ENGLAND lights up on Sunday (Manila time) as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brings its live event “UFC Fight Night 127” featuring the heavyweight clash between former champ Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum of Brazil against Russian Alexander “Drago” Volkov.

Happening at the 02 Arena in London, the UFC event will also have the light heavyweight battle between Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa (#4) and Jan Blanchowicz (#11) as co-main event.

Mr. Werdum (23-7-1) is currently riding a two-fight winning streak with the last one coming at the expense of Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision last November.

He is angling to use his upcoming fight for another shot at the title he latched onto in June 2015 before losing it 11 months later to reigning champion Stipe Miocic.

The same title shot is what Mr. Volkov (29-6) is looking at, banking on the momentum he has built after winning five straight.

His last victory came in September last year over Stefan Struve by technical knockout due to punches in the third round.

It was his third straight win in the UFC after previously parading his wares at M-1 Challenge and Bellator.

Other fights in the main card of UFC Fight Night 127 are those between bantamweight Tom “Fire Kid” Duquesnoy and Terrion “Flash” Ware and welterweight Leon “Rocky” Edwards (#15) against Peter Sobotta.

UFC Fight Night 127: Werdum vs Volkov will be shown live on Sunday, beginning at 5 a.m. over Hyper Ch. 91 in SD or 261 in HD on Cignal TV. Encore telecast is at 12 noon and 6 p.m. on the same day.

In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. — MASM

MIAMI — Tiger Woods seeks an unprecedented ninth triumph at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting Thursday, the 14-time major champion hoping to find top form on one of his favorite courses.

The 42-year-old American, coming off a runner-up effort last week at the Valspar Championship, enters his last tune-up for next month’s Masters after his best result in nearly five years and showing no signs of the back injuries that have haunted prior comebacks.

“Just keep getting better,” Woods said of his goals for the week. “Just keep making incremental improvements and I think I’ve done that. Each and every week I’ve learned from what I’ve done and more importantly I’m learning my body. I’m learning how I can swing it and not swing it.

“My recovery, these are all things that are new. So I’m still learning, I’m getting a lot better at it, which is nice and I think that you’re starting to see the fruits of that now of the little tweaks I’ve made and I’m excited about it.”

Woods, a winner eight times in 17 starts at Bay Hill, last won on the Orlando layout in 2013. He recall being greeted at the 18^th green by tournament namesake legend Palmer, who died in 2016.

“To be able to win this tournament and to have Arnold there and to shake his hand and for him to give me a big hug and a couple times he says, ‘I called it, I knew you were going to make that putt’ — little things like that, the last sharing jokes with him out there on the green and he and I laughing — those are moments that unfortunately I’ll never have (again). But I have those memories.”

Woods has 79 US PGA Tour titles, three shy of Sam Snead’s all-time record, and his major win total remains four short of the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open, but he has won four times at Augusta National, where he will tee off in three weeks seeking another major crown.

This week, he also knows the course but will need to become reacquainted with some details.

“Just because I won here eight times doesn’t mean I’m going to win this week automatically. I still got to do the work. I still got to go through the process of getting myself in position,” Woods said.

“But I understand this golf course. I’ve played it under so many different varying conditions. I’ve got to do some serious homework and really get to know and get the feel of how this golf course is playing this particular year, considering I haven’t played here in five years.”

Woods finds himself eager to get back into the competitive hunt at the Masters, where he has played only once since 2013, nabbing a share of 17^th three years ago.

“Very eager,” Woods said, “I feel like I’m physically able to do it again and it’s going to be a lot of fun. There’s no other tournament like it. It has a deep place in my heart.

“From the time I was there as an amateur to my first win and to my other wins there as well, I just love playing Augusta National.” — AFP

SYDNEY — Two-time winner Jimmy Spithill says he’s thrilled to be back in the chase for the America’s Cup after joining Italian syndicate Luna Rossa from Oracle Team USA.

“The hunger has only gotten stronger,” the Australian said, admitting that losing yachting’s most prestigious trophy to Team New Zealand in Bermuda last year had preyed on his mind.

“Since the last race of AC35, I’ve been thinking every day about the America’s Cup,” he said in an interview with his sponsor Red Bull.

“Naturally, you go over the previous campaign piece by piece, focusing on all the key moments and decisions during the four years.”

The 38-year-old was excited about the AC75 foiling monohulls that will be used for the first time when New Zealand defend the Auld Mug in Auckland in 2021.

He compared them to the cutting-edge foiling catamarans that provided such spectacular racing when he won the 2013 regatta with Oracle in San Francisco in 2013.

“The boat is going to be a beast… there are a lot of unknowns with the AC75, which will push people to the limit and really challenge all the teams involved,” he said.

“However, this challenge and difficulty are really appealing, and I’m really excited to be back in the game.” — AFP

SCHOOL spirit in Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is further amped up today with the holding of the cheerleading competition at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Set for 3 p.m., participants from the competing NCAA schools are out to bring their high-energy performances all in the hopes of coming out on top and be declared Season 93’s best.

Defending champion Arellano University is one of the squads pegged as a contender along with the University of Perpetual Help.

Also competing and expected to go all-out are the Jose Rizal University Pep Squad, Lyceum of the Philippines University Pepsquad, Emilio Aguinaldo College Pep Squad, San Beda University Red Corps, Mapua University Cheerping Cardinals, Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lakas Arriba Cheerleading Team, College of Saint Benilde Pepsquad and San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags Cheerleading Team.

In last year’s competition, the AU Chiefsquad displayed clean and tough routines, stunts and tosses, enough to beat the Altas Perpsquad with a cumulative score 218 points to the latter’s 199.50.

The title was the second in Arellano’s NCAA history, the first coming in 2015.

Coming in second last year, Perpetual Help, the competition’s winningest team with nine titles, said it has been working hard in training to get back on top and determined to see its cause through.

“We will give it our very best to preserve the tradition of Perpetual Help in NCAA cheerleading,” said Perpetual Help coach Ruf del Rosario.

In the history of the NCAA cheerleading competition which was first held in 2004, only four schools have won the title, namely Perpetual Help, Arellano, Mapua (2004) and Jose Rizal University (2008). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

WINNING is something one cannot get enough of. That seems to be the case for Filipino world boxing champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes who has sustained his more-than-a-decade winning streak while setting his sights on continued success and bigger things moving forward.

Fresh from his latest conquest last month, Mr. Nietes, 35, met members of local media on Wednesday, March 14, to celebrate another feather in his cap while at the same time taking it as an opportunity to share his plans for the future.

“I really want to go back and fight in front of the US crowd and on HBO, since they were really happy with the show we put up in our last fight,” said Mr. Nietes at the press conference held at the ABS-CBN compound, speaking of his seventh-round technical knockout win over Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina on HBO Boxing After Dark’s “Superfly 2” event on Feb. 25 in Inglewood, California.

The win was a successful first title defense by Mr. Nietes of his International Boxing Federation flyweight title which he won in April last year and marked an impressive pay-per-view debut on United States soil.

In beating his Argentinian opponent, Mr. Nietes (41-1-4), the country’s longest-reigning world champion, majority as a light flyweight, was clinical right from the start, landing power punches that would later take a toll on Mr. Reveco.

The windup of round six proved to signal the end of things for Mr. Reveco in the fight after he absorbed a right hand from the Filipino champion.

Just as the bell sounded, Mr. Reveco (39-4) staggered to his corner upon getting hit, a punch his team though protested came after the bell.

In the seventh round, Mr. Reveco tried to make a go at it but obviously he was still reeling from the solid punch he got and just had nothing left to give.

Sensing that he had his opponent on the brink of defeat, Mr. Nietes quickly pounced on Mr. Reveco before the latter’s corner threw the white towel at the 53-second mark of the round.

For his impressive US debut, Mr. Nietes made a good impression to a wider audience, even getting rave reviews from boxing luminaries like Max Kellerman and Andre Ward.

The show of support and words of encouragement he got after his US title defense all the more stoked the fire in him to continue fighting and bringing pride to the country.

“It makes me more inspired to work harder for the next fight. We are not yet done and we want to fight the best the world has to offer,” Mr. Nietes said.

He went on to say that he is eyeing moving up to super flyweight and vie for the vacant World Boxing Organization Super Flyweight throne against Nicaraguan Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

A win in that fight would make the Murcia, Negros Occidental native Nietes a four-division world champion, something only boxing superstar Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire had done.

Started his professional career in 2003, Mr. Nietes has not lost a fight since September 2004.

He has been a staple in the “Pinoy Pride” boxing series of ALA Boxing and ABS-CBN Sports that airs on ABS-CBN, S+A, and S+A HD. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

LOS ANGELES — The Washington Wizards fought back from a 20-point deficit to jolt the injury-hit Boston Celtics with a 125-124 victory in double overtime on Wednesday.

A Jodie Meeks three-pointer with two seconds remaining tied it for the Wizards at 106-106 to send the game into the first period of overtime after the Celtics appeared to have done enough for the win.

Boston rookie Jayson Tatum then blew a chance to win it for the Celtics in the first period of overtime, the 20-year-old leveling the score at 115-115 with a two-point layup but then missing a free throw that would have sealed a win.

Instead Washington pulled away to open a six-point lead in overtime that saw them improve to 39-30 in the Eastern Conference standings.

The second-placed Celtics, who are battling through a slew of injuries that has deprived them of Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, fell to 46-22 with the defeat.

The Celtics remain four games adrift of the first place Toronto Raptors, who are on course for the top seeding and homecourt advantage through the playoffs.

Bradley Beal led the way for the Wizards at Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday, scoring 34 points with seven rebounds and nine assists.

Markieff Morris had 20 points while Otto Porter, Jr. had 18 points. Ian Mahinmi added 14 from the bench.

Boston’s scoring was led by Marcus Morris with 31 points, Terry Rozier adding 21 and Tatum 19.

Elsewhere Wednesday, the Orlando Magic pulled off an upset against the playoff-chasing Milwaukee Bucks with a 126-117 victory.

Orlando’s Jonathon Simmons scored a career-high 35 points as the Magic improved to 21-48. The Bucks fell to 36-32 with the defeat.

Simmons was ably supported by point guard D.J. Augustin, who had 32 points along with four assists and three rebounds.

Montenegrin center Nikola Vucevic also proved influential, scoring 22 points while finishing with nine assists and nine rebounds.

The Bucks, meanwhile, leaned heavily on the brilliance of Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led the scoring with 38 points. Antetokounmpo also led his team with rebounds (10) while adding seven assists. — AFP