List of All Articles with Tag 'pg'

Renowned mixed martial arts coach Javier Mendez has predicted that Mark Zuckerberg would beat Elon Musk in the pair’s proposed cage fight, saying the Facebook CEO is ‘more of a dog’ than his counterpart. Zuckerberg and fellow tech billionaire Musk, who is the owner of Twitter and CEO of Tesla, have agreed to fight one another, and Mendez has made a confident pick for the prospective bout. Mendez coached former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and currently trains lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, and the American told Grosvernor Sport: “The big advantage Zuckerberg has over Elon is that he’s actively training and he’s more of a dog right now, because he entered a jiu-jitsu tournament, so that tells me a lot about him. “From the little bit I’ve seen of Zuckerberg, he likes to engage and go at it. He’s very competitive. If I'm not mistaken, he did very well in a legitimate jiu-jitsu tournament, so he might have the dog in him because he was not afraid to expose himself. “All things considered, Zuckerberg is way ahead of Musk, but you won’t really know until you see what Musk possesses. If Elon has no martial arts training whatsoever, he’s really behind. What he’d have to do is get in there and start slinging punches right away. Since Elon is bigger, does he have the power to go with the size? Does he have the speed to go with the size?” Mendez, 52, also advised Musk to focus on preventing takedowns, given Zuckerberg’s grappling experience. “My number-one priority for Musk would be to see how hard he could hit and how easy it would be for him to keep the fight standing up,” Mendez said. “Because Zuckerberg is so ahead of him with the jiu-jitsu, I would want Musk to think about ways to prevent takedowns. But you can't avoid a takedown just by trying to avoid it; you have to avoid it by striking. “Elon would need to learn how to strike and keep his distance, but he has to strike – otherwise it’s a matter of time before Mark would get him down. So, he has to learn defensive, distance striking, because he doesn’t want to go to the ground with Mark. That’s the first thing I’d want to see. “You’ve also got to put him in bad positions on the ground. You can’t just practise stand-up, because if you just do stand-up, you're being an idiot. You might trip, and then you are on the ground; he needs to be prepared for the ground. I’d prepare him for everywhere, but the main objective would be to learn to strike. He is bigger, so he could utilise his size.” UFC president Dana White has insisted that Zuckerberg, 39, and Musk, 52, are ‘dead serious’ about a fight. Musk also seems to have agreed to train under UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, who offered to coach the Twitter and Tesla boss. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Elon Musk picks UFC legend to train him for Mark Zuckerberg fight Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s battle of the billionaires is an ego trip worth taking Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg ‘dead serious’ about cage fight, says UFC boss Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg ‘dead serious’ about cage fight, says UFC boss Strickland vs Magomedov and full UFC Fight Night card this weekend What time does Strickland vs Magomedov start in UK and US this weekend?

An age-old argument, without any definitive answer: when do you let your best player go if the rest of the team needs serious improvement? Is it at the point of emotional guilt-tripping, or when the finances make most sense? Is it when the individual starts creating negativity around the dressing room? Or is it in fact not at all – you keep the top performers and that’s the end of it? Daniel Levy, chairperson at Spurs, has been placed in this position before, but perhaps not when Tottenham have been in such a period of weakness and at such a moment of crossroads. When Luka Modric departed in 2012, Spurs had finished fourth and reached the FA Cup semi-final. A year later when Gareth Bale made his exit, Spurs finished one place further back in the Premier League but actually earned three points more than the campaign previous. The rebuild money across those two summers was perhaps spent in mixed fashion, but it was at a time Tottenham were trying to crack into the top clubs on a regular basis. This time, it’s Harry Kane who looks set for a departure, with Bayern Munich offering up an initial bid – big money, but perhaps not quite big enough just yet – for the striker who has only one year remaining on his contract. Kane has been better, more important, more consistent and longer-serving for Tottenham than either of the two aforementioned stars, or indeed any others they’ve had of late. Yet the club also finished eighth last season, their worst league placing in 14 years, and it’s time for both Kane to move on and Spurs to move on without him. It is not for any reason so crass or emotive or frankly ludicrous as “they owe him”. Spurs do not owe Kane anything. He has been excellent for them, and they have given him the platform to be so. But he clearly has kept his level when the club has lost its own, starting at the most uppermost points of the hierarchy downwards. Kane should be seeking a move for his own prospects, for his own ability to win trophies and his own capacity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the greatest centre-forwards of this generation. At Bayern in particular, he’ll very much have the opportunity to do that. Of course, the flip side of the player-based argument is twofold: winning silverware at Spurs might mean more, and so too might claiming the Premier League goalscoring record. Only Kane himself can answer those two factors truthfully, but even if he were to head to the Bundesliga to rack up three or four titles now, there’s very little to suggest his playmaking and goalscoring prowess would have deserted him by the time he turns 33 or 34. A comeback to Spurs once they’ve rebuilt and he’s filled his boots elsewhere? Don’t rule it out. A move abroad is also a risk of its own kind, between adaptation to culture and club, especially in a Euros season. But Gareth Southgate isn’t likely to be leaving out his captain any time soon even if form does desert him – let alone the question of whether there’s even an alternative candidate. And so the decision heads once more to Levy, in charge yet again of overseeing transfers after Fabio Paratici’s enforced exit, and tasked with coming up with a price he finds acceptable for a player the fans value above all others, yet will otherwise surely lose for free in a year. To be blunt, Spurs cannot afford the kind of bluster and brinkmanship Levy has shown before with a far stronger hand. The team needs investment. The team might need outright reshaping, given Ange Postecoglou is almost as far removed from Antonio Conte tactically as he is by way of club interim appointments. Without any kind of European football this coming campaign, Spurs have the chance to make the most of the Australian’s excellent coaching capacity on the training pitch with the additional time between matches the schedule will afford him, so to maximise a season on the fringes they should also be seeking to build the group of players which will benefit him most. While Kane the player is irreplaceable, Spurs can provide Postecoglou with a group to more than make up for what they lose through his sale, if the proceeds are reinvested well and existing players nurtured. Richarlison is the most obvious example, especially as the potential replacement No 9, but Dejan Kulusevski has so much more to give too. Spurs don’t need to gut the building entirely, but they certainly need a better structure than they had last season. Selling Kane is a hard choice, but the right one for the club to move into a new phase of more normalised expectations with long-term prospects for improvement – and the right one for the striker to prove himself on a whole new level, too. Read More Man City ‘to submit improved offer’ for Declan Rice after Arsenal bid Tottenham standing firm on Harry Kane amid interest from Bayern Munich Football rumours: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain weighs up Saudi Arabia move Osimhen and five Man United transfer alternatives to signing Kane Football rumours: Manchester United make last-gasp attempt to sign Harry Kane Range of armband options for Women’s World Cup as FIFA aims to avoid repeat row

Conor McGregor has reiterated his criticism of the bout structure on The Ultimate Fighter, after his team fell to a 0-5 skid against Michael Chandler’s team. McGregor’s fighters have lost every contest in the first five episodes of the new season of the UFC television show. In this week’s episode, Carlos Vera suffered a decision defeat by Brad Katona – a long-time training partner of McGregor. Katona won both rounds on the judges’ scorecards, with former UFC champion McGregor bemoaning the lack of a third round in The Ultimate Fighter’s bouts. “Tell them ‘three rounds’, yeah?” McGregor said after Vera’s loss to Katona, appearing to aim the comment at UFC president Dana White. “The fight’s not over, they’re unfinished fights,” the Irishman added in a backstage interview. “If they got unfinished fights, give them a third round. The guys are fighting for their life here. In those situations where they’re closely contested, back and forth, there should be a third round. “I mean, this guy [Katona] is in there, [saying]: ‘Yeah!’ What was done there? Nothing. I’m surprised that those two [fighters] were called at the second round to be honest.” McGregor, 34, also told Vera in the team’s locker room: “Unfinished fight, that’s it. They’re unfinished fights, man. Let them go another round. They’re three-rounders [that] we need. F*** two rounds. “That was great, that was great. That body kick was money, man – beautiful shot. He’s a solid fighter, I know; he’s trained with us a long time. So, keeping going, Carlos. Great work, my man. Proud of you, bud.” Vera, meanwhile, said in an interview on this week’s episode: “I hate to lose. It is what it is, and there’s a lot of things I have to work on, but I fought my fight. I have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be sad about. So, onto the next one.” McGregor and American Chandler are supposed to fight one another at the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter’s run this summer, but McGregor is still not in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s testing pool. Fighters must be in the pool for six months and return at least two negative tests – and zero positives – in order to compete in the UFC, unless an exemption is granted. As such, McGregor vs Chandler is unlikely to take place in 2023. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More How to watch The Ultimate Fighter 31 in the UK Conor McGregor denies allegation he sexually assaulted a woman at NBA Finals McGregor Forever: The problem with the new Conor McGregor documentary UFC schedule 2023: Every fight happening this year Football pays tribute to Craig Brown – Monday’s sporting social Conor McGregor complains as his team lose yet again on The Ultimate Fighter

England defender Alex Greenwood appeared to suffer an injury scare during a training session ahead of the Women’s World Cup. The Manchester City star limped off the pitch after a challenge from Georgia Stanway, according to Sky Sports. Footage from the training session shows Greenwood on the floor surrounded by her international teammates, before receiving some treatment on the bench. England’s first World Cup game is against Haiti on 22 July. Sarina Wiegman has already lost a number of stars to injuries, with Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson and Beth Mead all ruled out of the tournament.

It's certainly not the strongest field on the schedule, but this week's PGA Tour event, the Rocket Mortgage Classic, promises to be an exciting one.The event has only been in existence for four years, so we have limited data based on what to make our predictions on. Regardless, I'...

Rose Zhang finished eighth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which barely describes the exhilaration her play produced in her major debut.Rose Zhang has certainly been generating a lot of buzz lately. Having caused a sensation as a multiple-winning world No. 1 amateur, the 20-year-old ...

Manchester United supporters staged fresh protests against the Glazers at Old Trafford on Tuesday 27 June, as the club launched their kit for next season. A group of fans were seen blocking the entrance to the megastore, holding signs that read “Glazers Out” and “Don’t feed the greed”. “We want Glazers out, say we want Glazers out,” they could be heard chanting. United have projected record annual revenue of up to £640 million in the current financial year as the takeover saga surrounding the club rumbles on. The Glazer family are weighing up offers for the club from Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Read More Andy Murray addresses retirement rumours ahead of his 15th Wimbledon Brendan Rodgers regrets ‘hurt’ he caused Celtic fans when he left for Leicester Ashes 2023: Ben Stokes ‘devastated’ as England fall behind after thrilling first Test

Savannah Marshall will bid to reclaim her status as a world champion this weekend, as the former middleweight title holder moves up a division to challenge Franchon Crews-Dezurn for her undisputed belts. Marshall was unbeaten until she suffered a decision loss to Claressa Shields last year, a result that saw the Briton lose her WBO middleweight title as Shields became undisputed in the division. Now, the Hartlepool fighter takes on another American in Crews-Dezurn, who will put all four of her super-middleweight belts on the line against Marshall in Manchester. The event marks another big night in women’s boxing, with Natasha Jonas also in action and seeking to become a two-weight world champion. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? The fight will take place on Saturday 1 July at the AO Arena in Manchester. The main card is scheduled to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at approximately 10pm BST (2pm PT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on Sky Sports and on the broadcaster’s website and Sky Go app. In the US, ESPN+ will air the fights live. Odds Marshall – 1/4 Crews-Dezurn – 16/5 Draw – 14/1 Full odds via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Franchon Crews-Dezurn (C) vs Savannah Marshall (WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF women’s super-middleweight titles) Natasha Jonas vs Kandi Wyatt (vacant IBF women’s welterweight title) Zak Chelli vs Mark Jeffers (super-middleweight) Ben Whittaker vs Vladimir Belujsky (light-heavyweight) Callum Simpson vs Boris Crighton (super-middleweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Dillian Whyte reveals why Anthony Joshua rematch is being delayed Carl Froch criticises Tyson Fury legacy — and outlines what he needs to become ‘the best of a generation’ The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings How to watch Marshall vs Crews-Dezurn online and on TV this weekend Natasha Jonas to face Kandi Wyatt in bid to become two-weight world champion The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings

Savannah Marshall will bid to reclaim her status as a world champion this weekend, as the former middleweight title holder moves up a division to challenge Franchon Crews-Dezurn for her undisputed belts. Marshall was unbeaten until she suffered a decision loss to Claressa Shields last year, a result that saw the Briton lose her WBO middleweight title as Shields became undisputed in the division. Now, the Hartlepool fighter takes on another American in Crews-Dezurn, who will put all four of her super-middleweight belts on the line against Marshall in Manchester. The event marks another big night in women’s boxing, with Natasha Jonas also in action and seeking to become a two-weight world champion. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? The fight will take place on Saturday 1 July at the AO Arena in Manchester. The main card is scheduled to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at approximately 10pm BST (2pm PT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on Sky Sports and on the broadcaster’s website and Sky Go app. In the US, ESPN+ will air the fights live. Odds Marshall – 1/4 Crews-Dezurn – 16/5 Draw – 14/1 Full odds via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Franchon Crews-Dezurn (C) vs Savannah Marshall (WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF women’s super-middleweight titles) Natasha Jonas vs Kandi Wyatt (vacant IBF women’s welterweight title) Zak Chelli vs Mark Jeffers (super-middleweight) Ben Whittaker vs Vladimir Belujsky (light-heavyweight) Callum Simpson vs Boris Crighton (super-middleweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Dillian Whyte reveals why Anthony Joshua rematch is being delayed Carl Froch criticises Tyson Fury legacy — and outlines what he needs to become ‘the best of a generation’ The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings What time does Marshall vs Crews-Dezurn start in UK and US this weekend? Natasha Jonas to face Kandi Wyatt in bid to become two-weight world champion The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings

Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov will square off in a meeting of middleweight contenders this weekend, as the pair clash in a UFC Fight Night main event. American Strickland, 32, is looking to make it back-to-back wins, having beaten Nassourdine Imavov on points in January, following two straight losses last year. Meanwhile, Russian Magomedov, also 32, enters Las Vegas on the back of a three-fight win streak, with all of those wins having come via stoppage. Strickland sits at No 7 in the middleweight rankings as he bids to re-enter the title picture, and he is risking his place in the top 10 here as he faces an unranked opponent in Magomedov. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? The event will take place on Saturday 1 July, at the UFC Apex institute in Las Vegas. The prelims are set to begin at 9pm BST (1pm PT, 3pm CT, 4pm ET). The main card is then due to follow at 12am BST on Sunday 2 July (4pm PT, 6pm CT, 7pm ET on Saturday). How can I watch it? The card will air live on BT Sport in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass. Full card (subject to change) Main card Sean Strickland vs Abus Magomedov (middleweight) Damir Ismagulov vs Grant Dawson (lightweight) Max Griffin vs Michael Morales (welterweight) Ariane Lipski vs Melissa Gatto (women’s flyweight) Ismael Bonfim vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight) Brunno Ferreira vs Nursulton Ruziboev (middleweight) Prelims Kevin Lee vs Rinat Fakhretdinov (welterweight) Joanderson Brito vs Westin Wilson (featherweight) Yana Santos vs Karol Rosa (women’s bantamweight) Guram Kutateladze vs Elves Brener (lightweight) Ivana Petrovic vs Luana Carolina (women’s flyweight) Alexandr Romanov vs Blagoy Ivanov (heavyweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year Ilia Topuria makes bold Alexander Volkanovski claim after dominating Josh Emmett Elon Musk picks UFC legend to train him for Mark Zuckerberg fight What time does Strickland vs Magomedov start in UK and US this weekend? How to watch Strickland vs Magomedov online and on TV this weekend When is the next UFC event?

Ilia Topuria has claimed he can beat Alexander Volkanovski ‘wherever we go’, as he eyes a shot at the UFC featherweight champion. Topuria dominated Josh Emmett in a Fight Night main event on Saturday, outpointing the American veteran before expressing his desire to fight for the title next. And the German-born Georgian, who fights out of Spain, reiterated that demand on Monday, while speaking on The MMA Hour. When asked if he would accept a fight with Volkanovski on the Australian’s home turf, the 26-year-old said: “No f****** problem. If I think I’m the best in the world, I can beat him in Australia, in Las Vegas, in Miami, in Spain – wherever we go, I beat him. Location is no problem. “Right now, I’m really focused on getting that championship belt. I want to get that title fight, which I know that I deserve. But if they come out with some offer to go to Spain and make a fight in Spain with [former champion] Max Holloway maybe... because if they told me to go to Spain to fight someone unknown, I’m not going to [accept] that fight, because I want to go for that belt. “But if they come out and they told me, ‘We want to take the UFC to Spain and you’re going to fight with Max Holloway,’ I will say, ‘Hell yes, let’s go, let’s do it.’ I want to fight in front of my people.” Volkanovski is due to defend his title against interim champion Yair Rodriguez in July, with the winner of that fight potentially next for Topuria, although Holloway stayed in the mix at featherweight by outpointing Arnold Allen in April. The Hawaiian also has a fight scheduled – a clash with the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in September. “Like I said, one of the best skills I have is patience,” Topuria added. “I can wait. I’m young, I’m 26 years old, I enjoy life. I’m happy with everything I have, so I can wait. I didn’t rush for anything. No problem. “It doesn’t matter for me. I have the goal, which is to become the world champion, and if I have to wait, I’ll wait my whole life. Why am I not going to wait like six more months or something like that? I’m going to wait.” Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Ilia Topuria: UFC’s rising star has a question for you UFC fan favourite Max Holloway to return with ‘Korean Zombie’ fight in Singapore Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg ‘dead serious’ about cage fight, says UFC boss

Dillian Whyte has claimed that a rematch clause is holding up a potential summer clash with Anthony Joshua, as talks between the Britons’ teams continue. Eddie Hearn, who promotes both heavyweights, suggested last week that the planned 12 August bout would not go ahead, citing Whyte’s financial demands as the reason for the fight collapsing. However, Whyte has hinted that negotiations are ongoing. The 35-year-old, who beat Joshua in the amateurs but was knocked out by “AJ” in a 2015 professional bout, told Talksport: “It’s like this, [Hearn] said, ‘We’re gonna send a simple contract,’ and then they sent a very complicated contract with a lot of hoops and a lot of hooks to hook me in. “I don’t want that, I just want a simple contract, simple fight, winner moves on and has a big fight in Saudi Arabia. This fight for me is about the opportunity, it’s not about the money; that’s why I’m taking the fight for the money they’ve offered me. “But now they’re trying to put a rematch clause in there that ties me up for a year and messes everything up. I’m not interested in that. I just want a straightforward fight, winner moves on, that’s it. “What I don’t like is: Eddie’s out there talking nonsense; ‘Oh, we’ve got two other guys waiting to go.’ Mate, no one cares, just shut up. No one cares about who you’ve got ready to go. “It’s a proper fight, let’s get the fight made, stop talking about all these back-up plans.” Joshua has been in talks over a December fight with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia, but Whyte’s comments suggest that the “Bodysnatcher” would want to take Joshua’s place in that contest if he were to overcome AJ. Whyte last fought in November, narrowly outpointing Jermaine Franklin, who was also beaten on points by Joshua in April. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Dillian Whyte responds to claims he ‘turned down’ Anthony Joshua fight Carl Froch criticises Tyson Fury legacy — and outlines what he needs to become ‘the best of a generation’ The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings