Second Thoughts

Marriage next battle for Rousey

The Milwaukee Bucks used Barney & Friends theme music to get in the heads of the Toronto Raptors.
The Milwaukee Bucks used Barney & Friends theme music to get in the heads of the Toronto Raptors.

It's very possible that Ronda Rousey will never again wear a UFC title belt, but she now has another prized accessory: an engagement ring. The former bantamweight champion said recently that she is set to marry her longtime boyfriend, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne.

Bro

photo

Invision/AP/Richard Shotwell

In this July 15, 2015, file photo, Ronda Rousey arrives at the ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Rousey announced her engagement to fellow MMA fighter Travis Browne on April 20, 2017.

photo

AP file photo

In this Sept. 10, 2016, file photo, Travis Browne stands in his corner during a heavyweight bout at UFC 203 in Cleveland. Fabricio Werdum won via decision.

wne, 34, told TMZ Sports that he and Rousey, 30, got engaged about a week earlier under a waterfall in New Zealand.

"It felt like the right place to do it," he said.

In a video published Friday by the TMZ website, Rousey showed off a sizable gemstone and said the wedding would take place "soon." She added, though, that she didn't know "what goes into planning" of such an event.

"It could be really easy -- I don't really want a lot," she said. "I don't really need decorations or flowers, just somewhere to go, something to eat and some people around."

Rousey has lost both of her past two fights, getting knocked out by Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, the latter in just 48 seconds after Rousey took more than a year to return to action following her loss to Holm.

Browne has remained active, but he has lost his past three fights to drop his record to 18-6-1. After his most recent defeat, a second-round knockout at UFC Fight Night 105 in February, the winner, Derrick Lewis, made a lighthearted play for Rousey in his post-fight comments.

Browne is reportedly scheduled to fight Oleksiy Oliynyk at UFC 213 on July 8, so his wedding with Rousey may wait until after that.

No love for Barney

The Toronto Raptors starting lineup was introduced for Game 3 of their playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks with a popular children's song Thursday night in Milwaukee.

It appears the Bucks got ahold of some psychological study to suggest how to completely disarm a group of testosterone-fueled professional athletes, namely the visiting Raptors. Team personnel played the theme song from the children's show Barney & Friends as they introduced the Raptors' starting lineup. (The Raptors team logo is a purple dinosaur, coincidentally.)

Did the plan help by getting into the Raptors players' heads?

Well, the Bucks led 32-12 after the first quarter and continued to pile on to win 104-77 to take a 2-1 series lead.

When asked about the song choice after the game, Toronto forward P.J. Tucker described his feelings with words not found in the Barney & Friends lyrics.

Turning gold into cash

The government of Fiji is issuing two million $7 banknotes to commemorate the Pacific island nation's Olympic gold medal victory in rugby sevens last year in Rio de Janeiro.

The banknotes, which are legal tender, were released through bank branches Friday.

A $7 Fijian banknote is worth approximately $3.35.

Fiji's reserve bank also will issue one million 50-cent coins with the image of England-born Ben Ryan, who coached Fiji to its first Olympic gold medal, on one side, and Fiji players hoisting the Olympic trophy on the other.

Announcing the release of the notes and coins, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Fiji's gold medal success showed that despite its small size, it could compete with the best in the world.

Ryan tweeted a photo of the $7 note, adding "just shows you how much the Fijian people care and value its rugby. Awesome."

Sports on 04/22/2017

Upcoming Events