Outside Edge

Lured by beers at $1 and the prospect of "Hot Chicks and Hardcore Fights", mixed martial arts fans poured in through the doors of Arkansas's Fort Smith Convention Center for a Blue Collar Brawlin' promotion. Events took the traditional thick-eared course until the final bout, when instead of grappling, "Straight Dave" stripped his opponent down to his underwear before kissing his chest and simulating oral sex. Cage rage swiftly ensued outside the ring as the redneck crowd launched a hail of chairs and beer. A clue: Sacha Baron Cohen is filming a sequel to his Borat movie undercover in the States. His new persona is Bruno, a gay Austrian journalist. Could the two events be connected? You bet.

£2,100

The price fetched at auction by an FA Cup final ticket. It cost half-a-crown (12.5p) in 1895, entitling the bearer to watch Aston Villa beat WBA 1-0 at Crystal Palace. The original price sounds about what a ticket for Cardiff v Portsmouth last May was worth.

Kennel Club news of the week

Forget Euro 2008 – Britain has a real chance of Continental glory next weekend. So let's hear it for Hex, Mex, Bold and Dobbie, who head a 30-strong team of dogs pitting their skills against 650 others in the European Agility Open in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Two legs bad, four legs good – unlike our footballers, the team boast four world champions. Cue clunky link: bad news from Beijing for hot dog lovers, though, as dog meat has been removed from the menu at official Olympic restaurants.

Good week for

Ross Fisher, English golfer broke course record to win European Open by seven shots... England women's cricket team, beat West Indies by 10 wickets in a one-dayer... Robbie Fowler, invited on Blackburn's pre-season tour by new manager Paul Ince... and Terence Brown, the former West Ham chairman, reached a financial settlement with the club.

Bad week for

Ashia Hansen, British triple jumper, forced to retire following knee injuries... Luton Town FC, docked 30 points for the coming season after contravening FA regulations over agents' fees and administration... Yorkshire CC, thrown out of the Twenty20 Cup for fielding an ineligible player... Manuel Beltran, Spanish rider, ejected from the Tour de France after a positive dope test... and Haywards Heath Golf Club, their fairways turned brown by an accidental dose of the wrong herbicide.

Olympic also-ran of the week

Brits who won't be at Beijing No 1 (we're saving Dwain Chambers for another week). Step forward 46-year-old javelin thrower Roald Bradstock, born in Broxbourne, Herts, and the UK No 1 from 1983-86. But here the plot thickens, as has his waistline: he has just failed to qualify in the US Olympic trials, having taken American citizenship in 1995. Roald, who has a sideline in painting and likes to be known as "The Olympic Picasso", does claim several world records, though, including Throwing the iPod (154 yards). When it becomes an Olympic sport we'll get back to you, Roald. Possibly.

s.redfern@independent.co.uk