Tom Aspinall hopes to ‘get rid of Ciryl Gane from the title picture’ at UFC 321

Tom Aspinall is finally set to return to action following a lengthy and frustrating layoff.

It was announced Tuesday that he will defend the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October and Aspinall reacted to the matchup in a video blog Wednesday.

This will be Gane’s third attempt to win an undisputed UFC title and Aspinall said: “We are going to try and get rid of Ciryl Gane from the title picture for good.”

Aspinall explained the pair were previously matched up early in their career, before either were ranked contenders, but alleged Gane turned down the fight.

Then, in 2023, following a 73-second technical knockout win over Marcin Tybura, Aspinall said in his post-fight interview that he was going to sit front row for Gane’s main event tilt with Serghei Spivac in France later that year, then he was going to beat the winner of that fight before moving on to face then-champion Jon Jones.

That didn’t come to fruition, though, as “Ciryl turned down the fight on a second occasion,” according to Aspinall who also said the original plan for UFC 304 last summer in Manchester, England, was for him to fight Gane but a scheduling conflict prevented Gane from competing on that card.

Aspinall, who won an interim heavyweight title in November 2023 at UFC 295 before eventually defending it against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, has been out of action for the past year. The reason for this, as fight fans are well aware by now, is because of Jon Jones’s unwillingness to fight Aspinall when Aspinall was the interim champ and Jones held the “undisputed” belt.

Jones announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in June — however he has since seemingly rescinded that decision and re-entered the UFC’s testing pool — and Aspinall was promoted to undisputed champion.

“Confidence level’s great,” Aspinall said. “I believe that — well, I am the best heavyweight in the world, but I want to show that I’m the best heavyweight in the world. Ciryl Gane’s lost two title shots and I want to give him his third title shot loss and get him out of there.”

Gane is a former interim titleholder who won a belt in August 2021 when he defeated Derrick Lewis while then-champ Francis Ngannou was sidelined. It was a peculiar decision at the time for the UFC to introduce an interim title. In the unification matchup that followed, Gane lost a unanimous decision to an injured Ngannou, who competed with damaged knee ligaments, in January 2022 at UFC 270. Gane later lost a vacant title fight to Jones after Ngannou left the UFC following a contract dispute.

By the time UFC 321 takes place, it will have been 15 months since Aspinall last fought, but the 32-year-old English star said he isn’t concerned about being rusty because he has had multiple extended layoffs already during his career and it didn’t bother him. 

“We can expect an improved version of me,” Aspinall said. “I’ve had a year to train. I’ve had a year to test my skills and improve and I’m going to show everyone what that’s all about.”

Aspinall lost twice early in his MMA career — once by submission in 2015 in his fourth pro bout and once via disqualification in 2016 — but his only setback since his DQ loss was when he blew out his knee just 15 seconds into his 2022 Fight Night main event with Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall avenged that loss to Blaydes last year with a 60-second knockout. Aspinall is 8-1 in the UFC with all of his wins coming by stoppage and only one of his fights making it to the second round.

“I think me and Ciryl both have very niche styles for heavyweight,” Aspinall said of his upcoming matchup. “We don’t fight like heavyweights, both of us, so this could be the fastest, the best-moving heavyweight fights that anybody’s ever seen. We’re both great movers, we’re both light on our feet, we’re both elusive, so this is going to be great.”

Gane has won his past two fights and is the No. 1-ranked contender, however, the 35-year-old from France is coming off a controversial split decision win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 310 in December — a fight the overwhelming majority of fans and pundits thought Volkov had won.

UFC 321 takes place Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi and also features a heavyweight matchup between Volkov and rising star Jailton Almeida in what is expected to be a title eliminator with the winner facing the winner of Aspinall-Gane.

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Legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan passes away at age 71

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing icon in the world of professional wrestling, has died at the age of 71, Florida police and WWE said Thursday.

In Clearwater, Florida, authorities responded to a call Thursday morning about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said in a statement on Facebook. 

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.

He won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 posted a video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. He contended the post violated his privacy.

Hogan smiled and wore black throughout the three-week trial.

“Everywhere I show up, people treat me like I’m still the champ,” he said of the support from fans.

WWE posted a note on X saying it was saddened to learn about Hogan’s death.

“One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans,” it said.

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England breaks Italy’s hearts in extra time to advance to Euro 2025 final

GENEVA — England is living on the brink and has survived another near-inevitable elimination all the way to another Women’s European Championship final.

The defending champion broke Italy’s hearts — twice — in a 2-1 win after extra time in their semifinal on Tuesday.

Chloe Kelly scored the decisive goal in the 119th minute, shooting home the rebound only after Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani saved her penalty kick. 

Italy was forced into extra time only because another substitute, Michelle Agyemang, leveled the game deep into stoppage time.

Kelly and Agyemang also were crucial for England in another great escape in the quarterfinals against Sweden.

It was all so cruel on unheralded Italy which had led since Barbara Bonansea’s rasping volleyed shot in the 33rd minute.

England will now defend its title in Sunday’s final in Basel against either Spain or Germany. Spain and Germany meet Wednesday in Zurich.

For the second time in six days, England had stared down what looked an inevitable exit and survived into extra time.

Italy would have been a worthy winner just for the immense defending of central backs Elena Linari and Cecilia Salvai.

But Agyemang fired in a low shot after Giuliani spilled a cross in a rare handling error. The ball arrowed toward the net cruelly through the legs of both Linari and Giuliani. 

Teenage substitute Agyemang also had scored a crucial late equalizing goal in England’s quarterfinal win over Sweden. England had trailed 2-0 after 78 minutes, then survived a chaotic penalty shootout.

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Italy’s Milan wins his second Tour de France stage as Pogacar keeps overall lead

VALENCE, France — Sprint specialist Jonathan Milan pounced at the finish to win the 17th stage of the Tour de France after a crash in the last kilometre derailed rivals’ hopes on Wednesday.

Italian rider Milan, the green jersey holder, consolidated his lead in the points classification with an explosive finish to get his wheel just over the line ahead of Jordi Meeus, Tobias Lund Andresen, Arnaud De Lie, Davide Ballerini and others in a rain-soaked sprint finale.

It’s Milan’s second stage win of the Tour after his victory in similar fashion in Laval on Saturday.

But it was arguably more dramatic with rival sprinter Tim Merlier and others involved in a crash under the “flamme rouge” — the triangular red banner over the road signaling the final kilometer.

“The last 25 kilometres were really, really, fast,” said Merlier, who finished 25th, more than a minute behind. “I think I did a mistake. I took one roundabout on the wrong side and I lost a lot of positions. And then I knew I needed to move up. The moment I wanted to move up, I crashed.”

Milan was in trouble earlier in the stage when the peloton split into two groups, finding himself in the second one. He had Lidl-Trek teammates Quinn Simmons and Jasper Stuyven to thank for dropping back to help.

“I didn’t survive alone, I survived with the help of my teammates and I have to appreciate this. Without them, I would still be on one of the climbs, I wouldn’t be here,” said Milan, who clocked 71.1 k.m.h. and is the first Italian to win two stages in the same Tour since Vincenzo Nibali in 2014.

There was no change atop the overall standings with three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar maintaining his lead of 4 minutes, 15 seconds over main rival Jonas Vingegaard.

Milan stretched his lead in the points standings to 312, with Pogačar next on 240.

There were attacks from the start Wednesday with Jonas Abrahamsen, Wout van Aert and others all agitating to get away on the largely flat 160.4-kilometre route from Bollène.

Four – Abrahamsen, Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher and Mathieu Burgaudeau – managed to escape and led for most of the stage.

Abrahamsen, who won Stage 11 after Pogačar crashed near the finish last week, went on his own with 11.5 kilometers to go,

But the gap was getting smaller and smaller as Tim Wellens drove the bunch, followed by UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates Pavel Sivakov and Pogačar.

Abrahamsen was swallowed up by the bunch inside the 5-kilometre sprint finish. He dropped back and received an encouraging pat on the back from a teammate.

Thursday’s stage

The fun’s over for the sprinters as the Tour heads to the Alps with Stage 18 taking the riders 171.1 kilometres from Vif to a mountain-top finish on the 2,304-metre Col de la Loze above Courchevel. It’s arguably the toughest stage of the Tour with 5,500 metres of vertical gain including the 1,914-metre Col du Glandon. Then there’s a 19.2-kilometre climb at 7.9 per cent to the Col de la Madeleine, where the riders will reach 2,000 metres for the first time. It won’t be the last time on Thursday, which could provide another opportunity for Vingegaard to test Pogačar.

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NHL, Serie A announce partnership ahead of Milano-Cortina Olympics

The NHL and NHLPA announced a content partnership with top-flight Italian soccer league Lega Serie A on Tuesday ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

NHL players will return to Olympic ice for the first time since 2014 when the men’s hockey tournament begins Feb. 11 in Milan.

The NHL-Serie A partnership involves multiple promotional activities.

Serie A stars and past greats will join NHL players for events during the NHL/NHLPA European player media tour in Milan on Aug. 22, one day before the 2025-26 season begins in Italy’s top soccer league.

NHL players, meanwhile, will visit the training grounds of several Serie A clubs and attend a match at Milan’s San Siro stadium, home to AC Milan and Inter Milan.

The NHL said a jersey exchange between Serie A greats Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi, and New York Rangers centre Mika Zibanejad at Madison Square Garden in March sparked the “first-of-its-kind” partnership between a North American pro league and European soccer league.

“As a global sport with players from 21 countries, the NHL is thrilled to collaborate with Lega Serie A to create unique content that celebrates the intersection of hockey and soccer,” said Keith Wachtel, President, NHL Business, in a statement. “With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, Milan will serve as a focal point for sports fans around the world, so we are delighted to take the opportunity to promote our top hockey players in the environments of the biggest sport in Italy.

“We look forward to working with Lega Serie A to deliver world-class events highlighting both leagues’ history, heritage, and shared culture.”

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U.S. Olympic, Paralympic officials bar transgender women from competing in Olympic women’s sports

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under “USOPC Athlete Safety Policy” and references Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to “rescind all funds” from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women’s sports.

U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that “the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” since Trump signed the order.

“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”

The National Women’s Law Center put out a statement condemning the move.

“By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,” said that organization’s president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves.

The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs.

Some of those organizations — for instance, USA Track and Field — have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump’s order.

A USA Swimming spokesman said the federation had been made aware of the USOPC’s change and was consulting with the committee to figure out what changes it needs to make. USA Fencing changed its policy effective Aug. 1 to allow only “athletes who are of the female sex” in women’s competition and opening men’s events to “all athletes not eligible for the women’s category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes.”

The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls’ and women’s sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court after critics challenged the policies as discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes.

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.

Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to “protect the female category.” The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics — and some have already taken steps on the topic.

Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women’s events anyone who went through male puberty — have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone.

Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.” Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028.

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Scottie Scheffler comparisons closer to Jack Nicklaus than Tiger Woods

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Even with four majors, three legs of the Grand Slam and 20 victories around the world, it’s a little early to be making Scottie Scheffler comparisons. And yes, it’s a bit silly.

But one moment is worth noting.

His four-shot victory at the British Open complete, Scheffler saw 15-month-old son Bennett coming toward him on the 18th green at Royal Portrush. The toddler face-planted going up the slope. Scheffler eventually scooped him into his left arm, his right hand holding the claret jug.

This was pure joy.

It was reminiscent of Canterbury in the 1973 PGA Championship. Jack Nicklaus, who that week broke the record for most major titles, was coming off the 18th green after the second round when four-year-old son Gary ran out to meet him. The Golden Bear carried off his cub.

“My favourite photo in golf,” Nicklaus said years later in a Facebook post that he ended by saying, “Family first, golf second.”

Sound familiar?

“He plays a lot like I did,” Nicklaus said in late May at the Memorial, and perhaps that’s where any similarities should start.

Comparisons with Tiger Woods are natural because they are separated by a generation, and no one has been this dominant for such a long stretch since Woods. Scheffler has stayed at No. 1 for the last two years and two months.

But their games, their styles, their paths are not all that similar.

Everyone saw Woods coming when he was on “The Mike Douglas Show” at age two, when he won the Junior Worlds six times and both the U.S. Junior and the U.S. Amateur three straight times. He made a hole-in-one in his pro debut. He won his first PGA Tour event in his fifth start.

Scheffler spent his first year as a pro on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I played with him a lot in college, and he was not that good,” Bryson DeChambeau said with a laugh. He now refers to Scheffler as being “in a league of his own.”

Woods was all about power and putting. Scheffler is fairways and greens.

Woods was overwhelming, winning the Masters by 12 shots, the U.S. Open by 15 and the British Open at St. Andrews by eight for the career Grand Slam at age 24.

Scheffler is relentless. He can take the drama out of a major without notice. He’s the first player to win each of his first four majors by at least three shots since J.H. Taylor more than a century ago, when the British Open was the only major and had fields smaller than a signature event.

Nicklaus picked up on this at the Memorial without ever talking to Scheffler about it.

Before the tournament, Nicklaus spoke about his approach to golf — more emphasis on the tee shot (left-to-right shape, like Scheffler) and the approach, less dependence on putting for a good score. And when he got the lead, Nicklaus did what was required.

Scheffler won that week by four shots.

“Once I got myself into position to win, then you’ve got to be smart about how you finish it,” Nicklaus said. “And that’s the way he’s playing. He reminds me so much of the way I like to play.”

Scheffler was quick to point out he was just over one-fourth of the way to matching Woods’ 15 majors (and his 82 tour wins, for that matter).

Scheffler most likely can never reach his appeal. Woods was special, a corporate dream. He came back to win at Pebble Beach when trailing by seven with seven holes to play. Fans didn’t dare turn away without fear of missing a shot they might never see again.

Scheffler won the British Open and mentioned Chipotle.

He was trying to explain, as he did when he first reached No. 1 in 2022, that golf doesn’t define him. That’s what was lost in his remarkable monologue earlier in the week at Royal Portrush. The joy comes from getting to play, getting to work, getting better. The goal is to win. And then he goes home to a wife and son.

He is about faith, family and then golf. Fame isn’t part of the equation.

Scheffler mentioned two Chipotle restaurants at home in Dallas. He can no longer go to one of them because he is recognized. At the other one he’s just a guy at the counter trying to decide if he wants extra guacamole.

“I try to live as normal of a life as possible because I feel like a normal guy,” he said. “I have the same friends I had growing up. I don’t think that I’m anything special just because some weeks I’m better at shooting a lower score than other guys are.”

There was one other Scheffler comparison. Nicklaus doesn’t believe he could have achieved all that he did without his wife, Barbara, whom he honoured this year at the Memorial and who is universally regarded as the first lady of golf.

Nicklaus played his 164th and final major at St. Andrews in 2005 and said that week: “I’m not really concerned about what my legacy is in relation to the game of golf, frankly. I’m more concerned with what my legacy is with my family, with my kids and my grandkids. That’s by far more important to me.”

Scheffler’s emotions began to pour out at Royal Portrush only when he saw Meredith, the girl he first met as a high school freshman and finally dated as a senior.

He made his PGA Tour debut at the Byron Nelson that year at 17. He recalled being at her house the week before when a promotion about the tournament came on TV. Meredith said to him: “Wait a minute. Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

Scheffler said she’s a fast learner.

“Every time I’m able to win a tournament, the first person I always look for is my wife,” he said Sunday. “She knows me better than anybody. That’s my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to become good at this game, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support.”

To the rest of golf world, he’s the No. 1 player in the world, now the “champion golfer of the year.” Fame won’t escape him now, even if it doesn’t define him.

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