Sports

7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But

3:34 PM GMT Premiership Rugby leaders Leicester Tigers have confirmed an investigation by the league into allegations of historical breaches of salary cap rules. The Times reported on Tuesday that the league’s salary cap director Andrew Rodgers is investigating a third-party company called Worldwide Image Management over payments made to Leicester players from the company.

8:00 AM ET Every year in every sport brings ups and downs, memorable performances, the emergence of new stars. In mixed martial arts, the leading fight promotion, the UFC, has eight weight classes for men and four for women and ran 43 fight cards in 2021, making plenty of room available onstage for athletes to

5:49 AM ET Dominic Thiem has pulled out of next month’s Australian Open to work towards regaining full fitness after a long-standing wrist injury, the former world No. 3 said on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Austrian, who has not played since suffering the injury at the Mallorca Open in June, was unable to defend his U.S.

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

11:30 PM ET Now we’re getting somewhere. Four more NFL teams clinched playoff spots Sunday, bringing the grand total to six with 33 games remaining in the season. The Chiefs, Buccaneers, Rams and Cardinals have joined the Packers and Cowboys in the 14-team field. The Seahawks, Giants and Panthers, on the other hand, joined a

8:00 AM ET Health and safety protocols continue to be a concern around the league. Several stars sat out their teams’ Christmas Day matchups, including Trae Young, Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant, though James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action for Saturday’s slate of games. Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks past the Boston Celtics,

6:53 AM ET The World Junior Championship is a holiday hockey tradition like no other. And it should look a little different this year. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2021 tournament was moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and played in “bubble” conditions with no fans allowed to watch the proceedings. This year, Edmonton and Red Deer,

9:29 AM ET Steven Gerrard is worried, and so are his players. The Aston Villa manager is taking almost hourly bulletins on how badly his squad has been affected by positive COVID-19 cases and whether he will have enough players — 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper — to meet the minimum requirement to fulfil

5:40 PM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A deal for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to police drugs in horse racing cratered Thursday after months of negotiations that the agency’s CEO said did not give it “a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective program.” The USADA was set to become

8:00 AM ET Since it first opened its doors in 1999, Staples Center has played host to seven NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, four UFC pay-per-view cards, two Stanley Cup Finals and countless championship boxing matches. It was the home of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament for a decade and has seen multiple All-Star games

7:00 AM ET Carlos Correa is a generational talent. Carlos Correa is inconsistent and injury-prone. Carlos Correa is one of the best all-around players in the game. Carlos Correa is overrated. Carlos Correa is worth a $300 million contract. Carlos Correa is a risky investment. While MLB teams committed over $1.9 billion to 51 free

3:42 PM ET Associated Press KAPALUA, Hawai’i — Phil Mickelson is headed back to Hawai’i for golf, not a vacation, committing to play the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua for the first time in 21 years. Mickelson won the winners-only tournament at La Costa Resort in 1998, then has played only twice since it

7:00 AM ET THE JOURNEY BEGAN, like so many frustrating and ultimately fruitless quests, with the 2019 Florida State Seminoles. Florida State had opened that season by blowing a 31-13 lead to Boise State, and in the aftermath, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles pinned at least a portion of the blame on one of the most

7:34 PM ET One of the hottest teams in the league is getting their star point guard back. Ja Morant returned for the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder after missing more than three weeks with a left knee sprain. Morant sprained his knee in a Nov. 26 loss to the

7:48 AM ET Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano continue to lead the way in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings. But now we have a new order. Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), dominated a game Miriam Gutierrez on Dec. 18 to set up a potential megafight against undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor next year, in

4:04 PM ET EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants shut down quarterback Daniel Jones for the remainder of the season because of his neck injury, the team announced Monday. It prematurely ends what many considered a make-or-break year for the young quarterback. Jones, 24, was officially placed Monday on injured reserve. He was

7:00 AM ET Paolo UggettiESPN Just over a month ago, Lincoln Riley showed up to a practice at Los Alamitos High School in Cerritos, California, by himself. It was Oklahoma‘s bye week, and it was the first time he had been able to recruit on the road in nearly two years. He was there to

6:24 AM ET Rafael Nadal said on Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Spain after making his comeback from injury in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week. The 20-time Grand Slam champion said he was having some “unpleasant moments” but was hoping to feel better

5:51 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Not quite sure exactly how this week would play out, Joe LaCava decided to get to Florida a few days early. After a year of virtual inactivity, the caddie for Tiger Woods wanted to get out of the house. Playing some golf with his son, Joe Jr., and soaking

4:00 PM ET New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is an avid collector of art, his collection of Picasso and Doig and others reportedly worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. But one of his favorite pieces is round: the baseball that rolled between the legs of Bill Buckner to end Game 6 of the

7:30 PM ET Roughly nine months since being left off the United States‘ Olympic qualifying roster, USMNT and FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi called the snub a turning point to his season. “It just made me hungry,” Pepi said Friday. “It made me hungry to go on for the year. To do good for my

1:56 PM GMT All Round 2 matches between U.K. and French sides have been postponed hours after Ospreys vs. Racing 92 was called off due to a number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Welsh squad. European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) awarded Racing 92 a 28-0 victory and five match points, in accordance with competition

12:46 PM GMT The Champions Cup clash between Ospreys and Racing 92 on Saturday has been cancelled due to a number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Welsh side, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said on Friday. Racing 92 were awarded the Pool A tie 28-0 and five match points, in accordance with competition rules.

Aug 6, 2021 Editor’s note: This story originally was published in August, ahead of Derrick Lewis’s interim title bout with Ciryl Gane. Lewis lost that one and is back this Saturday, facing Chris Daukaus. It was Oct. 6, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Derrick Lewis was losing badly, on the verge of one

9:00 AM ET Hearing someone say that the NHL’s 3-on-3 overtime has gotten boring is like hearing someone say, “Hey, remember when pizza was good?” It’s pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s good. I’ve chanted the same mantra about the 3-on-3 overtime format, which the NHL implemented in 2015 to end games before they reached

8:15 AM ET Vasiliy Lomachenko needed a statement victory against Richard Commey on Dec. 11 to show he is the best lightweight fighter in the world. After Teofimo Lopez was upset by George Kambosos Jr., and Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney struggled a little in their victories the week before, Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) dominated

10:13 PM ET EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published on Dec. 24, 2020. Since then, Bubba Wallace earned his first career Cup win — making him the first Black driver to win a Cup Series race since 1963. That win came on Oct. 4, 2021, at Talladega, the same track that what was believed to

11:26 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets ruled four players out due to health and safety protocols on Tuesday morning against the Toronto Raptors. The Nets now have five players out due to health and safety protocols after starting center LaMarcus Aldridge, starting swingman DeAndre’ Bembry, power forward James Johnson and point guard Jevon Carter, who

2:13 PM ET Associated Press ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — NASCAR champion Kyle Larson‘s first Formula One race was the season finale, and he is as conflicted as anyone over the controversial ending of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap Sunday to win the title, but

1:14 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Six Moroccan men’s tennis players, including four who played in the Davis Cup, have been banned in a match-fixing investigation, the International Tennis Integrity Unit said Tuesday. A hearing found the six players “were guilty of multiple offenses and a variety of match-fixing charges, including fixing elements of

12:17 PM ET Tiger Woods is returning to golf action this week. Perhaps you heard? Ten months since he rolled his SUV in a one-car crash in Los Angeles that could have cost him his leg, Woods is set to tee it up with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, at this week’s PNC Championship in Orlando.

11:31 PM ET Lindsey ThiryESPN Close Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times Previously covered the Falcons Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball GLENDALE, Ariz. — Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey returned to Los Angeles on a private jet after producing a positive COVID-19 test, while tight end Tyler Higbee was