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Helio Gracie–patriarch of the legendary Gracie MMA family–died earlier this year in Rio De Janeiro at age 95. His influence on martial arts, and even more so the sport that is known known as mixed martial arts, is staggering. The Gracie family name will forever be synonymous with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA and the UFC due to the accomplishments of Helio Gracie and his progeny.

Several years ago the Green Bay Packers cut longtime quarterback Brett Favre loose following his first unsuccessful retirement in favor of Aaron Rodgers. It\’s turn very evident that they made the correct decision. Meanwhile Favre continues to diminish his legacy with poor on-field play and a variety of off-field shenanigans, Rodgers has become one of the most feared quarterbacks in the NFL. On Sunday, he led the Packers to a 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears that wasn\’t actually as close as the ending score indicates. Green Bay will at this time face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, Texas on February 6.

How quickly things have changed for the Utah Jazz-in just two weeks longtime coach Jerry Sloan abruptly quit and now the team has traded their franchise player. On Wednesday, Utah sent All Star point guard Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for guard Devin Harris, forward Derrick Favors, a pair of first round draft picks and cash. The Nets had been hoping to acquire Denver\’s Carmelo Anthony, but Williams-arguably the best point guard in the NBA-is a very good \’consolation prize\’.

Following Brock Lesnar\’s UFC 100 victory over Frank Mir, many new fans to the sport are under the mistaken impression that he\’s unbeatable. In his short tenure as a professional fighter, the former WWE champion has seen a remarkable transformation in public opinion from the suggestion that he\’s a \’sideshow freak\’ to the misconception that he\’s \’unbeatable\’. With all due respect to Lesnar, who is progressing by leaps and bounds as a fighter with every bout, hes got a big deficit in experience to make up on the job as UFC heavyweight champion.

New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams has been bothered by a strained right wrist even before his trade from the Utah Jazz. His injury went from bad to worse on Friday night when he aggravated it in a 110-95 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks while driving to the basket late in the third quarter. He remained in the game, but afterwards admitted that he may be done for the season since the only thing that will make his wrist better is rest.

This time we wont rank the bad celebrity pinball machines, well look at several different genres of bad celebrity tie ins:

When David Beckham suffered a torn Achilles\’ tendon in a Italian league game in mid-March, doctors gave him an outside chance of returning in time for the World Cup or at the very least part of the MLS season. Unfortunately, it doesn\’t look like either of these favorable scenarios will transpire. In a recent statement Beckham broke the news that his recovery is behind schedule and he won\’t be able to resume playing soccer until November at the earliest.

The oldest fight sport adage in the world is \’styles make fights\’. For that reason, no one knew quite what to expect in Saturday\’s WEC Interim Lightweight Championship battle between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson. Henderson was known for his dominating wrestling skills, while Cerrone has a reputation as a punishing striker. Instead of being a clash of styles, however, it was an instance where the differing approaches of the two competitors complimented each other perfectly. The result was a \’fight of the year\’ candidate bout that Henderson won by unanimous-decision.

The Chicago Bulls and their fans are breathing a big sigh of relief with the news that superstar guard Derek Rose appears to have avoided serious ankle injury and has started Game 5 of the best of 7 opening round series against the Indiana Pacers. Rose injured his ankle in the Bulls\’ Game 4 loss though remained in the game playing through the pain. He remained \’questionable\’ until gametime on Tuesday night but early indications were that he was moving well without much, if any, discernable pain.

The Knicks took on Chauncey Billups at midseason as a \’throw in\’ in the deal that brought Carmelo Anthony to the \’Big Apple\’ but they ended up getting a very valuable playmaker that provides valuable veteran leadership in their backcourt. On Wednesday, they \’put their money where their mouth is\’ and picked up Billups\’ option for the 2011-2012 NBA season. The Knicks had the opportunity to buy out his contract for $3.7 million but with the option will pay Billups $14.2 million for next year.