Pro Sports News

Luka keeps peace with refs, dominates pivotal G5

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 11:12
Luka Doncic said he focused on playing the game rather than complaining about calls and finished with a 31-point triple-double to lead the Mavericks to a pivotal Game 5 win over the Thunder.

Former Rams, Lions DL Brockers retires from NFL

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 11:12
Veteran defensive lineman Michael Brockers announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday.

Fury eager to put on show in 'fight of the century'

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 11:12
Tyson Fury looked loose and fit in a 15-minute workout Wednesday ahead of his undisputed heavyweight title bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

Heavyweight lineal champions: Fury and the 37 who preceded him

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:59
Fury shares his thoughts on some of the best heavyweights to ever hold the lineal championship.

How Denver saved Murray, unleashed Jokic and took control against Minnesota

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:55
The NBA's top defense stymied the MVP and the defending champs ... until it didn't. Here's how Minnesota fell dangerously behind in one of this postseason's most intriguing chess matches.

MLB Power Rankings: The AL and NL Central are rising -- which teams are in our top 10?

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:54
While some of the usual players dominate our list, five of our top teams this week are from two unexpected divisions.

It's 100 days to college football! Top games, players, contenders

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:53
With 100 days until Florida State and Georgia Tech kickoff in Ireland it's time to get excited about what's ahead: From new conference games to a new playoff.

Why Tocchet inserting Lekkerimaki is unlikely but would be an all-timer

SportsNets - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:52

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Cover contenders: Hypothetical stars for NCAA College Football's 11-year hiatus

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:30
The NCAA College Football 25 cover is now official after an 11-year hiatus. Here are our picks of who may have graced the cover if we went back in time.

Giants unveil 'Century Red' uniform to commemorate 100th season

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:30
New York's centennial uniform is a modernized version of the 1933 jersey, 1925 pants and socks and the 1938 helmet.

WNBA rookie tracker: Game-by-game analysis for Clark, Reese and more

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:18
We're tracking every game for Caitlin Clark and one of the most anticipated rookie classes in WNBA history.

Why 2024 will be the tipping point for the WNBA

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:18
From ticket sales to merchandise to sponsorships, the 2024 WNBA season begins with unprecedented hype.

Transfer Talk: Saudi clubs eyeing Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:18
Numerous Saudi Pro League clubs are interested in getting Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Alisson. Transfer Talk has the latest.

Injured Messi sits out Miami draw with Orlando

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:18
Lionel Messi will miss Inter Miami's match against Orlando City on Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium, after suffering a knee injury during his team's 3-2 MLS win over Montreal on Saturday.

What's gone wrong for the Rangers -- and what can they do about it?

ESPN Latest Sport News - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:17
The Blueshirts raced out to a 3-0 lead, but the Hurricanes have roared back. Here are the troubling trends for New York heading into Game 6.

McLaren 'need more' to challenge Red Bull - Norris

BBC Sports - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:15
Lando Norris says McLaren are not ready to challenge Red Bull consistently despite taking his maiden victory in the Miami Grand Prix.

Dream moving two games vs. Caitlin Clark-led Fever to NBA arena

SportsNets - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:02

ATLANTA — To accommodate much larger crowds, the Atlanta Dream are moving their two regular-season home games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to the home of the NBA Hawks.

The Dream’s regular venue, 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena near the city’s airport, is the smallest in the WNBA. The Hawks play downtown at State Farm Arena, which can hold more than 17,000.

Atlanta is scheduled to host the Fever on June 21 and Aug. 26. Those games will feature the last three No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft: Clark and her teammate Aliyah Boston as well as Dream star Rhyne Howard.

“Atlanta Dream fans are the best in the WNBA,” team President and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in a statement. “Their passion and excitement led us to the most sellouts in the league over the last two years and has created a demand for tickets that far outpaces the supply inside our current arena, which is why we wanted to find a way to give more fans access to experience these two games.”

Clark’s record-setting college career ahead of her draft by the Fever has sparked unprecedented interest in the WNBA. She scored 20 points but committed 10 turnovers in her first professional game, a loss at Connecticut on Tuesday.

Atlanta opened the season Wednesday with a 92-81 victory at Los Angeles.

The Dream played at State Farm Arena, formerly known as Philips Arena, from their founding in 2008 until 2016, when the team moved to Georgia Tech’s campus arena for two seasons. After returning to the Hawks’ arena in 2019, the team moved to the new Gateway Center Arena in nearby College Park the following year.

The largest crowd in franchise history was 11,609 for the inaugural game against the Detroit Shock in 2008. The Dream hope to eclipse that mark for both games against the Fever.

In April, the Dream became the second team in WNBA history to sell its entire season ticket allotment. Ten of its 20 games at Gateway Center Arena are already listed as sellouts.

“We are excited to welcome our loyal Dream fan base, along with new fans, to State Farm Arena,” coach Tanisha Wright said. “We want to create the ultimate home court advantage and pack the house with red and blue as we work toward another playoff push this year.”

More from Sportsnet

Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut helps set viewership record


Clark struggles early in WNBA debut before scoring 20 points in Fever’s loss to Sun

Leon Edwards to fight Belal Muhammed in main event at UFC 304

SportsNets - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 09:59

Leon Edwards is officially set to make his next title defence and it will be in a rematch with Belal Muhammad. The welterweight championship bout will headline UFC 304 in Manchester, England, this summer, Dana White announced Thursday.

In addition to that 170-pound main event, the co-main event will see Tom Aspinall attempt to defend his interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes. A pivotal flyweight matchup between Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape, a fun featherweight tilt with Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze, plus a lightweight scrap between Paddy Pimblett and Bobby Green were also announced.

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik teased the Edwards vs. Muhammad matchup earlier this week when he wrote on social media that he had booked his flight to England for the July 27 event and had tagged Muhammad in the post, suggesting he’d be fighting on the card.

Both headliners are riding lengthy unbeaten streaks (the reason they are unbeaten streaks, not winning streaks, is because of the no-contest result the last time they were face-to-face inside the Octagon).

The two fought in March 2021 to an inconclusive result when the scheduled five-round Fight Night main event ended after less than six minutes of fighting. Edwards was looking solid in the opening round in his return to competition after a roughly 20-month layoff, yet 18 seconds into the second round an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue.

Edwards, 32, has gone 4-0 since facing Muhammad and has seen his star power grow substantially. The Jamaican-born, Birmingham, England-raised fighter defeated superstar Nate Diaz to earn a title shot, won the belt with a dramatic fifth-round head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman before cementing his status as the UFC’s top welterweight with a unanimous decision in the immediate rematch with Usman.

The champ defended his title again in December, when he took four of five rounds against Colby Covington in a 25-minute bout that was far from aesthetically pleasing.

Muhammad served as the official backup fighter for that UFC 296 bout, and he was critical of the champion’s performance after the event.

“It was a joke to the division,” Muhammad said during an appearance on ESPN’s UFC 296 post-fight show, adding, “I need to get in there (next). I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 per cent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.”

Muhammad does not necessarily hold a reputation as an exciting fighter but he weaponizes pace effectively. In his five appearances since his first bout with Edwards, he has victories over former title challengers Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns, and he picked up signature wins over Sean Brady and Vicente Luque.

There is no question this title shot for Muhammad, who will be 36 by the time the rematch occurs, is warranted, even if it might not be the most popular option with Shavkat Rakhmonov now 18-0 with a 100 per cent finishing rate.

At UFC 297 in Toronto in January, during a Q&A with fans and media before the ceremonial weigh-ins, former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was asked about Rakhmonov and how he might do against Edwards, and Edgar was met with boos when he said he thought Muhammad should be next in line for the title shot and not the undefeated Kazakh.

This matchup has been in the works for months, however, the organization waited until after April’s UFC 300 to finalize plans. White explained earlier this year that Edwards was offered three separate opponents ahead of UFC 300, all of whom he accepted, however, none of those proposed bouts materialized. It is unclear exactly who those three opponents were, although Muhammad was not believed to be one of them.

UFC 304 will be the fifth event held in Manchester and first since 2016, when Michael Bisping defended the middleweight title in his hometown and avenged a previous loss to Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 204. Edwards earned a submission win over Albert Tumenov on the preliminary card that night in his sixth UFC appearance.

July’s event will be the 25th UFC card held in England. The most recent was a Fight Night in London in July that saw Aspinall return from a one-year layoff following the significant knee injury he sustained 15 seconds into his first fight with Blaydes one year prior at the same venue.

Aspinall needed 73 seconds to finish Marcin Tybura in London, and he followed that up with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in November to win the interim belt that was introduced after champion Jon Jones revealed he’d be out of action with a shoulder injury.

With Aspinall from nearby Salford and Mokaev calling Manchester home, plus Edwards being from Birmingham, Pimblett from Liverpool and Allen from the Suffolk area, fans can expect the event to have a home vs. away feel to it like many U.K.-based cards have in the past. England’s Molly McCann is also expected to compete on the card in a women’s strawweight bout versus Bruna Brasil.

More from Sportsnet

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape expected to take place at UFC 304


UFC roundup: UFC 302 injury, Aspinall comments on UFC 304 start time

Planet Premier League

BBC Sports - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 09:59
Chappers, Nedum & Gael Clichy look ahead to the final day of the Premier League season.

Economics impresses in Dante Stakes win at York

BBC Sports - Thu, 05/16/2024 - 09:58
Economics, ridden by Tom Marquand, powers to an impressive victory in the Dante Stakes at York.