Before becoming the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, Ilia Topuria held the featherweight title. In his lone title defense of his 145-pound reign, Topuria did what no other fighter had been able to do before. "El Matador" faced former featherweight champion Max Holloway in the UFC 308 main event in October 2024. Early in the third round, Topuria knocked the Hawaiian out. He relinquished the 145-pound belt and moved up to the 155-pound division following the win over Holloway. He then knocked out Charles Oliveira to become a two-division UFC champion. The 29 year-old puts the lightweight championship on the line in the UFC Freedom 250 main event at the White House on June 14 against two-time interim titleholder Justin Gaethje.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday that LaMelo Ball didn't need to be "penalized more moving forward" in the wake of the Hornets star's fine for tripping Miami's Bam Adebayo.

Major League Baseball umpire Brock Ballou was among two victims who were robbed and assaulted by the same individual in Philadelphia on April 9, according to local authorities.

The Los Angeles Lakers ' Luka Doni and Detroit Pistons ' Cade Cunningham will be eligible for awards such as MVP and All-NBA this season despite falling short of the 65-game minimum, the league and the National Basketball Players Association said Thursday.Doni played in 64 games and Cunningham played in 63. But the league and the union both agreed that each should be on the ballot based on the extraordinary circumstances provision in the collective bargaining agreement.Doni who is one of the favorites to contend for MVP honors after winning the league's scoring title missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham missed 12 games as a result of a collapsed lung that was diagnosed on March 17.The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Doni, each player qualified for awards, the league and the union said in a statement.Doni, in a statement posted to social media, said he is grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision," adding that it was important to him to be present for the birth of my daughter in December.This season has been so special to me because of what my teammates and I have been able to accomplish, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be considered for the leagues end-of-season awards, the statement said.Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, who played in 60 qualified games, also tried to get on the awards ballot through the extraordinary circumstances challenge but sought his approval before an independent arbitrator. His challenge was denied.The statuses of Doni and Cunningham were a major topic toward the end of the season. San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama an MVP candidate and the likely defensive player of the year got to the 65-game mark in the Spurs' next-to-last game, and Denver's three-time MVP Nikola Jokic became qualified for this year's awards on the final day of the regular season. Jokic has been first or second in MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons and won the league's rebounding and assist titles this season.Nuggets coach David Adelman said last week that he hopes the 65-game rule is changed, somehow, this summer. He said if players like Jokic can play 64 games, never wanting to come out, and not be award-eligible, then something is wrong.Thats not the spirit of what that rule is, Adelman said.A number of players will be ineligible for most major individual awards this season because of the 65-game rule, including the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James whose 21-year streak of making an All-NBA team will end. Milwaukees Giannis Antetokounmpo and Golden States Stephen Curry have also missed too many games to be eligible.With the decisions on Doni, Cunningham and Edwards now complete, the NBA is expected to send award ballots to the panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league in the coming days. It's unclear when the announcement of award winners will begin.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers ' Luka Doni and Detroit Pistons ' Cade Cunningham will be eligible for awards such as MVP and All-NBA this season despite falling short of the 65-game minimum, the league and the National Basketball Players Association said Thursday.Doni played in 64 games and Cunningham played in 63. But the league and the union both agreed that each should be on the ballot based on the extraordinary circumstances provision in the collective bargaining agreement.Doni who is one of the favorites to contend for MVP honors after winning the league's scoring title missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham missed 12 games as a result of a collapsed lung that was diagnosed on March 17.The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Doni, each player qualified for awards, the league and the union said in a statement.Doni, in a statement posted to social media, said he is grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision," adding that it was important to him to be present for the birth of my daughter in December.This season has been so special to me because of what my teammates and I have been able to accomplish, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be considered for the leagues end-of-season awards, the statement said.Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, who played in 60 qualified games, also tried to get on the awards ballot through the extraordinary circumstances challenge but sought his approval before an independent arbitrator. His challenge was denied.The statuses of Doni and Cunningham were a major topic toward the end of the season. San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama an MVP candidate and the likely defensive player of the year got to the 65-game mark in the Spurs' next-to-last game, and Denver's three-time MVP Nikola Jokic became qualified for this year's awards on the final day of the regular season. Jokic has been first or second in MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons and won the league's rebounding and assist titles this season.Nuggets coach David Adelman said last week that he hopes the 65-game rule is changed, somehow, this summer. He said if players like Jokic can play 64 games, never wanting to come out, and not be award-eligible, then something is wrong.Thats not the spirit of what that rule is, Adelman said.A number of players will be ineligible for most major individual awards this season because of the 65-game rule, including the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James whose 21-year streak of making an All-NBA team will end. Milwaukees Giannis Antetokounmpo and Golden States Stephen Curry have also missed too many games to be eligible.With the decisions on Doni, Cunningham and Edwards now complete, the NBA is expected to send award ballots to the panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league in the coming days. It's unclear when the announcement of award winners will begin.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Ollie Bearman has launched a scathing attack on Franco Colapinto, branding the Alpine driver's defensive manoeuvre at the Japanese Grand Prix "unacceptable" following his horrific 50G impact at Suzuka.The 20-year-old Haas driver, who remains on crutches weeks after the incident, spoke publicly about the crash for the first time on Thursday's Up To Speed podcast."Franco moved across in front of me to defend his position," Bearman told presenter Naomi Schiff."Last year would have been absolutely on the limit but probably OK with just a 5 or 10 kph speed delta. But with 50 kph, he did not leave me enough space and I had to avoid a much bigger crash."The collision occurred on lap 22 of the race at Spoon Curve, where Bearman had been trailing the Argentine by approximately one second through the circuit's second sector.As Colapinto recharged his battery, Bearman was simultaneously deploying his, creating an enormous closing speed between the two cars."Basically, when he moved left, it was small, but at that speed difference, any move is huge," the British driver explained."So I was lucky to not hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did."Forced to take evasive action, Bearman veered onto the grass before losing control and spinning into the barriers at 191mph. The stewards at Suzuka opted not to investigate Colapinto for the incident.Bearman's anger was compounded by the fact that this precise scenario had been addressed during the drivers' briefing just 48 hours earlier."I think it was something we spoke about on Friday, which is even a bit more of a frustrating thing," he said. "We said between all the drivers, come on, we need to give each other a bit more respect."Yeah, move to defend your position with a bit more time because the speed deltas are much higher than we've ever had in our sport and then two days later that happens which for me was unacceptable."The Briton maintained that Colapinto had spotted him approaching but reacted too late given the unprecedented closing speeds under the new 2026 regulations."So, we need to figure things out between drivers, have a bit more respect between drivers because I was really not happy with the action that he did," Bearman stated.The Haas driver indicated that discussions with motorsport's governing body are already underway to address the dangerous velocity disparities created by the new technical rules."I also think there are a few tweaks we can make with the FIA, and we've been working very well together to try and avoid these big speed differences in any case," he added.Despite the severity of his crash, Bearman expressed gratitude for escaping without serious injury and confirmed his readiness to compete when Formula 1 returns to action in Miami from 1-3 May.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi becomes the new owner of Catalan club Cornella.

So you think you eat enough fibre? You probably don't. Here's what to do about it.

Deutschlands Handball-Frauen treffen bei der Europameisterschaft 2026 unter anderem auf Schweden - es wird das Erffnungsspiel des Turniers.[mehr]

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