UFC
White touts new ranking
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White told TNT Sports that he has spoken with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg about possibly using artificial intelligence to improve the organization’s maligned ranking system. “I’m totally going to fix the rankings,” White told the network on Thursday. “We’re going to make a lot of strong moves here coming into 2025.” This is not the first time White has complained about the ranking system, which has been in place since 2013. It relies on a combination of rankings from a variety of outlets that cover the UFC.
CRICKET
Pakistan seal England win
Pakistan sealed a memorable Test series win as they thrashed England by nine wickets yesterday after Noman Ali and Sajid Khan delivered a spin masterclass. Noman and Sajid knocked over all 10 England wickets to dismiss the visitors for 112 before Pakistan raced to victory in Rawalpindi before lunch on day three of the third Test. Shan Masood hammered five boundaries in six balls, launching Shoaib Bashir over the ropes to complete a resounding victory, his first series triumph as captain. Noman finished with figures of 6-42 and Sajid 4-69 after England resumed the day on 24-3, but were dismissed in 37.2 overs for their lowest total in Pakistan. England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs while Pakistan took the second by 152 runs, both in Multan.
RUGBY
‘Hybrid contracts’ revealed
The English Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced the 17 players who have been awarded enhanced Elite Player Squad contracts, which would provide a guaranteed annual payment in place of game-by-game match fees. The introduction of the contracts, discussed for almost a year and which form part of the newly created Men’s Professional Game Partnership announced last month, allows coach Steve Borthwick to have the final say on all sports science and medical matters relating to the players. The coach is able to contract 25 players, but said last month he did not expect to use up his full allocation initially. The RFU did not release any financial or length details of what was originally described as “hybrid contracts,” as players would continue to also be paid by their clubs. Media reports have suggested they are worth about ￡160,000 (US$207,376).
Skiing
Shiffrin dominates first run
Mikaela Shiffrin wasted no time in stamping her authority on the new World Cup ski season as she dominated the first run of the giant slalom event in Soelden on Saturday. The American, wearing the number one bib, timed 1 minute, 05.82 seconds, to finish 0.22 seconds ahead of Alice Robinson of New Zealand. Shiffrin had to sit out the end of the 2023-2024 season after damaging ligaments in a crash in January on the Cortina d’Ampezzo downhill course. She said this week she would not race any World Cup downhills this season, focusing on more technical events as she aims to become the first racer to win 100 victories on the circuit — she currently has 97.
When Kim Ye-ji first tried shooting at age 12 she could not lift the gun. Now, she is the world’s most Internet-famous Olympic shooter, thanks to her steel nerves — and Elon Musk. Kim, 32, won silver in the women’s 10m air pistol at the Paris Olympics this summer and captured the Internet’s attention with her nonchalant cool. However, she said she fell into her sport by accident. When her middle-school teacher asked for volunteers to try shooting, Kim did not raise her hand, but was selected anyway. Despite being too small to hoist the pistol, she was hooked. “I thought it looked
Although Shohei Ohtani’s first trip to the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series is a global sports event, it is particularly big in Japan. Fans from Ohtani’s home nation bought more World Series tickets for the first two games than from anywhere outside North America, ticket broker StubHub said. Dodger Stadium was packed to the rafters on Friday night for the start of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ showdown with the New York Yankees. “Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers drew big international appeal, especially from his home country of Japan,” StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said. “At the beginning of the season, buyers from
LISBON UPSET: Feyenoord’s coach said that his players might not have realized what they had achieved in winning away against Portuguese giants SL Benfica MANCHESTER, England, and LISBON Erling Haaland on Wednesday scored an outrageous backheel volley in the UEFA Champions League to issue a timely reminder of his own credentials as a potential Ballon d’Or winner. A day after Vinicius Junior hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid, Haaland scored an early contender for goal of the season with his acrobatic effort in Manchester City’s 5-0 win against Sparta Prague. Vinicius Junior is the favorite to win soccer’s most prestigious individual prize, which is to be presented at a gala ceremony in Paris on Monday, but Haaland, who was runner-up to Lionel Messi for last year’s award,
STAR IN DOUBT: After partially dislocating his shoulder in a feetfirst slide into second base, the status of Japanese slugger Ohtani is uncertain for Game 3 as he undergoes tests Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series. Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6-1/3 innings and Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night as Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 for a 2-0 Series lead. However, the Dodgers head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base. “We’re going to get
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