QUEBEC CITY, Que. - Used to battling tight corners at speeds well in excess of 100 km/h, Olympic bobsled champion Kaillie Humphries tried her hand at handling a pair of top UFC fighters Sunday. Welterweight Rory (Ares) MacDonald and middleweight Francois Carmont were on their best behaviour, serving as benign training partners as top coach Firas Zahabi gave Humphries an introduction to mixed martial arts paces before a small crowd at a Quebec City mall. It was all part of the UFC Experience, a public workout ahead of Wednesdays Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale UFC card. Under the tutelage of Zahabi, Humphries worked on a double-leg takedown, armbar and kimura submissions as well as punching and kicking. At the end of the session, he had her put all the moves together in taking the pro fighters to the ground and then going after a submission. The 28-year-old from Calgary clearly enjoyed the lesson, enthusiastically throwing a tattooed tree-trunk of a leg over the six-foot-three Carmont in a bid to subdue him as he lay on his back. MacDonald is ranked the No. 2 contender in the world at 170 pounds by the UFC while Carmont is No. 9 at 185 pounds. Zahabi trains both in Montreal as well as former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. The bobsled champ signed autographs and, holding her two Olympic gold medals, posed with fans before changing into workout gear to get some tips from Zahabi, along with a local youngster. "One more," Zahabi yelled as Humphries kicked the training pad he was holding. "Harder." As he urged her on to kick again and again and again, the coach mischievously asked if she was competing in the next Olympics. When she said yes, he told her: "Youve got to do more," referring to the kicks. "Come on, youve got four years. Go. Again. Again. Four years of this." The inspiration worked. Humphries kept kicking, with the audible thuds becoming louder. "Didnt want it to end," she tweeted later. Humphries is a longtime fan of MMA — so much so that she planned to fly back to Calgary on Sunday night to honour a previous commitment before returning to the Quebec capital to take in the fights. "Its so cool for me to be able to see and get to meet the fighters and be a part of something so spectacular," she said in an interview. "Its an opportunity you cant miss, so you make travel work." The UFC treated her like royalty, producing a real championship belt that she put on while holding her medals with an Olympic-sized grin. Humphries says the UFC is literally part of her family. Her parents named their cats Rampage and Tito after former light-heavyweight champions Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Tito (The Peoples Champion) Ortiz. But combat sports are new to the bobsled champion, who only has one boxing class under her belt. She is, however, contemplating adding MMA training as part of her general fitness regimen. While not bobsled specific, the explosive nature of MMA could be beneficial, she said. So what about getting punched, she was asked? "I think its something I can handle. Bobsleighs not exactly the most princecessy of sports," she replied. "Im used to rough and tough a little bit and I can take a punch." Then she paused. "Ive never actually been hit so I cant actually say that," she said with a giggle. Humphries cited Jackson and current womens bantamweight champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey as her favourite fighters. Rousey, the UFCs first female title-holder, is a former Olympic bronze medallist in judo. "Nowadays women can do anything the men can do," said Humphries, who won her Olympic gold in Sochi, Russia with Heather Moyse, who also competes in cycling and rugby. "At the end of the day, women are inspirational in completely different ways than men," she added. "And to know there are women out there that are as rough and as tough, and can dedicate their lives and work just as hard, it (the UFC) allows us to show that off to the rest of the world. "Im super-proud of all the women that do sports across the board, especially at such a high and extreme level. Its an inspiration for me and I know many young girls out there." Dont look to Humphries to start fighting for real, however. The UFC womens competition is restricted to bantamweight (135 pounds), although a new strawweight division (115 pounds) is being formed. "Im far away from that," she laughed. "As of right now I would definitely be one of the heavyweights, for sure. "I usually compete at around 170, Im about 165 right about now. So Im a long way off from a 115 or a 135. But at the same time, our training and the way we train with our sport, we need to be at that weight so I do what I can to maintain my weight up there." Wednesday will be Humphries first live UFC show. 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McDermott, who finished his career at Creighton as college basketballs fifth-leading scorer, accepted the honour from Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at AT&T Stadium, site of the Final Four. Tyrone Taylor Jersey . A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery.HOUSTON -- Courtney Lee scored 19 points, Zach Randolph added 15 and the Memphis Grizzlies held off the Houston Rockets for an 88-87 win on Friday night. Mike Miller drew an offensive foul to give Houston the ball back with 8.3 seconds left. But Patrick Beverley shot an air ball 3-point attempt under heavy pressure to give the Grizzlies the victory. It is the first win for Memphis over a Southwest Division opponent after it started the season 0-10 in the division. The victory ruined a spectacular night for Houstons Chandler Parsons. He had a career-high 34 points and made 10 3-pointers -- all in the second half. It is an NBA record for 3s in a half and a franchise record for 3s in a game. A 6-1 run by Memphis gave the Grizzlies an 88-84 lead with about two minutes left. Parsons made his 10th 3 to make it 88-87 right after that. He had his only miss of the second half a few seconds later, and Houston couldnt get him the ball on the last possession. James Harden set a career high with 13 assists, but had a tough night shooting. He was just 2 of 11 and finished with 10 points. The Grizzlies led by four points when Houston scored five quick points capped by Parsons ninth 3-pointer to take an 83-82 lead with a little than more than four minutes remaining. He was knocked to the ground by Tayshaun Prince as it left his hand and no foul was called. He looked angrily at the nearest official as the crowd erupted when it swished the net. Memphis outscored Houston 12-7 over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 76-71 lead. Parsons hit his eighth 3-pointer of the game after that before a free throw by Jeremy Lin got Houston within one point. The Rockets scored the first 12 points of the second half to erase a nine-point deficit and take a 46-44 lead with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.dddddddddddd Houston -- which had made just one 3-pointer in the first half -- had two during that run. They were both by Parsons, who was 0 for 3 on 3s in the first half. The Grizzlies had two turnovers and missed three shots during that run by Houston. Memphis finally ended its offensive drought with a 3-pointer by Prince after that, but Houston responded with a pair of 3s to push the lead to 52-47. Zach Randolph scored seven straight points after that to put the Grizzlies back on top 53-52. About a minute later, Lee scored the first five points of a 7-0 spurt to extend the lead to 60-55. Houston tied the game at 64-all entering the fourth quarter thanks to 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions by Parsons to end the third and leave him with six in the quarter. Memphis had a one-point lead in the second quarter when it used an 11-2 spurt to extend the advantage to 34-24 about 4 1/2 minutes left before halftime. Ed Davis scored six points during that run and Mike Conley added a 3-pointer. The Rockets missed five 3-pointers in that span as part of an 0-for-12 start to 3-point shooting on Friday night. Omri Casspi made Houstons first one with less than a minute remaining in the first half. They were 1 for 14 on 3s in the first half and trailed 44-35 at the break. The Grizzlies were up by seven points in the first quarter before Houston used a 12-6 run to cut the lead to 21-20. Dwight Howard started it with an alley-oop dunk and Lin capped it with a layup. NOTES: Grizzlies G Tony Allen missed his ninth straight game with a sprained left wrist. ... Houstons Terrence Jones returned after missing two games dealing with the flu and a deep thigh bruise and had nine points. ' ' '