Dana White has a robust exchange with reporter Sean Zittel at the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v Terence Crawford news conference in Las Vegas, regarding the Muhammad Ali Act and the UFC CEO’s venture into boxing.
The Premier League returns this weekend after the international break, and many Fantasy Premier League managers may have a conundrum on their hands.
Liverpool signed Alexander Isak from Newcastle for a British-record £125m on transfer deadline day and the question now is whether he will start at Burnley on Sunday.
Do Fantasy Premier League managers gamble and throw him into their teams? Or do you leave him out for Gameweek 4?
Holly Shand: I think the key for Gameweek 4 is to stick with the Liverpool assets you have, do not buy or sell this week until the starters become clear. There’s the appealing fixture of Burnley away, but there’s no guarantee Isak starts in that game. He has had a disrupted August where he hasn’t trained consistently or played any competitive minutes. He only played 18 minutes across two fixtures for Sweden over the international break and so it would be a surprise to be on the team sheet this weekend.
Holly Shand: Going forward, Isak will dominate in the number nine role, which could see Cody Gakpo and Ekitike in a battle for minutes on the left. Liverpool begin their Champions League campaign against Atletico Madrid next midweek, where they’ll need this squad depth. Ekitike has had another 400,000 new owners ahead of Gameweek 4, having delivered three goal involvements in the opening three gameweeks, with only Mohamed Salah more highly owned from this Liverpool team. Only Joao Pedro and Erling Haaland have scored more fantasy points among forwards than Ekitike.
Statman Dave: I think Gakpo’s minutes will be limited with Ekitike potentially playing on the left. With Ekitike’s two goals and assists I doubt he would be the one who is dropped. Gakpo would see more minutes off the bench or start and then get taken off with Isak the long-term player. Isak will score a lot of points and him and Mo Salah complement each other. There is lots of talk that Salah is the main guy and everything goes through Salah, so Isak won’t get anything, but that is rubbish. Salah is not playing anywhere near the level we expect but how they complement just makes more sense. Isak is the opportunity to feet, Salah can stretch the back line – it works.
Sharon Osbourne has been seen for the first time since her beloved husband Ozzy’s funeral as their daughter Kelly has kept her busy. The X Factor icon has surrounded herself by her family following the death of Ozzy in July.
The Black Sabbath legend died at their Buckinghamshire home on July 22, aged 76. A week later, Sharon and the family attended a public procession in Birmingham for Ozzy, before holding a private funeral at their mansion.
Sharon, 72, has stepped back from the public eye since, but has now shared how she’s taken up a new hobby with Kelly. Earlier this week, Kelly revealed she had “found her smile again” after getting into falconry.
READ MORE: Kelly Osbourne reveals how she’s ‘found her smile again’ after Ozzy Osbourne’s deathREAD MORE: Sharon Osbourne still too upset to make Ozzy tribute at VMAs as son Jack soldiers on
The hobby typically involves training and flying falcons or other birds of prey, sometimes to hunt other animals. She shared how it has been making her feel “happy” lately amid her “sadness and grief”.
Now, it seems Kelly has got her mum interested as the pair headed to Cornwall Falconry in Bugle near St Austell. Sharon appeared in an Instagram video uploaded by Kelly as she was told to “put her hand out”.
An owl then left Kelly’s head and flew over to Sharon, who stroked the bird. She then told the squawking owl: “I don’t have anything to give you. Come on.”
Alongside the short clip, Kelly said: “Today I introduced my mum to falconry and she loved it! Thank you @gerardsulter for putting a smile on my mum’s face too!”
Fans were delighted to see the mum and daughter enjoying a moment together as one said: “Oh Mrs O!!!! Missed your face! Sending love to you all.” Another added: “This makes me happy.”
Someone else commented: “What beautiful healing through the purity and light of birds/animals. Sending many blessings through this hard time.” A fourth shared: “There she is!!!! We’ve all missed seeing Sharon Thank you Kelly.”
Just days before, Kelly shared a photo of herself with an owl perched on her hand and wrote: “In all my sadness & grief I have found something that truly makes me happy!
“I never thought I would find my smile again through falconry but I did. I absolutely love being with the birds!” Last month, Ozzy’s memorial service in Birmingham saw Sharon being supported by Jack and daughter, Kelly, as she wept over the thousands of floral tributes laid out for the Prince of Darkness.
Ozzy has been laid to rest beneath a crabapple tree in the gardens of his Buckinghamshire home, leaving his widowfacing a painful decision about where she will now live.
TheChanges star had long expressed a wish to be buried at Welders House, the Georgian mansion he and Sharon purchased in 1993. The couple, who were married for 43 years, spent decades dividing their time between the UK and the United States.
Sharon now faces the choice of remaining in Britain, close to Ozzy’s grave, or returning to Los Angeles, where their three children, Aimee, Jack, and Kelly, and five grandchildren are based.
A source close to the family said Sharon is struggling with the dilemma. “She is heartbroken, she thought she would be nursing Ozzy for much longer in the UK. Now she’s sad, she is lonely, she’s a widow,” the insider told the Mirror, heartbreakingly adding: “She is in a state of pure devastation.”
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UFC chief Dana White’s fiery exchange with a reporter about his new role in boxing threatened to overshadow a news conference for the super-fight between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
Mexican Alvarez, 35, will put his WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and IBF super-middleweight titles on the line against Crawford at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Omaha-native Crawford, 37, is jumping up two weight classes in a bid to become the first male boxer to become undisputed champion in three divisions in the modern era.
In front of a fiercely pro-Alvarez crowd, the pair went through the usual news conference motions, a mixture of respect and declarations of victory.
Questions raised about the Muhammad Ali Act – a 2000 US law designed to protect boxers’ rights and combat potential monopolies – sparked a fiery response from White.
“This is obviously a long discussion. If you want to talk about that then set up an interview. This isn’t about me,” White said.
When the reporter, Sean Zittel, persisted, White cut him short: “You have a question for these two, no? Beat it.”
White is spearheading a push to amend the act, which does not apply to MMA, allowing the UFC to make their own world titles.
Critics argue White’s UFC model in boxing would restrict fighters with exclusive contracts, create a monopoly and leaves boxers earning a far smaller share of event revenue.
About 1,500 fans – including British rapper Stormzy and boxing legend Lennox Lewis – packed into the T-Mobile Arena, just a short walk from Saturday’s venue.
A partisan crowd held up Mexican flags and chanted “Canelo” from the moment Alvarez walked on stage and he soaked up the adulation.
“This fight for me is big. One of the biggest fights in my career. It means a lot. It’s going to be very top,” he said.
Alvarez dismissed any suggestion of fighting Crawford a year ago, citing the size difference. But he agreed with an assessment of it being a 50-50 contest.
“I think they right. Two of the best fighting each other. They right,” he said.
Crawford – who last fought 13 months ago when he beat Israil Madrimov to win a world title in a fourth division – was unmoved by the noise in the arena.
Crawford, with 41 wins and 31 knockouts, won his first world title in 2014 at lightweight against Scotsman Ricky Burns. He went on to unify the light-welterweight and welterweight divisions before moving up again.
Saturday’s bout will be broadcast globally on Netflix, reaching a potential audience of more than 300 million subscribers.
It is the first major boxing event promoted by White alongside Saudi’s Turki Alalshikh, signalling a new, if uncertain, era for the sport.
As organisers hyped up the new partnership as the saviour of the sport and suggested boxing has been suffering for years, one of its biggest stars – and highest earners with a reported $150m purse to collect on Saturday – Alvarez, chimed in.
“Hey, boxing was always bigger, bigger and big. Don’t say boxing is not big enough. You know how big is boxing,” he said.
IBF welterweight world title: Lewis Crocker v Paddy Donovan
Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Saturday, 13 September
Ishmael Davis and Caoimhin Agyarko have not agreed on much in the build-up to their light-middleweight contest on Saturday, but both predict they will produce the “fight of the night” at Windsor Park.
They meet on the chief support slot of the IBF welterweight title fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan, with the winner in line to take a significant step forward.
At Thursday’s final press conference, they engaged in a prolonged bout of verbal sparring ahead of Saturday’s real battle with Belfast’s Agyarko confident he will prove too much for the 30-year-old Yorkshireman.
“I think I’m a hungrier fighter,” said the 28-year-old, who is unbeaten in 17 fights.
“I’m not sure he’s in it for titles but in it to make a few quid and see where he can go in the sport.
“He’s stepped up against two great fighters and I give him all the props in the world for it but I’m the hungrier fighter, faster fighter, more explosive, faster, fitter and you will see that.”
Those step-ups for Davies saw him suffer defeats by Josh Kelly and Serhii Bohachuk, which saw his record slide to 13-2.
Against Kelly at Wembley Stadium last year, a late rally from Davis was not enough as he fell to a narrow points defeat, but riled by Agyarko’s comments, he insists he will attack from the off on Saturday.
“I’m going to start early with you,” he said.
“Josh Kelly, I started late and everybody knows that – but that was a different level. You are not on my level and I will show you.
Saturday’s undercard will see a rematch between Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna (24-6-1) and Waterford’s Dylan Moran (19-3) at welterweight.
Their first meeting in December 2024 was all action from the opening bell with McKenna stung early, only to drop Moran before the end of the first round and finish it in the second.
Belfast’s McKenna has indicated this will be his final fight with Moran seeking revenge to get his career back on track.
Ruadhan Farrell (7-1-1) puts his Irish super-bantamweight title on the line against Matthew Boreland (5-0) with Belfast’s Farrell seeking to maintain a fine run of form against his Coleraine opponent.
Elsewhere, there are debuts for Newtownabbey light-middleweight Kyle Smith, Jim Donovan – cousin of Paddy who fights in the main event – and Liverpool’s former Mixed Martial Arts star Molly McCann.
China’s newest aircraft carrier transited through the Taiwan Strait as part of a research and training exercise before its entry into service, according to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
PLAN spokesperson Senior Captain Leng Guowei said on Friday that the Fujian was bound for the South China Sea, where it will undergo testing.
list of 4 itemsend of list
“The cross-regional tests and training are a routine mission of the carrier’s construction process and do not target any specific objects,” Leng said, according to Chinese state media.
The 80,000-tonne Fujian has not been officially commissioned for service, but it will soon join the Liaoning and Shandong vessels as China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military affairs expert, told China’s State-run news outlet Global Times that the Fujian’s research trip to the South China Sea is a sign the aircraft carrier is nearly complete. It earlier underwent tests in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.
The Fujian’s route was not unexpected, as Chinese state media shared photos and videos of the aircraft carrier leaving Shanghai’s shipyard on Wednesday.
A step forward for China’s blue water navy.
🇨🇳China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian passes through Taiwan Straits to hold tests, training in #SouthChinaSea.
By the way, the Taiwan Strait is not ‘international waters’.
The Fujian is China’s first fully domestically… pic.twitter.com/3ffANYEbMH
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force on Thursday spotted the Fujian sailing near the disputed but uninhabited Senkaku Islands, in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, accompanied by two PLAN destroyers.
The Senkaku Islands are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan.
The Fujian is just the second aircraft carrier in the world, after the USS Gerald Ford, to host an electromagnetic catapult system that makes it easier for aircraft to take off and land.
Developing such a launch system is a sign that the technology gap between China and the US is closing, according to maritime expert and former United States Air Force Colonel Ray Powell, but there are still some limitations.
The Fujian is 20 percent smaller than US super aircraft carriers and conventionally powered rather than nuclear-powered, Powell said.
The real challenge for China, Powell told Al Jazeera, will be crewing its aircraft carriers as the PLAN will need to divide veteran crew members between the three carriers: Fujian, Liaoning and Shandong.
“China is closing the hardware gap, but developing the operational expertise for effective blue-water carrier ops is what the US has spent nearly a century perfecting,” he said.
While no date has been announced yet for the Fujian’s official commission into active service, the US Naval Institute (USNI) said it is expected to “coincide with a date that holds historical significance to China”.