UFC Adelaide was a 'shit day at the office' for the Juggernaut team with Mark Hunt, Tai Tuivasa and Tyson Pedro suffering defeat. It was a delightful day at the office for Auckland City Kickboxing though as Kai Kara France won vs Elias Garcia via a decision, in his first UFC fight.
This week leading into UFC Adelaide has been hectic, so getting around to cover the #KiwiUFC angle of Mark Hunt and Kai Kara France was put on the back-burner.
All that really matters from Aotearoa Black Sticks' first game vs France at the Men’s Hockey World Cup, was that they grabbed a win and 3 points.
Creeping in under the radar to wrap up an ... 'interesting' 2018 for Aotearoa Hockey is the Men's World Cup and while much of the spotlight has been on the women for much of this year, the Black Sticks Men are gearing up for the premier hockey event in Bhubaneswar, India.
They say that the best time to be on the bandwagon of a fighter, is during their rise and in beating Derek Brunson with a first round KO/TKO, Israel Adesanya has capped off his insane 2018 in the UFC.
The best sign in Isreal Adesanya's rapid ascent through the UFC is that his most impressive performance, came against his toughest opponent thus far and most recent fight in giving Brad Tavares a hiding.
What a beautiful time to be alive, delivering the Lydia Ko mixtape after our kiwi cuzzie enjoyed her best month of 2018 and probably her best month during this multi-year tough period.
Bad results/Ugly style/Haven’t won for a while/Getting stale/Gone off track/This is what gets coaches sacked
Labour Weekend has been a sporting feast in Aotearoa, so the Niche Cache team traded messages to discuss Tongan rugby league, the Breakers, Phoenix and Warriors. Edgar Davids makes an appearance as well.
Technically, Lydia Ko's August also featured the Women's British Open - which I covered in the July Mixtape - and on the back of finished tied for 11th at the major, Ko continued her solid run with two more top-20 finishes in August.
Another day of another week and there's a new angle to the Black Sticks Women/Mark Hager situation to explore.
As I stated a few facts about the Black Sticks Women's success under coach Mark Hager, I did so not knowing about the tsunami that was approaching.
Having shown signs of a resurgence, Lydia Ko has settled back into her normal service throughout July on the LPGA Tour.
The Women's World Cup is over for Aotearoa's Black Sticks after they were beaten 2-0 by a rampant Argentina team.
Aotearoa and Australia played out a 1-1 draw in their final pool game of the Women's World Cup in London, putting the Black Sticks up against Argentina in the next phase.
Despite a first up win, Aotearoa's Black Sticks showed a few concerning signs against Belgium and in their second game of the Hockey Women's World Cup, Japan exposed those weaknesses and snatched a 2-1 win.
Aotearoa's Black Sticks got their World Cup campaign off to a strong start in beating Belgium 4-2 and in terms of a first up performance, you can't really ask for much more.
Commonwealth Games gold was cool, a fantastic moment for kiwi hockey and Aotearoa's Black Sticks Women, now we approach the Women's World Cup though and, the headline act of the women's 2018 hockey calendar will be the true representation of what this team can do.
In one weekend, Aotearoa's combat sport presence was blasted into a new realm as Auckland City Kickboxing comrades Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker enjoyed slick UFC wins.
The first half of the #KiwiUFC winter extravaganza was perfect, two wins from two fights and now it's Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker's time to represent the hearty land of Aotearoa.