Sports

Jun 9, 2021 Liam Napier For better or worse, professional athletes increasingly grow influential platforms. Within this wide-ranging realm public utterances in interviews or posts on personal platforms are made about the oft turbulent rides in their chosen sports; to push global or emerging brands, support causes, deliver messages and establish profiles they can leverage

2:43 AM BST ESPN staff The United States has thrown its hat into the ring to host the Rugby World Cup, with USA Rugby clearing the first hurdle in an attempt to bring the game’s global showpiece to North America for either the 2027, 2029 or 2031 events. USA Rugby was on Thursday “formally accepted”

4:50 AM BST Dual international Lote Tuqiri knows better than most what winning the right to host the Rugby World Cup would mean for Australian rugby. Having been enticed over to the 15-player game in the lead-up to the tournament, the former Wallabies winger was blown away by the scale of rugby’s showpiece in 2003

12:27 PM BST Eddie Jones has included 21 uncapped players in his initial 34-man squad for Tests against the United States and Canada, giving them an opportunity to make their mark in the absence of a host of unavailable regulars. Jones will be without 12 players involved in the British & Irish Lions squad, while

8:23 AM ET Saturday’s UFC 263 main event in Glendale, Arizona will feature middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, defending his belt against Marvin Vettori. It is a rematch of a non-title bout that took place in April 2018, coincidentally, in Glendale. Adesanya (20-1) defeated Vettori (17-3-1) via split decision in a three-round fight in which Adesanya

5:45 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Anthony Pettis was scheduled to fight for his PFL season on Thursday night. Now the former UFC lightweight champion’s last-ditch effort to make the playoffs will have to wait two weeks. Pettis is among four fighters whose bouts have been rescheduled for June 25, the PFL announced Wednesday. The promotion

11:22 AM ET Alistair Overeem is returning to his kickboxing roots. The former UFC heavyweight title contender, as well as former Strikeforce and DREAM champion, has signed a multifight deal with the Glory Kickboxing promotion, his management team told ESPN on Tuesday. Overeem is considered one of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters of all time

10:31 PM ET Jairzinho Rozenstruik has a knack for getting finishes right before the bell. Less than two years after he earned the latest finish in UFC heavyweight history, Rozenstruik uncorked another buzzer beater Saturday. The kickboxing standout stopped Augusto Sakai via TKO with punches at 4:59 of the first round in the main event

3:13 AM BST A Wallabies debut for ex-NRL star Suliasi Vunivalu will have to wait with the winger to miss the upcoming Tests against France with a hamstring injury. Vunivalu hobbled off the field in Queensland’s 31-24 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman loss to the Blues last weekend and Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says the injury is

5:28 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Trainer Bob Baffert and the owners of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit have filed a lawsuit against Kentucky racing officials. They are seeking a temporary injunction they say is to prevent violation of due process rights and for custody of “remnant” samples of the colt’s urine to

6:37 AM BST South Africa’s Damian de Allende and R.G. Snyman have suffered burns in a “fire pit accident”, along with Munster team-mates Mike Haley and C.J. Stander last weekend, the PRO14 club has announced. Rugby World Cup-winning duo De Allende and Snyman, who were last week named in the Springboks’ squad to face the

1:16 PM ET Associated Press Marcus Armitage shot a 7-under 65 on Monday to win the three-day European Open by two shots. The Englishman, who was at par after the opening round and 1-under after the second, made six birdies and an eagle to get 8-under 216 for his first European Tour title in his

1:21 AM ET MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — Somewhere in Miami, Floyd Mayweather is laughing. A lackluster eight-round exhibition that went the distance with no official winner was an appropriate end for Sunday night’s Mayweather-Logan Paul showcase. Everything about this bout was a circus, and the redeeming hope of a viral knockout to make it all

8:26 PM ET DUBLIN, Ohio — As golf attempts to get back to normal, you would have been hard-pressed to think things were not as they always were Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club for the final round of the Memorial Tournament. Jack Nicklaus, tournament founder, host and 18-time major champion, took up his usual

8:01 PM ET Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Yuka Saso birdied the third playoff hole to beat Nasa Hataoka on Sunday and become the second teenager to win the U.S. Women’s Open after Lexi Thompson collapsed down the stretch. Saso overcame back-to-back double bogeys early in the round to make the playoff. She then won

7:17 PM ET Associated Press DUBLIN, Ohio — Patrick Cantlay delivered a clutch birdie late in the round and a 12-foot par putt in a playoff to win the Memorial on a Sunday filled with drama, a little rain and no Jon Rahm. Cantlay closed with a 1-under 71 and won the Memorial for the

5:52 PM ET Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa — Stephen Ames won the Principal Charity Classic on Sunday for his second PGA Tour Champions title, taking advantage of Tim Herron‘s final-round collapse. Seven strokes behind Herron entering the round, Ames shot a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over fellow Canadian Mike Weir. A four-time

5:27 PM ET DUBLIN, Ohio — Rickie Fowler is starting to see signs that his game is coming around after a long slump. He hopes it carries over into a U.S. Open qualifier on Monday. Fowler, 32, failed to finish high enough at the Memorial Tournament to earn a place in the June 17-20 U.S.

2:49 PM ET DUBLIN, Ohio — Lee Westwood was not at Muirfield Village Golf Club this week, but he is well aware of the situation that Jon Rahm endured before having to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament. The difference: Westwood never tested positive for COVID-19 as Rahm did, forcing his exit despite a six-shot lead

6:56 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Favorite Essential Quality won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to give trainer Brad Cox his first victory in a Triple Crown race — maybe. Cox could get another from Mandaloun in the Kentucky Derby if Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit is disqualified. But Cox was able to