TORONTO -- A smiling Jon (Bones) Jones walked on to a makeshift stage Thursday to confront underdog challenger Alexander (The Mauler) Gustafsson. Always thinking of a new angle, Jones was wielding a smartphone in front of him. His view of the square-off would soon be posted on Instagram, the UFC light-heavyweight champion told the media in front of him. Jones (18-1) took to social media soon after, managing to squeeze a biblical verse, Nike and Gatorade into the same tweet. "There is nothing special about me, I just work extremely hard," he wrote. "Anything can happen." A picture below showed a smiling Jones, a Nike swoosh prominent on his hoodie, pointing to a bottle of Gatorade -- his latest sponsor. To further make his point, he added Phillipians 4:13 and the hashtags for both companies. Fighter, man of faith and six-foot-four, 205-pound billboard, Jones is currently the brightest star in mixed martial arts. "His life doesnt suck, right," UFC president Dana White said dryly. "Hes got a lot to be happy about." A victory at UFC 165 Saturday and Jones will set the record for most consecutive title defences (six) in UFC light-heavyweight history. He already holds the record for most submissions (five) by a light-heavyweight and is tied for most finishes (nine). A former junior college wrestling champion with an 84.5-inch reach, Jones size and length make him hard to penetrate and tough to defend. At 6-5, Gustafsson (15-1) is one inch taller and has good striking skills. But while the 26-year-old Swede has won his last six fights, he hasnt faced the kind of opposition that Jones has. The bookies have made Jones anywhere from a 9-1 to 20-1 favourite to beat Gustafsson. White usually dismisses such odds. But he was slightly more circumspect Thursday. "I think that theyre making lines that they dont want a lot of money going on Jones because they think Jones is going to win. Thats the way the book works," said White, no stranger to the betting window. "Jones is good, really good." About the only people who believe Gustafsson can win are those in the challengers camp, although most pundits are quick to cover themselves by saying its a sport where anything can happen. Gustafsson, a lanky likable Swede with battered ears, doesnt think he is being disrespected. "Not at all. I dont takes anything personally. I dont read too much. I dont think too much. Im going to go in there and shock the world on Saturday," he said. "Im more than prepared," he added. "I cant wait to get in there. Im just living the dream right now. Ive got a one in a lifetime shot and Im going to do the best of it." Jones, 26, believes this defence will go the way of all the others. "I think I have a lot more tools in this fight to win the fight," he said. "Im going to do all kinds of unpredictable spinning elbows, flying knees, shots, fake shots, all types of stuff," he added. "He really needs to be on his game." Jones seemed less than impressed by Gustafssons striking, saying hes not fighting a world boxing champion. "Im fighting a guy who throws punches," he said. "Alexanders boxing defence, Ive said it a lot of times now, is not that good ... Hes a good puncher, he has pretty good footwork. Not a great boxer." When the Swede stood next to Jones in front of photographers, he couldnt resist putting his arm behind the champion so he could touch the shiny championship belt slung over his shoulder. A smiling Jones pulled away. "Thats as close as youre going to get," he said. Jones joins welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre under the Gatorade flag. The Montreal MMA star has blazed the way with blue-chip sponsorships including Under Armour. Its a long way from fighters advertising the local gun shop. Jones can be forgiven for Thursdays blatant plug in that his deal with Gatorade had only been announced hours before. Jones will wear the Gatorade logo on his shorts when he walks into the cage Saturday night against the Swede. Chances are he will wear a Nike T-shirt on his walk through the Air Canada Centre. Jones, who signed with Nike in August 2012, wore a "Bones Knows" Nike shirt at UFC 152 in Toronto last fall. As for Phillippians 4:13, Jones always wears that. It is tattooed on his chest. It references the verse "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Gustafssons ink is all about winning. He adds a sharks tooth tattoo on his arm for every win. Jones was the picture of calm Thursday as media swarmed around him. White says he has adjusted to life as champion, pulling back from going down the wrong path in the wake of a DUI charge after a May 2012 incident that saw him crash his Bentley in upstate New York. "Everything changes when youre the champion," White said. "Obviously the attention, the money, everybodys gunning after you. Theres a lot of pressure. "Jon Jones has really turned around and changed his life in the last year. Hes a young guy, he got that belt, you saw what happens when fame and money and all that stuff starts to come together. Im really happy with the way hes turned around." Jones, who meditates the day of his fight, does seems comfortable in his own skin as champion. "Its a great honour. To be the best in the world at something, and to travel to different countries and know that youre the champion of the world, its one of the coolest feelings that a man can ask for." Clearance Soccer Jerseys . The move is retroactive to Aug. 1. Hosmer was originally hit on the hand in the first inning of a July 20 loss to Boston. He has played most of the time since, but missed a few contests due to the injury, then departed Thursdays win over the Twins and had tests that revealed the fracture. 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Cheap Soccer Jerseys .com) - Charlie Davies netted a pair of goals, including the series-winner on Saturday, as the New England Revolution battled the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium and advanced to MLS Cup final via a thrilling 4-3 aggregate victory.PITTSBURGH -- The night after a long Pittsburgh Pirates winning streak ended, one of their starting pitchers extended one of his own. Jeff Locke won his eighth consecutive decision, Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer and the Pirates hung on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 Wednesday night. Locke (8-1) was scored upon for the first time in four home starts but extended his unbeaten streak to 16 outings. Locke, who hasnt lost since his first start of the season, allowed two earned runs on seven hits and three walks over 5 2-3 innings. "Theyre going to get their hits -- and Im also going to make my pitches," Locke said. "Im going to win some battles; theyre going to win some battles. A night like tonight theyre finding some holes and hitting the ball pretty hard at points, youve just got to try to stay consistent and dont teeter away from what you do well." The Pirates took the lead with a four-run fifth punctuated by Alvarezs 21st home run. Andrew McCutchen reached base five times, scoring twice for the Pirates (52-31), who have the majors best record and had a nine-game winning streak snapped in the series opener Tuesday. "Ill tell you what -- theres something special going on here," Locke said. "All the guys pull for each other every night. Were not out of a game, ever. And I think the Pirates of the past could get out of a game early, wed kind of get down on ourselves a little bit and think that hills too tall to climb. But nothing here these guys cant do." Delmon Young and Domonic Brown each had three hits for the Phillies, who have lost four of six. Young has 1,001 career hits. Browns two-run homer with two outs in the ninth pulled the Phillies within one, but Jason Grilli stuck out Young to seal his NL-best 28th save. Philadelphias John Lannan (1-3) fell to 1-5 in his career against the Pirates, getting tagged for four runs on 11 hits and three walks in five innings. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, "It definitely wasnt one of (Lannans) better games." Still, he kept Pittsburgh off the scoreboard through four. The Pirates left seven men on base in that stretch. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs in the second, but Locke struck out and Starling Marte bounced into a double play. "I was battling all night, and I was able to pitch myself out of a lot of jams," Lannan said. "But then I made a bad pitch to Alvarez, and that was the difference in the game." McCutchen, Sanchez and Martin hit consecutive one-out singles in the fifth, the latter driving in a run. Alvarez followed with his fourth home run over his past six games against the Phillies. "I was just up there ttrying to be ready to hit and not really sitting on anything," Alvarez said.dddddddddddd "I was just trying to go out there and put a good at-bat together." Those runs erased an early deficit for the Pirates. When Ben Revere drove in Brown with a bloop single to left with two outs in the fourth, it snapped a 24-inning scoreless streak for Locke at PNC Park. Thats the longest home shutout streak for a Pirates pitcher since Jerry Reuss did it for 34 innings in 1975. Locke had his scheduled start bumped back a day when he was forced to warm up in the bullpen during the 14th inning of a win Sunday. He had three consecutive home starts in which he did not allow a run between May 14 and Wednesday. "As much as anything, hes got a very good demeanour," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "There seems to be no panic, no urgency. He just continues to make pitches and focus on that pitch to that hitter." Justin Wilson allowed an RBI single to pinch hitter Kevin Frandsen, but -- after a Jordy Mercer error led to another Phillies run -- struck out Chase Utley to end the sixth. Jeanmar Gomez struck out pinch hitter Ryan Howard to finish a scoreless seventh and Mark Melancon worked a perfect eighth. Browns home run off of Grilli snapped a 27 1-3-inning scoreless streak by the Pirates bullpen. Brown has three home runs through nine games on Philadelphias road trip and a team-high 22 on the season. "Id like to make the All-Star team; itd be a great honour," the 25-year-old Brown said. "Im not really thinking about that right now. Im thinking about our team and how we can start winning some games." NOTES: Martins second RBI came when he doubled in McCutchen in the sixth. ... Howard was not in the starting lineup for the second time in a four-game span. Howard, who snapped out of an 0-for-22 slump with two hits Tuesday, has been bothered by a sore left knee all season. He was walking gingerly after Tuesdays game, one in which he scored from first by sprinting on a double during the sixth inning. ... The Pirates activated OF Jose Tabata before the game and optioned RHP Brandon Cumpton to Triple-A Indianapolis. Cumpton was recalled to start Tuesdays game in lieu of Locke. ... Buoyed by thousands of Phillies fans who made the drive across the state, the announced paid crowd of 33,197 was the Pirates eighth consecutive of at least 30,000 at home. ... RHP Gerrit Cole is the first Pirates pitcher to win each of his first four career starts in more than a century. He makes his fifth major league start in the series finale Thursday. LHP Cole Hamels (2-11, 4.58), who starts for the Phillies, has one win since April. ' ' '