e never happened. Drivers were set for the unusual start -- IndyCars first since 2008 -- but it was aborted when Josef Newgardens car s

A former WWE superstar with zero mixed martial arts experience entered the UFC Octagon on Saturday -- and it was only the third or fourth strangest thing to occur on the evening.Thats how bizarre UFC 203 was.In the co-main event, referee Gary Copeland allowed heavyweight Travis Browne to essentially call an injury timeout to fix a mangled finger, which is definitely not supposed to happen. Brownes opponent, Fabricio Werdum, went on to win anyway -- and then proceeded to half-heartedly kick Brownes trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, during a brief in-cage scuffle.Stipe Miocic knocked out Alistair Overeem to retain the UFC heavyweight championship in the next fight, after which a dazed Overeem claimed Miocic had tapped out to a guillotine choke prior to scoring the knockout. Rather than talk it out later once Overeems faculties returned, the UFC ran a series of in-house replays from multiple angles that clearly showed there was no tap -- all while Overeem stood awkwardly by.And all of this took place after the event had already seen a fight scrapped at the last minute, when C.B. Dollaway suffered a freak injury to his back when an elevator in his hotel malfunctioned.What do we ultimately make of all this madness? Heres what we learned at UFC 203.The UFC cant promote a second CM Punk fightLook, a lot of positive words have been written about Punk in the past 48 hours and Im not here to disagree with any of them. Whether or not his story deserved to be linked to the UFC, its an inspiring one.Punk, 37, walked out of a lucrative career in professional wrestling two years ago because it didnt make him happy. He pursued a journey in mixed martial arts because it did. Good for him.That said, there is no way the UFC can justify bringing him into the Octagon again after his first-round submission loss to Mickey Gall?(3-0) on Saturday.The UFC does deserve credit for doing something no one thought it would do, and that is book Punk against a legitimate opponent. Thats not to say Gall has proven himself a UFC-caliber welterweight -- he hasnt yet. But at the very least, hes an athletic 24-year-old prospect with a tangible skill set.And if were being candid here, that alone probably meant he was out of Punks league. Punk has a long professional wrestling career on his odometer. As inspiring as it for him to say, age is just a number, the reality is that number stands for something, as does the back surgery he underwent earlier this year. Hed never say this, but he was in an impossible situation at UFC 203.If last weekend was Punks initiation to MMA, a trial by fire to see if hed have the guts to come back from a public beating, his second fight should be about actual competition. Because thats what this guy has said he wants. He wants to fight for real and in order to do that, he deserves the right to do it in a real situation.That means booking him against a similarly skilled opponent.The UFC isnt the right promotion for that job. The opponent Punk needs is not someone the UFC should be signing -- even to a one-fight deal.And again, none of this is meant to be a negative on Punk. On a personal note, Id have interest in seeing Punk fight outside the UFC. If he did so, theres no question in my mind Id tune in. But as far as seeing him do it in the Octagon? Count me out.When Punk announced he had signed with the UFC in 2014, he described this respect he had for everyone who stepped into the cage and said by the time he was finished, people would have to respect him as well.He earned that respect on Saturday, by seeing the process through and stepping into the Octagon himself. Doing so a second time might actually jeopardize that respect.The dark horse that is Stipe Miocic continues to rideEven the staunchest Miocic supporters would be hard-pressed to say they always pegged him for UFC history. Hes two wins away from doing exactly that.This stat is well documented, youve probably heard it by now: No UFC heavyweight champion has ever defended the title more than twice consecutively.Throughout his career, no one has really doubted Miocic but there has always been room on his bandwagon. While its not a shock hes the heavyweight champ, it never felt like a foregone conclusion beforehand either.Should Miocic be the one to finally break that two-defense barrier, among all the great names that have previously held that title, it would fit in perfectly to his dark horse reputation. His path to get there figures to be difficult, as it will presumably include a matchup against former champion Cain Velasquez.At this point, however, it would be foolish to discount his chances.Cheap Yeezy From China . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Fake Yeezy . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. https://www.wholesaleyeezyauthentic.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wholesale Yeezy .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. yeezy black friday . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. TORONTO -- Scott Dixon said hed never been on a stranger podium. Dixon was joined by Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti but he was the only one who appeared to be celebrating after winning the Honda Indy Toronto for the first time in his career. Bourdais, who should have been overjoyed at his first podium finish since 2007, watched his second-place trophy fall off the base and smash on the ground. Franchitti, thinking he had finished third, was told moments before being doused in champagne that hed been penalized 25 seconds and was actually 13th. After the race the call was again reviewed and Franchittis third-place finish was restored. "I felt bad for Sebastien. That sucked," said Dixon, who made a pass on Bourdais with eight laps left in the 85-lap race. "Dropping that nice trophy. It bounced twice, too, so third time lucky I guess it smashed and the funniest thing though is you see it go back past Dario and he ... just watched it. So that was pretty funny." Dixon was enjoying himself all day. Saturdays victory was his second of the week and the season after capturing Pocono last Sunday, and moved him into third overall in the points standings. It came after the New Zealand native secured the pole in qualifying earlier in the day for Sundays race, the second of a doubleheader at Exhibition Place. Dixon also joined Bourdais, Franchitti and Torontos Paul Tracy for seventh on the all-time wins list with his 31st victory. "Basically for me it means a lot," said Dixon. "To think were all tied for what, seventh or something, but to think that the next group of people have names of Unser, Andretti and Foyt, you know thats pretty special to even be on the same list as those guys." Franchitti was at a loss for words when IndyCar penalized him for blocking rival Will Power on a restart on Lap 79. The three-time champion had started from the pole, but suffered from tire degradation and had to work back through the field. The same restart that saw Dixon rocket to victory featured fourth-place Power try to pass Franchitti only to shoot straight into a tire wall. After the race, Marco Andretti passed both drivers when Franchittis penalty moved him to third. Before the penalty was reversed, Franchitti said he had just been defending the inside racing line like he had through all 85 laps of the 1.75-mile street course at Exhibition Place. He said he would protest the call if he could, but it was reversed well after the race anyway. "It will be very interesting to know how they make decisions up there sometimes," said Franchitti. "I think it involves a dice and blindfold." The comment will likely anger IndyCar officials after race director Beaux Barfield missed the event with personal reasons. He was replaced by former race director Brian Barnhart, who was removed from the job at the end of the 2011 season following public spats with Power and Helio Castroneves. Andretti, the son of Michael Andretti who won the race seven times during his career, watched Franchitti and Power duel but said he didnt want to take a side.dddddddddddd "But if it moves me up to third, that was definitely a block," he said with laughter. Bourdais meanwhile said it was right that Dixon passed him because the fastest car should always win. The 2004 winner in Toronto said he wouldnt miss the broken trophy. "Ive got plenty of trophies," said the French driver. "Its not what makes your day. What makes your day is to have a day like this ... Today we drove well, fought hard, got the result in the end." The race continued a tradition of disappointment for the Canadian drivers. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., finished eighth after starting 13th -- his best finish in Toronto in three IndyCar seasons after being knocked out of the last two races -- while Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., ran into Simon Pagenaud on Lap 82 and ended up 17th. Ryan Hunter-Reay, last years winner and the defending series champion, was bumped into a banner and out of contention by teammate E.J. Viso on Lap 79, leading to a restart on the final lap. Power, who started third, led the race after 61 laps but conceded first place to Dixon and failed to take the lead after Dixon pitted. Power dropped back to third shortly after when a quick pit stop also put Bourdais just ahead. On Lap 64, Justin Wilson brought the pack together with a full-course caution after bouncing off the wall and into Charlie Kimball and Ryan Briscoe, who injured his wrist in the accident and was later taken to a hospital. On the restart, Bourdais moved by Dixon on a pass that was reviewed but later approved by IndyCar officials. The lead lasted until Dixons strong pass in the dying moments of the race. The much-anticipated standing start to the race never happened. Drivers were set for the unusual start -- IndyCars first since 2008 -- but it was aborted when Josef Newgardens car stalled on the grid. IndyCar immediately changed to the normal rolling start, but the race didnt get a green flag until Newgardens car was taken off the track after stalling again. Race officials later opted to try the standing start again Sunday. When the race finally began, every car made it through the slippery first turn for a clean start. Dixon, who would normally be spending the night celebrating his victory with a drink, said he would instead be preparing for a Sunday race he thinks could get testy. "Thats kind of the tough part about today," said Dixon. "If people had a bad day today theyre going to take it out tomorrow. I guess if you had a good day you just hope youre not on the receiving end of that." Notes: Takuma Sato was put on probation for five races after running into Hunter-Reay in pit lane at Pocono on Sunday. ... Justin Wilson stalled on pit road and started the race from back of the pack. ' ' '