Sports

7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But

3:34 PM GMT Premiership Rugby leaders Leicester Tigers have confirmed an investigation by the league into allegations of historical breaches of salary cap rules. The Times reported on Tuesday that the league’s salary cap director Andrew Rodgers is investigating a third-party company called Worldwide Image Management over payments made to Leicester players from the company.

12:44 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Brooklyn Nets announced Tuesday that Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and LaMarcus Aldridge had cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Aldridge has been in the protocols for two weeks, while Durant and Irving both entered them 10 days ago. Brooklyn had a massive COVID-19 outbreak across its roster, with

8:00 AM ET Every year in every sport brings ups and downs, memorable performances, the emergence of new stars. In mixed martial arts, the leading fight promotion, the UFC, has eight weight classes for men and four for women and ran 43 fight cards in 2021, making plenty of room available onstage for athletes to

5:49 AM ET Dominic Thiem has pulled out of next month’s Australian Open to work towards regaining full fitness after a long-standing wrist injury, the former world No. 3 said on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Austrian, who has not played since suffering the injury at the Mallorca Open in June, was unable to defend his U.S.

5:52 PM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers resumed practice Monday after a long holiday weekend without starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. That’s because Garoppolo suffered at least a right thumb sprain early in Thursday’s 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans. However, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Garoppolo is dealing

9:41 AM ET Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is headed to Oregon as the Ducks’ new head coach, but he’ll first call defensive plays for the Bulldogs in Friday’s game against Michigan in a College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. Lanning, 35, was hired as Oregon’s coach on Dec. 11 to

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

6:53 AM ET The World Junior Championship is a holiday hockey tradition like no other. And it should look a little different this year. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2021 tournament was moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and played in “bubble” conditions with no fans allowed to watch the proceedings. This year, Edmonton and Red Deer,

For the sixth consecutive year, ESPN presents its annual ranking of the best men’s players and coaches in world soccer! Welcome to FC 100. As always, rankings are broken down into Top 10 lists for positions, plus a countdown of managers, in order to present the most meaningful look at talent on the pitch and

5:40 PM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A deal for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to police drugs in horse racing cratered Thursday after months of negotiations that the agency’s CEO said did not give it “a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective program.” The USADA was set to become

2:08 AM ET UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans is returning from retirement — and now his opponent is set. Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, will face Gabriel Checco on the Eagle FC United States debut card Jan. 28 in Miami, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night. Eagle FC is the MMA promotion

8:00 AM ET Since it first opened its doors in 1999, Staples Center has played host to seven NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, four UFC pay-per-view cards, two Stanley Cup Finals and countless championship boxing matches. It was the home of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament for a decade and has seen multiple All-Star games

7:00 AM ET Carlos Correa is a generational talent. Carlos Correa is inconsistent and injury-prone. Carlos Correa is one of the best all-around players in the game. Carlos Correa is overrated. Carlos Correa is worth a $300 million contract. Carlos Correa is a risky investment. While MLB teams committed over $1.9 billion to 51 free

3:42 PM ET Associated Press KAPALUA, Hawai’i — Phil Mickelson is headed back to Hawai’i for golf, not a vacation, committing to play the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua for the first time in 21 years. Mickelson won the winners-only tournament at La Costa Resort in 1998, then has played only twice since it

4:30 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews that the league has no plans to suspend its season as COVID-19 surges through the league. “No plans right now to pause the season,” Silver said in an interview on NBA Today on Tuesday afternoon. “We have of course looked at all

7:15 AM ET EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was such a big game that Tony Soprano had to be there. He was seated at the 50-yard line, front row, up close and vocal. On Christmas Eve 2011, the New York Giants and New York Jets met in their quadrennial state championship at MetLife Stadium. For

8:12 AM ET The year in hockey 2021 began with a 56-game season, impacted the COVID-19 pandemic, that saw the league’s 31 teams realigned into four new divisions. It ends with the teams back in their usual divisions, although there are now 32 of them thanks to the Seattle Kraken. Oh, and it’s once again

7:00 AM ET Wan’Dale Robinson went from favorite son to public enemy No. 1 on Dec. 5, 2018, when he announced that after a year of being committed to Kentucky he was flipping to Nebraska. Never mind that he had his reasons, wanting to play in a more wide-open offense when, at the time, the

6:24 AM ET Rafael Nadal said on Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Spain after making his comeback from injury in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week. The 20-time Grand Slam champion said he was having some “unpleasant moments” but was hoping to feel better