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Before the pair’s welterweight fight on Saturday, Ian Machado Garry preferred to concentrate on the fight.

Prates, a 31-year-old Brazilian, has admitted to smoking 10 cigarettes per day in preparation for facing the Irishman at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City, Missouri. He has stated that he is “trying to smoke less to get fitter and healthier.”

Given the potential health risks of cigarettes, which include cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and lung cancer, high-level athletes rarely smoke.

“His entire country wants me to win, while the dude smokes cigarettes, while I’m in Brazil.” He made those life choices, not something I should participate in,” Machado Garry said.

Prates, who has won his first four UFC fights by knockout, has stated that he wants to stop smoking altogether in the future, but that’s “hard.”

In his post-fight press conference in November, Prates asked if he could smoke a cigarette, but he claimed it was denied because smoking was prohibited there.

Machado Garry, 27, suggested a different plan when asked by the media if he would smoke a cigar with Prates following their Saturday contest.

“I won’t smoke if I don’t.” But he said, “I can sit down and talk about how I knocked him out and how I can help him improve.”

After Jamahal Hill withdrew from his initial fight with Khalil Rountree, Jamaal Hill withdrew injured from their first fight.

After taking Belal Muhammad in December, Machado Garry took the fight with little notice, which was followed by a consolation defeat to Shavkat Rakhmonov.

It describes who I am and the character I am. They refer to us as the “fighting Irish” because I was born and raised in Dublin, Machado Garry said.

Rakhmonov’s defeat put an end to Machado Garry’s impressive eight-fight winning streak in the UFC.

Prates is 13th overall while the Irishman is currently ranked seventh in the UFC welterweight rankings.

Machado Garry has won eight fights since making his UFC debut in 2021, with three coming by knockout, which equals Prates’ 100% finish rate.

Although Machado Garry lacks Prates’ knockout power, he still has some of the best welterweight striking stats.

He leads the list in terms of significant strike accuracy, ranking sixth with 55%, followed by title rival Della Maddalena, who has 55%, and former champion Leon Edwards, who has 54% in comparison.

Machado Garry’s striking differential, which is 1.9, also ranks eighth.

French skier Margot Simond passed away on Thursday in a skiing accident in Val d’Isere.

When she fell while training for a Red Bull Alpine race in France this weekend, the teen fell.

Simond was unable to be revived despite an attempt by a doctor to revive her.

We are yet to learn all about Simond’s death.

Simond, who won the U18 slalom title in March, was a well-known skier by her class.

The ski community was “deeply affected and saddened by Margot’s passing,” according to the French Ski Federation.

We send our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones, and we can assure them of our full support during these trying times, the statement read.

Zurich Classic – first-round leaderboard

-14 I Salinda & K Velo (US); -13 R Hojgaard & N Hojgaard (Den); -11 K Kitayama & C Morikawa (US), C Davis & A Svensson (Aus/Can), P Peterson & K Ventura (US/Nor)

Selected: -10 M Wallace & T Olesen (Eng/Den); -9 A Rai & S Theegala (Eng/US); -8 R McIlroy & S Lowry (NI/Ire), L Donald & C Villegas (Eng/Col), R MacIntyre & T Detry (Sco/Bel)

Rory McIlroy and partner Shane Lowry are six off the pace after an opening eight-under-par 64 as they began the defence of their Zurich Classic title.

In his first competitive round since winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam, McIlroy struggled on the opening nine as Lowry kept them in contention.

The pair started at the 10th and McIlroy said he “didn’t do anything” before improving after the turn when he birdied the first and eagled the second.

“Shane joked I could have got a couple extra hours in bed if I wanted to,” said McIlroy.

“I played a bit better coming in. It was OK.”

“We felt like we left a few shots out there but we were just saying the two foursomes days on Friday and Sunday here are the important days in this tournament,” added McIlroy, 35.

“It’s important for us to obviously post a good score tomorrow.”

Collin Morikawa and fellow US player Kurt Kitayama are in the group sharing third place after a 61, with England’s Matt Wallace and Danish partner Thorbjorn Olesen a further stroke back.

England’s Aaron Rai and American Sahith Theegala shot a 63 with the pairings of Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Belgium’s Thomas Detry and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas sharing 28th spot with McIlroy and Lowry.

The fourball element of the tournament sees both players hitting their own ball with the best score counting, while players take alternate shots with one ball in the foursomes.

After serving as caretaker manager successfully, Swansea City are in talks to appoint Alan Sheehan as their permanent head coach.

Sheehan, 38, has impressed since taking over as manager of the Championship club following Luke Williams’ departure in February.

Sheehan is currently in charge of Swansea’s two remaining matches of the season, Saturday at Millwall and Saturday at Oxford United.

However, Swansea is reportedly optimistic that negotiations will come to an agreement before the Oxford game, and that the long-term deal is progressing well.

Sheehan assumed control of the first five games before making a decision to stick with him until the end of the season in March.

He has always wanted the position, but he has repeatedly stressed that his ideas for how to proceed must align with the club’s goals.

Sheehan became the caretaker boss in December 2023 after joining Michael Duff’s backroom staff and assisting Swansea in accumulating 11 points from seven games prior to Williams’ appointment in January of last year.

After saying his farewells, he returned to the backroom team and took the top position once more.

Swansea was eight points clear of the bottom three in 17th place at the time, and relegation worries were mounting as a result of a run of seven league defeats.

However, they have since shown some remarkable form, moving them to 11th place in the table, 14 points clear of the drop zone, and six points clear of the top six.