The middleweight champ sets the record straight on an unusual training camp twist
UFC 319 is set to take over Chicago this weekend as the United Center plays host to a highly anticipated main event between two undefeated UFC fighters. Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will defend his crown against Khamzat Chimaev in a clash of styles that has fans buzzing. One fighter thrives in pressure-filled brawls, the other in calculated submission setups. In the lead-up to fight night, Du Plessis hinted that camp preparation took a heated turn.
The rumor first began making the rounds on social media before gaining traction in MMA circles. In a clip posted by Full Send MMA, Du Plessis addressed it head-on, confirming that his coach once threw down a high-stakes challenge in the gym:
Dricus Du Plessis / Getty Images
‘Sometimes coach just rocks up in training and says it’s sparring day, 10k for the first knockout and Dricus, you’re in the middle, 10k for the first guy to take Dricus down.’ While he noted that the move was rare, Du Plessis embraced the intensity, saying he doesn’t like things easy — and especially doesn’t like to be taken down. This time, the $10K incentive became part of his UFC 319 preparation.
Dricus Du Plessis confirms the rumor that his coach offered his teammates $10K in cash to try and KO him or take him down during his training camp for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 😳💰 pic.twitter.com/ydKaV1IGnv
Team Du Plessis appears to have pulled out all the stops for this title defense, sharpening their champion for one of the most dangerous submission specialists in the division. With Chimaev’s relentless grappling and Du Plessis’ explosive power, fans can expect a high-stakes showdown in Chicago — one that may determine the future of the middleweight division.
Ward played three series for the Titans before backup Brandon Allen took over halfway through the second quarter. Here’s how the No. 1 overall pick played Friday night:
Cam Ward grade: Titans rookie QB makes impressive throws
This is a case in which the overall stat line doesn’t tell the full story of how Ward played. His night ended in the second quarter after he completed just 2-of-7 passes for 42 yards. Considering his line from the Buccaneers game, that appears to be a regression from his debut.
But Ward made multiple good throws, specifically on the Titans’ opening drive.
On second-and-6 from his own 10-yard line, Ward took the snap from the shotgun and rolled out to his right before finding fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor on a crossing route 20 yards downfield. Ayomanor was pushed out of bounds for a gain of 35 yards.
Ward’s next pass sailed out of bounds deep for Van Jefferson but running back Kalel Mullings was called for holding and the Titans offense was pushed back anyways.
His next throw on second-and-13 was his best of the night. Ward took the snap from shotgun again and stepped up to layer a throw over multiple Falcons defenders to Jefferson. The veteran wideout couldn’t hold on and the pass fell incomplete.
Ward’s next throw was a sidearm shot towards rookie wide receiver Chimere Dike but it fell incomplete to force a punt.
On the next drive, Ward ended the quarter with a swing pass to Ayomanor that ultimately counted as a rushing attempt by the rookie wide receiver. Ward’s next throw came on third-and-13 and he missed Dike on a low throw over the middle with pressure up the middle from Falcons defenders.
Ward took the field for the Titans’ third series on offense and missed Ayomanor on first-and-10 from his own 21-yard line. He threw it too high for the rookie wide receiver but kept it out of reach of any nearby defenders.
He made his second and final completion of the night on the next play to wide receiver Bryce Oliver, who took the short pass seven yards to set up third-and-3. Ward couldn’t connect with Ayomanor on a fade from the slot as Ayomanor faced physical coverage from Falcons cornerback Dee Alford.
Grade: B+
Ward made good decisions and showed good touch on most of his throws. If not for a bad drop by Jefferson and questionable contact by Alford, Ward’s stats would look much different. He avoided pressure, layered the ball well and made the right decision on most of his seven throws.
As the 2025-26 NBA season nears, one team that continues to be the subject of trade rumors is the Sacramento Kings.
Of course, the Kings elected to keep their core of Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVien together this offseason despite many around the league expecting them to begin a rebuild.
Sacramento also made some notable additions to their roster this summer as they selected Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud in the 2025 draft and added Dennis Schroder in free agency.
While the Kings have upgraded their roster this offseason, some of their players continue to be in trade rumors, primarily for Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga who Sacramento is reportedly targeting.
For the Kings, multiple players have come up in trad rumors this summer but none more than Malik Monk who is coming off the best season of his NBA career.
Despite this, the Kings have elected to keep Monk thus far but that could change as they continue to look for ways to upgrade their roster even more this offseason to chase a playoff spot next season.
Kings predicted to trade Malik Monk to Lakers
With this in mind, SB Nations’ Jacob Rude recently released a mock trade that would send Malik Monk to the Los Angeles Lakers for two players.
In the trade, the Kings would land Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber and a lottery protected 2031 first-round pick from the Lakers in return for Monk.
This trade does not make a ton of sense for the Kings as they would swap one of the best scorers on their roster for two veterans who struggled last season and a lottery protected first-round pick.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Gabe Vincent rises to take a 3-point shot against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on March 31, 2025.Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Both Vincent and Kleber would be solid additions to the Kings’ roster as they would fill two glaring holes in their rotation, but Sacramento would likely want more in return for Monk, especially with him coming off the best season of his career.
Because of this, it is highly unlikely that the Kings would agree to this trade as they could possibly receive a larger return for their veteran guard from another team this offseason.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
Walsh, grandson of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, bounced back in style from his first professional MMA defeat this Friday on the preliminary card of 2025 PFL World Tournament 9 – which went down at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.
After two rounds, Walsh (3-1) was able to find the chin of his opponent, Adryan Grundy (3-2), rocking him and sending him down to the canvas, where he landed a few follow-up shots to get a KO win. Walsh had suffered his first professional defeat in June, losing to Ronnie Gibbs by submission.
You can watch Walsh’s KO win in the video below:
Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Biaggio Ali Walsh, bounces back from his first career loss with a stellar third-round knockout at #PFLWorldTournament 9 💪
Tuesday night belonged to New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who in the bottom of the third inning — during his second at-bat of the night — launched a home run to right-center field for his 253rd career blast in a Mets uniform.
The milestone officially moved him past franchise legend Darryl Strawberry as the Mets’ all-time home run leader — and he achieved it against division rival Atlanta Braves.
Strawberry, who played for the Mets from 1983 to 1990, hit 252 home runs over eight seasons and 1,109 games. Alonso, now in his seventh season, reached the mark in just his 965th career game.
Pete Alonso hits career homer No. 253, passing Darryl Strawberry for the most home runs in @Mets franchise history! pic.twitter.com/QIExcEVeoT
Darryl Strawberry Reacts to Pete Alonso Breaking His Record
After rounding the bases and giving a curtain call to a roaring Citi Field crowd, the Mets shared Strawberry’s immediate congratulatory message to Alonso.
“Hey, what’s up, Pete, Darryl Strawberry here. I just want to say congratulations on breaking the home run record,” Strawberry said. “Listen, you have worked hard, you have stood up in the pressure of New York City and you have played well. It is well deserved. You are a homegrown player and again, congratulations and continue to have great success. All the best, buddy.”
This offseason, Pete Alonso signed a two-year, $54 million extension with the Mets, keeping him in New York for at least the foreseeable future as he continues to add to his home run record. But right now, the team’s focus has shifted to simply finding ways to win — something that’s been in short supply lately.
At the start of July, the Mets were firmly in the hunt for the NL East crown. Now, after losing 11 of their last 12 games, they’ve slipped to 63-55, entering Tuesday night’s matchup against the Braves trailing the Phillies by six games and holding just a two-game lead for the final Wild Card spot.
Loopy Godinez knew she would one day cross paths with Jessica Andrade, and that day has come.
In arguably the biggest fight of her career, Godinez (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) takes on Andrade (26-14 MMA, 17-12 UFC), a former UFC strawweight champion, on the preliminary card of UFC 319 – which goes down this Saturday in Chicago. Being one of the biggest names at 115 pounds, Godinez has had her eyes on the Brazilian for quite some time. In fact, her first callout of Andrade came two years ago.
“When I fought Tabatha Ricci in New York, I was asked who I’d like, and the person who came to mind was Jessica Andrade,” Godinez told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “But due to circumstances, I didn’t get the fight, and I got other opponents. But yeah, we’ve had her on sight, and it was something that was inevitable. I was going to fight her sooner or later.”
Godinez has shown powerful wrestling in her UFC run, but also improved boxing, having trained at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara under Francisco Grasso, Alexa Grasso’s uncle and trainer. When asked about her approach for Andrade, Godinez kept her strategy vague, but did give a hint.
“We have the game plan already, and what we have planned is fighting the easiest fight,” Godinez said.
Godinez is coming off a decision win over Julia Polastri back in March in Mexico City. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak that vastly changed her career for good.
“Those things happened, but the truth is that I did learn a lot from those losses against Mackenzie (Dern) and (Virna) Jandiroba – I learned a ton,” Godinez said. “I would love to fight them again one day, so they can fight the best version of me. That’s it. I learned a lot. I wouldn’t change those defeats because of how much I learned. I’ve made the adjustments – nutrition, training, preparation, everything. I felt very good in my last fight, and ahead of this one I’m feeling even better. I’m excited to see those changes in the cage this Saturday.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.
For this article, we continue with the 38th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 40, with 11 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.
The fourth of those players who did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, forward alum Mike Bantom. After ending his college career at Saint Joseph’s, Bantom was picked up with the eighth overall selection of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns.
The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native saw his contract sold to Seattle in 1975. His stay with the team would span parts of two seasons, coming to an end when he had his contract sold to the (then) New York (now, Brooklyn) Nets.
During his time suiting up for the Sonics, Bantom wore only jersey No. 40 and put up 8.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 23rd of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 22, which has has had a total of 31 players wear the number in the history of the team.
The eighth of those players wearing No. 22 played in the (then) New York (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, guard alum Rich Rinaldi. After ending his college career at Saint Peter’s College, Rinaldi was picked up with the 43rd overall selection of the 1971 NBA Draft by the (defunct) Baltimore Bullets.
The Poughkeepsie, New York native also played for the (then) Capital Bullets (now, Washington Wizards) before signing with New York in 1973. His stay with the team would span just five games, his last in the NBA and ABA both.
During his time suiting up for the Nets, Rinaldi wore only jersey No. 22 and put up 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
A yet-to-be-finished mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. outside of a future Eat Fantastic restaurant in Redondo Beach features images of Dodgers Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani, as well as an altered version of an iconic Kobe Bryant photo. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The image is iconic — Kobe Bryant letting out a roar while tugging on his gold Lakers jersey after scoring 49 points during a playoff win over the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008.
It has been used in numerous murals around Southern California, including one that is being painted in larger-than-life form on the side of a future Eat Fantastic restaurant on the 700 block of North Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.
This particular painting, however, is a little different from the others, and from the original image itself. Bryant’s intensity is still there. His pose is exactly the same. He is still wearing a No. 24 jersey.
But in this version, that jersey is not gold with “Lakers” spelled across the chest in purple letters.
It’s white, with “Dodgers” across the chest in blue letters.
Gustavo Zermeño Jr. altered an iconic image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for a Dodgers mural he is painting in Redondo Beach. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The altered version of the iconic image is just one portion of a sprawling mural paying tribute to the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series championship. It’s on the north-facing side of a former Carl’s Jr. building that will open later this year as part of the growing Eat Fantastic chain in the Los Angeles area.
The mural was conceived by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. and Eat Fantastic owner Efthemios Alexander Tsiboukas. It features some of the key figures from the Dodgers’ title run — players Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani (with his beloved dog Decoy) and rapper Ice Cube, who is shown riding in a classic Dodger blue convertible as he did when he performed before Game 3 of the World Series.
And then there’s the late Lakers legend Bryant, whose inclusion in the piece was a must, Zermeño said.
“Each [Eat Fantastic] location has a Kobe mural, at least the ones that have a good wall,” said Zermeño, who is a huge fan of both the Dodgers and Bryant. “And for this location, [Tsiboukas] wanted to create something for the Dodgers’ championship team. That’s why Kobe has the Dodger jersey on, you know, staying on theme with the locations having a Kobe mural.”
Zermeño said the original idea was to paint Bryant wearing a Dodgers baseball jersey, as he did while attending the team’s games over the years before his shocking death in January 2020.
Lakers’ Kobe Bryant celebrates a three–pointer against the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008, at Staples Center. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
“So we looked up a bunch of images,” Zermeño said. “A lot of them are obviously cool images, but either they were very pixelated, or just didn’t have what we wanted, that really aggressive Mamba-mentality feel.
“So we found this image. And you know, this image has been done before in several murals. But with the Dodger jersey, we wanted to throw a twist on it.”
Tsiboukas said: “That’s my favorite picture of him. I have the exact same one [painted at the restaurant location] in Arcadia. He’s wearing the real jersey, though, the yellow one. So I wanted a replica of that same one I did in Arcadia, and do it in a Dodger jersey, because of the Dodger dynasty right now.”
The purple and gold may have been removed from the jersey, but Zermeño said he purposefully incorporated them into the sunset depicted behind Bryant as a nod to the Lakers.
Zermeño started working on the mural Aug. 7 and expects to have it completed next week, ahead of Bryant’s Aug. 23 birthday. The portion featuring Bryant is already done — and it has garnered mixed reactions.
“For the most part, I’ve gotten a pretty positive reaction over it,” Zermeño said. “You know, a lot of Laker fans are also Dodger fans, so I think that overlap is pretty consistent throughout L.A. But yeah, man, you’re always going to have some haters. I think a lot of it is more like playful taunting. …
“A couple of people driving by — I think they’re just trying to be funny, making a joke, like yelling ‘He didn’t play for the Dodgers!’ or like, ‘He was a Laker!’ And then some people are just curious why I made that change. I think the people that are curious are older, some of the older crowd that, I guess, doesn’t understand why I would switch it, you know?”
Tsiboukas said he has seen a lot of online discussion about it, including on the popular kobemural Instagram page.
“Maybe 70% love it, and 30% are like, ‘That looks like a Clipper jersey,'” Tsiboukas said. “It’s causing a lot of friction back and forth, but it’s good topic. It’s raising awareness. It’s keeping Kobe’s legacy alive.”
Gustavo Zermeño Jr. hand paints part of Mookie Betts’ mouth onto his Dodgers mural outside the future Eat Fantastic restaurant in Redondo Beach. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy, holding a Dodger Dog toy in his mouth, are depicted in a new mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. (Chuck Schilken / Los Angeles Times)
Zermeño said he doesn’t mind the discourse over his artwork.
“It just, it sparks that conversation,” he said. “So regardless of whether people like it or not, I think it kind of breaks the ice for people to come up and ask questions and learn more about why we created it, and the process of putting it together. …
“It’s art, you know, and art’s meant to kind of create some type of conversation. And if we were to put him with a regular jersey, people would have been like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, but it’s been done X amount of times,’ you know? I’ve seen that photo in at least five different murals. So, yeah, I think switching it up definitely — I don’t want to say it elevated the piece, but it definitely created more conversation than there would be if we just kept the original jersey.”
Dodgers third base Max Muncy sits in the dugout during a game against the Chicago White Sox on July 3. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Ahead of their biggest series of the season, the Dodgers suffered another significant injury blow.
Third baseman Max Muncy was placed on the injured list with a Grade 1 right oblique strain ahead of the team’s pivotal divisional matchup against the San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers are hopeful Muncy’s injury — which manager Dave Roberts said was similar to, but more mild, than the oblique and rib problem that sidelined him for much of last year — won’t be season ending.
However, Muncy will be out for at least several weeks, with Roberts offering no firm timetable beyond that.
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers claimed infielder Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.
The last time the Dodgers lost Muncy, to a knee injury in early July that kept him out for about a month, their offense cratered.
Before that point, the team had led the majors in scoring. But over the 25 games he missed, they ranked last.
That sequence served as a reminder of Muncy’s importance to the team. Even after a slow start this year, he was hitting .258 with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs in 89 games.
