Dec 11, 2020 Marc Raimondi Eric Gomez Editor’s note: This story was originally published ahead of UFC 256. It has been updated to reflect the result of that fight and the upcoming trilogy fight at UFC 270. The half-made piñata would be sitting on the floor of Pinatas Moreno in Tijuana, Mexico, and business owner
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10:56 PM ET Associated Press HONOLULU — Five shots behind at the turn, Hideki Matsuyama figured all he could do was keep his head down and try to stay in the game Sunday in the Sony Open. And when he finally looked up, he couldn’t see one of the best shots of his career. In
2:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez are in the process of finalizing a deal for a 130-pound title unification fight on April 30 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Sunday. Sources said no financial agreement has been reached for the proposed ESPN main event. After Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) scored
7:53 AM ET It’s been a wild ride to the start of this year’s Australian Open, but on Monday the tournament will officially begin. With Sunday’s court decision upholding the decision that Novak Djokovic is to be deported and will not play, the drama over his visa cancellation is over — but that leaves other
8:58 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant injured his left knee during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The team called it a left knee sprain, and it occurred with just under six minutes left in the quarter as Pelicans guard Herb Jones drove to
8:40 PM ET Alaina GetzenbergESPN ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills started off Saturday night’s wild-card matchup against the New England Patriots with a bang. Quarterback Josh Allen found tight end Dawson Knox for an impressive score in the back of the end zone, giving Buffalo a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Allen
10:00 AM ET For a hockey player, representing your country in a Winter Olympic tournament is an unparalleled honor. “To be known as an Olympian is a big-time thing for everybody,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, the general manager of the U.S. men’s Olympic team. “That’s why the NHL players wanted to go in the first place.”
7:00 AM ET A lot of the credit for the Atlanta Braves’ postseason surge was rightly attributed to the midseason deals made by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, because without Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Joc Pederson, Atlanta would not have hosted a championship parade. But what may have been lost in that narrative
6:11 PM ET Alex Kirkland Sam Marsden Wednesday’s Supercopa de Espana clash between Clasico rivals didn’t disappoint, as Real Madrid hung on to defeat Barcelona 3-2 in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Saudi Arabia. (Stream highlights here: U.S. only.) After Barca twice battled back from a goal down to take the game to extra
7:15 AM ET On the eve of the UFC’s return to action with its first card of 2022, and a stretch of fights that will in many ways shape the rest of the year, there is potential and excitement in the air throughout the MMA world. But when the dust settles at the end of
11:59 PM ET The 2021 college football season has just ended, with Georgia beating Alabama 33-18 in Monday night’s national title game, but it’s already time to look ahead to the 2022 season. Not surprisingly, Nick Saban’s Alabama squad will start our 2022 Way-Too-Early college football top 25 on top, leading three SEC teams in
8:05 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN George Kambosos Jr. crashed through the glass ceiling in 2021 with an upset victory over Teofimo Lopez in November, capturing all four of Lopez’s lightweight titles. The 28-year-old Australian wasn’t even on the radar of many in the boxing industry, and he was completely overlooked before he fought Lopez. On
5:05 PM GMT The 2025 Rugby League World Cup will take place in France, the French Rugby League federation confirmed on Friday. French prime minister Jean Castex will hold a full launch of the event on Jan. 11 in Paris. The tournament will be the 17th edition, and returns to France, where the first World
6:59 PM ET Associated Press Robert “Bob” Falkenburg, who saved three championship points en route to winning the 1948 Wimbledon men’s singles final at age 22 and brought fast food to Brazil during his post-tennis entrepreneurial career, has died. He was 95. Falkenburg died Thursday from natural causes at his home in Santa Ynez, California,
8:00 AM ET Klay Thompson returned after 941 days away from the court. The Golden State Warriors Splash Brother, who hadn’t played in an NBA game since the 2019 Finals due to ACL and Achilles injuries, made his much-anticipated season debut with 17 points in 20 minutes during the Warriors’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers
12:00 PM ET ESPN staff Several NFL playoff spots are still in play in Week 18, along with a couple of division titles. We’re projecting the final 14 postseason teams and their seedings all day long — along with the two-team race for the NFL draft‘s top pick. Six divisions are already clinched, and the
8:00 AM ET As thunderstorms rolled into the Tuscaloosa area one August afternoon in 2007 with Nick Saban just a few days into his first preseason practice as Alabama’s coach, Jeff Allen alerted his boss that the team needed to move to the indoor facility. Allen had only been on the job as Alabama’s head
8:43 PM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — Under the Stars won the $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes by three-quarters of a length Saturday at Santa Anita. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, Under the Stars ran seven furlongs in 1:22.51. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in a field of six 3-year-old
7:00 AM ET Since our last NHL Awards Watch, a pesky little bug named the omicron variant has significantly impacted the 2021-22 season. Players are entering the COVID-19 protocol on a nightly basis, forcing the postponement of over 100 games. The NHL pulled its players out of the Beijing Games and scuttled the Olympic break
7:00 AM ET The Hall of Fame has been at a crossroads for more than a decade now due to uncertainty on how to consider what I call the PED Five, which sounds like an outlaw gang that used to rob stagecoaches and saloons in Dodge City: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa