Dutchman Wessel Nijman claimed his first Players Championship title after an 8-5 victory over Stephen Bunting on the first of three days of action in Wigan.
The 24-year-old is back on the tour after serving a suspension for breaching betting and anti-corruption rules.
He was banned for five years in October 2020, but half of the ban was suspended and he returned to the sport in early 2023 and is now in his first full year on the ProTour.
On his way to Tuesday’s final he beat Mervyn King, Ryan Searle, Krzysztof Ratajski and Jose de Sousa, before a 7-6 victory over in-form Gary Anderson.
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The Scot, a two-time PDC world champion, hit a nine-darter in his second-round win over Jamie Hughes and also dispatched current world champion and world number one Luke Humphries in the last eight.
Bunting, the reigning Masters champion, had got past Luke Littler 7-6 in the semi-finals and led 2-0 in the final before Nijman won the next five legs to take control.
“It is always hard to play a ProTour final, but I knew I could win,” Nijman said.
“At the start of the year I was hitting a 100 average but I felt like I was unlucky and lost some games.
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“But I was patient and I started to bring it up and hit those match darts.
“My goal was to get into the top 64 after two years on the Tour, but it looks like I will make it this year.”
McGregor is the biggest star in the history of MMA, crossing over into the mainstream and broader public consciousness in a way that few other athletes have. But over the past several years — even before his catastrophic leg injury that’s kept him sidelined since 2021 — McGregor has increasingly moved away from fighting, pursuing his other business ventures and being very selective about his forays into the cage. As such, there are frequent conversations about who will be “the next Conor McGregor” to breakthrough to superstardom. But for Dana White, that’s easier said than done.
“The great thing about Conor, everybody thinks they’re Irish,” White told Outta Pocket with RGIII. “When you think about St. Paddy’s Day, all over the world, everybody thinks they’re Irish. The Irish thing is actually really powerful. And obviously his personality, his charisma, and he beat the guys he needed to beat to become successful.
“He’s like a unicorn. You’ll find a Conor McGregor every 10 or 15 years.”
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There have been a number of big stars in the history of MMA, but none really compare to McGregor, who was part of seven of the 10 top grossing UFC Pay-Per-View events of all time, including the No. 1 — his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which sold an estimated 2.4 million PPVs. McGregor also was one half of the second most lucrative PPV event of all time, his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather JR. in 2017 which sold an estimated 5.3 million buys.
But while McGregor set the stardom for MMA quite high, there’s also someone new to come along and challenge that. And White believes that person could be coming along in the near future as the UFC continues to build its base in Mexico.
“Mexico,” White said when asked where the next McGregor will come from. “I opened a Performance Institute down in Mexico and we’re already starting to crank talent out of there. Some of the baddest humans who have ever walked the face of the Earth have been Mexican. Very big fighting culture down there. So I think our next big star is going to come out of Mexico, like that level of star.”
The UFC has heavily invested in Mexico the past few years, both in building the Performance Institute and in repeated events in the country or celebrating it. Most notable of these events was UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dubbed Noche UFC, the event was “a love letter to Mexico” and showed the history of the nation and its role in fight sport over the years.
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As for McGregor, it’s still an open question whether he will ever return to the UFC. “Notorious” was scheduled to make his long-awaited return at UFC 303 this summer but withdrew due to injury. He’s now targeting a return in 2025 but nothing official has been announced.
This journey wouldn’t be complete without me thanking @renan_problema_mma for being a great sport, an incredible competitor, and for pushing me to go the extra mile every day in the past months—even though you kicked the hell out of my leg! #BattleOfTheGiants@pflmmapic.twitter.com/22YHPIOUmo
Muhammad Mokaev vs. Rogerio Bontarin (grappling match); ADXC 6, Oct. 25.
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I’m not some big McGregor fan but there will never be another Conor McGregor in MMA. He was a perfect storm of events that simply cannot happen again in the same way. He’s once in a lifetime.
The Nissan and Jaguar Formula E teams have been handed a partial testing ban and been fined after both outfits broke the championship’s cost cap limit for the 2022-23 season.
Having completed its review of documentation from all 11 Formula E teams, the FIA announced on Wednesday that it had found Jaguar and Nissan to be in breach of the cost cap limit of €13,668,000 (£11,634,213).
Nissan were found to be 1.96% over (€269,252/£223,730), while Jaguar exceeded the limit by 0.6% (€88,883/£73,849), with both teams now forced to miss the opening three hours of pre-season testing in Valencia on 4 November as punishment.
It means Nissan’s Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato, as well as Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, will sit out the afternoon session, while the teams have also been fined €300,000 and €100,000 respectively.
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“The Cost Cap Administration recognised that they [Jaguar and Nissan] have acted cooperatively throughout the review process and have sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner,” according to an FIA statement.
“That this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence of aggravating factors or that they have sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, and nor has it wilfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration.”
Norman Nato, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
An Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) was signed by both Nissan and Jaguar on 15 October, confirming the teams accepted the findings as well as the sporting and financial punishments.
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Nissan placed seventh in the teams’ championship for the 2022-23 season, which was the first year of Formula E’s new financial regulations and the Gen3 car.
“The Nissan Formula E Team has determined that these minor breaches are exclusively related to the process of interpretation and adaption of the new Financial Regulations at a time when the team was also facing specific challenges linked to its change of ownership, full restructure, and relocation,” read a statement from Nissan.
“Nissan Formula E Team has since put in place all the necessary precautions to avoid these kinds of miscalculations and oversights in the future.”
Jaguar finished the 2022-23 season runner-up in the teams’ championship, having lost out on the title to customer squad Envision, while Evans came within reach of the drivers’ crown.
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“It’s an extremely complex process and while at all times Jaguar Racing acted in good faith with honesty, integrity and in a spirit of transparency and cooperation, we acknowledge that procedural filing errors have led to the minor overspend breach,” read a statement from Jaguar.
“Following consultation with the FIA, we believe that had we filed correctly, we would have been fully compliant with Teams’ Cost Cap and the minor overspend breach would not have occurred.
“Unfortunately, we understand a re-filing is not allowable by the current regulations and therefore due to these unintended procedural errors we are in a very minor overspend position.
“At no time did we seek or gain a technical or sporting advantage, as can be seen and confirmed by the Cost Cap Administration’s findings and the nature of the ABA.
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“We will continue to work closely with the FIA going forward on the development and application of the cost cap and in the best interests of Formula E – the pinnacle of electric racing.”
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Ben Stokes has already suffered one defeat in Rawalpindi.
Mano a mano with England coach Brendon McCullum, the captain was schooled in a six-hitting competition, just as he was before the last Test in Pakistan two years ago.
Stokes was left calling for a stewards’ inquiry into the throwing of Paul Collingwood, which did appear to be pretty questionable.
The surprise overall winner was Rehan Ahmed, who beat Harry Brook in the final (special mentions go to mighty wallops from Joe Root and Jamie Smith).
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It was the continuation of a good week for Ahmed, recalled as a third spinner on a pitch attracting the most attention since England last played a Test.
For Pakistan, it was spin to win the second Test in Multan, and they have looked to repeat the trick for the decider, starting on Thursday.
The industrial fans, heaters and windbreaks used to dry the surface suggest someone has maxed out a credit card in a hardware store.
Most intriguing are the lines scored down the length of the strip, possibly by a rake or even a bed of nails. The pitch remains hard, and a knock could do damage to the knuckles.
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The consensus seems to be it will be good for batting for the first part of the game, making the toss marginally less important than the second Test. Good news for England, considering they have lost seven in a row.
“Initially, I think it will be a good pitch, but the longer it goes, the more spin will come into play,” Stokes told BBC Sport.
“Fair play to them for using their home advantage. They have come off the back of a good win and have spinners full of confidence, so they will be looking to give them more assistance here. That could bring us into the game as well.”
This past Saturday, MMA legend Cris Cyborg returned to the cage to add yet another belt to her decorated career. She did so by defeating Larissa Pacheco in a hard-fought unanimous decision win. Cyborg wasn’t the lone champion in the card as Johnny Eblen defended his Bellator middleweight title against Fabian Edwards. Bellator star A.J. McKee also competed but had his momentum halted by Ireland’s Paul Hughes.
Should Cyborg be considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in women’s MMA? What’s next for both Eblen and McKee?
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MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George discuss some of the key results at Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Hyundai is “not quite there yet” with its decision regarding who will pilot its third World Rally Championship entry next year, although Motorsport.com understands Adrien Fourmaux is the favourite.
The Korean marque has already confirmed that it has retained the services of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, but its plans for its third entry are yet to be announced.
Lappi, who tasted victory in Sweden, has tackled gravel rallies, with Sordo called upon for rough gravel events, while Mikkelsen has largely been employed as an asphalt specialist.
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The prospect of employing the services of a driver to pilot the car on a full-time basis appears to be an option Hyundai is seriously investigating.
When asked about the team’s plans for its third car at last weekend’s Central European Rally, Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul told Motorsport.com: “We are always closer to something. There are discussions and those will turn into options and that will turn into a decision. We are not quite there yet.
“You can always think about a lot of things but right now we are playing for three [cars next year], but we are keeping our eyes open on opportunities.”
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Speculation continues to point to Fourmaux leaving M-Sport-Ford to take up the seat at Hyundai on a full-time basis.
Adrien Fourmaux, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Photo by: M-Sport
The Frenchman was previously linked with Hyundai last year and has been a revelation on his return to Rally1 this season with M-Sport, scoring four podium finishes. Last weekend a front differential problem cost him a chance to increase his podium tally.
Fourmaux remained coy when asked if he knew where his future lies next year, stating: “We know it will be in a Rally1 [car].
“There are for sure some distractions but as a driver you need to learn to live with it,” he added, referring to the speculation linking him to Hyundai.
Rally Sweden winner Lappi has previously indicated that he would be interested in a continuation of his part-time role, while Sordo has been linked to more of a management position within the team for next year.
Mikkelsen, who will pilot the third car in the Japan season finale next month, was unable to provide clarity on his plans for next year.
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When asked ahead of last weekend’s rally if he was confident he would remain driving a Rally1 car next year he said: ”No, but we will see.
“I haven’t thought too much about [what I will do next year], I haven’t talked to anybody, to be honest my focus is on here.”
Andreas Mikkelsen, Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
The three-time WRC rally winner delivered impressive speed last week, running as high as third before a crash on Friday ended his podium hopes.
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“I come from this rally with a good feeling, to be honest. We struggled so much in Monte Carlo and Croatia to find some kind of feeling with the car, and obviously it is very different compared to a Rally2 car,” he added.
“From the first stage I felt really comfortable with the car and it is the first time I really felt at one with it, which you really need when you are fighting with these guys that are so fast and in the cars all the time.
“In that way I feel a bit lighter because I really didn’t get the rallies I wanted this year, I got all tarmac, and when I’m struggling to get the feeling, it was nice to come this weekend and get a different vibe and feeling. I’m looking forward to Japan.”
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CARL MAGNAY lived a young footballer’s dream when he won a competition to sign for Chelsea.
Out of thousands of applicants between the ages of 16 and 18, he claimed a six-month contract at Stamford Bridge after starring on Sky Sports‘ Football Icon 2 show.
He jumped from playing for Birtley Town U17s as a regular sixth form student, to rubbing shoulders with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry on a daily basis.
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During the final stages of Football Icon 2, he was invited to train alongside Jose Mourinho‘s first-team squad.
And the centre-back, 35, admits it was an incredible experience to see Chelsea‘s superstars at work.
Speaking to Football London, he said: “It was surreal. You’ve got no option but to take it in your stride. Like I said, looking back now I didn’t know it at the time, I had a strong mentality and I was quite level headed.
“Chelsea’s first-team players were really respectful. They were just going about their daily jobs and their routines. I remember sitting in the canteen and I’m sharing an area where we’re all eating.
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“It took me about an hour to eat my food because I was just looking round the room staring at people.
“Lampard going up to get food and get a plate of second and I’m looking at his physical stature thinking ‘look at the size of his quads’ and I was just in awe of everything that was going on around me.
“It was really surreal but I knew I was there and had to prove myself and when you got on the pitch you had to push all that to one side and just focus on the session.
Magnay ended up spending four years at Chelsea and played under a number of high-profile managers including Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti.
How Liverpool outsmarted Chelsea with Slot’s genius ‘traffic jam’ trick and Curtis Jones masterclass
However, he failed to secure a single first-team appearance and left in 2011 to join non-league side Gateshead.
He went on to feature for Grimsby, Hartlepool, Spennymoor Town, before he returned to Gateshead in 2022.
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The defender, who earned one cap for Northern Ireland’s U21s, retired last year and is now Gateshead manager.
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