Month: January 2022

4:52 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. will defend his light heavyweight title on Jan. 15 after all as unheralded fighter Steven Geffrard signed Friday to replace Callum Johnson on eight days’ notice. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and was forced to withdraw from the ESPN main event in Verona, New York.
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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
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Jan 7, 2022 Former UFC champion Max Holloway will not be able to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title in March after aggravating a prior injury Thursday, sources told ESPN. The setback occurred just days after Holloway, 30, accepted a trilogy bout against Volkanovski that was slated to headline UFC 272 on March 5
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1:13 PM ET The UFC is booking a heavyweight contest between Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa for its pay-per-view event next month, officials confirmed to ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the promotion is close to finalizing the matchup for UFC 271 on Feb. 12 in Houston. Lewis (26-8) is a former two-time title
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4:17 PM ET Bellator has penned a deal with a controversial former college wrestling standout. Earlier this week, Bellator signed Pat Downey III, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, to a contract, the promotion confirmed with ESPN on Friday. Downey, 29, has yet to make his MMA debut. He will compete in Bellator’s middleweight
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12:17 PM ET ESPN News Services Long considered the biggest event in women’s golf, the U.S. Women’s Open now has prize money and future sites to match. The U.S. Golf Association announced Friday that the purse will nearly double this year to $10 million, by far the richest in women’s golf and challenging top prizes
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