Justin Gaethje hopes 'old guard holds up' and Michael Chandler beats Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314
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USA Today
10 minutes ago
- USA Today
Where Florida football stands in ESPN's preseason power rankings for 2025
The start of the 2025 college football campaign is just around the corner, and in anticipation of the gridiron giants' return to action, the sports media is in a frenzy offering up its preseason prognostications. Now that the major polls have been released, many publications are offering their own takes on the upcoming fall schedule, including ESPN, which recently convened its writing staff to put together its initial power rankings. Much like the polls, the Florida Gators find themselves in the middle of the top 25, landing at No. 16 in the nation. "The expectations around Florida heading into this season are completely different than they were last year," Andrea Adelson begins. "The Gators open as a preseason top-25 team for the first time under coach Billy Napier, thanks in part to the way last season ended and the return of quarterback DJ Lagway. With Lagway, Florida not only believes it has a quarterback who can make every play with either his arm or his legs but a player with the leadership skills to bring an entire team together," she continues. "After dealing with multiple injuries this offseason, Lagway has to show he can stay healthy. The talent is there around him, and on the defense, for Florida to truly contend this season." Florida football's ranking in Coaches, AP polls The two major polls — the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 — have both released their preseason college football rankings ahead of the upcoming 2025 campaign. In them, the Gators find themselves included among both top 25 rankings, coming in at No. 17 per the Coaches Poll and No. 15 per the Associated Press. It looks like ESPN split the difference in its power rankings. ESPN's 2025 college football preseason power rankings Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
10 minutes ago
- USA Today
Where Clemson landed in ESPN's 2025 college football preseason power rankings
Clemson has been one of the most talked-about teams all offseason, and ESPN's first power rankings of 2025 only added fuel to the fire. Dabo Swinney's Tigers landed at No. 3, coming in ahead of both their AP Poll and Coaches Poll placements. ESPN's David Hale pointed to how complete this roster looks compared to recent years. 'Is it a national championship or bust at Clemson this season? That might be a lofty expectation, but the stars have aligned for a team that has all the players in place, from a veteran quarterback (Cade Klubnik) to a trio of elite receivers to a revamped defense led by high-level NFL talent in Peter Woods and T.J. Parker,' Hale said. He also highlighted the addition of defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who is expected to bring back the intensity that once defined Clemson's defense. In Hale's view, this is Swinney's best roster since 2020, and following a surprise playoff berth last season, the bar has been raised even higher. Clemson trails only Texas and Penn State in ESPN's Top 25, while Georgia and Ohio State sit just behind. The Tigers will open their season on Aug. 30 against LSU in Death Valley, a top-10 clash that will immediately test Swinney's squad. Their regular-season finale against South Carolina also shapes up as one of the year's marquee rivalry games, with both teams ranked in the top 15. Elsewhere in the ACC, Miami is ranked No. 10, while SMU and Louisville also cracked the Top 25. The league's depth gives Clemson several chances to prove itself as the Tigers aim to return to the College Football Playoff and push for another national championship. Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly known as Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Morning Report: Demetrious Johnson tells fans ‘don't watch UFC' if you don't like Khamzat Chimaev's style
Demetrious Johnson has a simple solution for fans tired of watching wrestling-heavy fights: Change the channel. During a live YouTube reaction stream for UFC 319, Johnson gave his two cents on Saturday's main event and broke down how Khamzat Chimaev grappled his way to a dominant decision win over Dricus du Plessis to capture the middleweight title. Johnson then addressed viewer comments, several of which were critical of Chimaev controlling du Plessis for 25 minutes without doing much significant damage. Johnson sympathized, then reminded fans they have the power to choose what they consume. 'If you guys don't want to watch grappling and wrestling and jiu-jitsu, don't watch UFC,' Johnson said. 'Go watch ONE Championship, go watch Lion Fighting, go watch Glory, go watch kickboxing, go watch Muay Thai, right? It's very simple. You guys are complaining about something that's a very simple problem to fix. 'For example, let's say Khamzat's about to fight again, you don't want to watch his style, all you've got to do is go like this, you see this button right here, it's called 'off button.' You don't have to see Khamzat wrestle, it's a very simple problem to fix. You guys are making it a bigger deal than it is.' Watching the fight live, Johnson was critical of Chimaev not finding positions to land more impactful ground-and-pound or to chase submissions. That didn't matter in the end as 'DDP' failed to prevent Chimaev from repeatedly taking him down and either smothering him or taking his back. Johnson was on Chimaev's side when it came to referee Marc Goddard calling for a standup and reset of position on a couple of occasions, decisions that Johnson believes favored du Plessis. 'I disagree with this,' Johnson said during the fight. 'That should have never happened because the same thing's going to happen. Basically, what the ref did, the ref gave DDP a better chance to fight. What just happened with the referee's decision should have never happened. There's no reason why the ref should have stood them up. 'This is a fight. It's up to DDP to get to a better position to be able to better himself to be able to fight. The fact that the ref allowed DDP to get out of a very down position from Khamzat Chimaev is bullshit.' Regardless of how entertaining Chimaev's performance was or wasn't, it's clear the undefeated fighter and now UFC champion is a tough puzzle for any middleweight to solve. Reinier de Ridder, Anthony Hernandez, Caio Borralho, and Nassourdine Imavov are all in the mix to be the opponent for Chimaev's first title defense, and as of now Chimaev has no preference as to who is next. Whichever direction the matchmakers go in, Johnson knows that challenger better have their wrestling shoes on. 'I honestly thought Khamzat was going to be able to finish DDP if he was able to take DDP down, but I also thought DDP was going to do a better job of defending the takedowns and he wasn't able to stop the takedown,' Johnson said. 'That was the story of that fight, so moving forward, whoever fights Khamzat, they need to decide—like, Imavov or Borralho, they fight Sept. 6, whoever wins that fight, if they do not come with wrestling defense or a good jiu-jitsu attacking style like going after the legs, elevating Khamzat, they're going to lose. I feel totally comfortable saying that. They're going to lose. 'Because Khamzat does not want to stand. He wants to show, show, shoot. Show, show, shoot. Show, show, shoot. So if those guys don't have a ground game or have an answer for his wrestling, it's going to be the same exact thing that happened to DDP.' Inevitable. Khamzat Chimaev is the new UFC middleweight champion. Nope. Jon Jones fighting at UFC White House? Dana White calls it 'a billion-to-one' chance. Nope again. And he's not loving those 10,000-seat UFC APEX stories either! Next? Lerone Murphy smoked Aaron Pico at UFC 319 and he has the featherweight champ's attention. How? One fight before Murphy's unbelievable spinning elbow knockout, Carlos Prates did almost the exact same thing to Geoff Neal. Important. Joseph Morales won The Ultimate Fighter 33 to cap off yet another magical season. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee make their pick for who Chimaev should defend against first in the latest On to the Next One. UFC 319 post-fight show. UFC 319 post-fight scrums. I still can't believe he said this. They'll be back. Cute. Life after. Champ and future champ? That's one way to celebrate Premier League kickoff weekend. We all thought it would be Khamzat early, DDP late, but what we got was something completely different. Personally, I found the UFC 319 main event mesmerizing, even if it's a fight that I will never, ever watch again in its entirety. Chimaev defied expectations and became champion, that's how I'm choosing to frame it. Now get back to smeshing, big guy. If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.
