Sports
UFC Fight Night 250: Adesanya-Imavov vie for title shot in Saudi Arabia
Sep 9, 2023; Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA; Israel Adesanya reacts during his fight with Sean Strickland (not pictured) in UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images The UFC returns to Saudi Arabia with Fight Night 250 on Saturday night, with the main event at ANB Arena in Riyadh pitting former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against rising contender Nassourdine Imavov.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) is a two-time title holder in the 185-pound weight class and enters as the No. 3 middleweight fighter, but he has also dropped three of his past five fights. Imavov (15-4, 7-2) is ranked No. 8, having won three consecutive fights.
This is the first time Adesanya has fought in a non-title bout since UFC 234 nearly six years ago, but that’s the position the 35-year-old finds himself as he attempts to rebound from losses to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. He opened as the -185 favorite at BetMGM, where Adesanya has been backed by 62 percent of the total bets while seeing his odds shift to -170.
“Just because there’s not a belt on the line, I don’t want to diminish this fight like it’s not important,” Adesanya said this week, per MMAJunkie.com. “This is still an important fight for me. Again, I’m saying I’m doing this for myself. I’m kind of being selfish.
“Like, I fight for myself, I fight for my team, my family, and my real fans, but this one I’m putting myself first. I’m trying to do this one for myself, so it’s really important to me.”
Imavov is unbeaten in his past four trips inside the Octagon, and his lone loss in his past eight fights was in a short-notice light heavyweight bout against Strickland.
This is a critical bout for both fighters in their effort to position themselves for a crack at the title, with Du Plessis putting his title on the line against Strickland in Sydney next week.
Imavov has drawn 59 percent of the money as the +140 underdog Saturday night. He’s looking for his fourth win in a calendar year, which he hopes would push him past Khamzat Chimaev as the No. 1 contender.
“I think (Adesanya is) going to come very focused, very hungry,” Imavov said through an interpreter. “Even though I don’t focus too much on him, I focus more on myself, what I’m going to do, the shape I’m going to be in the fight, and I hope he’s going to be in the best shape so I can beat the best Israel Adesanya.”
OTHER MAIN CARD FIGHTS
SHARA MAGOMEDOV (15-0, 4-0) vs. MICHAEL PAGE (22-3, 1-1)
The 30-year-old Magomedov knocked out Armen Petrosyan in his most recent fight to run his promotion record to 4-0 following wins over Bruno Silva, Antonio Trocoli and Michal Oleksiejczuk. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Page scored a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland before losing to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303.
Magomedov is the -185 favorite, having drawn 70 percent of the money while the total bets have been nearly split with Rozenstruik (+260)
SERGEI PAVLOVICH (18-3, 6-3) vs. JAIRZINHO ROZENSTRUIK (15-5, 9-5)
The battle of top-10 heavyweights sees Pavlovich attempting to snap a two-fight skid while Rozenstruik enters Saturday riding a two-fight winning streak.
Pavlovich is the heavy -325 favorite despite losses to Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov, and has been backed by 62 percent of the money at -325. Meanwhile, Rozenstruik has drawn 78 percent of the total bets at +260 as he looks to build on wins over Shamil Gazievto and Tai Tuivasa.
SAID NURMAGOMEDOV (18-3, 7-2) vs. VINICIUS OLIVEIRA (21-3, 2-0)
This is one of the most anticipated fights on the card as a pair of bantamweights seek an impressive victory.
When Nurmagomedov returns to the Octagon for the first time since beating Muin Gufurov 15 months ago, he’ll do so against the rising Oliveira. A graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series, Oliveira has defeated Benardo Sopaj and Ricky Simpon to kick off his UFC career.
The 32-year-old Nurmagomedov is the -160 favorite, but it’s Oliveira at +135 who has been backed by 65 percent of the total bets while the money wagered on the fight has been nearly split.
FARES ZIAM (16-4, 6-2) vs. MIKE DAVIS (11-2, 4-1)
Ziam, 27, is riding a four-fight win streak, most recently knocking out Frevola in the third round. Davis has also won four consecutive fights, including a second round submission of Natan Levy last March.
Davis opened as the -275 favorite but has seen those odds shrink to -140 while Ziam has been backed by 51 percent of the bets and 52 percent of the money.
MUHAMMAD NAIMOV (11-3, 3-1 ) vs. KAAN OFLI (11-3-1, 4-1)
The main card kicks off with a featherweight fight. Naimov is coming off a short-notice stoppage defeat to Felipe Lima after three wins to begin his UFC career, while the former Ultimate Fighter 32 contestant Ofli was stopped by Mairon Santos in August.
It’s an important fight for both as they attempt to rise the contender rankings. Naimov has drawn a whopping 91 percent of the money as the -350 favorite to hand Ofli (+275) a second consecutive defeat.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Falcons, BetBoom Team start fast at Wallachia Season 8
Xtreme Gaming, PARIVISION, Team Falcons and BetBoom Team won in sweeps as the PGL Wallachia Season 8 group stage opened on Saturday in Bucharest, Romania.
Other winners, by 2-1 scores, were Team Spirit, Team Liquid Aurora Gaming and HEROIC.
The $1 million Dota 2 tournament began Saturday with the 16-team group stage, which concludes Wednesday. Eight teams advance to the double-elimination playoffs on April 23-26. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
Xtreme Gaming knocked off Natus Vincere in 44 and 34 minutes, both on green. PARIVISION took down MOUZ in 26 and 43 minutes, both on green.
BetBoom Team swept Virtus.pro in 34 and 40 minutes, both on green. Team Falcons dispatched Team Yandex in 49 minutes on green and 36 minutes on red.
Team Spirit dropped its opening map on green in 33 minutes to Vici Gaming, then rallied with wins in 58 minutes on red and 38 minutes on green.
Team Liquid won in 46 minutes, fell to GamerLegion in 39 minutes, then won the deciding map in 48 minutes — all winning teams on red.
Aurora Gaming took the opener in 41 minutes on red, then South America Rejects drew even with a 24-minute victory on green before Aurora triumphed in 32 minutes on red.
HEROIC started fast in 32 minutes on green, then Tundra Esports won a marathon of 65 minutes on green before HEROIC won in 39 minutes on red.
Sunday’s Round 2 schedule for 1-0 teams:
–Xtreme Gaming vs. Aurora Gaming
–Team Liquid vs. BetBoom Team
–Team Spirit vs. Team Falcons
–PARIVISION vs. HEROIC
Round 2 for 0-1 teams
–Vici Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
–MOUZ vs. GamerLegion
–Team Yandex vs. South America Rejects
–Tundra Esports vs. Virtus.pro
PGL Wallachia Season 8 prize pool:
1. $300,000 — TBD
2. $175,000 — TBD
3. $120,000 — TBD
4. $80,000 — TBDt
5-6. $60,000 — TBD
7-8. $40,000 — TBD
9-11. $20,000 — TBD
12-14. $15,000 — TBD
15-16. $10,000 — TBD
–Field Level Media
Sports
Surge, Gentle Mates unbeaten in CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
The Paris Gentle Mates and Vancouver Surge are atop the standings at 2-0 after Saturday, the second day of qualifying for the Call of Duty League’s Stage 3.
The Surge outlasted the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-2, while Paris topped G2 Minnesota 3-1.
FaZe Vegas swept Boston Breach 3-0 to open play, and Toronto KOI got the better of the Riyadh Falcons 3-1 in the other match of the day.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the third major of the season, to be held May 15-17 as part of the DreamHack Atlanta event.
On Saturday, FaZe Vegas dominated Boston Breach, winning 250-98 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-3 on Fringe Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Scar Overload.
Toronto KOI started strong, winning 250-183 on Den Hardpoint and 6-2 on Plaza Search and Destroy before the Riyadh Falcons notched a 4-3 decision on Exposure Overload. Toronto closed out the match with a 250-179 victory on Sake Hardpoint.
The Paris Gentle Mates opened with a narrow 250-230 win on Sake Hardpoint before G2 Minnesota responded with a 6-4 win on Scar Search and Destroy. Paris edged Minnesota 6-5 on Den Overload before taking Colossus Hardpoint 250-157.
The Vancouver Surge emerged from a back-and-forth battle with the Carolina Royal Ravens. The Surge won on Sake Hardpoint (250-233) and Fringe Search and Destroy (6-1), then the Royal Ravens drew even with victories on Scar Overload (3-2) and Gridlock Hardpoint (250-223). Vancouver secured the victory with a 6-1 triumph on Plaza Search and Destroy.
Sunday’s schedule:
–Toronto KOI vs. Boston Breach
–Riyadh Falcons vs. FaZe Vegas
–OpTic Texas vs. Cloud9 New York
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying, with match record and map differential
T1. Paris Gentle Mates, 2-0, 6-2
T1. Vancouver Surge, 2-0, 6-2
3. FaZe Vegas, 1-0, 3-0
T4. Los Angeles Thieves, 1-0, 3-1
T4. Toronto KOI, 1-0, 3-1
T6. Cloud9 New York, 0-0, 0-0
T6. OpTic Texas, 0-0, 0-0
T8. Miami Heretics, 0-1, 1-3
T8. Riyadh Falcons, 0-1, 1-3
T10. Boston Breach, 0-1, 0-3
11. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0-2, 3-6
12. G2 Minnesota, 0-2, 1-6
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 remains unbeaten in Week 3 opener of LCS Spring
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Cloud9 improved to 3-0 and Sentinels earned their first win to kick off Week 3 of the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.
Cloud9, one of just two unbeaten teams left, swept Disguised 2-0 as Sentinels came away with a 2-1 win over FlyQuest.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 didn’t face much interference in its third straight victory, winning both games in 25 minutes over Disguised, which fell to 1-2. Robert “Blaber” Huang and Denmark’s Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen led the victory with very similar kill-death-assist ratios of 12-1-18 and 12-2-18, respectively.
Sentinels won the opener vs. FlyQuest in 30 minutes, lost the second game in 31 minutes and won the deciding third matchup in 39 minutes. Cho “Rahel” Min-seong of South Korea led the victory with a 20-4-13 K-D-A ratio.
Week 3 concludes Sunday with LYON facing Shopify Rebellion and Dignitas versus Team Liquid.
Regular season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
1. Cloud9, 3-0, 6-2
2. Team Liquid, 2-0, 4-1
3. LYON, 1-1, 3-3
4. Shopify Rebellion, 1-1, 2-2
5. FlyQuest, 1-2, 4-4
6. Sentinels, 1-2, 4-5
7. Disguised, 1-2, 2-5
8. Dignitas, 0-2, 1-4
–Field Level Media
Team Falcons, BetBoom Team start fast at Wallachia Season 8
Surge, Gentle Mates unbeaten in CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying
