Sydney FC goalkeeper Danny Vukovic says Melbourne Citys Bruno Fornaroli will go down as the best striker the A-League has seen, but is backing his defence to do the job in the FFA Cup final.He didnt enter the A-League with the same fanfare or list of accomplishments as other import forwards including Alessandro Del Piero and Robbie Fowler, but Uruguayan Fornaroli has quickly made his mark.He set an A-League all-time season goalscoring record of 23 in 2015-16 and leads the way in the current campaign with seven in eight games.Fornaroli looms as a key figure in Wednesday nights much-anticipated FFA Cup decider at Melbournes AAMI Park.between the top two sides on the A-League ladder.Bruno, I think, will eventually go down as the best (striker) that weve seen in the A-League, Vukovic said on Monday.I know thats a big call because theres been some great ones in the league but what hes done in the short time that hes been here has been pretty amazing.Its obviously our job on Wednesday night to keep him quiet.Vukovic has plenty of faith in the Sydney defence with the Sky Blues conceding a league-best of just three goals in eight games.I think everyone knows that defensively were a very strong unit so were backing ourselves to go to Melbourne and bring the cup home. Vukovic said.The confident custodian said hed back himself to score a spot- kick if the game went to penalties.Sydney coach Graham Arnold has stated since the pre-season that the Sky Blues had to break their six-year trophy drought this season, but Vukovic said there would be pressure on both sides on Wednesday.We want to be the playing group that bring a trophy to Sydney, Vukovic said.He played in the two previous FFA Cup finals, finishing runner-up with Perth in 2015 and a winner with Melbourne Victory last year.I think it (the FFA Cup) has a lot of potential to get even bigger, Vukovic said.It captures the heart of the football fans seeing the NPL sides play and it gives opportunity to the semi-professional players.Among those is goalkeeper Chris Oldfield who Sydney have signed as an injury replacement for Vukovics backup Vedran Janjetovic.He (Janjetovic) has asked for some time way to deal with some personal things and its important that we as a playing group and everyone else gives him his privacy while he deals with what hes going through, Vukovic said. 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Each week, ESPN.com writer and MMA Live Extra analyst Brett Okamoto provides his take on the hottest topics in the world of mixed martial arts.This week, Okamoto squares off with UFC middleweight contender Mickey Gall to debate the latest news including the recent sale of the UFC, UFC 200, the Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor rematch and more. Gall (2-0), returns to the Octagon at UFC 203 on Sept. 10 against CM Punk, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.1. Will the sale of the UFC to WME-IMG ultimately be a good or bad thing for the sport?Gall: I dont know man. I dont know what implications this has. It still has (president) Dana White at the head, which is great. Hes a fight fan, he knows fights -- I think hes a big reason why (the UFC is) as big as it is, why the $2 million purchase eventually turned into a $4 billion sale. I think it could be a good thing. You dont buy it to just keep it the same. Im sure they have some improvements they want to make. Its a little weird. I hope its all good. Its hard to know right now. Im not sure what the implications of them buying it are. I know that $4 billion is a lot of money. Its hard for me to quantify. It shows the worth of the sport, the entertainment value. It also shows the worth of the fighters. Were worth something. I dont know though, I dont know what changes will be made.Okamoto: I think it will be good. An entertainment empire like WME-IMG, with an investment group backing it as it has, does not purchase the UFC for $4 billion unless they see a very strong path to a return on that investment. Its a good time to be in the live sports business, when it comes to negotiating television contracts with networks. WME-IMG certainly is a good candidate to understand how to monetize the sport from that aspect, and more money is good for everyone, athletes included. Its up to the athletes to make sure they are given an appropriate piece of that pie. UFC has gone full corporate, in a sense, and these new owners are here to print money. Athletes need to be aware of that and speak up if they want their fair share of it.2. Did UFC 200 live up to the hype?Gall: For me it did. Obviously, I was extremely disappointed with the Jon Jones thing. We knew that going in there. If that Jones-Daniel Cormier fight happened, it would have been over the top. I still really enjoyed UFC 200. I said that on Twitter, that it didnt disappoint. And I immediately got, Youre a shill, youre blind, all of that. But (teammate) Jim Miller got the win, that always makes my night and puts me in a good mood. I loved the Brock Lesnar fight. He really impressed me. Id say it lived up to it, it did.Okamoto: If we make this a yes or no question, then my answer has to be no. If youre looking at it from a basic perspective: Did UFC 200, a landmark event that was on all of our radars for a very long time, live up to the hype? No, it did not. The main event was a fight between Miesha Tate and a relatively unknown Amanda Nunes. It was a great highlight win for Nunes, but it didnt feel like this big piece of history. An event like UFC 200 needs historical relevance. Lesnar vs. Hunt? Doesnt provide that. Cormier vs. Silva? Not really. It wasnt a bad night of fights but it wasnt a spectacular one, either. But, theres an asterisk in all of this and that is Jon Jones was pulled three days before the card. That threw an obvious wrench into the entire thing. So, relatively speaking, given the circumstances, UFC 200 delivered in that it felt like a big night with big names. The overall product was slightly disappointing, however.3. Should fans have booed Daniel Cormier for his wrestling-heavy strategy against Anderson Silva at UFC 200?Gall: Id say its within their right to do that and I can see where theyre coming from. I think its a shame, though. DC gets booed a lot, which is surprising to me because he seems like a role model type. Seems like a very good guy. Doesnt cause any problems really. When its that style, man, its not very appealing to a lot of the fans -- that lay and pray kind of thing. I think its within the fans right to boo but I feel bad for DC. He was fighting a safe fight, didnt want to lose. I understand both sides of that, the fans and him. Fans want to see people taking chances, doing stuff. Everyone knows DC can take down Anderson, so I can see why they would want him to mix it up, but it would be unintelligent for DC to stand up with Anderson.Okamoto: Absolutely not. And Im not getting on any high horse here -- whatever. Fans can boo whoever they want, Im not losing sleep over it. Im not yelling at anyone. But this was ridiculous. If fans wannt to cheer Silva for coming in on two days notice, two months removed from surgery, thats great.dddddddddddd. They should cheer him for that. But to boo Cormier? Who lost out on the biggest payday of his career and a chance to beat the best fighter of his generation (because that guy failed a drug test)? After the emotional roller coaster Cormier went through, fans want him to turn around and fight a dumb game plan (in a sport you can get seriously injured in), simply for their entertainment? I swear this is true, when the arena was chanting Stand them up during the Cormier-Silva fight, thats the closest thing Ive ever felt to, This is ancient Rome, man -- people just wanting to see blood and death out there. Again, Im not trying to stand on any soapbox about this, but that thought went through my head, and it was a little unsettling.4. Will Brock Lesnar fight in the UFC again?Gall: Man, I hope so. I really hope so. He looked great. He fought a monster in Mark Hunt. He fought his fight. When Brock Lesnar drags people to the ground and throws those big meat fists in their face, he does that, anyones in trouble. He can do that to anybody. So, I hope he fights again. I heard he made $2.5 million at UFC 200. Thats nice money to take and run with. I didnt watch the post-fight press conference but I read some of the reports of him saying hes Top 10. I agree with him. That guys a specimen. Hes one of those guys, if he had gotten into mixed martial arts young and didnt pro wrestle, he would have been even better. Maybe even on a Fedor (Emelianenko) level.Okamoto: Im split right down the middle on this. On one hand, yes. Lesnar is saying hes a top-10 heavyweight, his comments after the fight made it seem like hes more likely to fight again than not. Certainly, you have to think the UFC would love to have him. Hes not going to be fighting for the title again. Heaven forbid he took out the UFCs heavyweight champion but then contractually was still with the WWE. Obviously, that aint happening. But would the UFC book Lesnar to another fun kind of fight, at an event like UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, against an opponent with a relatively weak wrestling background, which would give Lesnar a shot? Absolutely. But on the other hand, if Im Lesnar, maybe I do stop while Im ahead. I just went into a locked Octagon with Mark Hunt and exited with all my senses. I made a lot of money to do so. I probably made myself more marketable within the WWE in the process. Do I really need to place myself in the line of fire again? To me, its 50-50 we ever see Lesnar again.5. After seeing Jose Aldo at UFC 200, did it change any feelings you might have had regarding a rematch between he and Conor McGregor?Gall: Yeah, it showed that hes still that same Aldo who won almost 20 fights in a row, was undefeated for 10 years. Hes still that guy. It kind of shows that -- I dont want to say it was a lucky punch -- but if Aldo fought McGregor 100 more times, Im sure theres not going to be another 13-second knockout. Id be really excited to see a rematch. I hope Conor doesnt get locked up in a trilogy with Nate Diaz. I know Dana White said Conor will go back to Aldo after UFC 202, but I also heard McGregor talking about a trilogy with Nate. So, I hope he does go back and fights Aldo at his proper weight class. In hindsight, I definitely think Conor got in Aldos head and had him fighting too aggressively. That first punch he landed was a result of all that talk. You saw how Aldo was fighting Frankie, it was different. Aldo went into that Conor fight hot and that was it.Okamoto: Didnt necessarily change my feelings on it. What it did was say, Hey, Conor, if youre coming back to 145 pounds, this is the fight. Before Saturday, there were two fights: Aldo and Edgar. Now, no more questions about what opponent it should be challenging McGregors title. If he wants to defend it, obviously its Aldo. As far as changing my view of what a rematch would look like, not really. If McGregor fights Aldo a second time, I will pick McGregor to win. I wont be picking him to win in 13 seconds and I wouldnt expect it to be an easy fight, but I picked McGregor in their first meeting because I thought he had the right style and athletic makeup to beat him, plus I thought he was in his head. I still think all three of those things. Aldo is one of the greatest fighters Ive ever had the pleasure of covering, but what he did to Edgar on Saturday doesnt change my pick in an Aldo, McGregor rematch. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '