PEDRO’S FAMILY MATTERS
Finals fantasy can become a reality SUNDAY 3.20PM
The official draw says that the AFL finals begin next month, but 90,000 people at the MCG on Sunday are saying otherwise. There have been some big battles between the Blues and Magpies but none quite like this. The equation is quite simple for Carlton - win this, and you’re in the top eight. Lose, and the Bulldogs can steal their spot in the finals. They have to face their biggest rivals, who have dominated them over the years, and also need to win to jump back into the top four after their 11-game winning streak was snapped last week.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way SATURDAY-MONDAY, 5AM
Cameron Smith won’t be in the field for this week’s BMW Championship, but the injured Aussie is expected to be back for the Tour Championship. The field is down to 70, and Will Zalatoris has shot to the top of the standings after his exceptional win last weekend. But the chasing pack is hungry after a couple of top dogs surprisingly missed the cut, including Scottie Scheffler and Rory Mcilroy. Even with Smith out, there are a few Australians in the field, including Adam Scott, who finished tied for fifth last week.
Troubled waters for SVG’S main rivals SATURDAY-SUNDAY 8AM
Shane van Gisbergen
It’s as if is driving a car while his rivals are forced to use bicycles, with the defending champ already 393 points clear after another dominant weekend in South Australia. The Red Bull Racing star has won 14 of 23 races this year and has built a commanding lead with one eye on Bathurst in a couple of months. Cam Waters is his nearest rival, but hasn’t been able to turn his V8 Supercars poles this season into enough wins. He’ll need to turn those hot laps into wins starting at Sandown this weekend.
Super Bowl champs on pre-season show SATURDAY 12PM
The NFL pre-season is in full swing. While some of the big names aren’t there, these games are crucial for the next wave of talent coming through. The Rams picked up a win over LA rivals the Chargers last week and now turn their attention to the Texans, who need to give their fans something to get excited about after a couple of tough years. Matthew Stafford won’t be there for the Rams, but the defending Super Bowl champs will be keen to put on a show at home. Houston beat the Saints last week, but haven’t settled on a QB yet.
NRLW premiers hope to spoil Parra’s party SATURDAY 1PM
UFC star has no qualms about his tough upbringing but says he will do it differently, writes JAMIE PANDARAM
The fifth season of the NRLW starts with a bang, with the defending premiers out to make an early statement. A huge crowd is expected to pack out Commbank Stadium on Saturday when the Roosters take on the Eels, who are still smarting from a 19-18 loss last season that effectively cost them a spot in the finals. Both teams have had a fair few changes, but the Roosters still boast the best centre pairing in the world, with Jess Sergis and newly appointed skipper Isabelle Kelly sure to give the Eels plenty of headaches.
Roosters to farewell the SCG in style SATURDAY 7.35PM
It’s been a fun few years, but Saturday night looks set to be the last time we see an NRL game at the SCG for quite some time. The Roosters marked their return to the venue with a loss to South Sydney in 2019, but that won’t happen this weekend. They are the hottest team in the league with five wins on the trot, and young gun Joseph Suaalii is tearing it up on the right wing. Then there’s James Tedesco, who always lifts when he plays his former club. If you believe in nostalgia, they could run up a cricket score at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Love for the darts strong in the Gong SATURDAY 7PM
It was Dutch delight last week in Queensland when Michael van Gerwen fought back to overpower Gerwyn Price in Townsville. The series now shifts to NSW, where Wollongong gets to experience the mayhem of the darts masters. There are a couple of Aussies in the tournament, after we saw Simon Whitlock beat third seed James Wade last week, while Gordon Mathers shocked the world by reaching the final four before he was comfortably beaten by Price in the semis.
Equation simple for hungry Dogs SUNDAY 1.10PM
They’ve been hot and cold throughout the year, but it’s time for the Western Bulldogs to crank up the gas with a spot in the finals on the line. Last year’s grand finalists have had some great wins this season, but they’ve also dropped very winnable games. They are expected to win against a Hawks side that has nothing to play for. The Bulldogs have won three of their past four against Hawthorn and will be desperate for a fast start as they look to put pressure on the Blues, who will know the equation when their game kicks off.
Recruits have the Knights ready to roll SUNDAY, 6.10PM
Not a lot has gone right on and off the field for the Knights this year, but that could change when the NRLW season starts this weekend. The women’s team didn’t win a game in their first campaign, but they have recruited well and are being tipped by many to go all the way. They snared Millie Boyle and Tamika Upton from the Broncos, while there are huge raps on youngster Jesse Southwell. It’s fitting that it starts against the Broncos, who head into the new season without the trophy after their three-year streak ended.
Things could get Messi for Lille MONDAY 4.45AM
It’s first up against third in the French league, and a rare chance for Lille to upset the might of PSG. Lille has shown plenty of promise in the first two games and scored four goals in its only other home game this season. But PSG is on another level, and the defending champions have already rammed home 10 goals in two games to sit two points clear at the top. It’s the usual suspects finding the back of the bet, with Neymar scoring three goals and setting up another three, while Lionel Messi bagged a double in the opener.
TYSON Pedro worried about what sort of father he’d be. That’s natural of all expectant dads, but when you’ve had the kind of upbringing Pedro had, the worries are slightly more elevated.
Pedro and his father shocked readers when they revealed last week to News Corp journalist Nick Walshaw that as a child, John Pedro had accidentally stabbed his son, and intentionally knocked out his teeth in sparring as a way to toughen up the youngster who is a now a UFC star.
When 30-year-old Pedro enters the octagon on Sunday for UFC 278 against American Harry Hunsucker in Utah, he will have been hardened by his childhood - but foremost in his mind will be his one-year-old daughter Giselle.
“That hard upbringing, it worries you, because I didn’t know how I was going to be as a father as well, thinking about how you’re going to raise your child, the mistakes that maybe your family made,” Pedro said.
“But that’s all a learning curve. I think the adversities he taught me are what was
able to get me through the injury, was able to get through fights, why I am the fighter I am, why I am the person I am. I wouldn’t change it, but a lot of people wouldn’t agree with it.”
This is Pedro’s second fight back following a near four-year layoff with successive knee injuries. He opens the main payper-view card of UFC 278 headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s rematch against Leon Edwards.
Pedro returned in April to score a first-round knockout against Ike Villenueva, and plans to cut a swathe through the light-heavyweight division.
He is a different man to the one who was forced to deal with debilitating injuries since 2018, and from the teenager who learned the tough lessons in gyms across western Sydney with his father.
Raising Giselle with his wife Rosie, Pedro is determined she gets the life he never had.
“My wife put up a video of my daughter travelling to Hawaii and (Las) Vegas to watch me fight, and we’re planning to go to Paris and Italy afterwards to watch Tai (Tuivasa) fight,” Pedro said.
“And I just had to sit back for a second and think about my childhood, and that I’m doing everything to the best of my ability so she can experience things I never got to experience as a young kid.
“It’s made me the man I man today, so I wouldn’t change anything. And the bond that I have with my dad now is pretty crazy. He’s in my corner every fight.
“It’s sort of changed, the respect. It’s no longer father and son, we’re sort of equals now.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about my family, and I just want to make my daughter proud, for her to be able to say she’s proud of her dad when she grows up.”
Pedro spent nearly two months of his camp in Auckland, joining the famed City Kickboxing gym where he trained with Israel Adesanya, getting the best tutelage in the world but also spending a significant amount of time away from his daughter.
“It’s been rough being away from her. I’ve been away for six months this year, she just turned one,” Pedro said.
“But the chief still has to go to battle when the village is waiting for him, that’s what it’s all about. I’ve got to go to war and get it done.”