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Taking place at the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey, UFC 316 opens up the month of June with an entertaining fight card from top to bottom, including two championship contests featuring two of the top male and female competitors in the sport. Seeking to take back his throne in impressive fashion, former bantamweight apex Sean O’Malley will take on Merab Dvalishvili for a second time in the UFC 316 main event. Also, two-time women’s bantamweight gold standard Julianna Peña takes on previous Professional Fighters League (PFL) lightweight champion Kayla Harrison in the UFC 316 co-main event.
UFC 316 Main Event
Hot off the heels of a thrilling first title defense over the then undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, Dvalishvili is enjoying his reign as the top 135-lb fighter in the world. Presented with the opportunity to put to bed his biggest rivalry in the promotion in UFC 316, “The Machine” is amped up to log another successful retention of his strap and widen the gap between him and the other contenders.
Having not competed since dropping the strap to his Georgian nemesis last September, O’Malley has remained outside of the cage tending to some nagging injuries and working on his overall skillset ahead of UFC . Now appearing to be more rejuvenated than ever, “Suga” can make UFC history as the first man to score bantamweight gold twice, behind only divisional titan Dominick Cruz.
UFC 316 Co-Main Event
Coming off a championship-winning performance over fellow Ultimate Fighter alum Raquel Pennington at UFC 307, Peña is looking to kick off her second tenure as a company belt-holder with her first ever defense of her throne. Not wasting any time in competing after being out for over two years due to injuries, “The Venezuelan Vixen” has the chance to attain a monumental win over a fellow female star in the surging Harrison.
Although some fans and pundits were skeptical about just how far Harrison could go in the UFC, the twice PFL 155-lb queen has cemented her place in the promotion with two stellar victories over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira. Should she manage to rip the title away from opponent this weekend, the Olympian standout can solidify her position as arguably the greatest female combat sports athlete of all time.
Here’s how to watch UFC 316
Online Streaming: You can catch the entire card on ESPN+, but you will need to subscribe in order to do so. Right now, the company is offering a monthly or yearly subscription of $11.99 and $119.99 respectively. For those who want to get more bang out of their buck, there is also the monthly Disney Bundle Deal, which offers ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ for $16.99 with included commercials, or $26.99 for no commercials at all.
Start Time and Date: The Early Preliminaries will begin at 6:00pm ET, followed by the Preliminaries at 8:00pm ET, followed by the Main Card at 10:00pm ET on June 7th.
Bout Order For UFC 316
Main Card:
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley (Bantamweight Main Event)
Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison (Women’s Bantamweight Co-Main Event)
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer (Middleweight)
Mario Bautista vs. Patchy Mix (Bantamweight)
Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland (Welterweight)
Preliminaries:
Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Joshua Van (Flyweight Featured Bout)
Azamat Murzakanov vs. Brendson Ribeiro (Light Heavyweight)
Serghei Spivac vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (Heavyweight)
Khaos Williams vs. Andreas Gustafsson (Welterweight)
Early Preliminaries:
Ariane da Silva vs. Wang Cong (Women’s Flyweight)
Jeka Saragih vs. Yoo Joo-sang (Featherweight)
Quillan Salkilld vs. Yanal Ashmouz (Lightweight)
MarQuel Mederos vs. Mark Choinski (Lightweight)
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Browns make curious decision with rookie QB Shedeur Sanders
The Cleveland Browns are giving Shedeur Sanders special treatment in training camp, but it's not the type of favoritism the fifth-round pick would necessarily want. Per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, Sanders is the only Browns quarterback who has not been taking reps with the first-team offense during OTAs or the first two practices of training camp. Former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel have all split reps with the first team. Despite being asked to throw passes to members of the equipment staff amid a shortage of professional pass-catchers for a four-quarterback roster, Sanders said he's thankful for the opportunity to show the Browns coaching staff his talents. "I feel like that it's not in my control, so I'm not going to think about that or even have that in my thought process of why it is," Sanders said to a question as to why he's not getting first-team reps. "There's a lot of people who want to have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here and I'm thankful to have the opportunity. So, whenever that is, that is." Sanders, 23, believes that he can contribute more to the Browns than what the coaching staff is asking of him. "It doesn't make me feel down or left out because I know who I am as a person," Sanders said. "I know who I am as an individual and I know what I could bring to this team. So, I can never feel less than any circumstance." The Browns selected Sanders with the No. 144 pick in April's draft. As a player whom many draft analysts thought was a first-round talent, Cleveland took what could be the steal of the draft in the fifth round. It's curious why the Browns aren't giving Sanders a shot with the first team early in training camp before the quarterback race becomes more serious. Cleveland should absolutely see what Sanders has to offer this summer. Flacco, 40, isn't a long-term solution at the position. Pickett failed in Pittsburgh. The Browns need to gauge what rookies Gabriel and Sanders can do with the first team. Having Sanders throw balls to the equipment staff is a waste of everyone's time. But then again, Cleveland has wasted plenty of quarterbacks.
Cleveland Guardians Slapped With Bad News Before Trade Deadline
The Cleveland Guardians are quite a mystery heading into the MLB trade deadline, as no one seems to know whether they will buy, sell or possibly even do nothing before July 31. The Guardians are hovering around .500, but they are still smack dab in the middle of the American League Wild Card race. That's in spite of losing 10 straight just before the All-Star break. Even with Cleveland remaining in contention, there are some who believe the Guardians might sell given their conservative nature, but talk show host Bruce Drennan has provided some rather bad news for the team in that regard: the players they might want to move don't have much value. “No top prospects for a big bat, and I don’t necessarily see us selling players, like Carlos Santana or Lane Thomas. What can you get in return?” Drennan said. Drennan has a point. Santana and Thomas are both impending free agents, and neither has been all that good this season. Santana owns a .665 OPS, and Thomas has been on and off the injured list while hitting just .160 on the year. Of course, the Guardians would surely be able to land a hefty return for players like Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase, but it does not seem like Cleveland is going to move either of those two stars. Perhaps the Guardians will surprise some people and go all in by adding pieces at the deadline, but that isn't exactly in their nature. We'll see what happens before the end of the months, but it stands to reason that Cleveland might just stand pat, as Drennan anticipates. Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage
Vikings training camp recap, Day 4: J.J. McCarthy puts on a show for fans
For the first time this year, Vikings fans filled the bleachers at TCO Performance Center on Saturday afternoon. Those who braved the heat and came out to watch their favorite team practice were treated to a show by the 22-year-old quarterback who holds so much of the franchise's future on his shoulders. On the fourth day of training camp (and the third full-speed practice), J.J. McCarthy had easily his best day of work thus far. The highlight was a deep ball to Jordan Addison late in the practice, which drew cheers from the crowd and a celebration from McCarthy. He got the look he wanted and let it rip, hitting Addison in stride over the top of the second-team defense for a 60-yard touchdown. McCarthy had previously cut it loose on a deep ball, with the first one coming when he got the defense to jump offside and had a free play to work with. That one was also placed well roughly 55 yards downfield, but Byron Murphy Jr. was running stride for stride with Jalen Nailor and made a great play to knock the ball down. After the first one wasn't completed, it had to feel good for McCarthy to connect with Addison on that second deep attempt. Earlier, in a 7-on-7 red zone period, McCarthy went 3 for 5 with a trio of touchdowns. To start, he hit Aaron Jones for a score in the flat. After getting into the end zone, Jones clapped his hands over his head to lead the fans in a SKOL chant. McCarthy led Jalen Nailor a bit too far on his second attempt, but the third was a touchdown to Nailor towards the same left sideline. The fourth was a somewhat catchable ball that a leaping Nailor couldn't come down with over the middle. And to cap off the period, McCarthy rifled one to T.J. Hockenson for a score. Another thing we saw from McCarthy, which is important, was the ability to layer the ball over the first level of the defense with touch. There's no question about his ability to throw a fastball, but the offspeed pitch, so to speak, is something he's been focusing on this offseason. He connected with Nailor on a layered throw to the sideline early in the session. McCarthy also hit Hockenson on a nice layered, anticipatory throw over the middle at one point. To be clear, it wasn't a perfect day for the Vikings' young quarterback. He missed a few throws here and there and had a couple plays where he would've been sacked before getting to the read he wanted. Still, I think anyone who was in attendance would tell you it was an encouraging performance on a very hot late-July day. He commanded the huddle, showed off his arm talent, and didn't throw a single interception. Now he'll look to build off that momentum when pads come on for the first time on Monday. Here are some other things I saw at practice on Saturday. Jonathan Greenard is a monster. After making the Pro Bowl last year with 12 sacks, 80 pressures, 18 TFLs, and 4 forced fumbles, Greenard looks to be in line for another big season. I counted at least two would-be sacks and two TFLs against the run over the course of this practice. There was one sequence where he set the edge for a run stop and then burst into the backfield for a sack on consecutive plays. He did it both against the second-team offense and the starters (who are admittedly without Christian Darrisaw). The additions of Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave in the middle should only help Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel continue to dominate. With no Justin Jefferson, the Vikings are using a variety of different receivers as the WR3 alongside Addison and Nailor with the first-team offense. Today, the guy who got the majority of those looks was Lucky Jackson, a practice squad guy now in his third year in Minnesota. 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Jeshaun Jones was Howell's favorite target on the day. He also had a quality completion to rookie Tai Felton later on against the starting defense, then got sacked by Allen and Van Ginkel on the ensuing play. The Vikings will want to see progress from Howell, but he doesn't appear to be in jeopardy of losing his QB2 role to Brett Rypien or Max Brosmer. Speaking of Brosmer, the rookie QB got some good opportunities in this practice, which was the longest of camp so far. He connected with Ben Yurosek in red zone 7s and had a few completions in 11s to end the day, including a nice throw to Dontae Fleming on the final play from scrimmage of the practice. Saturday's session wrapped up with the first kicking work we've seen in camp. Will Reichard, the lone kicker on the roster, went 5 for 6 on a day where there was a bit of wind. He hit from 33, 40, 45, 50, and 54 yards out. His lone miss went narrowly wide left from 48. Reichard's leg power remains something to behold. 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Two Teams Linked to a Trade with Bruins for Pavel Zacha
The Boston Bruins are gauging trade interest in forward Pavel Zacha, according to The Fourth Period. Following a down season and a trade deadline where Zacha’s name was thrown around but was ultimately not moved, Bruins GM Don Sweeney is trying to move the 27-year-old Czech center. Zacha is playing in the final season of a contract that has a $4.75 million cap hit. Zacha, acquired from the New Jersey Devils in 2022 for Erik Haula, has been a solid pickup for Boston. He posted 21 goals and 57 points in 78 games in 2023-24, though his production dipped slightly to 47 points over a full 82-game slate last season. He can play up and down the lineup and has a strong two-way game. Who Has Shown Interest in a Zacha Trade? Two teams reportedly monitoring Zacha are the Vancouver Canucks and the Utah Hockey Club. Both teams are seeking top-six forward depth and would value Zacha’s steady offensive contributions. The Canucks have been busy all summer, signing and trading players. They have also been linked to Jack Roslovic talks in free agency, meaning they wouldn’t be adding both. Utah has been looking to make a splash this season and work their way up the standings in an attempt to compete for the playoffs. The Bruins would likely demand a notable return, but neither team is looking to send players back. The trade would likely involve a high pick or a mid-tier prospect. Zacha controls part of the process with an eight-team no-trade list. He’s owed just $3.75 million in actual salary each of the next two seasons, further boosting his trade appeal.
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