features the Oklahoma City finals, which was a surprising region that saw the early exits of ninja greats Catanzaro and Lance Pekus. It should be an interesting ride!Cheap NMDs Canada . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. y-3 Sale Canada . 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Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.Each week, ESPN.com writer and MMA Live Extra analyst Brett Okamoto provides his take on the hottest topics in the world of mixed martial arts.This week, Okamoto squares off with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson?to debate the latest news and trends entering UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas. Johnson (24-2-1), ESPN.coms No. 1-rated pound-for-pound fighter, returns to the Octagon on July 30 when he defends his title against Wilson Reis at UFC 201.1.?Which fight are you most looking forward to at UFC 200?Demetrious Johnson: I would say the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier fight. I know its kind of cliche to pick that one, but I felt like neither one of them really got the best of the other the first time they fought. DC lost but he didnt get destroyed. Im excited for Jose Aldo-Frankie Edgar and Amanda Nunes-Miesha Tate, but no matter what happens with those, life will go on. The hard one that everyone is going to be taking about is Jones-DC. Theres a lot riding on that. I think DC needs this. His career has led up to this. If Tate were to lose her belt to Nunes it would be like, OK, you lost, but its all right, go get the next one. I feel the same thing with me. If I were to lose a fight at this point, itd be like, All right, lets get this next one. With Jones-DC, if Jones loses, everyone will be like, What the fudge? And if DC loses, people will say, See? I told you he wasnt a real champion anyway. Theres a lot at stake for both guys.Brett Okamoto:?Aldo-Edgar for me. Aldo seems somewhat forgotten based on one 13-second knockout loss to Conor McGregor in December. Hes still the most dominant champion in featherweight history. How does he look after that humbling of a loss? Ill be honest, I havent agreed with every step he has taken since then. The way he talks about that loss, chalking it up as a complete fluke and then calling McGregor out on social media only to not take the fight at UFC 196 when it was offered on short notice -- I dont think some of those actions have benefited him in the public. But hes a great martial artist and has been for a very long time. If he comes back and looks confident against Edgar, I would want to see a rematch against McGregor. And Edgar is pound-for-pound one of the best, in my opinion. So, this fight does it for me2.?There are seven former UFC champions fighting on that card (including Jon Jones, who is an interim champion). How many of those seven will win a title again?Johnson:?[Bantamweight] T.J. Dillashaw, yes. [Welterweight] Johny Hendricks, no. [Heavyweight] Cain Velasquez, no. [Featherweight] Frankie Edgar, I dont know. We dont know if Conor McGregor wants to defend it. [Featherweight] Jose Aldo, same thing. [Heavyweight] Brock Lesnar, no. [Light heavyweight] Jon Jones, yes. I think Dillashaw, watching his last fight against Dominick Cruz, that fight could have gone either way. I think if you ran it back things could be different. Edgar and Aldo, who knows? Conor might say, F--- it, Im making money regardless of being a champion, and vacate it. Then youd have Aldo beating Edgar, Edgar beating Aldo. Ill say yes on both of them, why not? Hendricks, I just think youve got Wonderboy [Stephen Thompson] up there now, T-Wood [Tyron Woodley], Robbie Lawler. And Cain, I feel like the injury bug will hold him back, man. Thats my honest opinion. Its not even about winning his fights, its him staying healthy enough to get fights, and I think hell have a problem with that.Okamoto:?Agree with Johnson on everything, except Lesnar. Lesnar is definitely getting that belt back ... all right, maybe not. But yeah, Dillashaw is right there with Cruz. They are neck and neck. I think their next title fight (there will be a second one eventually) needs to be seven rounds instead of five because its going to be just as hard to score as the first one. Im pretty confident Dillashaw will have a belt around his waist again. Hendricks and Velasquez are nos for me as well, for the reasons DJ provided. The tough ones here are definitely the featherweights. Theres a lot of unknown with the McGregor situation. Ill say yes to Edgar and probably?for Aldo. If I had to pick one or the other, Id pick Edgar, even though hes older.3.?If you could add one matchup to UFC 200, what would it be?Johnson:?I dont know. Probably just [McGregor] fighting. One of the biggest fight cards Ive ever sseen was UFC 189 when Conor fought Chad Mendes.dddddddddddd The Irish fans were there and it was f---ing absolutely insane. I dont know. The card is pretty stacked as it is. I might say Nick Diaz fighting somebody, but I dont really care. I think its a good card to begin with.Okamoto:?Yeah, youd have to add Diaz-McGregor II, right? Thats one of he most attractive main events of the year. On the other hand, I think there is such a thing as overkill when talking about one card. Diaz-McGregor II is a fight that deserves our full attention, as does Jones-DC II. If McGregor and Diaz were added to this card, obviously theyd get a lot of attention, but theyd have to share it with Jones, DC, Lesnar, etc. I kind of like having them on their own card. So, you know what? Scratch that. I dont want Diaz-McGregor II at UFC 200. Lets just add a fun one. Dude, how about this lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov-Tony Ferguson fight the UFC has tried to make about 14 times? Thats the fight I would add.4.?Over/under: How many total takedowns will Brock Lesnar need to defeat Mark Hunt in the co-main event?Johnson:?Hes gonna need a s---load, Ill tell you that. Its hard. I will say Brock Lesnar has some great ground and pound. Obviously, he hit hard because he knocked out Frank Mir.?Ill be real -- Ill say four takedowns. Four would be good. I expect him to bull-rush Hunts ass. Thats the thing, too, though. Mark Hunts standup is more of a one punch, knock you out. Hes not throwing a jab, two, three, low kick. Hes basically measured, measured, measured, then fires. So, if Brock can move around, jab in, throw crosses, close into that clinch, that might be good.Okamoto:?As crazy as it sounds, its possible he would only need one. Those Mir fights were a long time ago, but still -- Lesnar ate Mir alive once he got him down on the floor. And Mir is far more dangerous off his back than Hunt. Hunt is very durable and Lesnar has been off for a while. Even if Lesnar were to get him down relatively early in the first round and keep him there, I think Hunt could at least survive to make Round 2. So, Ill say Lesnar would need a minimum of two. I dont think one will do it. Bottom line, to just answer the question, if Lesnar wins, I think the total number of takedowns on his stat sheet will read three.5.?What was the best event, start to finish, in mixed martial arts history?Johnson:?Man, I couldnt even tell you. Theres so many of them. I have no idea. I would say UFC 100 was pretty dope. You had Georges St-Pierre on there fighting Thiago Alves, who was on a tear with his leg kicks. Brock Lesnar fought Frank Mir. That was a good card. Theres just so many fights now, man. They almost kind of oversaturate it. I was in the gym the other day looking at [coach Matt Humes] fight posters of Pride and I was like, Man, they had some sick-ass fights back then. Wanderlei Silva fighting Mirko Cro Cop [Filipovic] -- and Wanderlei Silva weighing more than Cro Cop for that fight. Now, there are so many fights, its hard for me to sit here and answer which card was dope. Probably the best card ever Id say was Pride Critical Countdown [July 1, 2006]. You had Josh Barnett, Wanderlei, Cro Cop was on there -- that one was pretty sick.Okamoto:?Ill be honest, my answer probably wont give the old-school cards enough credit. I just dont remember them as well, obviously. The Pride Critical Countdown Absolute card DJ mentions is a crazy lineup. In addition to the guys he mentioned, that card had Vitor Belfort, Alistair Overeem, both Nogueira brothers, Mark Hunt. That event was before I started covering the sport, though, so just personally, its not as high on my list. The first card that pops into my head for this is UFC 116: Lesnars comeback win against Shane Carwin, Chris Leben-Yoshihiro Akiyama,?Stephan Bonnar-Krzysztof Soszynski. That was a main card where every fight seemed to outdo the one before it. The energy in the arena was crazy. UFC 189 also had that feeling with McGregor-Mendes, Robbie Lawler-Rory MacDonald?and?Thomas Almeida-Brad Pickett. And I know it just happened, but UFC 199 -- with?Michael Bisping-Luke Rockhold, Dominick Cruz-Urijah Faber and Dan Henderson-Hector Lombard -- was a very memorable one as well. ' ' '