Sports

James Slipper described it as clunky; Dave Rennie said the performance was rusty and frustrating. Yet the Wallabies still made it five straight wins as they defeated Japan 32-23 to get their spring tour off on the right foot on Saturday afternoon. But no one should be reaching for the celebratory sake, particularly when far

7:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Khamzat Chimaev will compete in his fourth UFC fight on Saturday at UFC 267 (10:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+). He is 3-0 inside the Octagon, 9-0 overall in his MMA career. He has finished every opponent, six of them in the first round. He has never seen a Round 3.

1:41 AM ET Shakur Stevenson talked up his intentions for weeks ahead of his title opportunity against Jamel Herring. He spoke about his goals to showcase his ability to be aggressive and do more than offer a second consecutive lackluster performance. On Saturday night, Stevenson backed up all of his talk and won the WBO

5:22 AM ET Associated Press CHIBA, Japan — Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had three birdies in five holes on the back nine and eagled the 18th for good measure for a 5-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship on Sunday. It was Matsuyama’s first PGA Tour win in his native Japan, although he has

3:14 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The Lakers‘ rocky start to the season continued with teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard getting involved in a heated exchange in the first half of Friday’s 115-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Amid a 27-11 run by Phoenix to take a 13-point halftime lead, Howard and Davis had

4:44 PM ET ASHBURN, Va. — One of the House Democrats who sent a letter to the NFL seeking more information about its investigation into the Washington Football Team‘s workplace culture says he fears Jon Gruden’s emails are the “tip of the iceberg.” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., told ESPN that the representatives wanted to get

7:00 AM ET NEW ORLEANS — When Texas coach Steve Sarkisian connected with one of the country’s most famous high school football players on FaceTime one afternoon in July, he couldn’t hear the prospect because of a pinging noise in the background. “Are you at an arcade?” Sarkisian asked. “Where are you?” “Coach, it’s kind

9:00 AM ET The Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has been quite the soap opera. But nothing in that saga was as odious and contentious as when the Sabres announced they were stripping their franchise player of his captaincy. “From our perspective and my perspective, I feel the captain is the heartbeat of your team,”

12:00 AM ET BOSTON — Sisu. It’s a Finnish word that, according to Finland’s tourism website, typifies the enduring spirit of all Finns: “stoic determination, hardiness, courage, bravery, willpower, tenacity and resilience.” It’s also the word Houston Astros pitching coach Brent Strom used with his pitchers in a meeting before Game 4 of the American

6:25 PM ET MADRID — When you’re hot, you’re hot, and nobody in world football is hotter than Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah right now. Sometimes players hit such a rich vein of form that they catch every break and enjoy whatever slice of luck goes their way — and then there are those like Antoine Griezmann,

11:06 AM BST South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber had earmarked a role for flyhalf Morne Steyn at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France but respects his decision to retire from the international game. Steyn announced on Tuesday that he would no longer be available for the Springboks, bringing to an end a 12-year international

6:51 PM ET Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR’s season finale with a dominating victory at Texas on Sunday to start the round of eight in the playoffs. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 1 1/2-mile track and got his eighth win

11:42 AM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bob Baffert can enter horses in the Breeders’ Cup next month at Del Mar, but the event’s all-time money-leading trainer has to meet certain conditions, including stricter out-of-competition testing of his horses and greater security at his barn. The conditions are the result of a review by

7:49 AM ET Last week, the UFC announced that top-10 welterweights Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will meet on Dec. 11. This announcement was a long time coming — as in, more than 2½ years. It was way back in March 2019 that Edwards and Masvidal had a confrontation backstage after both had won bouts

8:03 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Paula Badosa edged Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open in her debut in the Southern California desert, where the tournament returned after a 2 1/2-year absence because of the coronavirus. She joined Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and

5:56 PM ET Associated Press CARY, N.C. — Lee Janzen made a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Miguel Angel Jimenez on Sunday to win the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship. The 57-year-old Janzen also birdied the par-4 18th in regulation in a closing 5-under 67 in the regular-season finale.

11:59 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN In one of the biggest boxing upsets in recent memory, Spaniard Sandor Martin scored a majority-decision victory over former four-division champion Mikey Garcia on Saturday in Fresno, California. Martin (39-2, 13 KOs) had never competed on the world-level before; this was his first bout outside the U.S. He was meant

7:32 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Cameron Norrie beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday in an 86-minute semifinal at the BNP Paribas Open, which will crown the first men’s winner ranked outside the Top 25 since 2010. The combined ATP and WTA tournament has been rife with upsets during its two-week

8:00 AM ET FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES before tipoff at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook take the court for a joint workout that Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy guides. “We’ve been tied at the hip, pretty much, since we made the acquisition,” James says of Westbrook at media day. “We’re

6:45 AM ET ESPN staff The Week 6 NFL schedule for the 2021 season is stacked with great matchups, and we got you covered with what you need to know heading into the weekend. Our NFL Nation reporters bring us the biggest keys to every game, a bold prediction for each matchup and, of course,