TORONTO -- A star athlete from Cole Harbour, N.S., sidelined by a concussion at the peak of his game. Its not a new story, but this time the athlete in question is UFC lightweight contender T.J. Grant rather than hockey superstar Sidney Crosby. The 29-year-old mixed martial arts fighter missed out on an August title shot and has had to pass on another slated for December while he waits to feel normal. Ask Grant these days how he is feeling and the answer is not simple. "Not too bad. Feeling all right," he said in a recent interview. "It could be better ... Im a lot better now than I was, thats for sure." Some days, it feels like one step forward, two steps back. But despite the occasional setback, the hard-nosed fighter says he is still on the road to recovery. "Progress is getting a little slower again. But it was going pretty good," he said. He says he does some "light activity ... to keep myself from going crazy." Grant (21-5) was riding a high after knocking out Gray (The Bully) Maynard two minutes seven seconds into their May 25 showdown at UFC 160. That earned the Canadian a shot at then-champion Ben (Smooth) Henderson. But two weeks later, Grant was hit in the head by his training partners foot during a jiu-jitsu session. Later in the session, he used his head to stop a sweep and was hit again. "I dont know which one it was," he said of the head blows. "All I know is just when I was done training, I didnt feel right." He saw a doctor and was diagnosed with a concussion -- his first. "I took my time hoping it would just heal up and I could get back at it. It just took longer than I expected. So thats kind of where I am now." For those who have not had one, its hard to imagine the disruption of a concussion. "Especially earlier on, I had difficulty concentrating, just carrying on a conversation with somebody. Just simple things that you do every day that are a lot more difficult," said Grant, ranked third among 155-pound contenders. The proud father of a five-month-old daughter, Grants symptoms were set off early on by the baby crying. Motion also made him nauseous. "Im getting past a lot of that stuff. Now I just have a little bit of a headache ... The worst is definitely behind me." But there are still limits to what he can do. He came to Toronto recently to do some TV work and appearances around UFC 165. "After the weekend I was a little bit worn out," he acknowledged. Grant says time is whats needed. Hes happy with the team he has helping him, with physiotherapy to work on his balance and regular visits to a chiropractor to have work done on his neck. The UFC has offered help and paid for an MRI, that came back clean. But inactivity must feel strange after years in a sport built around complex layers of training. And the lightweight merry-go-round continues in his absence. Replacement challenger Anthony (Showtime) Pettis submitted Henderson in the first round of UFC 164 on Aug. 31 to win the championship belt. The UFC had hoped Pettis would make his first title defence in December against Grant in Sacramento. But Grant said he would not be ready. "Its one of those unfortunate things that can happen in a contact sport," UFC president Dana White said when asked about Grant. "Were not going anywhere. The kids just got to take his time, heal up, and relax and well see what happens." Theres never a good time to be injured in the UFC, given inactivity equals no paycheque. But this timing particularly sucks. Grant, ranked third among lightweight contenders, was on a roll having won five straight since dropping down to 155 pounds from welterweight. "The belts going to be there no matter who has the belt," White said. "It will be there and well figure the T.J. Grant thing out when T.J. Grants healthy." In the meantime, the December title shot has been given to No. 4 Josh Thompson. Even talk of title shots has consequences for Grant. "Im trying not to put too much pressure on myself," he said. "Being offered fights and stuff like that was definitely putting more pressure (on me) which causes you to stress out and make things worse. "Man, Im just worrying about just getting better, taking it slow. No real pressure. When I feel 100 per cent and Im able to return to training and all that stuff, then Ill start looking for a fight. "For now, Im not really too much worried about it." White says concussions are monitored closely in that the sport is regulated by government agencies, with mandatory suspensions after knockouts. Often fighters have to be cleared by a doctor before they can step back into the cage after a bad loss. Injuries in training are tougher to monitor, he acknowledged. "We cant baby-sit everybody. We cant police grown men," White said prior to UFC 165. "We can lay down the rules. "If you are on a three month suspension because you were hit in the head or whatever your deal is in a fight and you go back into the gym and start sparring again, first of all youre a moron. No 2, the people who handle you probably dont care about you." Grant has been healthy the majority of his career, missing just two previous fights through injury or sickness in his 7.5-year pro career. He says he has known other fighters who had concussions. "Some guys try to hide it and keep going. They think its like any other injury. But I dont want to be that guy. So I want to do it as safely as possible. I want to enjoy my life, thats for sure." Grant has plenty of motivation on that front. He married wife Belinda on the weekend. They planned to slip away for a few days but with a young daughter the focus of attention, a real honeymoon will likely have to wait a while. As for Crosby, Grant says he does not know the Penguins star so has not been able to share war stories. It would make for an interesting conversation. "No doubt," Grant said with a chuckle. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys . - The situation looked bleak at best for the coach Doc Rivers Clippers — down by four points with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Cheap Authentic Jerseys 2020 . FIFA said the suspension was requested by ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia, making Beckenbauer the first person to be punished as a result of the case. Beckenbauer refused "repeated requests for his assistance, including requests that he provide information during an in-person interview or in response to written questions provided in both English and German," FIFA said in a statement. http://www.wholesalejerseysreview.com/ . Last years runner-up, Sara Errani, also reached the last eight in straight sets. Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 . Cain departed in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. X-rays on Cains bruised forearm were negative. He was hit when Sanchez led off the fourth with a groundout. China Jerseys 2020 . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss.There is little question that Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray has been incredibly hot of late, but is he in the zone? The numbers back up the indisputable fact that Rays play has been incredible, even by his own lofty standards. His last three outings havent been complete games for a couple of reasons. He was injured mid-way through the third quarter against Winnipeg, missed the BC game, returned for a game in Montreal where he only played the first half, then played the entire game against Edmonton. So in a little over two games of actual playing time what have the numbers been? Try 64-73 passing (87.7% completion rate), 851 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. So hes definitely in the zone. "Ive felt like Ive been there a few times", Ray told TSN.ca. "Its just when things are going well you have complete confidence and it seems like everything you see is open. Thats when youre really playing well, when you can just drop back and trust exactly what your eyes are telling you and then just let it go without any hesitation." Rays coach knows what its like to be playing at that level. When Scott Milanovich finished his career at the University of Maryland he had the NCAAs second-highest completion percentage (66.2%) in history. Hes been there. "I had a couple of pretty good games in college, but nothing consistently over a stretch of time like Ricky has," said Milanovich. "I think its a comfort level thing and a huge part of it is the fact that hes not getting hit a lot. I can just see it in his feet and just how much more comfortable he is in the pocket and how much more he trusts his protection." Chad Owens is the defending CFL Most Outstanding Player. As a returner and receiver hes been almost unstoppable at times. "Its a really good feeling. Its a feeling of I cant be stopped and you feel like every time you touch the ball its going to be a score or a big play." "It seems like the game has slowed down, but youre doing it effortlessly, youre just letting things happen." Can you be in the zone on defence? Middle linebacker Robert McCune, currently third in the CFL in tackles, says absolutely. "I get in that zone sometimes when the game slows down" said the native of Mobile, Alabama. "It helps when you just let the game come to you. Sometimes when I try too hard, thats when I make my most mistakes.dddddddddddd You just have to play your game and relax." Khalif Mitchell has made a career trying to get offensive players out of the zone. The defensive tackle looks to his teammates to get himself in a good place. "I pretty much feed off my other guys" said Mitchell. "I understand that if were all out here and of the same accord then Ill be in the zone and then its pretty much a natural flow and not something we create artificially." Staying in the zone this week wont be easy for Ray or any of his teammates. The Calgary Stampeders are in Toronto for a Grey Cup rematch. Sacramento State 64, Cal. State Northridge 61. November 4, 2000. It was the second-highest point total in NCAA footballs modern era and amazingly it came without an overtime session. The reason this obscure college football game is noteworthy in Toronto is that the two quarterbacks were Sacramento States Ricky Ray and Cal Northridges Marcus Brady, now the Argos Offensive Coordinator. Ray passed for 344 yards and three touchdowns that day and rushed for three more himself. Brady threw for 493 yards and four majors. The game was played at Fred Anderson Field, named after the owner of the defunct CFL team the Sacramento Gold Miners. The two were asked by TSN.ca to reflect on that amazing afternoon. Ray: "That was a fun game, it was my last home game in college. The year before we went down to their place and he (Brady) lit us up pretty bad. Coming back my senior year and playing my last game at home it was nice to finally get a win against him and man, we put up some points. He put up big numbers, we were able to so the same and squeaked one out on them." Brady: "We were just going up and down the field. (Former Winnipeg star) Charles Roberts was his running back (he had 159 yards rushing and two TDs in the game). They were going down and scoring and we had to answer. We both had explosive offences and it came down to the fourth quarter. I had a 50-yard run for a touchdown and threw for four, but I threw a late interception. Ricky had three quarterback sneaks in that game and was the Conference Player of the Week even though I had better numbers than him (laughs), but they got the win so he deserved it." The Argonauts play Calgary Friday night at 7:30. Follow the Argos all season long on TSN1050 with Mike Hogan and Sandy Annunziata. ' ' '