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French giants Paris Saint Germain will lock horns against two-time Champions League winners Manchester United in the opening match of the knockouts stage. When the draws were announced two months ago, nearly every football watcher predicted this fixture to be a one-sided affair in favor of PSG. But fast forward to February, and the result is not so obvious. Manchester United are suddenly on a dream run, and look set to give PSG a run for their money....

It was an eventful summer for the Spanish heavyweights, who welcomed Frenkie de Jong, Antoine Griezmann, Junior Firpo, and Neto. Ernesto Valverde has reinforced his side to a certain extent, but there are still flaws remaining unfixed in this squad. This inadequacy was brought to light by Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna, who have already made Barca drop points this LaLiga campaign. Currently with two victories out of four in the domestic league, the Blaugrana will be hoping for a change in their fortunes....

Among the swarms of supporters currently thronging the capital of Ukraine, there are plenty from India as well. Just like the upcoming World Cup in Russia, Indians are going the extra mile by making the long journey to follow their favourite teams. Back home in India, supporters are leaving no stone unturned to make Saturday night’s fixture between two iconic teams a memorable occasion. Both Liverpool and Real Madrid’s global support is immense and the story is no different in India too....

The seven fighters are Chael Sonnen, Chris Leben, Forrest Griffin, James Irvin, Nate Marquardt, Stephen Bonnar and Vitor Belfort with Silva defeating all of those guys by stoppage. The issue of performance enhancing drugs has been a hot topic in the sport and Silva told MMAJunkie.com that it is still a major problem in MMA. “This is not bad for me, this is bad for the sport,” Silva told MMAJunkie....

As always in MMA, there are many ways to win and lose. I always first try to make a case for the underdog. Cariaso does have a win over the always-tough Takeya Mizugaki but has been defeated by John Moraga and former bantamweight champion Renan Barao. I don’t see Cariaso pulling off the big upset here, but I never argue with anyone who wants to throw a few bucks on a huge underdog....

More money and more people recognize you. It is how you handle the responsibility of being champion. Some stay the same or you can go down the road of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. MORE: Five reasons to watch UFC 189 | Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes | Lawler-McDonald pick Robbie Lawler has avoided Jones’s failings as he heads into his first welterweight title defense. He faces Rory MacDonald in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 189....

Case in point: Saturday’s UFC 227 main event between bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt. At UFC 217 in November, after nearly getting stopped in the first round, Dillashaw bounced back in the second round to knock Garbrandt out. The UFC attempted to book a superfight with Dillashaw and flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. However, the fight didn’t materialize because Johnson needed to have shoulder surgery. Instead of going with rightful contenders Marlon Moreas or Raphael Assuncao, the UFC unexpectedly went right back to Garbrandt....

The tirade propelled McGregor into an instant trending topic on Twitter, but it’s what “The Notorious One” said while engaged in a staredown with Nurmagomedov after the conference that especially has people talking. MORE: Join DAZN and watch Bellator 206 for free While locking eyes with his prospective UFC 229 opponent, McGregor briefly diverted his attention to Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz. “Shut your mouth, Ali Abdelaziz! You terrorist! You terrorist snitch!...

The Sporting News staff makes their picks for every fight on the main card. MORE: Is Conor McGregor the greatest MMA fighter of all time if he beats Khabib Nurmagomedov? Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) vs. Conor McGregor for the UFC lightweight championship Andreas Hale Conor McGregor def. Khabib Nurmagomedov via 2nd round KO Plain and simple, I don’t bet against Conor McGregor. It’s not because of his mouth, but his discipline and ability inside of the Octagon....

UFC referred to Nunes as “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” - a moniker associated primarily with former MMA fighter Ronda Rousey. In case you didn’t know… Nunes defeated Cyborg via knockout in less than a minute at UFC 232 and became the first dual women’s champion in company history. Her victory over Cyborg comes two years after defeating Rousey at UFC 207, which led to Rousey leaving MMA and transitioning into her current career as a professional wrestler....

Out of Gane’s total strikes, 98 were counted as significant whereas all of Lewis’ 16 strikes were considered significant in the fight. The statistics are proof that the French fighter completely outclassed ‘The Black Beast’ and rightly won the interim heavyweight title by finishing Lewis in the third round. In the co-main event of UFC 265, Jose Aldo showed that he belongs in the bantamweight division as he defeated Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision....

The co-main event of UFC 266 will feature a championship bout between flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko and No.3-ranked contender Lauren Murphy. A heavyweight clash between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Curtis Blaydes will also feature on the main card of the event. A flyweight showdown between Jessica Andrade and Cynthia Calvillo will also go down at the event. Both fighters will be looking to put themselves back in the win column with a victory at UFC 266....

As reported by Ariel Helwani, sources claim that Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler 2 will be contested in the middleweight division. Helwani highlighted that the exact reason behind this change is yet to be officially confirmed. Apart from the change of weight classes, other stipulations surrounding the fight remain unchanged. The Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler rematch at UFC 266 was initially scheduled to be a five-round non-title welterweight (170 pounds) bout....

Speaking to media following his bout, Curtis requested people tweet in support of him so that he gets the Performance of the Night bonus from Dana White. Watch Chris Curtis speak at the UFC 268 post-fight press conference below: ‘The Action Man’ holds a 27-8 record in his professional MMA career and it took him over ten years to finally fight in the UFC. Chris Curtis ended Phil Hawes’ seven-fight winning streak at UFC 268 34-year-old Chris Curtis was initially on the backfoot against Phil Hawes at UFC 268....

Sweden’s Hermansson, currently the number four-ranked contender at 185-pounds, was initially supposed to face Darren Till. However, Till was forced to pull out of the bout due to injury. Kevin Holland stepped in to replace Till, but also had to pull out after testing positive for COVID-19. Stepping up on short notice to face Hermansson will be Vettori, who is looking to crack the top 10 in the middleweight rankings....

Featherweight Bout (Main Event) - Renato Moicano vs. Chan Sung Jung Emerging from the land of the bruised, Renato and Chan both share a history of defeats from Jose Aldo and Yair Rodriguez respectively, which they aim to reverse this time. This comeback fight is marking Jung’s third fight in nearly six years despite his injuries and military service, while Moicano who has been ever phenomenal in the Octagon is looking to recoup some of the momentum he lost in February....

“I’ve seen a bunch of things he’s been saying,” Iaquinta told Sporting News. “I’ve seen it on Twitter. I really haven’t listened to any of the interviews. What everyone tells me is that he’s not too intelligent. When I hear that from everybody, I’m not taking anything he says too seriously. I think there’s one of two things he’s trying to do. He’s saying fight like a man. I have three knockouts in my last three fights....

The article makes it clear that it isn’t as if there aren’t any contenders in the division. You have Deiveson Figueiredo, who would have been the division champion had he not missed weight at UFC Norfolk. Then there’s the grand old man of the division Joseph Benavidez, who has a record deeper than some champions UFC has seen. You also have the-young-blood Brandon Moreno, who defeated Jussier Formiga in his last fight....

However, his most memorable and prominent win was easily the one on the night of UFC 199. The night where he locked horns against long-time rival and then champion, Luke Rockhold. Micahel Bisping was taking the fight on very short notice as former-champion, Chris Weidman had pulled out of the fight citing an injury. No one was expected Michael Bisping to take the win because primarily he simply didn’t have a training camp behind him and in his last fight, against Anderson Silva, he didn’t come across looking strong....

Adesanya had a tremendous year, debuting in February with a win over Rob Wilkinson, adding decision victories over Marvin Vettori (on FOX) and Brad Tavares (in an FS1 main event) before closing out his rookie season in the Octagon with a first-round stoppage win over Derek Brunson in the opening bout of this year’s annual trip to Madison Square Garden. Join DAZN and watch more than 100 fight nights a year...