8:00 AM ET The preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll is out. And yes, it features teams from conferences that won’t take the field this fall. While that might detract from some of its credence, there are some notable takeaways. Our pool of writers weigh in on what it all means: Let’s take it with
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4:54 PM ET UFC president Dana White has said Francis Ngannou is next for a heavyweight title shot — and former longtime light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not hop over him for an opportunity in a new division. For the most part, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic agrees with that assessment. Miocic defeated Ngannou
1:52 AM IST Danyal Rasool If cynics wondered whether Abid Ali was given an easy start to his international career, making his debut against a slightly weakened Sri Lankan side at home last year, his first away tour could have hardly drawn a sharper contrast. He was tasked with seeing off a new ball hurled
Aug 22, 2020 UFC featherweight Ryan Hall has been forced to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Ricardo Lamas next week due to an injury, sources confirmed to ESPN on Saturday. Hall (7-1) was supposed to fight Lamas on the main card of UFC Fight Night on Aug. 29 in Las Vegas. Sources close to
2:13 PM ET Peter Vermes and Tab Ramos can’t stop running into each other. Most friends are fortunate to play on the same team once, maybe two times during a lifetime. But for the two former U.S. internationals, the frequency with which they’ve shared locker rooms has bordered on the uncanny. Whether it was playing
8:00 AM ET The 2020 NHL playoffs rolled on to the conference semifinals Saturday with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Dallas Stars. The Islanders swept the Flyers in the clubs’ three-game regular-season series, but Philly has been one of the hottest teams in the Toronto bubble. Who will come out on top in the
12:31 AM IST Ollie Pope will undergo a scan on his left shoulder on Tuesday morning after leaving the field in the second over of Pakistan’s second innings in the third Test at the Ageas Bowl. Pope, who spent three months sidelined last summer after dislocating the same shoulder playing for Surrey, slid to save
2:03 PM ET Steve KimESPN Josh Taylor, the WBA/IBF junior welterweight champion, will defend both belts on Sept. 26 against Apinun Khongsong at the BT Sports Studio from London, in a fight that will air on ESPN+. It will be Taylor’s first outing since his victory over Regis Prograis last October in the World Boxing
8:35 AM ET Back-to-back early playoff exits were enough to make the Washington Capitals realize that they had made a mistake. In the two seasons since the team promoted top assistant Todd Reirden instead of giving Stanley Cup-winning coach Barry Trotz a raise, the Caps have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first
12:54 PM ET Steve KimESPN WBC/IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev will now defend both of his titles against Adam Deines on Sept. 25 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Top Rank officials confirmed on Monday. Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs), who was born in Russia but lives in Germany, steps in for original opponent Meng Fanlong, who is
12:42 PM ET Carla Suarez Navarro, a two-time US Open quarterfinalist, has withdrawn from this year’s edition of the event. Suarez, 31, ranked No. 68, had previously withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open, currently underway at the National Tennis Center, citing unspecified health reasons. The US Open will follow immediately, beginning on Aug. 31.
6:55 AM ET If it feels like I’ve prefaced every one of my columns recently by pointing out that the 2020 NFL season is going to be weird, it’s not an accident. We’re approaching a season in which it would be a pleasant surprise if each team were able to play all 16 games. Even
10:45 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Almost a year ago, when Major League Baseball’s postseason expansion plans first leaked, a league official was trying to sell the idea. It would be good for competitiveness, he said, and would
7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN The most unusual MLB trade deadline in the sport’s history is approaching, and we’ve got you covered with all of the trade rumors, reaction and analysis you need as your team ponders its next blockbuster move in a shortened 60-game 2020 season with the standings packed leading up to baseball’s
9:06 AM ET Steve Kim Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show After two cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic, WBC/WBO junior welterweight unified titlist Jose Ramirez will finally meet Viktor Postol on Saturday
8:29 AM BST Australian rugby has made great strides over the last couple of months, and the inclusion of their Super Rugby teams in a joint competition with New Zealand is the next logical step, All Blacks coach Ian Foster believes. New Zealand and Australia have held their own editions of Super Rugby this year
5:48 PM ET Does the future of the UFC’s women’s featherweight division depend on Megan Anderson upsetting champion Amanda Nunes? And does Anderson have much of a chance? Those are two questions that surfaced from this past Friday’s news that the fight is being targeted for December. And what about Fedor Emelianenko protege Vadim Nemkov
8:14 AM ET The NFL has cleared all 77 individuals who tested positive over the weekend for COVID-19, following what the league believes was a testing error in a New Jersey lab, sources told ESPN on Monday morning. All of the original test results have been classified as false positives. Eleven teams were affected by