MMA Fighting has UFC Vegas 98 results for the Royval vs. Taira fight card, a live blog for the main event, and more from UFC APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

In the main event, recent title challenger Brandon Royval hopes to hold on to his spot in the contender line when he fights the undefeated Tatsuro Taira. “Raw Dawg” bounced back from a disappointing loss to flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja with a narrow split decision win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno this past February.

Taira, who doesn’t turn 25 until January, has taken the UFC flyweight division by storm, winning his first six fights for the promotion to improve his overall record to 16-0. He scored the biggest win of his career in his most recent fight, defeating one-time title challenger Alex Perez when an injury ended Perez’s night in Round 2.

Royval is currently tied for the No. 2 spot at flyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Taira looking to climb up from No. 8.

In the penultimate bout of the evening, Brad Tavares makes his UFC middleweight record 25th appearance when he takes on “The Iron Turtle” Jun Yong Park.

Check out UFC Vegas 98 results below.

Main Card (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park

Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden

Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia

Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono

Preliminary Card (4 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

CJ Vergara vs. Ramazan Temirov

Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini

Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price

Julia Polastri vs. Cory McKenna

Junior Tafa vs. Sean Sharaf

Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon

Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

It is obvious why Finland’s most famous players – such as Sami Hyypia, Jari Litmanen and Teemu Pukki – aspired to play in a league as credible as the Premier League.

But what about British involvement in Finland – a nation that had not qualified for a major tournament until Euro 2020 – where ice hockey is typically seen as the biggest sport?

Twelve British players compares to none in the top leagues of Norway and Sweden, with eight each in France and Germany, and four in Spain.

IFK Mariehamn took a chance on Jayden Reid – who left Portsmouth last season after two years without making an appearance due to injury – while fellow winger Imani Lanquedoc is on loan at FC Haka from Fulham.

Luke Plange – who Crystal Palace signed for £1 million from a Derby County side battling relegation from the Championship under Wayne Rooney – has since played Champions League qualifying matches for HJK Helsinki.

HJK made a profit from selling last season’s Veikkausliiga top scorer, Bojan Radulovic, to the Championship, so might the club see an opportunity for more business later down the line?

“I think the clubs here assume that if English professionals are willing to come over, they are going to be decent quality,” said Cicale.

“Finnish football can be a very good platform for exhibiting your abilities – and perhaps if things haven’t gone in such a linear fashion throughout your career – it’s a good opportunity here to show what level you’re still at.”

Grieve’s view is that the Finnish league is a secure working environment for coaches – and it attracts a different type of player.

“It is not 100 mph like an EFL game, the technical level here is higher,” he explained.

“It is way more aggressive and more contact and a ‘free for all’ in Scotland or the lower leagues in England – it’s a different sport in all honesty.

“People who want to try and develop their career and develop a style of play might be more inclined to go somewhere like Finland.”

But Coffey has seen a chance to thrive as an unusual type of footballer in the Veikkausliiga.

“I’ve been kicked and pulled around by men in England, whereas in Sweden and Finland, the lads that I’m playing against are quite young,” he said.

“Technically, they’re very good players, but I feel like I’ve got a bit of an edge in terms of physicality and aggression.

“There are many good players in England, but I just don’t think a lot of them want to make the step or they’re quite comfortable living in England and maybe working and playing part-time,” he added.

The draw in Iceland means Bellamy is the first Wales manager to remain unbeaten after his first three competitive matches.

His opening draw with Turkey and 2-1 win in Montenegro last month had rejuvenated Wales, with a progressive new approach exciting fans, players and pundits alike after the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2024.

Wales looked to be heading for a second successive victory and top spot in Group B4 after an impressive first half in Reykjavik, but collapsed after the break.

Iceland wasted several chances before scoring their two goals and had further opportunities to take all three points.

Wales, by contrast, were non-existent as an attacking force in the second half and will hope to rediscover their first-half verve when they face Montenegro in Cardiff on Monday.

“I’m a big fan of Iceland so I knew it was going to be a difficult game,” said Bellamy. “Of course we were 2-0 up by half-time but my words were ‘this is going to be a long half’.

“A very good manager [Iceland boss Age Hareide], we knew being 2-0 down they were going to throw more men at the press because they had to.

“How were we going to find the solutions? Because the solutions were there but it’s being able to find them at the time.

“There’s a lot to benefit us, especially the second half. It allows us to coach more, it builds a library in the players’ heads: ‘Remember this situation, remember when we found this period difficult’. They can memorise it. This is our third game together.

“In the long run, I’m really happy. And this is not me trying to sugar-coat drawing after being 2-0 up, it really isn’t. What I’m telling you now I told the players. This was really good.”

Wales will be without Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson and Rennes midfielder Jordan James against Montenegro due to suspension after they picked up their second bookings of the campaign against Iceland.

Johnson, who has scored seven goals in seven games for club and country, was taken off at half-time after taking a knock during the first half.

“It was a precaution. He took a kick,” said Bellamy. “He did feel something from impact so we’ll get him checked out.”

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes her strong personality and will to succeed come from having to fight to play football when she was younger.

Bompastor, who was the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, said French attitudes and prejudice towards women playing the sport spurred her on.

“I wanted to fight against this idea that if you were a girl you couldn’t play football,” she told BBC Sport.

“After that I worked so hard but I enjoyed it so much. At around 18 I realised maybe I could have a good career in my life with football.

“Not a career thinking about winning money, more about enjoying and playing at a high level.”

The 44-year-old has gone on to have a glittering career, winning 11 major trophies during two spells at Lyon as a player before claiming three straight league titles and the 2021-22 Champions League trophy as manager.

Despite Emma Hayes’ success during her 12-year tenure at Chelsea, which yielded 13 major titles, Bompastor’s transition at the club has appeared seamless.

The Blues have won each of their opening two Women’s Super League matches, while they claimed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in their first Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday.

However, they face a tough test against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the league on Saturday, in a game which is live on BBC One from 13:15 BST.

“Results have been good but this game will be different. It’s a derby. You have to be prepared,” said Bompastor, who has been impressed with the competitiveness of the WSL.

“The competition between the clubs is so big, so strong. I think something was missing in France, even if France has clubs competing at the highest level if you take Lyon and PSG.

“Here, every weekend you don’t take anything for granted and you have to fight to win the games so this is really good.”

MMA Fighting has Beterbiev vs. Bivol results live for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight card at Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday afternoon.

When the main event begins around 6 p.m. ET, check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol live round-by-round updates for our live blog of the main event. Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol square off to determine the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Check out Beterbiev vs. Bivol results below.

Main Event (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol — for the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA light heavyweight titles

Undercard (DAZN at 12 p.m. ET)

Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke

Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey — for Opetaia’s IBF cruiserweight title

Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta

Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman — for Nicolson’s WBC featherweight title

Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron

Mohammaed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez

Marco Maric vs. Christian Lopez Flores

MMA Fighting has Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol live round-by-round updates for one of the most anticipated boxing fights of the year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.

The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Get the Beterbiev vs. Bivol round-by-round live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Round 11:

Round 12: