Sports

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNDec 27, 2023, 09:30 AM ET Open Extended Reactions In 2023, UFC champions put their belts up for grabs 16 times, and on six of those occasions the challenger walked out of the cage with the gold. If you add in the three bouts for vacant titles it becomes clear how turbulent the

NFL Nation, ESPNDec 27, 2023, 07:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Welcome to Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season. A few exciting games over the holidays made an impact on playoff inspirations and the top 10 teams in this week’s rankings. In addition to the updated rankings this week, our NFL Nation reporters name

Pete Thamel, ESPNDec 26, 2023, 07:55 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Kansas star tailback Devin Neal has informed the Jayhawks coaching staff that he’ll be returning for the 2024 season, sources told ESPN. Neal earned second-team All-Big 12 honors this season after rushing for 1,209 yards and scoring 16 touchdowns. A true junior, Neal had

Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterDec 26, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN. Open Extended Reactions We’ve reached Boxing Day, and that can only mean one thing (in hockey circles, anyway): It’s time for the IIHF World Junior Championship. This annual tournament was reinstated to its rightful post-Christmas

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentDec 24, 2023, 09:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority investment at Manchester United is set to be confirmed on Sunday, sources told ESPN. The British billionaire, chairman and CEO of chemical company INEOS, has agreed a deal worth around £1.3 billion ($1.6bn) for a 25% stake in the Premier

Jeff Passan, ESPNDec 22, 2023, 11:15 AM ET Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Open Extended Reactions They’ve been plotting this for years. Plans, of course, fall apart all the time, whether they’re for dinner or a meeting or taking over the entire

Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterDec 22, 2023, 09:42 AM ET Close Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Open Extended Reactions It was an odd year for American tennis. There were, as always, random thrills and breakthroughs. On the men’s side, for instance, Tommy Paul reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, and Christopher

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 22, 2023, 06:21 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Five of ESPN’s top 10 heavyweights — three of them former champions — compete Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on one of the most stacked cards in years (ESPN+ PPV, 11 a.m. ET). Anthony Joshua meets Otto Wallin in the main event while Deontay

Dec 21, 2023, 09:45 AM ET Open Extended Reactions 2024 is shaping up to be a fascinating year in MMA. The UFC will celebrate its’ 300th pay-per-view event in April, Francis Ngannou — the “baddest man on the planet” — will make his debut in PFL (though we don’t know if it’ll be MMA or

Dec 20, 2023, 05:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Nets say Ben Simmons will be out at least two more weeks as he continues to deal with a back injury that’s sidelined him since early November. The team said the left lower back nerve impingement that Simmons is dealing with continues to improve, allowing

Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterDec 20, 2023, 06:00 AM ET Close Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterDec 20, 2023, 08:14 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Open Extended Reactions It was another wild year in professional golf, with the best players in the world still competing on rival tours in the men’s game.

Associated Press Dec 20, 2023, 01:10 PM ET Open Extended Reactions LONDON — A new monitoring service will help protect tennis players from online abuse and threats, the International Tennis Federation and other governing bodies said Wednesday. In their joint announcement, ITF, U.S. Tennis Association, the All England Club and the women’s WTA tour said

Open Extended Reactions College football’s national signing day is here with the early signing period kicking off Wednesday and running through Friday. High school recruits are able to sign their national letters of intent to lock them into the colleges of their choice, for at least a year. While the buildup to signing day has

Open Extended Reactions Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers teammates are on a road trip to the New York City metropolitan area this week, with games on tap against the New York Islanders (Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+/Hulu), New Jersey Devils (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+/Hulu) and New York Rangers (Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+/Hulu). Prior to

Associated Press Dec 19, 2023, 03:58 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Two-time major champion Angel Cabrera, released on parole from an Argentina prison in August for gender violence, has been cleared to play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events. He said in a Golf Digest interview he wants to clean up his image from “serious mistakes.” Without

Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff WriterDec 19, 2023, 07:00 AM ET Close Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Open Extended Reactions When agent Scott Boras has multiple puns ready about a free agent of his, it usually means he has a good one. That certainly is the case for 28-year-old

Dec 17, 2023, 06:33 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Carlo Ancelotti said he’s “never seen three cruciate ligament injuries in four months” after David Alaba joined Thibaut Courtois and Éder Militão on Real Madrid‘s long-term injury list, with the coach admitting the club could now consider a move for a defender in January. Centre-back Alaba

Dec 16, 2023, 06:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions LAS VEGAS — The stakes were raised between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington at the prefight news conference Thursday. Covington brought up Edwards’ father, who was murdered when Edwards was a teenager. Covington said he would bring Edwards to the “seventh lair of hell” and maybe

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 15, 2023, 11:49 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Jake Paul started off his boxing career with a first-round TKO victory over a fellow YouTuber in January 2020. Few would have believed that nearly four years later, he would still be fighting and taking it more seriously than ever before. With a right