A familiar face will be the third man in the cage for UFC 298’s main event. Veteran referee Jason Herzog has been selected to oversee the featherweight title bout between UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria. The three judges scoring the contest are also familiar names: Ron McCarthy, Derek Cleary, and Sal D’Amato. UFC 298 takes place Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The California State Athletic Commission provided the event’s judging and referee assignments to MMA Fighting on Thursday. Volkanovski, 35, seeks to become the oldest champion in UFC history under 170…
Author: rivalryedition
Bill O’Brien thanked Ohio State head coach Ryan Day for his “patience and understanding” during his introductory press conference as the new Boston College head coach. Day hired O’Brien as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator on Jan. 19 but O’Brien departed two weeks later when the Boston College job came open.”I really want to thank Ryan Day, the head football coach at Ohio State, for his patience and his understanding of why it was so important for me to pursue this job,” O’Brien said. “A lot of people here at Boston College are familiar with Ryan Day. Ryan Day is an outstanding…
Tucker shared with The Athletic that not playing prior to the trade deadline was a collaborative decision. But no trade was found, and Tucker has indicated he is not willing to give up his player option to get bought out. “It was agreed upon that I would sit,” Tucker told The Athletic over the weekend. “I didn’t just sit, it was agreed upon. Until they moved me, I would sit. They didn’t do it. But (I) try to be professional, as professional as possible. But at the same time, if I don’t advocate for myself, who is? You know? But…
Feb 15, 2024, 12:07 PM ETKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared a WWE title belt to help calm a young boy in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the team’s Super Bowl celebration.Smith, who sported the belt during the celebration, noticed the frightened boy, who was with his father.”I was thinking, what can I do to help him out?” Smith said in an interview Thursday on “Good Morning America.” “I just handed him the belt: ‘Hey buddy, you’re the champion. No one’s going to hurt you, man. We’ve got your back.'”Editor’s PicksSmith said…
Ruan Ackermann joined Gloucester in 2017 and played under his father, Johan, when he was head coach of the Cherry and WhitesGloucester back row Ruan Ackermann has extended his contract with the Premiership side.The length of the 28-year-old’s new deal at Kingsholm has not been disclosed.Ackermann has been with Gloucester since joining from Lions in his native South Africa in 2017.”There was lots of competition for Ruan’s signature, so it’s a huge coup for the club,” said Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington.”Ruan has been fantastic for us and to have a player of his quality committing his future to…
By Ben Sully @SullyBen Werder Bremen will attempt to clinch a third consecutive away win when they face FC Köln on Friday. FC Köln Köln are currently sitting in the relegation playoff spot after winning three, drawing seven and losing 11 of their 21 home matches this season. Die Geißböcke were agonisingly close to claiming their fourth league win of the season against Hoffenheim last weekend. Max Finkgräfe thought he had claimed all three points with his 79th-minute effort, only for Andrej Kramarić to equalise in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Although they have now won just one of…
Barcelona have reached out to former Bayern Munich and Germany manager Hansi Flick over a move to Camp Nou, according to a report.Current boss Xavi will step down from his post at the end of the campaign and so Barcelona have started searching for a replacement. But there is expected to be significant competition for top candidates as Liverpool are also on the hunt for a new boss.Trying to steal a march for one of the biggest free agents available, The Athletic state Barcelona have reached out to Flick to gauge his interest in taking the job.There has not been…
Chelsea are keen on signing Frenkie De Jong and could be ready to pay a premium price to agree a deal with Barcelona this summer, according to a report from Mundo Deportivo (h/t SportWitness). The 26-year-old has established himself as one of the best central midfielders in world football and he could improve the Blues immensely. Although Chelsea have players like Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo at their disposal, they could certainly use a technically gifted midfielder like De Jong who will add craft, drive and flair in the middle of the park. Chelsea are certainly missing someone with his…
Paulo Costa has bigger things on his mind than running back a fight with Khamzat Chimaev. As he prepares to take on former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the UFC 298 co-main event, the one-time title challenger addressed Chimaev after a nasty infection in Costa’s elbow forced him to drop out of their previously scheduled matchup this past October. With Costa unavailable, Chimaev earned a razor-close decision win over Kamaru Usman, who accepted the fight and made his middleweight debut on just 10 days’ notice. Costa admits that there’s no love lost with Chimaev — a fighter he nearly got…
The 2024 college football recruiting class is firmly in the rearview mirror. As coaches shift their focus to 2025 and beyond, we decided to look back at how several of the nation’s premier programs recruited this cycle compared to past years. We averaged out class rankings from the previous three cycles (2021-23) and compared them to our 2024 team rankings to determine which teams are trending up and down.Georgia and Alabama battled for the No. 1 overall class for a second-straight year, with the Bulldogs pulling ahead of the Crimson Tide late. Fellow SEC teams, Texas (No. 6), LSU (No.…