Category Sports News

Cris Cyborg will defend her featherweight title for the first time in over two years when she faces Sara Collins at PFL Lyon on 13 December.

Cyborg, 40, last defended her belt when she stopped Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 in October 2023, shortly before the promotion was acquired by the PFL.

Since then the Bellator brand has been phased out, meaning the Brazilian’s belt will be re-branded as the PFL women’s featherweight championship for the bout with America’s Collins.

Cyborg defeated fellow Brazilian Larissa Pacheco just under a year ago, but the bout was not for an official title.

Cyborg, who is widely regarded as one of the best women’s fighters in MMA history, heads into the fight with Collins having won 31 and lost only two fights.

She has not suffered defeat since losing to Amanda Nunes in the UFC in 2018, and defended her Bellator title five times before it was re-branded.

Collins, 35, enters the contest having won the first six fights of her career, with her last win coming against Leah McCourt in September.

The bout takes place at the LDLC Arena in the city in eastern France on a card headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Russia’s Vadim Nemkov and Brazil’s Renan Ferreria.

The bout is for the PFL heavyweight world title, which is also re-branded, with the organisation describing it as “the next chapter in heavyweight MMA”.

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa says head coach Unai Emery was right to label his players “lazy”.

Emery was furious with his side after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at 10-man Sunderland, saying: “We were lazy sometimes in defence. When we conceded, we were lazy.”

Wilson Isidor levelled with 15 minutes left after Matty Cash’s opener, with the Black Cats playing one short for an hour after Reinildo Mandava’s red card.

“Yeah, it’s a fair comment. I think everyone has seen the picture, seen the goal,” said Konsa.

“Here we pride ourselves in trying to play a high line, it is something the boss has instilled since he first came.

“We didn’t quite get it right. Things have not been good for us so far this season. But there are blips in the season and we are going through that now. Hopefully we can move on.

Asked if Emery had called his players lazy privately, Konsa added: “No. The boss is not a big speaker. Sometimes he keeps himself to himself.

“As players, we have been in the game a long time and we know what we need to do. It is down to us at the end of the day. We are on the pitch, not the manager. We have to figure it out for ourselves as well.”

Speaking before Bologna’s visit to Villa Park in the Europa League on Thursday, Emery said he was “angry” after the match against Sunderland.

“I was frustrated and disappointed but when I analysed it I was getting the balance,” said Emery.

“I am demanding and always trying to understand how we can feel stronger. After the match I told the players we have to be more demanding.”

The draw against Sunderland left Villa 18th in the Premier League and winless in their opening five games, out of the Carabao Cup and having scored just one league goal.

Konsa, though, says the club are not in “crisis”.

“I don’t think we are at the stage where we need to have meetings,” he said. “People will talk about crisis meetings and things like that but we have got a great captain in John McGinn, who really takes the lead in stuff like that.

“After the game, he said a few words to keep us going, to keep encouraging us. Look, we haven’t started the season well. We know that. But I’m sure it’s going to go well soon.

President of football operations Monchi’s departure from Villa was announced on Tuesday evening with former Real Sociedad sporting director Roberto Olabe replacing him.

Monchi wanted a break and the decision was mutual between him and the club after two years at Villa.

Emery believes the transition will be smooth with his fellow Basque countryman Olabe as they were able to replace Monchi quickly.

“It was something we were working on, knowing about while speaking with Monchi,” he said.

“After the transfer window had finished we were speaking about our relationship here, working with the club and working together.

“Then, we decided with the club and him, and with Roberto as well, to do a normal transition. Nothing has changed, only changing the man.

Alice Tai won her fourth gold in as many days at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore – while Great Britain defended their mixed relay title.

Tai, 26, has won every final she has faced at this year’s Championships to date, finishing first in the women’s S8 100m backstroke, S8 400m freestyle, and S8 100m butterfly before Wednesday’s triumph in the S8 100m freestyle.

She finished ahead of Italy’s Xenia Palazzo and USA’s Jessica Long, winning in a time of one minute 05.49 seconds.

“This week is taking its toll a bit now. I’m definitely a bit tired but there’s still three days to go,” said Tai, who could another two golds to her collection on Thursday.

“I’m really happy with that time, it’s a season’s best and the fastest I’ve done since my amputation [in 2022], so I’m over the moon with it.”

William Ellard, Poppy Maskill, Dylan Broom, and Georgia Sheffield set a championship record as Great Britain won the mixed S14 4x100m freestyle in 3:41.14 – less than one second short of their own world record, set in 2021.

Great Britain have won the event at both world and Paralympic level stretching back to its introduction in 2019.

“The goal is to keep building this to LA [2028 Paralympics]. We’ve got a great team here and a lot of good people coming through, so it could be quite good for the future,” Ellard said.

There was also gold for Ellie Challis, who retained her women’s S3 50m backstroke title in a time of 53.92.

The 2025 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award will be presented to Mikey Lewis from Hull KR, Jai Field from Wigan Warriors, and Jake Connor from Leeds Rhinos.

The three were chosen for the award after securing a play-off spot with their teams, and they were also named to the Super League Dream Team this year.

The 24-year-old Robins half-back, Lewis, won the trophy in 2024, and could become the first team to win it since Paul Sculthorpe did so in 2001 and 2002.

This season, he has won the League Leaders’ Shield and the Challenge Cup.

Full-back Field, 28, helped Wigan, who finished second in the regular season last year, while 30-year-old scrum-half Connor is nominated after a strong campaign with Leeds, who first placed in the top four since 2017.

The award, which was given its name in 2014 in honor of the late Steve Prescott, has been in existence since 1977 when Leeds hooker David Ward won the inaugural award.

Following a selection process where a panel of former players used a voting system to determine the trio’s shortlistings this year, players were chosen.

Lewis’ nomination comes as his career is on the ups and running, continuing his impressive career that won him the Man of Steel award for the first time in 2024 and becoming the first KR player to do so since Gavin Miller in 1986.

He made his England debut against Tonga in the upcoming Ashes Test series in October and November, and he also looks set to start against his country in the upcoming Ashes Test series against Australia.

Field is chosen in the shortlist after a successful campaign for Wigan, scoring very close to a try from 27 games so far in 2025.

In the second play-off eliminator of 2025, Connor’s Leeds Rhinos team will take on St Helens on Saturday night to kick off his play-off campaign.

In the event that Connor receives the award, he would become the first Leeds player to be named a Man of Steel since Zak Hardaker in 2015.

After receiving a clean sweep of nominations, the Women’s Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Shield winners will receive the Women of Steel award this year.

The winner of this year’s award will be announced at the end-of-season awards in October, which included Jenna Foubister, Eva Hunter, and Isabel Rowe.

Boris Becker, a six-time Grand Slam champion, says that due to the pressure that it placed on him both during and after his playing career, he regrets winning at age 17 at Wimbledon.

When he defeated Kevin Curren in 1985, the German became the youngest Wimbledon men’s singles champion ever at the age of 17 years, seven months, and fifteen days later.

Becker won five more Grand Slam titles, including two at Wimbledon, before becoming one of his generation’s greatest players.

However, Becker’s success was frequently overshadowed by a turbulent personal life and repeated financial difficulties.

After serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for concealing £2.5 million in assets and loans to avoid paying debts, he was released from prison in London in 2023.

It becomes a world sensation whatever you do, wherever you go, or who you talk to.

Some of the most significant papers of tomorrow will use it as the headline. And you’re merely attempting to mature, to find your place in the world.

“When you start a second career, everything is measured by your success at Wimbledon at age 17.” And that significantly altered the course of action.

The 57-year-old author of a book about his time in prison claims he found solace in Djokovic’s Wimbledon success in 2022.

When I watched Djokovic win matches and ultimately defeat Nick Kyrgios, he said, “I was supporting him at the time I was watching him win.”

That ultimately caused me to feel both very emotional and inspirational. I’m in one of the worst prisons in the world, along with my brother Novak, and he’s there. Thus, it puts perspective on life.

Following Becker’s release, he was taken away from the United Kingdom.

I felt too at ease. I was spending too much. Nobody told me that anything was possible. In retrospect, he said, “that’s the recipe for disaster.”

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin said after defeat by Dundee United he needs to “find answers quickly” to arrest an alarming start to the season.

The club are rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership after four defeats in five games, all without scoring a goal.

Add to that a meek League Cup exit against Motherwell and some fans are already starting to turn against their Scottish Cup-winning manager.

With a re-match with impressive Motherwell at Fir Park up next on Saturday, Thelin needs solutions to fix his ailing side.

Thelin has stuck rigidly to a 4-2-3-1 system since arriving in Scotland last summer, except for one famous exception.

The Swede switched to a 5-3-2 for the Scottish Cup final against Celtic, succesfully stymying Brendan Rodgers’ side before triumphing on penalties.

There has been absolutely no sign Thelin is thinking of going with that formation again, but could it help?

Having another striker to support Kevin Nisbet might spark their stilted attack into life, because they have scored the fewest goals of any side to have played in the Premiership this season and last.

Given Aberdeen’s recruitment of wingers and their importance to Thelin, 4-4-2 might be a more likely option to change it up.

Or even just playing a more traditional 4-3-3 to get more midfielders further forward and reduce the reliance on a number 10.

Former Aberdeen captain Willie Miller, though, feels it is unlikely Thelin will mix things up in that way.

“That [formation] is his identity,” he said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound.

“What he needs to do, and I think what he will do, is stick with it and try to get the right personnel in there. I don’t tink he has [got the right personnel].

Many observers believe the heart of Aberdeen’s problems are coming from midfield.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen was back in the starting XI to play Dundee United, and is often the focus of supporters’ ire.

He is viewed as Thelin’s key lieutenant, because of his experience and knowledge of the manager’s methods from their time at Elfsborg.

However, with Aberdeen’s performances lacking intensity – a point Thelin has repeatedly made – and the fact they have lost more challenges than any other side since the start of last season, Nilsen’s selection is a point of serious contention.

That is principally due to the 33-year-old’s lack of mobility across the pitch.

Thelin has insisted Nilsen sets standards in training, but whether it is a lack of legs, poor distances between players, or low confidence, Aberdeen’s midfield is toiling.

Thelin has only started both Nilsen and Shinnie in midfield twice this season, but at least one of them has been in the middle of the pitch for every game, except the home defeat by Falkirk.

That performance was arguably Aberdeen’s most encouraging in attack in the league, before Nicky Devlin was sent off and they slipped to defeat.

“I can understand why he’s played Sivert Nilsen in there and why he has played Shinnie in there,” Miller added on Sportsound.

“But they are the wrong side of 30 and it’s looking like they need more energy in that area. I didn’t see an awful lot of energy or creativity.”

The problem for Thelin is, apart from 33-year-old Stuart Armstrong, whom he singled out for praise at Tannadice, others are not exactly putting their hand up and demanding to be picked when they do get a chance.

Dante Polvara has performed better when coming off the bench, while Leighton Clarkson – Aberdeen’s most creative midfielder – was left out altogether and has started two games all season.

Thelin has spoken about the need for “intensity” before just about every game this season, yet when his team take to the pitch there is a distinct lack of it.

The Swede used the words “tense” and “stiff” to describe the 2-0 loss to United.

That is understandable amid fan anger and pressure amid a run of five league wins in 32 games, but that is not the only explanation.

Aberdeen have brought in 24 players in the last three transfer windows and have made more changes to their starting line-up in the Premiership than anyone other than Celtic or Rangers since the start of last season.

It is clear, then, Thelin is still getting to grips with his best team, and as a result there have been no reliable combinations formed all over the pitch.

Only Shinnie and Topi Keskinen have started more than three quarters of Thelin’s league games, while Slobodan Rubezic is the centre-back with the most Premiership starts (20) despite being loaned out in February and subsequently departing.

The team are crying out for consistency and stability across the pitch to ease help settle the tension.

Thelin says he needs to find the solutions that other managers, such as his opposite number on Saturday Jens Berthel Askou, have found in short order.

And with pressure from fans ratcheting up with every defeat, time is against him.