BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing recently finalized its Aug. 29 fight card for the BKB 58 event on Sat. night (Aug. 29, 2026) at James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. Topping the promotion's return to "The Sunshine State" is BKB Heavyweight Champion Gustavo Trujillo, who collides with former BKB and BKFC heavyweight ****** leholder Mick Terrill on super short notice.
Elsewhere on the card, Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa makes his bare knuckle debut opposite well-traveled boxing veteran Yesner Talavera at Super Lightweight, not long after Alberto Blas defends his Super Featherweight strap against Brandon Birr. In addition, Cuban boxing sensation Yunieski Gonzalez collides with Welsh warrior Ethan George for the vacant BKB Cruiserweight crown.
Former UFC ****** le contender Aspen Ladd makes her Trigon debut against Brazilian bruiser Bianca Daimoni on the BKB 58 main card, which airs live at 8 p.m. ET on VICE TV. BKB 58's four-fight preliminary card featuring Rudy Mora, Taylor Bull, Darrian Leu-Pierre and more, will stream live and free on the promotion's TikTok channel.
Here's the finalized BKB 58 fight card and streaming lineup:
Heavyweight: Gustavo Trujillo (c) vs. Mick Terrill
Super Lightweight: Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Yesner Talavera
Super Featherweight: Alberto Blas (c) vs. Brandon Birr
Cruiserweight: Yunieski Gonzalez vs. Ethan George for vacant Cruiserweight ****** le
Cruiserweight: Uly Diaz vs. Gilberto Fuentes
Super Featherweight: Yampier Ramirez vs. Triston Harrison
Super Lightweight: Aspen Ladd vs. Bianca Daimoni
Super Welterweight: Roberto Duran Jr. vs. Ryan Spivey

#featherweight #boxing

Boxing legend Terence Crawford made the phrase popular "if you stay ready, you don't have to get ready."
This is exactly true for BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing, the world's largest bare knuckle boxing promotion in the world, which has announced a massive shakeup for their main event for BKB 58: Miami, which takes place at the James L. Knight Center this Saturday, August 29th.
With heavyweight ******* le challenger Mark O'Neill being forced to withdraw from the fight due to visa issues, reigning BKB Heavyweight Champion Gustavo "The Cuban ******* assin" Trujillo will now defend his ******* le against multi-promotion world champion Mick "The Butcher of Shields" Terrill. The fight is being touted by many in the boxing industry as one of the biggest matchups in bare knuckle boxing history.
Terrill called for a shot against Trujillo and the heavyweight ******* le and got what he asked for on just a few days' notice. Saturday night in Miami will be his chance to become an instant BKB legend.
"The second I heard Mark was out, I knew this was my moment, so I demanded they put me in. I've always said I'll fight any man, anytime, anywhere," Terrill said. "Here's the proof. I've wanted this ******* le for a long time and now I can prove why I'm the number one heavyweight in bare knuckle boxing. This is my shot and I'm taking it. Miami, get ready. I'm on my way."

#boxing #knuckle #Miami #terrill

The MMA personality best known for constantly talking but rarely fighting is out of yet another scheduled bout.
Mike Perry announced Thursday at his pre-fight press conference that Dillon Danis is out of their Saturday MMA fight at Duel Arena 1 inside the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida.
Perry said there was "no communication" from Danis, so instead the undefeated bare-knuckle sensation will face Brandon Jenkins, a former UFC competitor, in the MMA contest.
Depending on the source, Danis is either 2-0 or 3-0 as an MMA fighter, but he's spent most of his time talking about and trolling other fighters and losing grappling, wrestling and boxing matches.
He's lost his two most recent RAF matches to Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington, lost in boxing to Logan Paul in 2023, and lost four straight grappling matches from 2016-17. He last fought in MMA in 2019.

#matches #lost #grappling #thursday

It's deja vu all over again. Dillon Danis won't be fighting this weekend against Mike Perry.
Perry (15-8) announced at a pre-fight news conference Thursday that he'll instead be fighting former UFC fighter Brandon Jenkins (17-11) at Duel Arena 1 at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla.
"Let's not beat around the bush," Perry said. "This p*ssy-ass b*tch Dillon Danis didn't show the f*ck up. He's not here. He backed the f*ck out because he's a p*ssy."
It's unclear why Danis (3-0) is no longer fighting. He has not publicly spoken on the issue, but he's built a reputation for withdrawing from fights over the years.
Jenkins, 34, was in Nevada on Thursday when he got the call to compete. He is currently en route from Las Vegas to Orlando to weigh in tomorrow morning. Over the course of his nearly 17-year competitive career, Jenkins has made stops in the UFC, LFA, PFL, Gamebred Bareknuckle, Karate Combat, and most recently, MVP MMA in May, when he defeated Chris Avila by split decision.

#jenkins #dillon #orlando #mike

The Toronto Blue Jays announced that the Washington Nationals claimed pitcher Matt Waldron, who had been designated for **** ignment only three days earlier, on Saturday, Aug. 22.
MLB's only active knuckleballer had a 10.38 ERA in four games with Toronto (4.1 innings, 5 earned runs) after he was claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres on Aug. 5.
Waldron, 29, spent the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres' organization after making his big-league debut with the Padres in 2023. The Nationals will be his third team in 2026 alone.
MORE: Blue Jays cut knuckleball pitcher in roster shakeup

Waldron, 29, was designated for **** ignment by the Padres when they reinstated right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Estrada off the injured list earlier this year.
In 2024, Waldron was a key member of San Diego's starting rotation. He used his patented knuckleball to post a 4.91 ERA across 27 appearances (26 starts), covering 146.2 innings for the 93-win Padres team.

#waldron #pitcher #jays #nationals

Tyron Woodley still sees MMA in his near future.
The former UFC welterweight champion hasn't competed in MMA since suffering his fourth-straight loss to Vicente Luque in March 2021. He has since boxed three times and has two wrestling matches booked for RAF.
As for MMA, Woodley (19-7-1) is open to a return as soon as this year.
"I never retired (from MMA)," Woodley told MMA Junkie Radio. "People just said I retired. You never heard me formally come out and retire, or put my gloves down anywhere, or even say the word retirement. Because I haven't fought MMA since 2021, a lot of people call me retired. In this sport, if you don't refute it, and you don't go back and defend it, or you correct people, then people run with it. So I found out a long time ago that everybody knows everything, just let them know it. So I never retired from MMA. I never closed that chapter. It's actually quite the opposite. You may even see me fight MMA this year. You may see me wrestle twice, fight MMA and box. I feel like I'm getting to the part where my body being used as a way to generate wealth is coming to an end. I'm getting closer and closer and closer to that moment.
"I feel like the more I can stay in shape, the more I can just keep training, the better I'm going to be. We all know me with consistency. When I had that ***** le run, I fought four world ***** le fights in one year. I feel like knowing yourself is the most important part. I know when I've got something ahead of me, I've got a date, I've got an opportunity, I know that my body is going to be disciplined, it's going to be more focused, less distractions are going to come in. It's just something about being in a camp. That daily regimen is just a discipline I need in life. So I'm just staying in camp, whatever that is, whatever combat it is. I'm thankfully blessed to be versed in many, many different forms of combat. I'm really open to doing any and all, minus bare knuckle, and that leaves me with a lot of things to do."

#people #know #since #year

Chelsea Dodson self-identifies as a wife, a mother of three and a baker of sugar cookies.
But there's this other thing. … Or things.
Dodson, a Grants native and an Albuquerque resident, recently signed a multi-fight contract to join her husband, John Dodson, as a bare-knuckle fighter.
"They (the BKFC in the person of matchmaker Jewlz Grey, who confirmed the signing on Instagram), just offered me a contract, we went through it, and it was one of those (offers) you don't want to say no to," Dodson said on Tuesday in a phone interview.
The BKFC offer didn't come out of nowhere, nor did it come simply because she's the wife of the reigning BKFC men's flyweight champion.

#bkfc

It was a good-looking Shane Baz that greeted New York tonight. Not only did the O's starter make a big first impression, striking out three Yankees in the first inning (and on three different pitches!—curveball, heater, changeup), he also pinched into the seventh and struck out a season-high ten batters.
Alas, as my colleague Paul Folkemer put it in his preview of this series, through no fault of his own, Baz has been something of a bad-luck charm for this Orioles offense, and tonight, it was like that again. In total, the Birds managed just four hits (all but one singles). They scored just once, on a Coby Mayo solo homer (his second four-bagger in two nights), instead going 0-for-6 as a team with runners in scoring position, with seven men left on.
There's probably blame to be allotted for the bad hitting, but let's start with cheers for the good pitching. The box score says Shane Baz gave us 6 1/3 innings and three earned runs, but this is largely due to a Josh Walker stumble in the seventh. I'll be darned if Baz didn't look much better than that. So let's give him his deserved kudos.
Baz whiffed the first three Yankees hitters he saw, plus two more in the second. It was a ruthless beginning. Four of his first five outs were by K. The fastball was zippy, the sinker was running, and the knuckle curve was unhittable.
For six innings, Baz made just one mistake, a hung changeup to leadoff man Trent Grisham, who somehow was well out front of the offspeed pitch, put a weird swing on it, and still managed to send it to the flag court. Baseball is full of random things like that, but seeing how the two starters looked it was a real surprise, truthfully, that the Yankees had struck first.

#yankees #shane #good #tonight

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft allowed five hits over eight efficient innings, Oneil Cruz homered in his return from the injured list, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Ashcraft (13-5), a first-time All-Star this season, struck out four and didn't issue a walk while throwing just 80 pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander, coming off the first complete game of his career in a win over Miami last week, gave up a fifth-inning homer to Tigers rookie Brett Callahan but otherwise cruised to his fourth win in five starts.
Ashcraft became the first Pittsburgh pitcher since A.J. Burnett in 2012 to record a complete game and then work at least eight innings in his next start.
Mason Montgomery worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Cruz, out since early June after breaking his left hand, turned on a 2-2 knuckle curve from Keider Montero (9-8) in the fifth inning and sent it 422 feet to right-center for his 15th homer of the season and his first since June 2. It was Pittsburgh's 81st homer at PNC Park, tying the 2003 team for the most in a season at the ballpark that opened in 2001.

#fifth #tigers

Tigers' Brett Callahan's spark fizzles during White Sox weekend sweep originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On the first pitch of his MLB career, Detroit Tigers outfielder Brett Callahan connected on a 76-mph knuckle curve by Chicago White Sox pitcher Sean Burke and delivered a two-run triple to a team that needed a spark.
The Tigers entered the weekend with a chance to take sole possession of first place in the AL Central.
Instead, following Sunday's 7-5 defeat, they dropped 5.5 games behind the division-leading White Sox, who slammed seven home runs during the three-game sweep at Comerica Park.
The second-inning spark the rookie provided ... fizzled.

#spark #brett #sporting

For the first seven innings, it certainly seemed like the White Sox (61-57) channeled the Pope in the series opener, mashing three solo home runs for three of their four runs in front of a 40,000-person crowd, all wearing Pope hats.
Unfortunately, the Chicago bullpen wasn't as blessed, and wound up blowing the save in the top of the eighth, allowing the Reds (57-61) to come all the way back and steal the game in the top of the 10th, 5-4.
Righthander Sean Burke looked as good as ever, and outside of a solo home run given up to Eugenio Suárez, he was completely under control, only surrendering one run on three hits while striking out eight along the way. Burke put together three true 1-2-3 innings in his seven innings of work: the first, third and fourth (he technically recorded four outs in the third, with Héctor Rodríguez reaching on a dropped-third strike). In fact, Edgar Quero was just as devoured by Burke's knuckle curve that dove out of the zone to the ground as Rodríguez, who completely whiffed. The pitch was so far out of the strike zone that it didn't even appear in the MLB Gameday feed:
Offensively, the South Siders were looking great early in the game, blasting three solo home runs and an RBI double to go up four runs, 4-0.
The White Sox were averaging a long ball an inning through two, beginning with Brenton Doyle smashing a first-pitch, leadoff home run in the first, and Edgar Quero following it up with one of his own in the bottom of the second, giving Burke and Chicago a pair of insurance runs early in the game.

#first

Joe Ryan has spent much of the second half of the season trying to work through issues with his delivery. He got rocked in his first start after the break, giving up a franchise-high six home runs in a game. He gave up four earned runs in each of his next two starts.
It was atypical for the all-star starter.
"I think when you start thinking about throwing knuckleballs in situations, it's probably time to figure something out," Ryan said.
The Twins sent him home from their most recent road trip, where imaging revealed a glute strain and he was subsequently placed on the 15-day injured list. Ryan said he knew when the issue in the area started flaring up and he tried to "push through it" in those three starts.
That didn't work.

#ryan #starts #twins #spent

Matthew Liberatore's start went south from the very first pitch, but he avoided a meltdown as the St. Louis Cardinals were playing catchup from the beginning of the game. The question would end up being whether their less than spectacular offense lately would muster enough runs to overcome the Rockies fast start. Short answer? No.
Pitch one of inning one to the Colorado Rockies was a 95 mph four-seam fastball from Matthew Liberatore to Jake McCarthy and it traveled 420 feet into the right field stands of Busch Stadium for an immediate 1-0 Rockies lead. It could have been worse as Matthew then walked Karros and many of us in Cardinals fandom started fearing a 1st inning meltdown like we've seen from Liberatore a few times this season. Fortunately, one run is all the Rockies would get after a bonehead baserunning error as Karros was doubled off of second on a ball caught by Winn.
The St. Louis Cardinals would seize back the lead in the bottom of the 1st inning when Iván Herrera ripped a two-out double to left. Alec Burleson would strike out, but reach first on a passed ball charged to Goodman. That would bring up José Fermín who would provide a true big league 8-pitch at-bat eventually pulling an 82 mph knuckle-curve into the left field corner scoring both Herrera and Burleson giving the Cardinals a temporary 2-1 lead.
Liberatore would run into trouble in the top of the 3rd inning, too. With one out, McCarthy would reach first on an infield single. Matthew then hit Karros with a pitch giving Colorado runners on first and second. Both those runners would steal off of of Herrera before Carrigg would double to center scoring both runners and giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead. They would add more more when Goodman singled to right making it 4-2 Colorado.
The Cardinals would miss a great chance to either tie or take the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning when they would load the bases on a Fermín walk, a Blaze Jordan single and a hit-by-pitch from newcomer Everson Pereira. With two outs, JJ Wetherholt would hit a laser shot with the bases loaded that unfortunately was directed right at Rockies centerfielder Cole Carrigg to end the threat.

#cardinals #matthew #first #Colorado

Darren Till and Yoel Romero had to be forced apart by security their face-off ran beyond three tense minutes as the ex-UFC pair set the tone for their dream match in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).
Liverpudlian Till, 33, is making his second outing for the Conor McGregor-owned bare-knuckle promotion after securing a knockout win of Aaron Chalmers, once of Geordie Shore fame, in his debut in May.
The former UFC **** le contender now clashes with someone he once shared the middleweight rankings with in Romero, who at 49 continues to prove his reputation as a physical specimen.
After trading barbs in their press conference in Manchester, the fighters took to the stage to close out the show with a customary face-off - and while there were no fireworks in the sense of a physical clash, it **** ed attention for a completely different reason.
Romero slowly lifted his head and locked eyes with Till, with their stare not broken for a total of three minutes and 28 seconds.

#romero #face #once

Liverpool fighter Darren Till believes Conor McGregor should "listen to his body" after suffering catastrophic leg injuries in back-to-back UFC fights - but would still jump at the chance to fight the Irishman in his bare-knuckle promotion.
McGregor made his hotly-anticipated return to the Octagon in July after five years out of the cage, but his clash with Max Holloway ended in disaster in just 69 seconds when he endured what turned out to be an ACL tear, after throwing an audacious jumping roundhouse in the first moments of the fight.
The 38-year-old injured the same right leg he broke against Dustin Poirier in 2021, sparking many to speculate whether this latest setback would be the end of his career.
McGregor, however, has insisted he will make a comeback for the final fight in his UFC contract, setting his sights on next summer despite questions surrounding his physical state.
Conor McGregor wants to fight Max Holloway again in 2027 (Getty)

#irishman

The gloves are coming off once again for Aspen Ladd.
Ladd, a former UFC and PFL fighter, will give it a second go in bareknuckle boxing when she makes her BKB debut. The promotion on Tuesday announced that Ladd is set to meet Bianca Daimoni at BKB 58 on Aug. 29 from James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Ladd, 31, first tried her hand at bareknuckle in BKFC last November when she knocked out Shyanna Bintliff in the first round at BKFC 84.
Ladd's move to bareknuckle came 15 months after her most recent MMA fight in the PFL, a unanimous decision win over Ekaterina Shakalova at Bellator Champions Series 2 in May 2024.
Ladd spent five years in the UFC and competed seven times in the octagon, going 4-3 during her tenure.

#knight

Anthony Smith has been released from Sarpy County Jail in Nebraska.
The former UFC light heavyweight ****** le challenger, who later transitioned to the role of ****** yst for UFC broadcasts, was arrested last Monday night (July 27, 2026) on felony charges of Attempted First Degree Domestic ****** ault, Terroristic Threats, and First Degree False Imprisonment.
Smith appeared before the judge on Wednesday morning and released on $500,000 bond.
That's according to a report from MMA Fighting, though Smith's arrest affidavit remains sealed. All we know at this stage is that "Lionheart" is facing serious allegations and will return to court at some point in the near future. Neither Smith nor UFC have issued a statement at the time of this writing.
Smith, who turned 38 just a few days back, retired from UFC in early 2025 but returned to action for Jorge Masvidal's Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA in April, securing a submission victory over fellow UFC export Chase Sherman. If convicted, Smith (39-22) could be facing up to 20 years in prison.

#released

Former UFC light-heavyweight ***** le contender Anthony Smith has been arrested in Nebraska on three felony charges.
The American, 38, was booked into Sarpy County Jail on charges of terroristic threats, false imprisonment and first degree domestic violence ***** ault.
BBC Sport has been told Smith is in custody and will be called in front of a judge no later than Friday.
Smith last fought in the UFC in April when he lost to Zhang Mingyang, although he competed later that month in Gamebred Bareknuckle.
In 2019 Smith lost against Jon Jones for the UFC light-heavyweight ***** le.

#heavyweight #title #anthony #Nebraska

If you've been to one of those sports bars with 25 screens, you've seen what happens when a fight breaks out in the middle of a hockey game. People pause a second to watch it play out, the way they do when strolling past somebody on a slot machine in Vegas who's hit an unexpected bonus.
There's no guarantee that a fight will break out in a hockey game, of course, but it always feels a little lucky when one does.
This is what the Bare Knuckle Ice Wars, which officially debuted in 2022, built its premise on. To do away with the hockey and focus just on the fights. Some people go in for the toe drags and odd man rushes and game-altering shorthanded chances, but the only goal here is to do away with the puck. To give people just the fights they crave, the game within the game, without the distraction of a game.
To some this might seem like just extracting the cream filling from a Hostess Twinkie. But you know who understands a good on-ice fight, which has been a bonus attraction to the professional hockey ranks for more than 100 years?
ESPN, that's who.

#you 've #away #fights

Mike Perry and Dillon Danis are venturing into new waters.
The two well-known combat sports names have agree to meet in an MMA bout on Aug. 29 at the Kia Center in Orlando, headlining the debut combat event from online crypto casino and sportsbook DuelBet. The show will be held under the "Duel: Arena" promotional banner, organized by veteran MMA matchmaker Dean Toole, featuring a hybrid card composed of MMA, kickboxing and boxing bouts.
The card, including Perry vs. Danis, will take place in a ring rather than a cage, per MMA Fighting. Toole told the outlet that the Aug. 29 lineup will additionally include "some influencer bouts as well, and a few [other] UFC vets" to be announced soon.
Perry (15-8 MMA) made his successful return to MMA in May with a second-round stoppage of Nate Diaz on MVP MMA's Rousey vs. Carano event on Netflix.
Prior to that, "Platinum" hadn't competed in MMA since exiting the UFC in 2021. Over that five-year gap, Perry emerged as the face of bare-knuckle boxing, rattling off a perfect 6-0 record in BKFC buoyed by brutal wins over a cascade of UFC veterans, including former champions Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez, and current contender Michael Page.

#danis #toole #well #including

Image: Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration
We at Sherdog provide regular, in-depth preview coverage for allmajor events, including our oft-praised preview column along withour "Sheehan Show" handling all sorts of related matters includingbetting. With those official sources for picks handled, we wouldlike to take the edge off here and get a bit lighter with ourbreakdowns.

The industry of sports betting is exploding before our very eyes,with billions of dollars pumping in since legalization stateside.Oftentimes, those driving the lines are right on the money withtheir openings, valuations and ****** yses. Occasionally they are wayoff, or otherwise merit some additional conversation. That is wherewe come in with this reinvigorated series of Prime Picks, where,stealing a line from game show host Sam Reich, we hold hands andjump into the abyss together for Saturday morning's Ultimate Fighting Championship's jaunt toAbu Dhabi. Try it out.
MagomedAnkalaev (-575)
MagomedZaynukov (-290)
MagomedTuchalov (-900)

We admit, we're getting away with a technicality here by notincluding MuhammadSaid in our same-name parlay. After all, Magomed is the Russiantransliteration of Muhammad. Also, good luck trying to search thename "Muhammad Said" without any additional qualifiers and stillgarner any information about the fighter of that namesake. All ofthese Magomeds are rightful favorites, and in the case of two ofthe more expected victors of Tuchalov and Ankalaev, moneyline betsare just not worth it.

Therefore, we pair these three gents together, all of whom haveclear paths to victory against foes who have displayed exploitableweaknesses. Some are giving BogdanGuskov a proverbial "puncher's chance" to win this fight,although he might have some surprise jiu-jitsu in his back pocket.Nevertheless, unless Ankalaev chooses to take things horizontal—heis not nearly as keen on doing this despite his reputation, onlydoing so in his first triumphant meeting against AlexPereira. Against "Poatan," he did attempt a clean dozen shots.While he did not land a single one, the mere threat of the takedownallowed him to get in on the stoic striker and do some work. A fewfaked shots against "Hitman," whose takedown defense has alreadycome into question despite his recent successes, would payimmediate dividends.

We get to the meat of the order. More specifically, the pork. JohnPork. "Wild Chanco" Zaynukov, who actually had his nickname onFight Finder as "John Pork" until specifically reaching out torequest that it be taken down. RobertWhittaker didn't have the same problem when Ben Fowlkes andChad Dundas first crowned him "Bobby Knuckles" in the always-great"Co-Main Event Podcast" and it stuck. Even though DamianRzepecki will hold a slight bit more experience and morestoppages on his ledger, he and Zaynukov stand at differentterraces in their respective careers.

To get signed through the promotion, the Dagestan native in thepipeline of the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov School

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 17: Intercontinental Champion John Cena during Monday Night RAW at Madison Square Garden on November 17, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
Unreal is such a perfect name for the show.
WWE Unreal Season 3 is the latest pro wrestling curtain jerk highlighting the real lives, trials, make-up routines (so much make-up), injuries and wardrobe changes of today's World Wrestling Entertainment superstars.
Brief disclaimer: I'm a mark, a very happy mark. I was raised on Mid-South wrestling and the UWF. I have been to the Von Erich (Adkisson) gravesites. I have worn the face paint of my favorite wrestler. My college roommate can recite the history of the Brass Knuckles championships (yes, it was a real ******* le). I enjoyed it then. I enjoy it now. I will continue to enjoy it in the future.
While Unreal proclaims to break kayfabe – the old-fashioned term where we pretend like it's all real – in reality, WWE Unreal shows fans what WWE wants to be real.

#york #real #november #champion

In the 1980s, Coca-Cola infamously introduced a reformulated version of their signature soda that ended up going by the name New **** e. It didn’t go over very well: sales slumped, chastened executives were forced to reintroduce the classic **** e, and conspiracy theories about the revamped recipe being a scheme to juice sales of the rescued original recipe spread. Tonight, Aaron Nola pitched in front of a Coca-Cola logo drawn into the mound dirt. Like that vaunted soft drink, Nola has two recipes: Nola Classic, a highly effective, if not quite ace-level, pitcher, and New Nola, the struggling hurler whose long-ball nemesis often gets the better of him. Will Coca-Nola Classic ever make a permanent return to the beverage aisle? We hope so. But tonight, we got the not-so-sweet taste of New Nola, as the Dodgers took the series.
Nola got the night started off right with a one-pitch out of Shohei Ohtani. Alec Bohm got it started off even more right with a two-run shot to left in the bottom first. In the second, Nola struck out Max Muncy on a classic knuckle curve, then put out the next two Angelenos down on fly **** . It was smooth sailing at first for the Louisianan hurler. And it continued that way through the first two outs of the third. Then, unfortunately, came the familiar refrain, the song of the summer that you wish the radio would stop playing: a homer, this one courtesy of Dalton Rushing, to narrow the lead to one.
He encountered more trouble in the fourth. Freddie Freeman doubled, then did the little dance, both arms up and waving buoyantly, that the Dodgers apparently do after hits. It is said that this dance actually traces its origins back to the Brooklyn days, when the early Dodgers used it to hone the reflexes that were necessary for the dodging of trolleys; it is still extant despite the loss of its purpose, rather like the appendix. Max Muncy singled to put two runners on, but Nola was able to wrap the inning up without further damage.
The same could not be said of the fifth. Nola allowed singles to Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman, then a two-bagger to Rushing to score two and give the visitors the lead. Ohtani was given an intentional walk. The move paid off, as Ohtani became part of a twin killing that ended the frame. But the damage was done, and the lead was lost.
Not for long. Bryan De La Cruz sent a fastball flying towards the greenery of the batter’s eye as the first batter in the Phillie fifth. Andy Pages stretched out his arm, and for a moment it looked as if he’d come down with it. Like a bank robber foiled by the dye packs in a sack of cash, his would-be burglary was foiled at the last second, with the ball glancing off his leather and landing safely over the fence to tie the game. Bryson Stott doubled, but was put out on a baserunning blunder; dredging up some bad memories from the not-so-distant past.

#classic

UFC is no longer in the Michel Pereira business.
The Brazilian was competing on a one-fight contract for his Shara Magomedov fight last month in Baku, losing a close decision to “Bullet” after three rounds of foul-laden action. The 32-year-old Brazilian has now dropped four of his last five and stands at 32-15 in his pro career.
MMA Fighting brought word of the roster change on Tuesday.
Pereira started off at welterweight but routinely struggled to maintain his weight, forcing an eventual move up to 185 pounds. “Demolidor” is one of few UFC athletes who can say they were ranked in two different weight classes but ultimately, Pereira was unable to capitalize on his position.
Pereira has seven post-fight performance bonuses in his career with three “Fight of the Night” honors. No telling where “Demolidor” will end up. PFL remains a viable alternative to UFC and the blossoming bare knuckle scene also remains an option.

LAS VEGAS – Conor McGregor is back and so are the big paydays.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returns to rematch Max Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 329 welterweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
McGregor coined his infamous phrase "Red panty night," and Holloway admitted his pay for this fight is "beautiful."
"I'll always campaign for the fighters getting their worth, and I'm very happy with it," McGregor said during Wednesday's UFC 329 pre-fight news conference. "It's a steady rise. If you ask Max, I'm sure it's probably five times his highest pay. So the boys and the girls are getting there, and I will always campaign for that, and I'll always be happy that I have helped spearhead that.
"As an owner of Bareknuckle Fighting Championship, it kind of puts me in a pickle. I always vouch for the fighters, but I also have a stake in the company. So there has to be some sort of balance. But still, I am a fighter at heart, I know what it takes in this business, and I know without the fighters, there is none of this – not an iota of it. So I'm happy that the money is rising in the fight business, and that we're thriving, and I'm happy to be back, and give it that extra little fuel to its rocket, and off it goes."

So, it turns out the Cubs are no slouches after all. And though it’s their offense that’s supposed to be a team strength, today the Most Cub-Like Player had to have been the starter, Matthew Boyd. The lefty hounded the Orioles all night, the way you thought a crafty lefty might. Through six innings, Baltimore had no runs and just three hits—a single apiece by Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso—off the 2025 All-Star, who was mixing up speeds and locations. That’s no way to win a ballgame.
You can’t be too mad at a Shane Baz quality start (six innings, three runs) against MLB’s second-best offense. But his team gave him no help at all.
Rain delayed first pitch by an hour, so we kicked off bravely at the pretty regular hour of 7:30 ET. It didn’t appear to faze the Orioles starter, Baz, who confronted the Cubs with confidence, attacking the zone.
For two innings it kinda worked! Baz had a strong first inning, striking out the mighty Pete Crow-Armstrong with high heat before retiring Alex Bregman and Michael Busch on two quick flyouts. In the second, he allowed lots of noisy contact, including to outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who skied a ball deep to center, 383 feet away, 106 mph off the bat.
Despite keeping things scoreless, so many hard hits augured poorly for Baz in the third. Considering, it could have gone worse. With two outs, Miguel Amaya walked and Crow-Armstrong singled to center before Alex Bregman got a hanging Baz knuckle curve and singled home the Cubs’ first run. A concerned O’s pitching staff checked on Baz, but the damage wouldn’t go any further. It took a popout with the bases loaded to get Baz out of trouble, though.

Las Cruces native Austin Trout aimed for his second Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship ******* le on Friday, July 3, but things didn't go his way.
Trout was knocked out by British fighter Ben Bonner 30 seconds into the second round of their contest for the vacant BKFC Lightweight Championship at BKFC Liberty Brawl in Philadelphia. The result has been considered an upset, as Trout was the favorite to win the vacant ******* le heading into the event.
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Bonner scored a knockdown against Trout in the first round with an overhand right. While Trout had previously been knocked down in his bare-knuckle boxing career, rallying to defeat Carlos Trinidad-Snake in April 2025 to defend the BKFC Welterweight Championship, he was unable to recover this time. Bonner used the same right-handed punch to finish the fight in the following round.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mitchell Robinson says the hand injury that left his status uncertain for the New York Knicks' NBA Finals opener came after he punched a truck amid concern over his younger brother's health.
Robinson, who last week agreed to leave the Knicks and sign with the Boston Celtics, wrote a Facebook post Sunday that addressed the injury and other mental health concerns he had during the season.
His injury emerged after the Knicks eliminated Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals and was strange because coach Mike Brown said it didn't happen on the court. It was originally called a broken bone in his hand.
But Robinson clarified Sunday that it was an injury to his knuckle after he returned from the Knicks' victory in Game 4 and learned one of his brothers had been hurt in a serious car crash.
"Upon returning to New York, I received an unexpected phone call, and my family members contacted me, informing me that my youngest brother had been involved in a car accident," Robinson wrote.

Former New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson's status at the start of the NBA Finals was in question due to a hand issue.
He was able to play through it but released a statement Sunday adding context to the injury. The center clarified the hand injury was actually pertaining to his knuckles.
Former Knicks center Mitchell Robinson addressed the hand injury that put his status for the start of the NBA Finals in doubt, saying he was hurt after reacting to a family member being in a car crash.

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Robinson stated via social media the injury stemmed from a personal issue. He talked about how he was returning from the Eastern Conference finals and had heard that his brother was in a car accident.
"I received an unexpected phone call, and my family members contacted me, informing me that my youngest brother had been involved in a car accident. I did not see the messages until I arrived home late that night.

Austin Trout wanted to celebrate the Fourth of July in style, but he ended up on the wrong side of the fireworks.
On Friday night, Trout faced off with Ben Bonner in the main event of BKFC Liberty Brawl at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Since moving to bare-knuckle in 2023, the former WBA boxing champion had put together a strong run in BKFC, stacking up five wins in a row, including winning the BKFC welterweight championship. But that run came to an end against Bonner, who brutally knocked him out in the second round.
Trout cut quite the scene walking to the BKFC ring, coming out in homage to Apollo Creed in Rocky IV, wearing the star-spangled outfit and trunks, with an accompanying musical act performing James Brown's version of Living in America.
Unfortunately for Trout, it appears he never actually watched Rocky IV, because while he didn't mean the same tragic end as Creed does in the film, Bonner did get the better of Trout for the fight, ultimately flooring him with a thudding right hand in the second round, finishing the fight.
It was a tough scene for the 40-year-old Trout, but a huge win for Bonner, who also claimed the BKFC lightweight **** le.