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U.S. international Walker Zimmerman, a cornerstone of Nashville SC since its inaugural MLS season, is set to leave the club this winter when his contract expires, according to The Athletic. The two-time MLS Defender of the Year and team captain’s departure will close a six-year chapter in Nashville as he heads into free agency.

Getty Images SportClub legend to depart?

Zimmerman’s current deal runs through December 31, 2025, and has reported his status has been flagged as one of the key offseason decisions facing Nashville’s front office. With no extension announced, the outlet reported indicate Zimmerman will test the free-agent market rather than re-sign at the club’s current offer.

AdvertisementDeparture signals transition for Nashville SC

The loss of Zimmerman represents a major shift for Nashville SC’s defensive unit as they prepare for the 2026 MLS season. His consistent performances and accolades, including two MLS Defender of the Year awards, underscore the quality and influence he brought to the team. Nashville now face the challenge of filling the void left by one of MLS’s premier defenders.

Getty Images SportFree agency opens new chapter for Zimmerman

As Zimmerman enters free agency, speculation will mount regarding his next destination. His proven track record and leadership qualities make him a sought-after asset for MLS clubs and potentially overseas teams. At 32, Zimmerman still has several competitive years ahead. Zimmerman is also an established presence on the U.S. Men's National Team, having made 46 caps with the Americans. 

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Getty Images SportLooking ahead

While the club prepares for life without Zimmerman, his legacy remains firmly entrenched in Nashville SC’s history. The defender’s contributions on and off the field have left an indelible mark, and the club will look to build on the foundation he helped lay as they continue their pursuit of success in MLS.

The New York Yankees are once again making some changes in the infield, having decided to put an end to the Jazz Chisholm Jr. experiment at third base.

Chisholm is set to return to his primary position of second base moving forward, leaving some question as to what the team intended to do at third base. Aaron Boone indicated it would be Oswald Peraza handling the bulk of the work over at the hot corner, though it remains possible that the Yankees scour the trade market for an upgrade at the position later this month.

With Chisholm returning to second base, DJ LeMahieu suddenly finds himself as the odd man out in the infield. Boone told reporters that the team does not intend to play the veteran infielder at third base, suggesting it was too much of a physical burden on the 36-year-old. So, instead, LeMahieu will be utilized in a bench role, Boone said, via Chris Kirschner of

When discussing the role change, Boone was asked how LeMahieu received the news.

"Not great, necessarily, but… that's kind of the situation we're in right now," Boone said.

This season, LeMahieu has played in 45 games and has a .266 batting average and a .674 OPS with two home runs and 12 RBIs. He's made all 45 appearances, including 35 starts, at second base.

Australian slams 25-ball half-century after Linsey Smith, Lucy Higham tie down Phoenix

ECB Media15-Aug-2025Northern Superchargers soared to the top of the women’s Hundred table with a commanding victory over Birmingham Phoenix at a sun-drenched Headingley.A third win in four matches for Hollie Armitage’s team was built around a miserly performance from their slow bowlers, Lucy Higham and Linsey Smith, who each picked up two wickets to stem the Phoenix’s flow.Their intervention was perfectly timed, after the visitors had begun brightly. On 44 for 1 from 30 balls with Emma Lamb and Marie Kelly going well, Phoenix lost five wickets in 20 deliveries, with captain Ellyse Perry’s unfortunate run out – Annabel Sutherland diverting a straight drive from Kelly onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end – summing up the Phoenix’s misfortune.From 59-6, Em Arlott and Sterre Kalis rebuilt the innings impressively, putting on an unbeaten 57, the highest stand for the seventh wicket in the history of the Hundred’s women’s competition.On a beautiful batting track, it nonetheless felt under par. The Superchargers openers, Davina Perrin and Alice Davidson-Richards, were both dropped early on – Perrin before she had scored when Hannah Baker palmed a pull shot over the rope for six – and their stand of 27 ensured that the home side were always ahead of the game.Australian superstar Phoebe Litchfield, having started this year’s tournament quietly, roared back into form with a stunning assault against Baker in particular, drilling the spinner for a trio of consecutive boundaries to settle any concerns in the home dugout.With her compatriot Sutherland at the other end, the pair cruised to the finish line with only one alarm when Litchfield, on 48, was dropped at deep extra-cover by Baker. Litchfield brought up her second half-century in the competition from just 25 balls, as Superchargers’ overseas stars wrapped things up with a whopping 26 balls to spare.Litchfield was named the Meerkat Match Hero: “That was good fun out there. Every time we play here at Headingley we know it’ll be a good pitch and you saw that even when Davina and ADR came out, and then especially Bellesey [Sutherland] at the end there.”Litchfield was also full of praise for Superchargers’ spinners, Smith and Higham. “They hit their lengths and kept the stumps in play and forced the Birmingham batters to try something else, and we backed them up in the field. Our two little spinners have done wonders for us for a few years now and they showed it again today.”We’ve had this group together for three years now, it hasn’t changed much, and the vibes are good. We had a pretty average game last time out, but we tried to park that and came out with a positive mindset.”

While neither Abhimanyu nor Rahul put forward a strong case at the top, there were encouraging displays elsewhere

Alex Malcolm09-Nov-2024Related

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Batting issues loom over Australia with big five in focus

Abhimanyu EaswaranThe 29-year-old endured a difficult two games and did not help his cause for a Test debut in Perth despite coming to Australia in red-hot form. He returned scores of 7, 12, 0 and 17 in Mackay and Melbourne. He ran himself out in the second innings in Mackay, but his other dismissals would be of concern to India’s selectors. He was caught behind the wicket three times with the extra pace and bounce of Australia’s pitches causing issues, despite falling to three seamers who aren’t express pace or particularly tall. In Mackay, he edged Jordan Buckingham to the keeper trying to defend when caught on the crease. In the first over in Melbourne, he was squared up by a rising delivery from Michael Neser and caught in the gully off the shoulder of the bat. In the second innings he sliced a tentative drive to gully again off Nathan McAndrew. The manner of those dismissals won’t help his case to be Rohit Sharma’s replacement, should India’s captain not be available for the Perth Test, given Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc would be another step up in pace and bounce.ESPNcricinfo LtdKL RahulIt was a big ask for Rahul to step straight off the plane and perform without much preparation in Australia, although it wasn’t a problem for Jurel. To be fair to Rahul, he didn’t do a huge amount wrong in returning scores of 4 and 10 while opening on a difficult pitch at the MCG. In the first innings he nicked a beauty from Scott Boland that he could have easily missed. He had to play at a ball angled into off stump that seamed away enough to catch the edge. He looked comfortable against the quicks in the second innings compared to his team-mates, but fell in bizarre fashion to Corey Rocchiccioli’s offspin. Rocchiccioli’s first ball was an innocuous offbreak that Rahul thought was spinning down the leg side. He decided to let it go, it didn’t spin as much as he thought it might and it sneaked through the small gap between his thighs and ricocheted onto off stump. Australia A opener Marcus Harris noted that Rahul looked all class in his brief stays but whether it was enough to convince India’s selectors that he is the ideal Rohit replacement remains to be seen.Dhruv Jurel made fifties in both innings of the second unofficial Test at the MCG•AFPDhruv JurelJurel was the best batter on both sides in the second unofficial Test, and made a serious case to be selected as a specialist batter at some stage in the Test series if there are concerns about Sarfaraz Khan’s ability to handle the pace and bounce of Australia’s quicks in Australia. Jurel looked a class above everyone on either side and played Scott Boland, Michael Neser and Nathan McAndrew with ease. His 80 in the first innings was near flawless in some of the toughest batting conditions of the match. He pulled, cut and drove superbly in between defending and leaving with conviction. He was equally good in the second, although he did benefit from a big slice of luck on the third morning. He uppercut Boland on 25, forgetting deep third had been placed for the stroke. Ollie Davies ran in and dropped a difficult but catchable chance. He went onto make another classy 68 but fell for the second time in the game caught in the deep trying to launch an offspinner over the top. He also kept tidily as expected.Nitish Kumar ReddyAside from a good 38 in the second innings in Melbourne, Reddy did not have a huge impact with either bat or ball in the two matches. He made 0 and 17 in Mackay and then 16 and 38 at the MCG. The two innings in Melbourne were important as he shared critical partnerships with Jurel to give India A some hope after top-order collapses. But he fell three times to the medium-pace of Beau Webster. The tall Tasmanian has an outstanding first-class record with the ball in recent years, but he is the not the same threat level that Australia A’s main quicks are, let alone the Test quicks, given he bowls predominantly under 130kph. Reddy was bounced out three times across the series, twice trying to pull and the other skipping down the track and trying to cut. With the ball he took just one wicket for the series from 31 overs. It was the important scalp of Nathan McSweeney in the first innings in Mackay, but batter error played a big part. He conceded four an over in the first innings at the MCG when scoring was incredibly difficult against the seamers.ESPNcricinfo LtdPrasidh KrishnaThe tall right-armer was one of the shining lights for India A and could well have rocketed into calculations for the Border-Gavaskar series given how well he bowled. He took 10 wickets at 17.30, including 4 for 50 in the first innings at the MCG and two wickets in an over at the start of the second to give Australia A a fright. He caused Australia A’s best opener, and Australia’s possible Test opener, Marcus Harris no end of problems, knocking him over three times. Only two of his wickets were of specialist bowlers. His accuracy and his bounce at good pace are ideally suited to Australian conditions. He also made a critical contribution with the bat in the second innings at the MCG, making 29 off 43 with five boundaries to give his side hope.

After another bumper summer in the busy transfer window, Birmingham City might well have expected to take the Championship immediately by storm.

Indeed, the Blues welcomed in a whopping 14 new faces during the off-season, as the likes of Demarai Gray dramatically returned back to St. Andrew’s after a lengthy Premier League career, among other notable signings.

Unfortunately for Chris Davies and Co., Gray hasn’t quite sparked into life just yet during his homecoming, with the ex-Everton winger not alone in being a disappointment so far, as the Blues loiter in an underwhelming 15th spot in the second-tier standings at this moment in time.

Birmingham's disappointing summer recruitment

It’s not just all on the shoulders of the new recruits, however, as many of Birmingham’s dependable performers during their League One title heroics have also floundered under the pressure of now competing in the division above.

Keshi Anderson definitely falls into his category, with the Luton-born attacker still goalless in Championship action this season so far, despite firing home nine strikes in all competitions last campaign for Davies’ emphatic title-winners.

Thankfully, Jay Stansfield has remembered his shooting boots, with six goals already fired home.

But, to further pile on the misery, Marvin Ducksch – who cost around the £1.75m mark to pick up from Werder Bremen in the window – is also routinely firing blanks as another option up top.

Moreover, the aforementioned Gray doesn’t quite look the same electric, fresh-faced presence he once was at St. Andrew’s when he was a youngster trying to cut his teeth, with Birmingham’s 1-0 defeat to Bristol City last time out only seeing him amass a lacklustre 18 touches of the ball.

It must feel like an awfully long time ago now for Davies when he looks back on Birmingham’s jaw-dropping 111-point season in League One, with one new signing under so much scrutiny already, that he could be on borrowed time in the West Midlands only a matter of months into his EFL stint.

Why Birmingham's expensive gamble hasn't paid off

Thankfully, in recent years, whenever a big price tag has been attached to a player since Tom Wagner’s millions were added into the mix, they have often lived up to their hype.

Stansfield was boldly purchased for a whopping £15m, even as Birmingham found themselves marooned in League One, but he immediately backed up his lavish price tag when scoring the crucial goals – 19 league strikes to be exact – to clinch the Blues’ straightforward passage back up to the Championship.

Therefore, when the newly promoted Blues announced they’d acquired the services of former Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi for an equally hefty £10m in July, the expectation would have been that he would go on to be another superb Stansfield-like purchase.

After all, Kyogo had been branded as a “superstar” in Scotland by ex-Hoops teammate Callum McGregor, off the back of the Japanese gem firing home a stunning 85 goals in total for the Glasgow giants.

Moreover, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman also boldly stated that he would be a “really exciting” signing in England, after the new number nine showed off some entertaining tricks and flicks during his early days at St. Andrew’s.

Games played

11

Games started

5

Minutes played per game

47

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Big chances missed

7

Kyogo’s tale hasn’t played out to the expected script, though, with the once confident and assured striker who pulled on Celtic green and white week in week out now nowhere to be seen in the Championship.

The 30-year-old, instead, has become a wasteful option up top for Davies, with seven big chances missed across 11 league games to date, meaning he is still chasing his first league goal in the West Midlands.

Even Lyndon Dykes has two league goals next to his name, despite averaging just 25 minutes of action himself.

EFL pundit Adrian Clarke has even gone out of his way to state that Kyogo is “struggling”, with patience surely already running thin at St. Andrew’s surrounding the quiet number nine, considering his excessive transfer fee.

There is still time on Kyogo’s side to turn around his shocking Blues start, but if the goals don’t come soon, he might just have to be written off as an expensive flop.

Birmingham sold a bigger talent than Jordan James in £3m "freak of nature"

Birmingham messed up when selling this exceptional star for just £3m.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 8, 2025

Arsenal have an "AI dossier" which is reportedly powering Mikel Arteta's Premier League title pursuit, with the manager being assisted with input on transfers, tactics and even injuries. This quiet revolution is an attempt to build the most technologically advanced operation in English football. They have computer models humming with millions of data points to predict problems before they happen.

AI takes over Arsenal HQ

According to the the Gunners have rapidly expanded their data science department, investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Competing with Europe’s elite clubs is no mean task, and Arsenal’s leadership have made it clear that they believe staying competitive requires not just talent on the pitch, but intelligence behind the scenes. A well-timed rotation could stop a key player from breaking down. One scouting insight could produce a bargain where others see no value. Arteta has already hinted, albeit cautiously, that the club’s adoption of AI is already underway.

"It’s in use already for many things and many processes that can help not just a team but an organisation as well," he said. "It will improve and it will give us good insight, or things at least to think about. I’m not an expert but it’s a valuable tool. We have developed certain things that in our opinion can help us to understand ourselves better and evaluate what we do and what we can improve."

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesGunners have in-house performance models

The biggest breakthroughs at the club's London Colney base come through their tailor-made performance models, which are AI-driven programs designed internally by Arsenal's data scientists. Every day, enormous volumes of information are collected, including GPS sprint maps, recovery times, energy outputs, bio-mechanical readings, match actions, and even micro-movements during training drills. Unlike traditional analysis, which often relies on video clips and subjective assessments, these systems digest tens of thousands of data points from each session. The models then learn patterns about fatigue signals, mechanical inefficiencies, and subtle warning signs with a level of granularity no human eye could catch. The shift is profound as Arsenal are now preparing for what is about to happen, and not reacting to what has just happened.

Profiling every player: A live, evolving human data map

One major branch of Arsenal’s AI system is individual profiling. Every player, right from academy prospects to first-team starters, has a dynamic profile that logs sprint mechanics, joint stress patterns, muscle fatigue responses and changes under load. This gives Arsenal the ability to personalise training. No two players respond to stress in the same way, and machine learning allows coaches to tailor workloads to match bodies rather than the other way around. These profiles also highlight areas for improvement. Weaknesses can be addressed before they impact performance, which will allow players to train smarter, not harder. 

The most critical area of Arsenal’s AI application is injury prevention. William Saliba’s back problem derailed Arsenal’s 2022-23 title charge, while last season Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury forced Mikel Merino into an improvised striker role. The models identify clues such as tiny drops in acceleration, altered stride patterns, and minor imbalances that can signal impending muscle injuries. Before a congested fixture, run the system flags players with elevated fatigue risk, which helps Arteta to make an informed decision.

Arsenal’s analytics tools also parse opposition patterns frame by frame. Machine learning evaluates how full-backs behave under pressure, how midfield shapes morph in transitions, and where passing lanes appear during pressing triggers. This gives Arteta’s staff the opportunity to build game plans not on hunches, but on probability maps.

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GettyRecruitment rebuilt: Finding players who fit Arteta's blueprint

AI is also reshaping Arsenal’s transfer strategy. Beyond traditional metrics like goals or tackles, Arsenal’s models study adaptability across roles, physical intensity benchmarks, tactical compatibility with Arteta’s system, and log behavioural data from hundreds of match scenarios. Every role now has a detailed blueprint, such as what the physical output should look like, how quickly a player must transition, how he presses, and how he receives the ball under pressure. This tech-driven approach allows Arsenal to find undervalued players who might not shine in traditional stats but are ideal fits for Arteta’s structure. Arsenal’s technological leap is bold, advanced and path-breaking. However, whether it can end their 22-year wait for a Premier League title remains to be seen.

Jitesh Sharma, Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar have all played crucial hands this year in putting the franchise on cloud nine

Alagappan Muthu07-Apr-20252:15

Is 2025 finally going to be RCB’s year?

Virat Kohli is a fan boy. He has spent a part of his time at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dancing with Chris Gayle, nerding out with AB de Villiers and being blown away by Glenn Maxwell. In all that time, the team has tasted a lot of success. Four play-off appearances in the last five years. But that was never enough. Not for this franchise. Not with their history.At the auction, they did a lot of good business. Once more, they were able to attract high-impact overseas players. Phil Salt was a dream buy. His aggression at the top compensates for the others. Tim David has the power to make anything happen. He once changed a game facing just 14 balls. Josh Hazlewood broke the game open at Chepauk and closed the game out at Wankhede.But there is another thing that RCB are doing right. Something that they rarely have. They’re getting more out of their Indian players.Related

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Kohli, Patidar and Krunal star as RCB end ten-year Wankhede jinx

Devdutt Padikkal has faced 49 deliveries in IPL 2025. He’s hit 11 of them for boundaries. His strike rate right now is 159.18. That’s twice as much as it was last season. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to effect such a change.”I knew there were things that I needed to improve,” Padikkal said, “And there were lots of aspects of the game that I wasn’t up to the mark I felt in the last year. I had a good couple of months before the IPL started and I feel all that hard work is coming into effect now.”Padikkal had a good start to his IPL career, scoring three fifties in his first four innings and a hundred by the time he was 21. Usually, that might have meant he could settle into the team and grow into his role. But in the IPL, its different. Rajasthan Royals (RR) came calling and he had to prove himself all over again. Then he moved to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) where he had that horror season, averaging 5.49 and striking at 71.69.”When I made that move to another franchise, it was a little uncomfortable obviously. I wasn’t very confident about myself, and it took me three-four years to really find what I am as a cricketer in IPL,” he said. “So it’s not that easy, you try your hardest but at times it just doesn’t work. So coming into this season, obviously I had to work really hard.”Coming in at No. 3, obviously that is a role that has been given to me. I feel in T20 cricket these days everybody pretty much has the same role, to go out and hit from ball one, so that doesn’t really make any difference in terms of what I have to do as well. So, yeah that’s how it’s been going and hopefully I can carry on in the same way.”3:43

Rayudu: Patidar’s use of Bhuvi at the death was a masterstroke

Jitesh Sharma is a livewire. Where other batters might have needed convincing about the tempo of T20 cricket, he came fully formed. Batting down the order requires some sacrifice. Specifically, you can never play for your own runs. Jitesh has on average found the boundary once every five deliveries in the IPL. This season, he’s been even more destructive. One in three deliveries he’s faced, including a near yorker from Jasprit Bumrah, has ended up in the fence.”Jitesh has been terrific,” Krunal Pandya said at the end of the game. “I mean, the way he has batted, if you see, he has improved his game. The game awareness what he’s having while batting has been top notch. Again he has worked really hard, and with gloves he has been terrific, always. Working hard and you know, seeing the result, it feels good.”It is early in the season, but Jitesh is the one of only nine players averaging over 40 and striking at over 180.Bridging the gap between the top order and the finishers is the captain. Rajat Patidar came in as an unknown quantity but seems to be happy with the responsibility. Crucially, it hasn’t affected his batting. He is RCB’s best player of spin and their primary source of impetus in the middle overs. He has performed that role to perfection against both IPL’s five-time champions.Overall, add Kohli’s 67 to Patidar’s 64, Jitesh’s 40 (not out) and Padikkal’s 37, and Indian batters scored 208 runs for RCB against Mumbai Indians (MI), the most for them in an IPL match – their previous best was 188, against LSG in 2022. That’s also the joint-fifth-highest by Indian batters for any team in an IPL innings.RCB are on cloud nine this season•BCCIA significant test of his captaincy arrived as MI clobbered 89 runs in 34 balls through the middle overs to bring themselves back into the game. At the end of 16 overs, they were 170 for 4, the first time in the game where their score had ticked over RCB’s at the same stage. They were looking favourites to chase down 222. But Patidar was able to rally his bowlers and it appears he had a hand in the defensive masterclass that Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal pulled off.”At that time, I think the message was, the wide yorkers, I think that was not a good option,” Patidar said. “The way all the bowlers, especially the fast bowlers the way they have executed their plans, I think that was really amazing and the one bowler, I think the way he has bowled, KP, Krunal Pandya, the last over, I think that was not easy to be bowling any of the team, against any team, 20th over. The way he has bowled, that was really amazing. The way he has shown courage, that was really fantastic.”RCB conceded only 28 runs and took five wickets in those last three overs. They had to dig real deep. “That was a really amazing match and that was very hard, I think,” Patidar said.RCB look different now. They’re getting the best out of even their unheralded players. Maybe 18th time really is the charm.”I don’t want to jinx it,” Krunal said. “Or I don’t want to say. But we all know, right, when you get into this tournament, what we want at the end of the tournament.”

The Yankees have had quite the weekend on their trip to Miami for a series with the Marlins.

On Friday night, their new-look bullpen gave up nine runs in the final three innings which led to a tough 13-12 defeat after they were walked off on a dribbler from Marlins catcher Agustín Ramírez. On Saturday, they suffered a difficult inning-ending out due to a base running error by second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.

He walked to lead off the second inning before catcher Ben Rice popped out for the first out of the frame. Then, the next batter Paul Goldschmidt sent a pop-up to second base which Chisholm watched fly in the air. Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards must have seen Chisholm standing far from the bag out of the corner of his eye because he quickly snapped a throw to first after bringing it in to improbably end the inning as Chisholm couldn't get back in time.

Certainly a heads-up moves by Edwards but the replay does show Chisholm standing while the ball is in the air and even inching further away from the bag which put him in position to get called out:

Yankees manager Aaron Boone appeared to let out some frustrations after the lapse:

In the top of the first inning, the Yankees tried to take an early lead by sending Trent Grisham home but Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers's throw beat him to the plate by a mile:

Ramírez homered in the first and fourth inning for the Marlins in what ended up a 2–0 victory.

Always remember the fundamentals and stay alert on the base paths.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been tipped to excel as a taekwondo kickboxer after investing in MMA promotion WOW FC, with boxing star Ryan Garcia insisting the Al-Nassr icon’s elite footwork could translate directly into the cage. Garcia praised Ronaldo’s “LeBron James–like longevity” and remarkable physique, fuelling fresh debate over the 40-year-old’s potential future beyond football.

Ronaldo forays into MMA as WOW FC shareholder

Ronaldo made headlines this week after officially joining the world of mixed martial arts as a shareholder in WOW FC, the Spanish promotion co-owned by UFC champion Ilia Topuria. His move into MMA investment has sparked widespread reaction, including from high-profile combat athletes who see a natural crossover in his athletic profile. Among them is Garcia, who believes Ronaldo’s famed explosiveness and footwork could translate into a competitive taekwondo-based discipline.

Ronaldo’s arrival at WOW FC coincides with the organisation’s rapid expansion across Europe and LATAM, fuelled by soaring live attendance and ambitious plans to innovate in fan-athlete interaction. The company views Ronaldo as both a global face and a strategic driver of growth, aligning with the sport’s increasing mainstream popularity. 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportRyan Garcia believes CR7 could become a 'taekwondo kickboxer'

Speaking to Covers.com, Garcia reacted enthusiastically after meeting Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, suggesting the Portuguese star has the ideal attributes to succeed in taekwondo-style kickboxing. He said: “[Cristiano Ronaldo] has got feet for a reason, not hands. Anything with your feet, maybe he could be a Taekwondo kickboxer.” He highlighted Ronaldo’s agility, balance, and lower-body power as key reasons he could adapt to the sport’s technical demands.

Garcia also praised Ronaldo’s personality, recalling their meeting at the Usyk vs Dubois fight. He explained: “When I met him he was a charming fellow, a very strong figure, and a very sweet dude, a gentleman. He’s inspirational.” 

The boxer then compared Ronaldo to one of the greatest athletes on the planet, saying: “For him to keep his body intact, and perform at such a high level at his age is… he’s like LeBron James.” He added that Ronaldo’s example gives him personal inspiration, concluding: “Hard work, discipline, and belief could take you anywhere.”

Ronaldo reportedly has a body age of 28.7

Ronaldo’s foray into MMA has come at a time when his physical condition continues to defy all conventional expectations for a 40-year-old footballer. According to advanced biometrics collected by WHOOP, his body performs more like that of an elite athlete aged just 28.7, a finding grounded in data spanning sleep quality, recovery rate, heart-rate zones and metabolic efficiency. 

The company’s analysis suggests the Al-Nassr forward possesses exceptional metabolic control that enables sustained high-intensity performance. WHOOP highlighted elite haemoglobin levels and oxygen delivery efficiency, attributes that underpin both explosive movement and long-duration endurance. That profile helps explain why Ronaldo, even in his forties, continues to perform at a world-class level while maintaining a professional workload that rivals much younger players.

Ronaldo himself responded humorously to the findings, posting “The data doesn’t lie” on X as fans reacted to the revelation. His ability to maintain low inflammation, rapid recovery cycles and consistent energy output has long been seen as a fundamental part of his branding as the sport’s model athlete. It also strengthens the argument made by Garcia; if any footballer could theoretically adapt to the physical demands of combat sports, it might be Ronaldo.

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AFPRonaldo to promote MMA in key regions

Ronaldo’s investment in WOW FC will see him play a key strategic role as the promotion expands into new global markets across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. His involvement is expected to boost visibility, attract sponsors and help develop new athlete-fan experiences as the company looks beyond Spain. While speculation about a career switch remains playful, no such transition is expected, and Ronaldo’s immediate future lies in football and shaping WOW FC’s rise within the MMA landscape.

Rajesh Banik played for Tripura at all age-group levels and in the Ranji Trophy, and also turned out for India Under-15s in 2000

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2025Rajesh Banik, the former Tripura first-class cricketer and state captain, died in a road accident in Anandanagar in western Tripura, a Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) official said on Saturday. He was 40 and is survived by his father, mother and brother, PTI reported.Banik, who made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tripura in the 2001-02 season, was among the state’s leading cricketers of his time and later served as a selector for the state’s Under-16 team.Born on December 12, 1984, Banik was a right-hand batter and occasional legspinner. He went on to play 42 first-class matches, all for Tripura, scoring 1469 runs at an average of 19.32, and also scored 378 runs in 24 List A matches and 203 runs in 18 T20s, all between the 2001-02 and 2017-18 seasons.A contemporary of Irfan Pathan and Ambati Rayudu, Banik was their team-mate in the India Under-15 team in the Asian Cricket Council Under-15 tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 2000 and also toured England with the India Under-15s the same year where, again, Rayudu and Pathan were among his colleagues.Banik went on to represent Tripura at many domestic age-group tournaments, like the Vijay Merchant Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the CK Nayudu Trophy, the MA Chidambaram Trophy, the Buchi Babu Invitational, the Under-19s Cooch Behar Trophy and the National Under-25 tournament.The Tripura senior men’s team players, currently playing a Ranji Trophy match in Agartala against Bengal, wore black armbands as a mark of respect for Banik, and the TCA paid tribute to the former cricketer at its headquarters in Agartala on Saturday.”This is very unfortunate that we have lost a talented cricketer and selector of the Under-16 cricket team,” secretary Subrata Dey was reported as saying by PTI. “We are shocked. May his soul rest in peace.”Anirban Deb, secretary of the Tripura Sports Journalists’ Club, said Banik’s contribution went beyond his playing career. “Not many knew about his ability to identify young talent. That’s why he was made one of the selectors of the Under-16 state team,” Deb said.