PARIS – Dan Hooker is well aware of his current role in the UFC's lightweight division.
Hooker (24-14 MMA, 14-10 UFC) welcomes Salahdine Parnasse (23-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to the octagon in Saturday's UFC Fight Night 287 main event at Accor Arena (Paramount+).
Hooker is currently on a two-fight losing skid, and will be facing Parnasse in enemy territory. While he put his hand up to potentially welcome Usman Nurmagomedov to the UFC, Hooker understands he's in a must-win situation this weekend.
"After a couple of losses and then moving your way down the rankings, I'm more than happy to play the role that I'm in right now and the role that I'm in right now is gatekeeping the top 10 of the UFC's lightweight division," Hooker said during Wednesday's UFC Fight Night 287 media day. "And I'm more than happy to play that role. Is that a position that defines my career? No, it's not. You get your hand raised, and then I'll be looking up at the rankings, and I'll be looking to get back in the mix and to get myself back to **** le contention.
"Yes, you're playing the role of a gatekeeper right now, but that doesn't define your career, the future of your career. The beauty of the sport is it can change in one single night. You get your hand raised against Salahdine with an impressive fight, and showcase the skill and the level that I'm prepared to showcase, that I anticipate of showcasing, we're back in the mix, we're not playing that role anymore, we're targeting someone in the top 10."

#hooker #fight #night

I'll keep this one short: The Green Bay Packers target their pre-draft visitors at a high clip, whether it's the draft, as initial undrafted free agents or further down the line. For example, last cutdown cycle the team traded a pick for offensive linemen Darian Kinnard and picked up tight end Josh Whyle to the practice squad. Whyle eventually ended up winning a roster spot and made this year's initial 53-man roster.
So, who was just made available to the Packers all at once? Good question. So far (every team hasn't officially announced their roster yet), these are the players who just hit the market and were brought to Green Bay during their draft cycle (since 2022, when the team started targeting more draft picks).
Hendon Hooker, **** ans
Sean Clifford, Bengals
Can I interest anyone in Sean Clifford as a QB3 again?

#team #initial

Rapid reaction from the Tennessee ***** ans' 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium in the final of three preseason games:
Robert Saleh, deviating from the original plan, opted to rest most – but not all – of the ***** ans' starters for this final preseason game. Cam Ward, Jeffery Simmons, Wan'Dale Robinson, Calvin Ridley and others weren't in uniform, but several expected ***** ans contributors did play. Among them: Receivers Carnell Tate, Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, right guard Fernando Carmona Jr., defensive linemen Solomon Thomas, Jordan Elliott and Jacob Martin, nickel cornerback Marcus Harris and linebackers Cedric Gray, Anthony Hill Jr. and James Williams Sr.
It wasn't the first-string this time, but the ***** ans' defense didn't start well in this preseason game, either, giving up a 97-yard touchdown on the Bears' first offensive snap when cornerback Keydrain Calligan fell down in coverage. Later in the first half, Chicago capped a 16-play, 69-yard drive with a second TD pass for quarterback Tyson Bagent, who was 16-of-17 passing for 208 yards.
Tate did not record a catch in three preseason games. He was targeted only once against the Bears, diving unsuccessfully for a deep ball thrown by quarterback Will Levis into the end zone. While the ***** ans surely would've liked to get more production from their rookie No. 4 overall draft pick in the preseason games, it eased some concerns to see Tate bounce back from a brief rough patch and play a starring role during this past week's joint practice with the Bears.
In what might've been his final game in a ***** ans' uniform, Levis started at quarterback (Mitch Trubisky didn't play, either) and went 14-of-22 passing for 143 yards. Vols legend Hendon Hooker played the rest of the way after halftime. Cut day will be here quickly on Aug. 30. It'll be interesting to see what happens with these two quarterbacks.

#tate #game

JUJUY, Argentina (AP) — Australia took its scoring chances and showed steel in defense, leading end to end to beat Argentina 27-21 Saturday in the first of two rugby test matches.
Tries in the first 10 minutes to hooker Brandon Paenga-Amoso and flyhalf Carter Gordon gave Australia an early buffer which it protected against an adventurous but less clinical Argentina.
Australia clung to its final six point margin for the last 27 minutes of the match when tiredness induced by altitude in the mountainous venue saw some sloppiness and imprecision invade its game.
Its inability to retain possession, especially in the last 10 minutes, gave Argentina chances to ******* a win but the Australian defense rose to the occasion.
"Here at altitude the shoulders are sore, the lungs are sore," said backrower Tom Hooper who scored Australia's only second half try. "It was a hard test match and the whole 23 got us across the line."

#Argentina #gave #match

ESPN might not want to cover San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York being arrested on prostitution charges, but Shannon Sharpe has no issue with it.
To be clear, Sharpe has no issue covering it, he also has no issue with York allegedly attempting to pay for ******* ual activity. York was arrested Sunday in East Palestine, Ohio and initially charged with engaging in prostitution, but it was later amended to disorderly conduct. The 49ers owners pleaded no contest to the reduced charges after allegedly responding to a prostitution ad, offering to pay $140 for ******* at an Ohio trailer park.
"Ain't nothing wrong with that," Sharpe said with a smirk. "Come on, man. You think the man cause he's worth a billion dollars he don't want to wet his whistle?"
Nightcap co-host Joe Johnson seemed rather disgusted by the thought of a wealthy person going to a trailer park with $140 for ******* . On the contrary, Chad Johnson claimed he was familiar with the area where York allegedly went to receive ******* ual favors, implying he has been there for similar reasons himself. Sharpe was eager to add, "sometimes you like them sleazy."
"They the ones that got all the moves," Sharpe insisted. "Remember I told you, 'She had more moves than a $100 hooker?' Them the ones that got the moves, the $5,000 ones don't do nothing but model."

#sharpe #ISSUE #johnson #want

Captain Siya Kolisi is set to be recalled to the South Africa side bidding to hit back in the second Test against New Zealand, with Handre Pollard preferred to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fly-half.
The Springboks had a 12-match winning run ended by the All Blacks in a heavy defeat at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, to fall 1-0 behind in the four-match Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series.
Kolisi was left out for the opener but is primed to take the place of Paul de Villiers, provided he makes it through training this week. Fellow flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit – who captained in Kolisi's stead in Johannesburg – will win his 100th cap as part of an experienced back row.
Pollard is called in to start at No 10 as Feinberg-Mngomezulu drops to the bench. Scrum-half Grant Williams and wing Cheslin Kolbe are ruled out due to injury, with Cobus Reinach and Ethan Hooker starting.
Kurt-Lee Arendse is cleared to feature in the back three despite an early withdrawal from the 33-16 defeat at Ellis Park.

#ellis #park #match

Tennessee (2-0) defeated Seattle (0-2), 19-16, on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. 49,194 were in attendance for the preseason Week 2 NFL game.
Two quarterbacks who played for Josh Heupel in the SEC appeared in the game.
Drew Lock started for the Seahawks and completed 12-of-14 passing attempts for 103 yards and one touchdown. He also totaled eight rushing yards on two attempts.
Lock played at Missouri from 2015-18 and was selected by Denver in the second round of the NFL draft in 2019. Heupel served as Missouri's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2016-17.
Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker also appeared in the preseason contest for the ****** ans. He completed 2-of-2 passing attempts for 35 yards, while finishing the game with -2 rushing yards on three attempts.

#attempts #yards #played

Tennessee (1-0) will host Seattle (0-1) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The contest will conclude Week 2 of the NFL preseason.
Kickoff between the **** ans and Seahawks is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT.
The **** ans have four former Vols on roster: long snapper Morgan **** , quarterback Hendon Hooker, cornerback Jalen McMurray and cornerback Alontae Taylor.
Punter Tommy Townsend is also roster for the **** ans. He played for the Vols in 2015 and transferred to Florida. Former Tennessee tight end Luker Stocker (2006-10) is serving as the **** ans' tight ends coach in 2026.
Former Vol Velus Jones Jr. is also on roster as a running back for Seattle in the NFL preseason.

#Titans #former #vols #preseason

The dog days of summer are in full effect, and NFL training camps are taking their toll.
Take, for instance, Tuesday's joint practice between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints in Oxnard, California. The NFC rivals squared off for a full practice in pads. That meant competing, hitting and some guys performing for their jobs.
The result was a scrimmage that was spicy throughout and eventually erupted to multiple big fights and the ejection of Cowboys defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku.
There was the normal pushing and shoving that should be expected from any sort of joint practice. This involved Saints wide receiver Chris Olave and Cowboys safety Malik Hooker, among others.
But things really got heated multiple times as full-on fights broke out between pretty much all the players on the field.

#take

The dog days of summer are in full effect, and NFL training camps are taking their toll.
Take, for instance, Tuesday's joint practice between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints in Oxnard, California. The NFC rivals squared off for a full practice in pads. That meant competing, hitting and some guys performing for their jobs.
The result was a scrimmage that was spicy throughout and eventually erupted to multiple big fights and the ejection of Cowboys defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku.
There was the normal pushing and shoving that should be expected from any sort of joint practice. This involved Saints wide receiver Chris Olave and Cowboys safety Malik Hooker, among others.
But things really got heated multiple times as full-on fights broke out between pretty much all the players on the field.

#multiple

Arman Tsarukyan has his Octagon return set in stone. Instead of the long-awaited and endlessly evasive UFC ******* le shot he continues to pursue, the top-ranked lightweight will collide with rising contender Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles.
Outside of MMA, Tsarukyan has been on every kind of side quest imaginable in 2026. He hasn't fought since a second-round submission of Dan Hooker in November. Over that time, Tsaurkyan, 29, has gone 7-1 in wrestling matches with Real American Freestyle (RAF) and racked up a 3-0-1 record in submission grappling matches.
Tsarukyan revealed on Monday's "The Ariel Helwani Show" that a rematch against Charles Oliveira was originally on tap for his UFC return bout.
"I was supposed to fight with Charles, co-main event, five rounds," Tsarukyan said. "Then I went for my training camp, and they, in two weeks, when I was in the mountains, called me and said, 'We got a new name for you. It's Ruffy.' I said, 'OK. No problem.'
"I don't want to pull out and wait for Charles, because [it's] LA, five rounds, it's a big card, and I have not fought in long time. I need this fight, so yeah, that's all."

#ruffy #return #fight

We didn't know what we were getting from the Dallas Cowboys' secondary in 2026. We knew Christian Parker had intricate plans for schematic change. We knew new players were expected to compete, and rehabbing players were hoping to return. We even knew what things were supposed to look like on paper. What we didn't know is if any of it, or even some of it, was going to work out.
Parker, a first-time defensive coordinator, was more a projection than proven entity. DaRon Bland and Shevon Revel were rehabbing cornerbacks with an uncertain permanent physical status. Malik Hooker and P.J. Locke were safeties with something to prove. While Caleb Downs and Jalen Thompson were new faces with massive expectations.
With so many questions in the secondary, the entire situation had the potential to go extremely well or devastatingly horrible. Halfway through training camp, things are going pretty darn well.
At the top of the food pyramid, Parker is completely as advertised. Not only does he look like Vic Fangio 2.0 in scheme, but his knowledge and ability to educate look next level. He's instilling work ethic and accountability across the unit and his highly complicated scheme is getting digested at an impressive rate.
After avoiding the PUP list at the start of camp, DaRon Bland has looked shockingly healthy in Oxnard. He may not be on a full workload, but he appears ahead of the curve and ready to reclaim the CB1 label that's alluded him for two seasons.

#secondary

Arman Tsarukyan knows that nothing in the fight game is guaranteed.
19 months ago, Tsarukyan was set to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight ******* le at UFC 311; however, during fight week, Tsarukyan suffered an injury that forced him out of the bout. Tsarukyan's last-minute withdrawal and subsequent outside-the-cage issues led the UFC to pass him over for a ******* le shot on several occasions, even after he weighed in as a backup fighter for the vacant ******* le fight at UFC 317 and then finished Dana Hooker at UFC Qatar in November.
Now, Tsarukyan is set to face Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 next month, and even if he wins, "Batman" knows that still might not ensure his next fight is for the belt.
"In this sport, not everything is guaranteed," Tsarukyan told MMA Fighting. "You've got to be ready; you've got to beat [anyone]. If they give me one more fight, I'll beat; 10 more fights, I'll beat, and eventually I'll become a champion."
Tsarukyan had hoped that his next outing would be for the lightweight ******* le; however, after Justin Gaethje upset Ilia Topuria at UFC White House to claim the belt, "The Highlight" made it clear he had no interest in fighting again in 2026. As such, Tsarukyan made the easy choice to stay active.

#you 've

Dana White wasn't taking any risks with Arman Tsarukyan.
On Friday, the UFC held its first press conference for next month's UFC 331 card, which takes place in Los Angeles and is headlined by a flyweight ***** le rematch between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja. The co-main event for the card is a lightweight ***** le eliminator bout between Tsarukyan and Maurio Ruffy, and when it came time for Tsarukyan and Ruffy to face off after the press conference, Dana White was not about to let Tsarukyan do anything crazy.
Tsarukyan has become notorious in recent years for his tomfoolery outside of the cage, infamously headbutting Dan Hooker at their final faceoff before their fight at UFC Qatar last year. So, when the two came together for the first time and Ruffy held a fist out, White immediately intervened when Tsarukyan began to walk forward and had the two pulled apart to prevent any mishaps.
The main event faceoff was perhaps even more intense. Van and Pantoja argued throughout much of the press conference beforehand, with Pantoja even attempting to confront Van, so when the two finally came face-to-face, things got quite chippy.
UFC 331 takes place on Sep. 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

#tsarukyan #came #dana

IanGarry says he had no intent of starting a feud with KhamzatChimaev.

Garry defeated BelalMuhammad last November, with ArmanTsarukyan finishing Dan Hooker inthe main event of the same card in Doha, Qatar. Chimaev, who was inTsarukyan's corner, then had an altercation with Garry backstage,which "The Future" recently revisited.
Garry shook hands with the entire team and also patted Chimaev onthe back. The latter then seemingly felt provoked and pushed Garrybefore security stepped in.

Garry recently shared his side of the story, claiming he had nomalicious intent when he was greeting Chimaev and his entire team.The Irishman also notes that Chimaev didn't immediately react whenhe patted him. Garry claims Chimaev was fired up only after peoplestepped in between them. He believes Chimaev would have gottenphysical when they were in proximity if he really wanted to.

"Me and Khamzat aren't boys," Garry told Full Send MMA. "When I goto a team and there's Arman Tsarukyan tying his shoelace, I saidcongrats to him, I said congrats to his other coach and congrats toone more. And I leave one guy out and I didn't see him. And I go,'Oh sh*t, sorry champ, how are you?' We were cool, we were fine atthat point. It was only when someone stepped in between us that itwas a problem. If he wanted to suplex me and put me on my skull, hewould have done it when I [leaned on him]. Go watch my bodylanguage again… In no way, shape, or form was it aggressive. It waspurely out of respect; there was no mal intent."

Chimaev (15-1) lost his middleweight **** le to SeanStrickland in a massive upset this past May. The Chechen-bornfighter is now rallying for a rematch against Strickland.Meanwhile, Garry (17-1) is scheduled to challenge IslamMakhachev (28-1) for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight **** le in the mainevent of UFC330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

#intent #team #recently

ArmanTsarukyan will return to compete on Real American Freestyleless than two weeks after his next Ultimate Fighting Championship bout.

The UFC lightweight is scheduled to face DillonDanis at RAF 14 on Oct. 3 at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Thewrestling promotion recently announced that the match will becontested for the RAF middleweight crossover championship. The newscomes less than one week after the UFC announced Tsarukyan (23-3)will face MauricioRuffy (14-2) at UFC331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles.
Tsarukyan has fought just once in 2024 and once in 2025, with hislatest victory in mixed martial arts coming against Dan Hooker inNovember last year. However, he's competed in 15 wrestling andsubmission grappling matches over the last two years, goingunbeaten in all but one. In his last wrestling match under the RAFbanner, he was outpointed by ColbyCovington.

He has collected victories over LancePalmer, Georgio Poullas, UrijahFaber, KeelonJimison, TonyFerguson and KuatKhamitov in RAF so far. His next outing will be against Danisin October at RAF 14 in Las Vegas. Danis will attempt to snap atwo-fight losing streak under the RAF banner. The jiu jitsuspecialist lost to Covington in March before falling to former UFCmiddleweight champion KhamzatChimaev in June.

Before returning to RAF, Tsarukyan will face Ruffy at UFC 331.Danis will also compete in MMA before meeting Tsarukyan, as he isbooked to face Mike Perryin the Duel Arena 1 main event on Aug. 29 in Orlando, Florida,looking to extend his record to 4-0.

#vegas #championship

In a game of small distinctions, Mateusz Gamrot — who fights this weekend against Quillan Salkilld at the UFC Apex — has a pretty good one in that he beat Arman Tsarukyan back in 2022. This is an excellent feat by industry standards. In the last six years, 10 other men have tried do just that and 10 men have failed. Most recently, Dan Hooker came up woefully short in his attempt. Tsarukyan submitted Hooker in the second round of their fight last November and made it look relatively easy in doing so.
With five straight wins, Tsarukyan is good enough for other fighters to measure their own standards of greatness, which is its own small distinction.
Yet, despite Dana White pinky swearing that Tsarukyan would be next for a ******* le shot if he beat Hooker in Qatar, here we are over eight months later and … guess what?
He still hasn't fought for the ******* le. And it doesn't appear he will anytime soon.
On Wednesday, the UFC announced that Tsarukyan will face Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 in September, in a five-round non-title fight, meaning it's exceedingly unlikely he'll fight for the belt in 2026. Though it's a fine fight — in fact it's crazy good, far more intriguing than a rematch with Charles Oliveira, even if it were for the BMF — it can't help but feel like Arman is forever on the outside looking in. He has been in Dana's doghouse since he backed out of his ******* le chance at the eleventh hour of UFC 311 with an injury, and he didn't do himself any favors by headbutting Hooker during the face-offs in Qatar.

#good #standards

For weeks rumors have swirled that a rematch between former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and No. 2 ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan was all but signed, sealed and delivered. The fight promotion had other plans.
Tsarukyan (23-3) will instead face No. 7 ranked Mauricio Ruffy (14-2) in the UFC 331 co-main event in a five-round fight. UFC 331 takes place on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and is headlined by a flyweight championship rematch between ***** leholder Joshua Van and former champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Tsarukyan will enter the bout riding a five-fight winning streak. He last fought at UFC Fight Night 265 last November defeating Dan Hooker via submission. The finish earned him a 'Performance of the Night' bonus.
Ruffy has won back-to-back fights and is coming off a TKO win over Michael Chandler at the UFC Freedom 250 event at The White House in June.
The event will mark the promotion's sixth visit to Los Angeles but the first in eight years. The last time the octagon was in L.A. was for UFC 227 in August 2018.

#last #rematch #former

The main event for UFC 331 is finally set with Joshua Van defending his flyweight ***** le in a rematch against former champion Alexandre Pantoja, who is now healthy and ready to compete again.
In the co-main event, Arman Tsarukyan faces Mauricio Ruffy in a five-round fight between lightweights who are both jockeying for a ***** le shot against current champion Justin Gaethje.
The main event features Pantoja making his return to action after a freak injury ended his dominant ***** le reign in his first fight against Van in 2025. Pantoja fell awkwardly during an exchange and his arm popped, which forced the fight to be stopped in the opening round.
While he recovered, Van took over as UFC flyweight champion and made a successful defense of his ***** le in a potential Fight of the Year candidate against Tatsuro Taira in May. Now Van looks to settle any debates about his championship reign when he faces Pantoja in a rematch now scheduled for September.
In the co-main event, widely considered the top lightweight contender in the UFC, Tsarukyan returns after spending the better part of the past year making a name for himself in RAF where he's been wrestling almost every month. Now he gets back to business in the UFC trying to build on his five-fight win streak, which includes wins over Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush and Dan Hooker.

#flyweight

Rugby might be England and Saracens hooker Jamie George's first love but cricket is still a regular part of his sporting life and career.
It's why he and his club team-mates did not need much persuading to sign up for a rugby versus cricket T20 match against some of the County Championship's top professionals in August, to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease ***** ociation.
"We [Saracens] do play [cricket] - our warm-up every rugby session summer, winter, snowing, rain, is one-hand, one bounce," George told BBC Radio Somerset.
"The boys love it because they're mad-keen cricket fans."
George will skipper 'Team Rugby' for the game on 19 August at the County Ground in Taunton, in a side that also includes current and former England internationals Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Ben Earl and Max Malins.

#england #love

Nathan Jibulu has signed a new contract with Sale Sharks aiming to keep him at the club until 2030.
The 23-year-old hooker, whose performances for the Sharks in his first season earned him a call-up to the England training squad in June, played 23 games with Sale after joining from Harlequins last summer.
Jibulu told the Sale website: "We know the season didn't go as we wanted but the atmosphere has been really good and so many young lads got a lot of experience in big games.
"It's so exciting to think where lads like Alfie Longstaff and Ralph McEachran could be in two or three years.
"With the signings we've made this season, we're building a squad that can win **** les and I want to be a part of that."

#season #sharks #games

Wakefield Trinity have signed hooker Mason Teague on a two-year contract ahead of the 2027 season.
Cook Islands international Teague will join from Queensland Cup side Burleigh Bears.
He will replace Tyson Smoothy as the Australian returns home to new NRL side Perth Bears.
The 23-year-old is the fourth player signed by Wakefield for 2027, following Cameron Smith, Roger Tuivassa-Sheck and Emre Guler.
"Wakefield are an incredibly strong club who are really going places and going well this year and I hope I can add to that upon joining," he told the club's website.

#wakefield #going #cook

The Tennessee **** ans will officially begin training camp on July 28th when the veterans report to Vanderbilt Health Football Camp in Nashville. We’re concluding our positional preview with the secondary, cornerbacks and safeties. The **** ans have 17 defensive backs on the offseason roster. General manager Mike Borgonzi made various acquisitions across these positions.
In camp (17): Alontae Taylor, Cor’Dale Flott, Amani Hooker, Kevin Winston Jr., Marcus Harris, Tony Adams, Joshua Williams, Jerrick Reed II, Jalen McMurray, Latrell McCutchin, Jeadyn Lukus, Kendell Brooks, Sanoussi Kane, Erick Hallett II, Bishop Fitzgerald, Keydrain Calligan, Micah Robinson.
Biggest storyline: The **** ans totally revamped the cornerback room, signing Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott to very lucrative contracts in free agency. They’ll be tasked with being Robert Saleh’s starting boundary corners. This position needed a makeover after trading Jarvis Brownlee and Roger McCreary, and cutting L’Jarius Sneed. Expectations are high for Taylor and Flott.
Most to prove: Both Kevin Winston Jr. and Marcus Harris are sophomores entering the year in starting roles. The **** ans cut Xavier Woods during the offseason to make room for Winston in the starting lineup opposite Amani Hooker. Harris doesn’t appear to have any competition for the nickel role either.
Breakout star: Winston Jr. is probably the correct choice. The former Penn State standout flashed an exciting skill set when he was healthy as a rookie. Winston is entering camp fully available and should make a massive impact next to Hooker in the lineup. He possesses every trait to be a breakout defender.

#Titans #camp #taylor #dale

Tennessee ****** ans training camp kicked off on Thursday when rookies reported to the team facility, but it wasn’t all good news.
The ****** ans announced that offensive tackle JC Latham and safety Amani Hooker will open camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. While the injuries do not sound serious, they will impact the early days of camp.
While those injuries are important, they are far from the biggest storyline heading into camp. If you listen to Turron Davenport of ESPN, the biggest question centers on Cam Ward and his development.
Tennessee ****** ans
Biggest storyline: Can offensive coordinator Brian Daboll help Cam Ward become an elite QB? Coach Robert Saleh handpicked Daboll to work with the QB because of his previous experience, most notably with Josh Allen in Buffalo. Daboll said two key components to making the situation work are establishing a relationship with Ward the person and seeing the game through Ward's lens.

#ward #offensive #injuries

Dan Hooker would like to see Conor McGregor close out his career in the ring.
McGregor (22-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) injured his right knee just 69 seconds into his rematch against Max Holloway (28-9 MMA, 24-9 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 329 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He is set to undergo surgery for what is suspected to be a torn ACL.
With McGregor sustaining another injury after a five-year layoff from a broken left leg, Hooker wonders if his body can handle competing in MMA anymore. He sees boxing as a better option for "The Notorious."
"I feel like we're just as excited to see Conor McGregor box one of these big-name guys for $100 million as we were before that fight," Hooker told Submission Radio. "To force him to squeeze out one more MMA fight where maybe his body can't – obviously boxing is a very difficult sport, but it's far less taxing all over on your body. I feel like boxers sustain a lot more head trauma than MMA fighters do, just the bigger gloves and just the duration of you're fighting 12 three-minute rounds with the cushioned gloves.
"I feel like they sustain a lot more head trauma, but I feel like all over the body, MMA's obviously a lot more taxing on your joints, and you get like niggly on all your ligaments and your knees, and you've got your back and your neck, and there's a lot more different places to get fatigued and get injured. So, it's just coming to a point now where maybe his body can't hold up in the MMA ***** e, and they should just let him box and earn some crazy money in his last couple of years of fighting."

Wales captain Dewi Lake is in danger of missing the Nations Championship fixture against South Africa on Saturday because of a groin injury.
Ryan Elias would be line to start at hooker for Wales with Dragons' Elliot Dee flying to Durban as cover, alongside Gloucester lock Freddie Thomas who has been called in because Taine Plumtree is carrying an injury.
Lake is not going home with the squad being extended to 35 players for the week in South Africa.
Wales have not yet ruled Lake out of facing the Springboks with the Gloucester-bound hooker having been in “light training today”.
“That's a real positive,” said Wales ******* istant coach Danny Wilson.

Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint Denis meet on the UFC 329 main card Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie **** yst Dan Tom.
Last event's results: 5-1
UFC main cards, 2026: 69-37-1
Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) aims to rebound from his first loss under the UFC banner, which was a unanimous decision loss to now-champion Justin Gaethje.
Saint Denis (17-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) looks to extend his current winning streak to five. His current run includes wins over Kyle Prepolec, Mauricio Ruffy, Beneil Dariush and Dan Hooker.

Star fly-half Finn Russell is fit to start for Scotland against South Africa in the second round of Nations Championship action.
The 33-year-old replaces Tom Jordan at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday after missing last weekend's 47-38 win in Argentina with a calf problem.
There are two further changes as tighthead prop Zander ****** erson and lock Gregor Brown are promoted to the starting XV after coming off the bench in Cordoba, taking over from the injured Elliot Millar Mills and Jonny Gray.
Will Hurd, Josh Bayliss, Magnus Bradbury and Stafford McDowall are added to the bench, with winger Darcy Graham among those dropping out for what is Scotland's first visit to South Africa since 2014.
The replacements also include hooker Gregor Hiddleston, who made a try-scoring debut against Argentina, and prop Rory Sutherland, in line to earn his 50th cap.

Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor will be making his Octagon return against Max Holloway atop the UFC 329 fight card this Sat. night (July 11) in Las Vegas. A second win over the Hawaiian will get “Notorious” right back into the thick of things and resurrect a career that has been on ice (and a few other things) since summer 2021.
Paddy Pimblett will be waiting.
“The perfect fight for me would be Conor,” Pimblett said. “It’s mad to be honest because I think … obviously I won seven fights in a row and I don’t think that my stock went up as much as losing my last fight. You know, I beat people like Michael Chandler, Bobby Green, Tony Ferguson and people are just like, meh, and then I’ve got me head punched in five rounds and my stock went up. I lost but my stock went up because I had a five-round war with a legend like Justin Gaethje but I want that back, you know what I mean? I want to fight him again before he retires. It’s time to get back in the win column.”
Pimblett will also compete at UFC 329, going to war with fellow lightweight contender Benoit Saint Denis in the Paramount+ co-main event. Like McGregor, a highlight-reel finish will go a long way in erasing “The Baddy’s” last performance, a five-round ****** whooping at the hands of newly-crowned lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
“Benoit moved above me in the rankings for beating Dan Hooker which I thought was quite silly because Dan Hooker’s terrible,” Pimblett added. “He went above me for beating Dan Hooker so I thought that’s the perfect fight. I’m [ranked] six, he’s five. I think I’m better than him everywhere the fight goes. I’ll prove that on July 11th. Mad being on the same card as Conor McGregor, you know what I mean? The biggest name in the sport. It’s nice for him to be back. This is probably going to be the most watched UFC of all time. I’m not going to be the star of the show on this one, definitely not. Conor is, but I’ll probably be the second star of the show.”

Benoit Saint Denis is quite on a redemption tour.
Since suffering the first back-to-back losses in his career, Saint Denis has blazed a path of destruction in the UFC's lightweight division, going four in a row with two submission and two TKO wins. The Frenchman capped this win streak off in February, stopping veteran Dan Hooker at UFC 325 in Australia. It was a violent and ***** TKO finish that put Saint Denis in ***** le contention.
You can watch Saint Denis' win over Hooker in the video above.
Saint Denis (17-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) returns to the cage at UFC 329, which takes place July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He takes on top contender and English star Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who's coming off a loss in an interim lightweight ***** le fight earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 329 full fight: Benoit Saint-Denis stops Dan Hooker in ***** TKO