Former England and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll scored twice on his debut for French fourth-tier club Bordeaux in a 2-2 home draw with Voltigeurs de Chateaubriant.

Carroll, 35, dropped two divisions in France’s football pyramid when he moved from Ligue 2 team Amiens to join Bordeaux earlier this month.

Six-time Ligue 1 winners Bordeaux surrendered their status as a professional club in July after being relegated out of Ligue 2 down to Championnat National 2 because of bankruptcy.

Bordeaux were 2-0 behind at half-time following two first-half goals from Babacar Leye just before the break, but Carroll got one back in the 72nd minute, connecting with a low volley at full stretch.

The away side went down to 10 men in the 79th minute with Leye sent off and Carroll headed in an 88th-minute equaliser, rising well to convert a left-wing corner.

Across his Premier League career, Carroll scored 54 goals in 248 appearances during spells with Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham.

For England, Carroll scored twice in nine caps, one of which was against Sweden at Euro 2012.

Bordeaux are 15th of 16 sides in their division, with three draws and one loss, although they have one or two games in hand on all the other teams.

(This story first was published at USA TODAY.)

Conor McGregor won’t fight until 2025, the former UFC champion said Saturday.

“One thing is for sure,” he told Ariel Helwani during DAZN’s broadcast of the heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. “Whenever it is and wherever it is, I will be 100 percent ready. That’s all I can focus on right now.”

In June, McGregor pulled out of his scheduled fight with Michael Chandler while citing an injury. Chandler since was matched up with another opponent for a bout in November.

“It is what it is,” McGregor said. “I just take it on board and just rock on. My job is to just go to the gym, be in the gym, be in shape.”

https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/1837588091017875522

McGregor, 36, has not fought since July 2021, when he lost to Dustin Poirier by TKO after breaking his leg in the first round. McGregor has lost three of his last four fights, raising doubts about whether he can recapture his old form.

He won the UFC featherweight championship in 2015 and UFC lightweight championship in 2016.

Elijah Smith thinks there’s no better division in the UFC currently than bantamweight, and he’s keen to make his mark in it.

Smith (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is one of the newest members of the UFC roster after earning a contract on this past Tuesday’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series. He earned a unanimous decision win over Aaron Tau in the featured bout of the card, which he took on roughly two weeks’ notice as a replacement.

It was a historic win for Smith, became he’s the second, second-generation fighter to join the UFC roster after his father, Gilbert Smith, made one octagon appearance in 2013.

At just 22, the future for Smith seems bright. He said his showing at DWCS 72 was only a portion of what he’s capable of, and he did it under unideal circumstances.

“I was not even close to 100 percent,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “I would say I probably went into that fight like 70, 75 percent. I play UFC 5 (video game) and I have my own created player and in the game in career you have weeks you’re supposed to go through training camp so when you get to the fight you have 100 percent energy and health is good. I probably went into that fight probably around 75 percent, so I didn’t get to show the world and Dana White the full Elijah Smith. I was happy I got to put on a performance that I was happy with.”

Now that he’s been inked to a UFC contract, there’s going to be nowhere for Smith to hide in the 135-pound division. He likes it that way, he said, because it won’t be long before we seen if his status as a blue chip prospect multiplies.

Smith has expectations of greatness for his career, and said he is already excited for the day he gets to share the octagon with some of the elite names.

“It’s really exciting,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t want to be in any other weight class because this is the most exciting in the UFC. I’ve been watching these guys since – who really made me become a fan of the division is T.J. Dillashaw. When he beat (Renan) Barao I was like, ‘Oh man.’ Then he beat Cody Garbrandt twice, I’m like, ‘This is the division to be in.’ You’ve got Dominick Cruz. There’s so much history in this division and I want to add onto this history.

“I want to keep building because I think this is the best division in the UFC. When I see guys like Merab (Dvalishvili) and Sean O’Malley and (Cory) Sandhagen and all these guys in the top 10, top five. It’s like, we’re going to run into each other at some point in time. It’s going to be bittersweet fighting them because I’m a fan of all of them, but it’s a business.”

It’s Smith’s intention to build himself up to being one of the best in the world, and with that create a story for himself that stands on his own. Smith said he is currently relishing the historic nature of his UFC entry and how it ties to his father, but over time, he hopes that fades and he’s looked at as an individual.

“I am ready to create my own story,” Smith said. “They’re always going to bring that up because my dad is going to be in my corner every fight that I have in the UFC and I think they’re going to continuously bring that up, but as I continue on with my career, I think that’s slowly going to die out because I will be creating a name for myself. There’s nothing wrong with living on my father’s shadow and carrying on my own name, but I do want to start veering off and creating a name for myself and my own story.”

(This story first was published at USA TODAY.)

Anthony Joshua, climbing back up the heavyweight boxing ranks after setbacks, has tumbled yet again.

Daniel Dubois defeated Joshua on Saturday by fifth-round knockout and retained his IBF heavyweight title in front of a sellout crowd of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Dubois knocked down Joshua four times and finished him off in the fifth round with a right to the chin.

“I’m a gladiator,” Dubois told DAZN when asked about getting hurt by Joshua just before he delivered the knockout blow. “I’m just a warrior to the end, to the bitter end.”

Joshua was in position to secure a likely fight against the winner of the Dec. 21 bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. Now Dubois, 27, will get that shot after improving to 21-3.

Joshua, 34, lost for the first time in five fights and fell to 28-4.

DANIEL DUBOIS HAS KNOCKED OUT ANTHONY JOSHUA!!! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!#JoshuaDubois #Boxingpic.twitter.com/By8gbt42rT

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 21, 2024

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