Recent Sporting News From Around The World

As the European Football seasons enter the final stretch over these next couple of months, the MLS starts up again. This past weekend was the first match-week and we saw some very interesting results. Expansion team: San Diego FC's first MLS game ever was a win against the defending MLS Cup Champions (LA Galaxy.) Inter Miami & Lionel Messi kicked their season off with a draw against NYFC. Miami is the favorite to win it all this year (+400.) 

It was an unlucky draw for both teams. However, that's what the new format is all about. Real Madrid was forced to play Manchester City in the "Playoffs Round" of the Champions League. Man City was the team that fell short in the end and now will watch from home for the rest of the way. Madrid are the current favorites to win the UCL and repeat what it accomplished last season (+400.) Barcelona & Liverpool are close. 

Talking about Liverpool, it's now 13 points clear of Arsenal at the top spot in the Premier League. The Reds keep winning and seem unstoppable this season. Liverpool is now (-5000) to win the Prem. Don't expect any other team to come close to them. 

Not only have we been expecting the Jon Jones/Tom Aspinal Heavyweight Bout. But, we are now expecting an Islam Makhachev/Ilia Topuria war sometime in 2025 after Ilia vacated his belt to move up in weight class. Both of these fights should be absolutely insane! In Boxing, we could see a Gervonta “Tank” Davis & Lamont Roach throw it down this weekend. Get buckled up for an amazing year of fights. 

After last week's ridiculous knockout, Jean Silva is a name to remember in the Featherweight Division. Rei Tsuruya (undefeated 10-0) is just 22 years old and he makes his UFC debut against Joshua Van at UFC 313 in what should be a really good fight. Joshua Van too is a rising star in the UFC and the winner of this fight will be in prime position to do great things. Nurullo Aliev is an undefeated fighter as well. Nicknamed the "Tajik Eagle" he will out work you until the final bell. One more I've got to mention is Iasmin Lucindo. At just 22 years old, she's poised for greatness and could be the next Brazilian Women's Strawweight Champ. 

What an event it was that the NHL put on for the world to see in February. Replacing the All-Star game, a mini tournament was put on by the best of the best from the four countries of Canada, USA, Sweden & Finland. After the USA beat Canada in the round-robin, Canada got the best of them in the finale bringing joy across the country in what was an instant classic game finished by the world's most skilled player in Connor McDavid.

Heading into Thursday, February 27th, the Winnipeg Jets are on another 10-game winning streak. The Jets are 11 points clear of the second best team in the Western Conference (Dallas) and have just over 20 games remaining. Similar stuff is going on out East where the Washington Capitals keep on winning. They are 10 points clear of the second best team in the Eastern Conference (Toronto) and Ovechkin is just 12 goals away from passing "The Great One" in goals. 

After winning the DUBAI WTA 1000 tournament, Mirra Andreeva became the youngest player in tennis history to win a WTA 1000 event. She's now ranked in the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time in her young career and this is just the beginning. She's only going to go up from here. 

Most people don't agree with the length of this suspension while others don't believe he should be suspended at all. But, either way, Jannik Sinner is currently serving a 3-Month Ban for his "Doping Case" last year. For those who don't know, a banned substance (Trofodermin, containing clostebol,)  entered his system from a spray to heal a wound. The average ban for a case like this is anywhere from 12-24 months. He will not miss any Grand Slam events and even will be able to return for the Italian Open which starts three days after he's able to play again. 

The average tennis fan may not remember the incident of Monica Seles who got stabbed mid-match by a stalker in 1993. She was one of the best players in the world, if not the best at the time and it was a complete shock to the tennis world. Well, a recent incident found former US Open Champ Emma Raducanu on the scary end of it in Dubai as this was not the first time the British player had someone "stalking" her. She had been the victim of a different stalker, with another man who was given a 5-year restraining order back home in 2022. She returns to play at Indian Wells set for the start of March. 

You heard that right. MLB Spring Training is finally here and that means that the Regular Season is just around the corner. LAD (+300 to Win) is locked and loaded again, attempting to go B2B. Don't be shocked if the Dodgers are at the top of the baseball world for many years to come. 

Cleveland & Oklahoma City seem to be the runaways right now in the regular season. However, things could change drastically come the playoffs in April/May/June. Boston remains the co-favorite (along with OKC) to win the NBA Championship and go B2B (at +210) and there are plenty of teams that have a chance to do damage.  

Golden State is one of those teams. At +1900 to take home the championship this season, that number keeps getting smaller. The Warriors added Jimmy "Buckets" Butler to their team and they've started dominating. No, I'm not going to say that this dynasty is back. However, it's getting more and more likely that the Dubs will be in contention to win this thing.