The Machine NBA2K25 Career Pt. 50 + 🌎My Thoughts on the Sports World Today🌎
Groundhog Day, 2025 - Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics
Happy Groundhog Day!
The Sixers' first game in February came against the Celtics at home. Groundhog Day cycles every year consistently, just like this Sixers-Celtics rivalry!
The Sixers had the upper hand in this chapter of the rivalry! The Machine himself didn't have too great of a performance but the team sure did! It's really been a fun rookie season The Machine will never forget. Being able to play for his hometown team is really a blessing. The Machine finished the game with:
- 14 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds
- Teammate Grade: A
🌎My Thoughts on the Sports World Today🌎
In the real world, it's UFC Fight Night, the 2025-26 NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and the last day of the 2026 NFL Draft goes down today!
It's Saturday once again and that means it's time for another UFC Fight Night. The card isn't too crazy. There's a handful of recognizable names though.
Heavyweight veteran Ryan Spann is set to fight jiu-jitsu expert Marcus Buchecha tonight. Spann is a solid journeyman with some good wins over Misha Cirkunov, Dominick Reyes, and Ovince Saint Preux. Buchecha is highly decorated in jiu-jitsu but he is way less experienced in MMA than Spann. Should be a good one, I have Spann winning.
Raoni Barcelos and Montel Jackson looks to be a high level bantamweight bout! Both are veterans of the UFC and are overall very much in the mix in the division. Jackson is ranked #14 while Barcelos is unranked but well respected and on a four fight win streak over some impressive names like Payton Talbott, Cody Garbrandt and Ricky Simón. I have Jacskon winning but anything can happen! They're both really good.
Veteran bantamweight Davey Grant is set to fight prospect Adrián Luna Martinetti. This is set to be a total war as neither one of these fighters are likely to grapple. Grant is known to stand and strike with mostly anyone and Martinetti recently had a wild fight in Dana White's Contender Series this past autumn. Here's that fight:
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Grant is 40 while Martinetti is 30 and so I'll take Martinetti to win but Grant is no joke, it should be fun.
Alexander Hernandez is set to fight Rafa Garcia in a lightweight fight. Once upon a time, over seven years ago now, Hernandez was a cocky trash talker and learned the hard way against Donald Cerrone. Since then Hernandez has been up and down but recently could be hitting his stride. He's still only 33 years old and is on a four fight win streak. I think he gets it done against Garcia. Garcia is smaller and hasn't fought the level of competition Hernandez has. Should be a good one though.
#5 Aljamain Sterling is set to fight #7 Youssef Zalal in the main event. This looks like it will be a high level, highly consequential featherweight bout! Unlike many MMA fans, I have come to really respect Aljamain Sterling. Sterling has fought nothing but contenders practically his entire career and has risen to the occasion time and time again. Since 2017 Sterling has fought high level guy after high level guy. He was the Bantamweight Champion for practically two and a half years and defended his belt three times. Sterling has my respect in a big way. Since moving up to featherweight he's continued to fight the cream of the crop and he's 2-1 with wins against Calvin Kattar and Brian Ortega. He lost to Mosvar Evloev in a very close fight, Evloev is now likely going to fight for the belt next. Sterling has undeniably made his mark on the sport and is still super alive in the Featherweight Division.
Youssef Zalal looks like a somewhat strong prospect but he better assume this will be his hardest fight because it really probably will be. Zalal is a tragically boring fighter in my opinion. People love to say grappling is boring but then you look at Zalal who does strike but he's literally often running away throwing the weakest jabs you'll ever see. I'll take a grappling style Colby Covington fight any day of the week over that mess. It's really sad and can't possibly take that much skill except being in good shape I guess. He's a decent tactical fighter I guess I'll admit.
I got Sterling in this one! While Sterling is older he is a hard worker and has fought top level guys successfully for way longer.
The NBA Playoffs are roughly halfway through the first round!
All but probably two of the series have been competitive so far. The Lakers, led by 41 year-old LeBron James, have been surprising the Rockets big time. The Lakers are missing Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves but are still up 3-0. Kevin Durant's legacy continues to crumble. There's always excuses and burner accounts with him.
The Suns seem doomed against OKC, OKC is up 2-0. It's still really hard for me to respect the Thunder but it is what it is.
My Sixers have been scrappy vs the Celtics, but the Celtics are up 2-1. But more on that series in a different post.
The Magic are actually tied 1-1 vs the Pistons. Pistons should win but the Magic can get hot sometimes so we'll see.
The Hawks are up 2-1 over the Knicks! I'm telling you that Hawks team is ridiculously deep! CJ McCollum has been cooking!
The Timberwolves are up 2-1 over the Nuggets. This series seems destined to go seven games. These two are ridiculously evenly matched but let's see how it plays out.
The Cavs are up 2-1 over the Raptors. The Cavs should win it. The Raptors don't give me great vibes, they're basically a significantly less sharp Hawks team.
The Spurs are up 2-1 over the Trail Blazers. This is a somewhat interesting series. Victor Wembanyama took a nasty fall the other day and has been out but the Spurs are certainly capable of handling the Trail Blazers without him for now anyway. It may get interesting we shall see though.
Four games are on today!
The NFL Draft has been going down which has been fun. I like the Draft I don't know. I like long-form things I guess. I like big books, long movies, long podcasts when I have the time, the long baseball season, I enjoy the size of the draft.
Apparently the Eagles swooped in and drafted USC receiver Makai Lemon before the Steelers could which is wild LOL.
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Sean McVay was clearly salty the Rams drafted Alabama QB Ty Simpson in the first round. This was likely a GM Les Snead choice. I think it was fairly smart of the Rams honestly. The Rams are so good you never know when they'll draft as high as 13 in the future and Matthew Stafford seems to consistently ponder retirement. Stafford is also 38 years old. Still a very interesting moment!
https://youtube.com/shorts/bN9NMWd__-k?si=NYSOlLn9TnHoWR8b
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The Draft concludes with rounds 4-7 today!
The sports world never sleeps, till next time!
