
Tom Grennan steps in to help Argentinian Coventry fan reach Wembley dream
Tom Grennan has helped a Coventry fan from Argentina by covering his expenses and allowing him to watch his team's Championship play-off final next weekend. The singer-songwriter made the offer to Lauti, a passionate Coventry supporter who planned to sell his car in order to be able to fly over to watch the crucial match live. Speaking to BBC Sport Coventry & Warwickshire, Lauti described his feelings about the upcoming play-off match against Luton Town on May 27, which could result on the side returning to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years if they win the game. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "What happened is just unbelievable. I have no words to describe what I am feeling now," the Argentine said. "When I started to support Coventry we were playing at Wembley too, but we were playing against Exeter in League Two so I never expected this. He added: "This is more than a dream come true. I am selling my car. I think my girl is not happy because I am selling it to go to Wembley. "We are one game away from our dream, from playing again in the Premier League so vamos Sky Blues." Soon, the video caught the attention of Grennan who tweeted out his generous offer (and saved Lauti from selling his car) as the singer noted he will not be able to attend the match because he's got to perform at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. "I WILL PAY FOR THIS LAD!!!! I can’t go to the final as I’m performing at BBCR1 weekend in Dundee," Grennan wrote. "Devastated to miss the game, but instead I’ll pay for this lad to come over for the game. Does he have a ticket? Someone let me know." In a follow-up tweet, Grennan replied to another Coventry fan who set up a GoFundMe page for Lauti and was keen to send the money over. Grennan proved to be a man of his word as the footy fan shared an image of the £2,000 transaction that the singer donated, calling him an "absolute legend." Previously, Grennan trained to be a professional footballer as a youngster and was on the books at Luton (who Coventry are up against in the play-offs) and also took part in Soccer Aid last year. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00

Who is Jonathan Glazer, UK director wowing Cannes?
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1970-01-01 08:00

Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones
“You want to talk about who’s the baddest man on the planet?” Joe Rogan asked. As it turns out, it was a conversation that Tyson Fury and Jon Jones were very keen to have. It might have taken the best part of two months for the question to reach Fury, but when the WBC heavyweight champion heard Rogan’s own answer, he became incensed. “If Jon Jones and Tyson Fury are locked into a room, I’m pushing all of my chips on [Jones],” Rogan laughed, the UFC commentator and comedian speaking on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast in March. “Tyson Fury is an amazing boxer... he doesn’t have a f***ing chance in hell of making it out of that room. He has no chance of making it out of that room, zero chance. He would have to catch Jon immediately with one punch, and I just don’t see that happening, man. The threat of the takedown looms so large; that shot will come so unexpectedly. When he gets his hands around you, you’ll be so stunned.” To those uninitiated in the realm of MMA, Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion of the world and is seen by many as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Jones, 35, won the vacant heavyweight title a matter of weeks before Rogan daydreamt up a contest between the American and Fury, but his legacy was built on a frightening run at light-heavyweight between 2008 and 2020. It was a long phase in which Jones beat some of the greatest fighters that his sport has ever seen, finishing the majority of them and suffering a sole defeat after throwing what were – controversially – deemed illegal elbows; in most minds, “Bones” is unbeaten. To fans willing to overlook his failed drug tests, he may be unrivalled. There is no asterisk on Fury’s unbeaten record; the Briton is one of the most talented, enigmatic boxers of his generation, a unique heavyweight in the annals of the sport, and no man has found a way to outfight or outthink the 34-year-old in 34 bouts. Two have found a way to put Fury down. Neither has found a way to keep him down. Jones would have no problem doing either. Rogan, a jiu-jitsu black belt, is right to highlight Jones’ wrestling and grappling abilities as the obvious means by which the UFC heavyweight champion would manhandle and neutralise Fury. Sometimes, when discussing the prospect of a boxer crossing into MMA, boxing fans suggest that their fighter would be equipped enough to deal with a mixed martial artist after just six months of training in ‘MMA’. Six months is a curious timeline, plucked out of nowhere for no specific reason. This perception is problematic, in part, as a misunderstanding of how most mixed martial artists train. They typically commit years of their lives to various disciplines in their own right – boxing, Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and more. Some practitioners spend well over a decade pursuing a black belt, even while training in just one of those fields. Fury has had a few pointers from Darren Till, a former UFC title challenger from Liverpool, for what that is worth. Still: “I heard Joe Rogan say something about me, and I’ve been off all the social medias and didn’t reply to that little p****, little bald-headed midget,” Fury said on Thursday (18 May). “I heard him say that Jon Jones could f*** me up if we were in the room together. I don’t think so. Not a man born from a mother could f*** me up, in a room, on our own. Whatever happens in that room, I’d be walking out. Not a f***ing problem.” Yet one of the several problems is that, while a fairly inexperienced grappler would have no issue controlling Fury from the get-go, Jones in particular thrives in wrestling exchanges. And that is not even his greatest asset, with the American’s application of elbows and kicks among his most devastating attributes. “Hey Tyson, it seems like Joe may have struck a nerve,” Jones tweeted on Thursday. “I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but [don’t] let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage. If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest, give Dana [White, UFC president] a call. I’ll help you out.” Fury, wisely, was quick to retreat, paying a degree of respect to Jones and clarifying that by ‘room’ he certainly did not mean ‘cage’. “I see Jon Jones has piped up,” Fury said in a social-media video. “Jon, you’re talking about me in a cage. I’m not a cage fighter, mate, I’m a boxer – the best boxer actually. So, if you want to come into a boxing ring and fight me, be my guest. Let me know. You don’t have to call anybody else – no Dana’s, nobody. You call me, because it’s a boxing fight, and I’m the boss in this game. Me. “You’re a great fighter, Jon, but you’re definitely no boxer, that’s for sure. All the best, good luck.” Fury has flirted with a crossover fight before, repeatedly calling out Jones’s predecessor as UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. The pair shared the ring for a few moments after Fury knocked out Dillian Whyte at Wembley last April, and Ngannou is now free of his UFC contract and signed to the PFL, which is allowing the Cameroonian to box on the side. That would be the stipulation for a super-fight between Fury and Ngannou: a boxing match. And it would have to be, just as it would if Fury and Jones were ever to meet. Conor McGregor’s 2017 clash with Floyd Mayweather showed what would happen if even an elite MMA striker were to step into boxing, against a world champion. The Irishman was stopped in the 10th round and, if Mayweather had decided differently on the night, the fight could have ended earlier. At the level in question, and in the near future, we are unlikely to see a boxer dip their toes into the tempestuous waters of MMA. Boxers’ records and auras are everything to them. Those metrics be massacred in MMA. Read More Tyson Fury lifts lid on ‘silly’ Andy Ruiz Jr negotiations UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list Francis Ngannou: Who will the heavyweight fight next after signing with PFL? Tyson Fury lifts lid on ‘silly’ Andy Ruiz Jr negotiations Who will Francis Ngannou fight next after signing with PFL? Tyson Fury reveals how he will celebrate if he beats Oleksandr Usyk
1970-01-01 08:00

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Ryan Reynolds has one word response to his Tesla 'ad' shared by Elon Musk
A new Tesla ad shared on social media claiming to feature Ryan Reynolds has come to the attention of Elon Musk – only, it’s not real and instead it's completely fabricated through the use of deepfake technology. Tesla CEO Musk replied to Twitter user @meetRealKevin after he posted a video that jokingly claimed to feature Reynolds as the new face of the company. "How much do you think it would cost to own a car that’s this f***ing awesome?!” the fake Reynolds says in the clip. He then adds: “Whose balls do I have to fondle to get a Tesla instead of a s*** Corolla?” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Musk replied to the clip by commenting with the word “nice”, simultaneously bringing it to the attention of his millions of followers. It wasn’t long until the shoe was on the other foot, though. Digital marketing agency Maximum Effort, which was been co-founded by Reynolds, then posted a deepfake video which sees an artificial version of Musk promoting Reynolds’ company Aviation Gin. Reynolds’ response? The actor simply added the comment “nice”. It’s not the first time stories about Musk and deepfakes have made headlines over recent times. Photos of Elon Musk kissing a female humanoid robot has gone viral, but everything is not as it seems. In fact, four AI-generated images of Musk kissing three different “wife” robots and dancing with one other female-looking humanoids have been shared far and wide online. It comes after Reynolds appeared to troll celebrity pal Taylor Swift over recent rumours that she's dating The 1975's Matty Healy. In a post to his Instagram Stories, the 'Deadpool' actor shared a selfie of himself and chose to include The 1975’s hit song "Chocolate," for the music. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00

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1970-01-01 08:00

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