Jones to face Belgium's Oki in Paris
Welshman Mason Jones will face off against Belgian Bolaji Oki at UFC Fight Night in Paris on 6 September.The 30-year-old Jones made an impressive return to the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over Jeremy Stephens in May.The Blaenavon native is in his second spell with the UFC and is on a five-fight win streak.Jones previously stated his desire to fight in July in Abu Dhabi but he will now fight in the French capital.The Dragon boasts a professional record of 16 wins, two losses and one no contest while his 29-year-old opponent has 10 wins and two losses.Nassourdine Imavov will take on Caio Borralho in a middleweight bout which has also been announced for the card.
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BBC News
12 minutes ago
- BBC News
Wimbledon 2025: Carlos Alcaraz and the art of court positioning
Whether it is forehand, backhand or a slice, knowing what type of shot to play and when is key to winning tennis so too is a player's position on the court - with the very best in the world knowing where to be to anticipate a return, or to gain a few more valuable seconds to plan their next are better masters of this art than Carlos Alcaraz, who is proving to be one of the most complete players on the tour at the won the French Open in his final match of the clay season, the 22-year-old Spaniard transitioned to grass seamlessly by winning Queen's for the second time last sets him up perfectly for the pursuit of a third title in a row at Wimbledon, where his dominance of the court will once again come to the fore."He is so exciting," former British number one John Lloyd told BBC Sport."He is so quick, lightning quick, groundstrokes are huge both sides. He has one of the best volleys on the tour, his serves are getting better and better."He is a showman and a great entertainer." From all over to behind the baseline - the evolution of play To understand a bit more about why five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz is so good it is worth checking back on how tennis has changed over the styles have gone from almost every part of the court being covered by a player to the game now being predominantly fought out from behind the improvements in grass maintenance will undoubtedly have played a part, this evolution can be seen in images from Wimbledon over the years, with more patches of wear evident on more areas of the grass in the 1970s and 1980s compared to more recent statistics that show the decline of the serve-and-volley game do seem to correspond with the changes to where grass wear at Wimbledon can be 2002, serve-and-volley points in the men's draw accounted for 32.6% of total service points won, but by 2018 that figure was down to 6.93%.Evolution of the equipment used will have contributed to this eventual drop, with the development of modern racquets and strings making it easier to hit powerful groundstrokes from the baseline. 'He takes the tour to new levels' - how Alcaraz dominates the court The above detail is relevant because Alcaraz has shown he is adept at both styles of last year's men's final at Wimbledon, the old and the new guard were matched up for the second year in a row as Alcaraz faced 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Alcaraz dictated play with his speed and movement, causing Djokovic to lose confidence in his ability to live with his opponent from the back of the court and instead rush to the was a trap that worked as Djokovic won just 50.9% of his points at the net, compared to 72.7% for the younger man was just as strong when staying on the baseline where once again his quick movement and powerful ball striking was too much for Djokovic, who was placed under near constant pressure by Alcaraz."In that final, Djokovic was only able to generate three break points and won one, whereas Alcaraz was able to generate 14 break points and won five, so there was constant pressure on him," says Craig O'Shannessy, tennis analyst and founder of Brain Game Tennis, who has worked with Djokovic."And from the ground stroke department Alcaraz had too much firepower from the back, hitting 21 forehand winners while Djokovic hit six."With the backhand, Alcaraz hit 10 winners compared to three for Djokovic. The offence was very much controlled by Alcaraz in that final." Alcaraz's dominance of the court was once again on show at Queen's and, at 22, he has already won four grass-court titles - as many as compatriot Rafael Nadal secured in his of course, was the 'King of Clay' given his brilliance on that surface, but Alcaraz is showing proficiency on all court types."It is never a letdown with this player," said former British number one Andrew Castle, who was commentating on the Queen's tournament."Expectation every time he plays is always high and it is just supreme performances lately week in and week out.""His movement is incredible," adds O'Shannessy."His acceleration from the first two or three steps helps him get to balls other players can't, and then also his recovery out of the shot is incredibly fast as well."When I saw him up close and personal for the very first time, I was blown away. I didn't think people could move that well on a tennis court."He takes the tour to new levels with what's possible with movement on a court." Video analysis and warm-up tricks - getting the edge on an opponent Being able to anticipate a player's movement on the court and the type of shots they will probably play is key to securing victory, which is why someone as unpredictable as Alcaraz is so hard to play players fall into familiar patterns of play and studying those becomes important in attempting to secure the edge."Gabriel Diallo is a guy I work with and he was playing in Majorca recently, and for his match with Jaume Munar I sent a detailed game plan to him on how to face him," says O'Shannessy."Things I'll usually show will include where the serve's going, what kind of serve he likes to hit, and then where on the court he's more vulnerable to make errors, particularly forehand errors. Because they happen more often than anything else."Another important battleground can be the warm-up. Rather than being - as it may seem to those watching - just two players getting ready for the match, it also presents an opportunity to see how the opponent will react to certain types of shots."In the warm-up you may want to disguise the type of shots you want to hit," adds O'Shannessy.'I think it's probably more of an advantage at the club level because you don't necessarily know the opponent or have scouting on them."So it's a really good time to hit them some different balls, some high balls, some low balls, some fast balls, some slice, and then monitor where they hit that." Can anyone stop Alcaraz? Alcaraz heads to Wimbledon looking to complete a hat-trick of titles and, having won his past 18 matches in a row, he is in a strong position to do just number one Jannik Sinner - who lost out to Alcaraz in an epic French Open final earlier this month - will be looking to stop him, as well as Djokovic, the runner-up in the past two Wimbledon they will know they face a tough task against a player in form."When he's on it, he is the most complete player of his age I have ever seen," Lloyd says of Alcaraz."You look at him already and he's the finished package."Castle is similarly impressed, adding: "He is setting new standards along with Jannik Sinner, the current number one."The game is in good hands."
BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
Murphy on Ireland, Lancaster at Connacht and family success
This summer, another door will open for Ben Murphy. A year ago, he was packing his bags and heading west after agreeing to join Connacht from has proved a fruitful step. While he admits the province's 2024-25 season was "up and down", his progress was smooth. He played 16 times and scored nine tries. Earlier this year, he was a training panellist on Ireland's Six Nations squad. But now, with the country's frontline stars on British and Irish Lions duty, the 24-year-old scrum-half is keen to impress while swapping the green of Connacht for the similarly shaded Test jersey. "From the outside looking in, it [receiving an Ireland call-up] probably would have been far-fetched," he admits. "But I kind of felt that with the movements this year, Lions year and all that, that there was going to be an opportunity for a young scrum-half to come into the squad and I just wanted to put my best foot forward to be the one to be in that position. "Thankfully I got an opportunity earlier with Connacht. I've managed to push forward and get into the squad so [I'm] delighted." After Ireland's summer's Tests against Georgia and Portugal, Murphy will return to the winds of change in Galway, with former England boss and Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster having recently taken the reins. Murphy previously crossed paths with Lancaster while he was coming through the Leinster academy. "I didn't feel we were too far away from being very good [last season]," added Murphy, who flourished in the latter stages of Pete Wilkins' tenure. "And I think Stu has the ability to take us to that next step. He's been left a good foundation by the staff that were there last year but were ready to take that next step obviously next year."With Ben on the cusp of a Test debut and his younger brother Jack establishing himself in the Ulster first-team under dad/head coach Richie, it has been a whirlwind couple of years for the Murphy clan. "Yeah its been busy for my mum anyway," he smiled."She's been up and down the road a lot from Belfast to Galway to wherever. It has been hugely exciting obviously. Ulster have had their ups and downs as well as us. "We've kind of been on a similar journey I feel. And Jack the same. Young half-back, learning his trade but he's starting to come into his own now. Massively exciting times for everyone."
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Sean Flynn has ridden the Classics, next he'd like a British title
Flynn's rise has meant that this season he's already ridden some of the most iconic races on the cycling calendar including Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, to add to his appearance at the La Vuelta a España in 2023. And what's even more telling about Flynn and his rapidly increasing expectations of himself is that he's not satisfied with merely being on the start line of the biggest races in the sport; rather, he's somewhat frustrated that he couldn't make more of an impact this year in terms of his results. "This season has been really positive and I've had the chance to do races that I've always dreamed about doing, so that's been exciting and I've gained a lot of experience. Some of my performances have been very good and so I was disappointed not to come away with more of a top level result in some of the Classics,' Flynn says. 'It's obviously encouraging to race well - it's just a pity I've not come away with a result on paper that I can sited and stare at and admire. With cycling, there's just so many variables and sometimes it'll go your way and sometimes it won't.' Flynn, who rides for Team Picnic PostNL, acknowledges that he's being disproportionately hard on himself. Given he's still only 25 years old and has been in the professional ranks for only two full seasons so far, his progression to the top level has been impressive, to say the least, and he admits racing in the sport's top races against the world's best riders, has been both a steep learning curve and the thrill of a lifetime. 'People do tell me I'm too tough on myself and sometimes I need to take a step back,' the Edinburgh native says. 'In these huge races, I'm racing the biggest stars of the sport who are just incredible riders and so I do need to put into perspective who I'm up against. 'When you watch the Classics on television it can look easy, but there's so much that goes into doing well in terms of positioning, knowing the moments that are important and knowing what to expect. 'And the Monument races, which are 250km or longer, are a whole different ball game so I was happy that I've been able to do races of that length and get through them okay. 'This year has been a really good learning experience for me, and also it's also been really cool to do these iconic races. When I was riding the cobbles section in Roubaix, the fan inside of me couldn't believe it.' (Image: Luc Claessen/ Getty Images) The coming days will see Flynn's focus turn to the National Championships, which take place in Ceredigion, Wales with the time trial today before tomorrow's circuit race and the road race on Sunday, in which Flynn will line-up. There will be a number of Flynn's fellow Scots also in action including, on the men's side, Olympic medallist on the track, Mark Stewart, plus Callum Thornley and Calum Johnson while on the women's side, the Scots worth watching out for are Flynn's girlfriend, Lauren Dickson, as well as Kate Richardson, Neah Evans, Eilidh Shaw and Arianne Holland. For Flynn, given the form he's in, it's unsurprising he's hopeful of challenging for a podium place. 'Nationals is always tough to predict but I want to try and win it. That's how I'll be racing and so it really just depends how it goes on the day,' he says. 'But given the standard of the riders, I could finish outside the top 10 and still be pretty satisfied with how I've ridden. I'm excited for it and I'll just see what I can get from it but I'll be aiming for the top, for sure.' For Flynn, there remains a few more months of racing this year, during which he hopes to continue to raise the profile of road racing within Scotland. His success, alongside the success of the likes of Tour de France rider Oscar Onley and a number of other Scots who are making an impact in Europe, Flynn is hopeful the success of this group of young Scottish men can go some way in persuading more Scottish kids that becoming a professional road racer is a viable career goal. 'It's really nice to be flying the flag at this level for Scotland,' he says. 'The first couple of years of my career, I was just in my own little bubble but now I feel like I'm getting on top of the racing and so I'd like to do a bit more to encourage and inspire more people to get onto their bike. 'When I was younger, there weren't any obvious role models from Scotland at the top level of road racing but now we have quite a few Scottish guys at the top level. 'I know that when I was coming through, if I'd had a connection with anyone doing these huge races I would have found it really cool so I hope I can keep riding these big races for that reason.'
