Middleweight contenders de Ridder, Hernandez headline October UFC show in Vancouver
Both men are looking to win their way into a title fight against newly crowned 185-pound champion Khamzat Chimaev, who dethroned South African Dricus du Plessis on Saturday at UFC 319 in Chicago.
De Ridder (21-2-0) has won all four UFC bouts to date, stopping former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker by split decision last time out in July, and is currently on a five-fight winning streak. The 31-year-old Dutch fighter is a former middleweight and light-heavyweight titleholder in the One Championship promotion.
Hernandez (15-2-0 with one no-contest) has won his last eight fights, including a 2022 submission victory over Canadian Marc-Andre (Power-Bar) Barriault. He submitted Georgia's Roman (The Caucasian) Dolidze last time out in August to improve his UFC record to 9-2-0, and his run of eight wins includes six finishes and four performance bonuses.
Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius, ranked fifth among flyweights, is also on the Rogers Arena card, facing No. 2 Manon (The Beast) Fiorot of France. Jasudavicius (14-3-0) is on a five-fight win streak.
Canadian welterweight (Proper) Mike Malott faces American Kevin (Trailblazer) Holland, ranked 15th among 170-pound contenders, while Canadian Aiemann Zahabi, ranked 10th among bantamweight contenders, meets No. 7 Marlon (Chito) Vera of Ecuador.
New Jersey-based Russian Azamatr (King Pin) Bekoev takes on Tunisian-Dutch middleweight Yousri (Baby Face Assassin) Belkgaroui while Brazil's Bruno (Bulldog) Silva, ranked 14th among flyweight contenders, meets Hyun Sung (Peace of Mind) Park of South Korea.
American Danny (Left Hand 2 God) Barlow takes on Brazilian middleweight Djorden (Shakur) Santos and Stephanie (Rondinha) Luciano tackles Ravena (Kenoudy) Oliveira in an all-Brazilian strawweight showdown.
The UFC's most recent visit to Vancouver was UFC 289 in June 2023, drawing 17,628 fans. The promotion's last show in Canada was UFC 315 in May in Montreal.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025
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Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Akot back in the Sea Bears fold
Emmanuel Akot is back with the Winnipeg Sea Bears. The 6-8 starting forward left his hometown team high and dry three weeks before the CEBL's Championship Weekend to suit up for South Sudan at FIBA's AfroBasket tournament in Angola. Akot was not expected to be available for Friday night's Western Conference final against the Calgary Surge (7:30 p.m. tip-off) as AfroBasket rolls through the weekend, but when South Sudan's run ended early on Monday after a loss to Senegal, the door opened to him returning. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Emmanuel Akot: no regrets, seeking redemption Akot's decision to leave was a controversial one with South Sudan not meeting the FIBA rule of giving club teams a minimum of 30 days notice, and the CEBL's transaction window had closed so the Sea Bears were unable to pick up a replacement. Akot arrived in Winnipeg late Wednesday after a nearly 30-hour trip home and told reporters after Thursday's practice he has no regrets. 'It's my country, my ancestors, both my mother and father are from South Sudan, so, obviously, any chance I get to suit up for my country I'm going to take it,' said Akot. 'It was a lose-lose situation where I'd hurt the Sea Bears, but I'd hurt my fellow countrymen as well. So, I think it was a tough situation, but that's behind us now.' Instead of releasing Akot, the Sea Bears suspended him just in case something changed at the last minute. 'In Winnipeg, there were some agreements made that he needed to play the entire season for us. That was our expectation. That's where the conflict was when he chose to play for South Sudan,' said head coach and general manager Mike Taylor. 'But you know, situations happen with players who have multiple opportunities and sometimes decisions are made when you get on different pages, and I think we've worked our way back to the same page. During the conflict, cooler heads did prevail.' The 26-year-old averaged 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19 games with the Sea Bears this season. Rookie Canadian Nathan Bilamu stepped up in Akot's absence and contributed 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in five starts. 'Obviously, some fans were hurt, but a lot of people showed support,' said Akot. 'They were happy that I was gonna go and represent my country. I heard a lot from everybody, but at the end of the day, I was OK with my decision.' Akot struggled to get going in four outings in Angola, producing 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in just under 20 minutes per game. He said the Sea Bears have welcomed him back with open arms, including team owner David Asper, and that he's ready to make an impact. 'It hurt playing for the national team and coming up short, so, this is kind of redemption for me,' said Akot. 'Winning a championship in my hometown would mean everything.' ROBERTS QUESTIONABLE TO PLAY Sea Bears guard Terry Roberts is questionable to play against Calgary. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Roberts suffered an ankle injury on Tuesday and hasn't practised since. 'We'll find out. It's a game-time decision,' said Taylor. 'Obviously, he didn't participate in practice today so you can kind of anticipate where that leads.' If Roberts can't go, the Sea Bears will have to dress guard Jarron Cumberland or forward Jaylin Williams as their fourth and final import. Roberts averaged 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 15 games this summer. Taylor AllenReporter Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor. Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
River Lions the team to beat
Get ready, Winnipeg, the CEBL Championship Weekend is finally here. It starts Friday at Canada Life Centre at 5 p.m. with the Eastern Conference final between the Niagara River Lions and Scarborough Shooting Stars before the Winnipeg Sea Bears duke it out with the Calgary Surge for the Western Conference crown at 7:30 p.m. The winners will meet at the downtown arena on Sunday at 6 p.m. for the championship game. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS files The arrival of guard Jalen Harris was key to the Sea Bears roster rounding into form. To get you ready for the biggest annual event in Canadian hoops, the Free Press spent Thursday chatting with players from all four teams. Winnipeg Sea Bears Record: 11-13 Points per game: 85.5 Points against: 89.2 Player to watch: G Jalen Harris Top Canadian: C Simi Shittu Would the Sea Bears be in the final four if they weren't automatically granted a spot as hosts? Probably not. That doesn't mean they can't capitalize on the cards they've been dealt and win it all this weekend, though. 'I think we have the team for it. We all like each other, we're talented, and I think we've been building for this,' said guard Jalen Harris. 'We've been through adversity, we've had different rosters, and we've been situated now for a little bit, and it makes us confident in what we can do.' Only seven players remain from the opening-night roster. The current squad didn't start to take shape until June when Harris and centre Simi Shittu arrived, and it wasn't until July when they brought in two more key starters in point guard Will Richardson and forward Trevon Scott who helped them go 6-4 down the stretch. To get past Calgary, Winnipeg will need its stars — Harris and Shittu — to deliver. The last time these foes met was July 27 in Calgary when Shittu exploded for 28 points and 15 rebounds in a 79-78 road win. Harris and Shittu sat out the final two regular season games and haven't played since Aug. 6. 'There's a lot of confidence. We had a lot of pretty good wins towards the end of the year,' said Shittu. 'We're excited for Friday for the atmosphere and to go to war with Calgary. But at the end of the day, we gotta just focus on us and stay within ourselves and I think we'll be alright.' Unlike the other three teams in town, they'll have 10,000-plus fans backing them. The Sea Bears went 6-6 at home with two of those losses coming against the Surge. 'You need to be peaking right now and that's been our mindset this whole time,' said Harris. The host hasn't won the championship since Edmonton did it in 2021. Calgary Surge Record: 17-7 Points per game: 95.29 Points against: 87.2 Player to watch: G Jameer Nelson Jr. Top Canadian: G Sean Miller-Moore It's hard to settle on one player to watch when Calgary boasts a four-headed monster. Its trio of guards — Evan Gilyard II, Jameer Nelson Jr., and Sean Miller-Moore — and forward Greg Brown III give them arguably the deepest roster in the league. The Vancouver Bandits topped the CEBL at 19-5 but Calgary defeated them four times, including a memorable 105-103 battle in the West semi last Saturday. In their two post-season victories — which includes a 103-95 result over the Edmonton Stingers in the play-in round —Nelson and Gilyard are averaging 61 points combined and both seemed destined to get serious NBA looks. Brown, who has 70 NBA games on his resume, led the Surge in scoring in the regular season with 19.5 points. Miller-Moore, a CEBL vet, was a finalist for Canadian Player of the Year. Calgary, which is 8-3 all-time against Winnipeg, is searching for its first championship. 'We know we're the better team but the playoffs are different, it's a different ballgame,' said Miller-Moore. 'It's good to know we're the favourites, of course, but we can't really hang our hats on that.' Niagara River Lions Record: 14-10 Points per game: 85.9 Points against: 88.38 Player to watch: G Khalil Ahmad Top Canadian: F Nathan Cayo The reigning champs are the class of the CEBL. Niagara has ended nearly half of the league's seven seasons with the most wins and had never finished lower than second except for the shortened 2020 campaign. Despite all the success, it wasn't until last summer when the River Lions — led by Victor Raso, the longest tenured head coach in the league — were finally able to get over the hump as they outlasted Vancouver 97-95 in the championship game in Montreal. They looked eager to repeat when they clinched the top spot in the East in late July after rattling off seven consecutive victories, but since then, it hasn't been pretty. Although they had nothing to play for in the standings, they closed out the year with five losses in a row. As the No. 1 seed, they received a bye to the conference final and haven't played since Aug. 10. 'It was a big deal because losing five in a row is the most we've lost in the history of our team, so, going on a skid like that is never good,' said guard Khalil Ahmad, last year's finals MVP. 'At the same time, we learned a lot from it, got a lot from it, as we were trying different things to get right for championship weekend. All in all, we're in a good spot still.' Ahmad, the CEBL's Player of the Year in 2022 and the Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, is one of the brightest stars in league history. You also can't forget Montreal product Nathan Cayo, a 6-7 forward who dropped 25 points and eight rebounds in the 2024 title game. 'I think we play our best when our backs are against the wall or when there's a lot of pressure,' said Cayo. 'I'm super excited to see us play to our full potential. I feel like we haven't played that way the whole year.' Scarborough Shooting Stars Record: 11-13 Points per game: 89.42 Points against: 89.04 Player to watch: G Donovan Williams Top Canadian: F Khalil Miller Scarborough lacks in difference-making Canadians but their import guards Donovan Williams and Terquavion Smith — who both average more than 22 points per game to finish in the top five in scoring — find a way to make up for it. 'A lot of it is gonna come down to me just leading this team,' said Williams. 'The other three teams here are really good for sure, but for me, head-to-head, with the team following me, I think we're at our best.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. The Shooting Stars are a streaky bunch but are coming in hot after blasting the Ottawa BlackJacks 114-81 in the East semis after taking down the Montreal Alliance 92-86 in the play-in game. They can hang with anyone, but they can also be sloppy as their 381 turnovers are the highest in the 10-team circuit. Scarborough won it all in 2023 but only three players remain from that run. 'We feel like we could've came out of the East with the No. 1 seed. There were some obstacles in our way and we didn't always handle them the best,' said Williams. 'For us, our record is more about inconsistency. I think right now, we're probably the most consistent we've been all season.' Taylor AllenReporter Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor. Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Canadian amateur Aphrodite Deng leads youth movement at CPKC Women's Open
Published Aug 21, 2025 • 3 minute read Aphrodite Deng tees off on the sixteenth hole in the first round of the CPKC Women's Open at the Mississauga Golf and Country Club in Mississauga on Thursday. Photo by Thomas Skrlj / THE CANADIAN PRESS MISSISSAUGA — Aphrodite Deng leaned on a club, cooly crossing a leg at the ankle as she stood on the 18th fairway of Mississaugua Golf and Country Club, waiting her turn to shoot with all the confidence of a seasoned LPGA Tour pro. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account As soon as Deng was up, she strode directly to the ball, set her feet, and connected on her approach shot, seemingly with no doubt about her club selection or her target. It's hard to believe that the Canadian amateur is just 15 years old. Her score in the first round of the CPKC Women's Open was also hard to believe, as she finished her round tied for the clubhouse lead with Mexico's Gaby Lopez and Megan Khang of the United States at 5-under 66. Japan's Akie Iwai took over the lead with a mistake-free 7-under round in the afternoon, with world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand and Ireland's Leona Maguire tying Deng, Lopez and Khang two shots back. Even Deng's answers when asked about her demeanour on the course give off a sense of effortless cool. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I'm trying to hit each shot and play in the fairway,' she said after submitting her scorecard. 'I don't really like playing slow because then I think too much.' Deng was born in Calgary and her family lived in Montreal before moving to New Jersey for her dad's work. She mostly lives in Orlando now but remains a Canadian citizen and plays for Golf Canada's junior program. For most of her first round at the Canadian national women's championship Deng was alone atop the leaderboard until Khang and Lopez caught up to her in their final holes. Although a little nervous about doing media on live TV, Deng was nonchalant about leading a professional golf tournament. 'I did look at the leaderboard a few times, yeah,' she said. 'I thought it was pretty cool, but I just knew I had to keep the same game plan.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Jeff MacDonald, head coach of Golf Canada's NextGen team, said that Deng's quick pace and unperturbed style of play is typical for her. 'No matter how big the event is, she just handles herself the same way over and over again,' he said. 'Doesn't change anything, doesn't make too too much of the moment. 'And with the quickness, she just gets that decision her head, and she knows what she wants to do, and she's committed to the shots. I think it's an asset to her.' Deng's strong showing in Thursday's opening round put her in the spotlight but she's actually just a part of Golf Canada's youth movement. There are 16 Canadians in the field at the Women's Open, 10 of them are amateurs and six of those amateurs are juniors. Lauren Kim, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Texas, was the second lowest Canadian on Thursday. The Surrey, B.C., native shot a 1-under 70 to sit in a tie for 21st. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's quite inspiring, honestly. Just looking at it from an outsider's perspective, I think it's amazing that we have so many young amateurs coming out,' said Kim who said she felt old compared to some of the amateurs competing at Mississaugua. 'I think that the future is looking really bright for Canada.' Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is the highest ranked Canadian golfer on the LPGA Tour, sitting 53rd on the points list and 58th in the world heading into this week's women's national championship. She had an even-par 71 to sit in a tie for 39th with, among others, amateur Katie Cranston of Oakville, Ont. A golfing prodigy who won her first LPGA Tour event as a 17-year-old, Henderson's 13 victories are the most for any Canadian professional golfer. She was also impressed by Deng's performance. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'She's been playing well all summer, so it's pretty cool to see, especially on a big stage like this,' said Henderson after her round. 'Just keep it going and ride the momentum.' Amateurs Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., and Calgary's Tillie Claggett as well as 16-year-old Anna Huang of Vancouver, who turned pro in January, were tied for 65th at one over. Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont., and amateur Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C., were tied for 87th at 2 over. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., as well as amateurs Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto and Ruihan Wang of Markham, Ont., were tied for 110th at 3 over. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., as well as amateurs Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill and Joline Truong of Mississauga were tied for 131st at 4 over. Hamilton's Alena Sharp was 156th at 11 over. Toronto & GTA World Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists
