Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is looking forward to facing Leon Edwards again in a potential trilogy fight following his loss on Sunday

The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ is taking his knockout loss to Edwards in his stride and has already moved on as he told TMZ Sports that he’s “feeling great” and looking forward to their trilogy fight.

Usman was handed his first UFC loss with just one minute left in their five-round bout on Sunday after he got hit with a left head kick that sent him crumbling to the canvas.

Despite losing his belt, the 35-year-old is handling the situation incredibly well, better than most and even congratulated the Briton for landing the knockout blow.

“Everything is great,” Usman said. “It was just – what a shot. It was a great shot. I’m talking Hail Mary in the Super Bowl, last 10 seconds. That was a great shot, man.”

Usman says he’s watched the fight several times now and thinks his friends and family are actually more upset about the result than he really is.

“It’s like everyone’s sadder about it than I am,” he added. “Everyone’s more emotional about than I am but that’s because – for me, that’s a good thing ‘cause it lets me know that people care, people are invested.”

Usman however, sees the silver lining saying he now has the chance to inspire people as he continues his career.

“I’m in a rare opportunity. I have a rare opportunity now to just inspire and motivate and show people that you can fall and get back up. I’m excited.”

As for his next fight, Usman has made it clear that he wants to win the belt back.

UFC President Dana White has also hinted that the trilogy fight could take place in England.

“How do you not do a (rematch)? F***! Wembley? I don’t know,” White pondered before confirming Edwards vs Usman 3 will take place in the UK.

“I’m scared to go outside, and I’m definitely scared to go outside in England.

“I’m serious but joking about Wembley.

“Anything is possible in England now. It would be fun but scary at the same time. The weather isn’t the greatest over there in England.”

One win and one draw means Bayelsa Queens are one win away from qualification

Bayelsa Queens are one win away from qualifying for the 2022 CAF Women’s Champions League  having taken four points from their first two games with the last one slated for the weekend.

Nigeria’s representative at the ongoing WAFU B Women’s CAF Champions League continued their impressive campaign following a goalless draw with Ghanaian clubside, Ampem Darkoa, in their second group stage game on Wednesday, 24th August, at the Yamoussoukro Stadium, Cote d’Ivoire.

It was a top group encounter after both sides had recorded a victory in their respective first games.

After the drawn encounter, Bayelsa Queens maintain the top spot following the goal difference they have over Ampem Darkoa. The Nigerian side had earlier trounced their Togolese side, Athleta 5-1 to stay first on the log over Ampem who defeated Burkina Faso’s USFA 3-0.

Both sides showed excellent performances during the game despite misplaced chances from both sides.

As it stands, Bayelsa Queens and Ampem Darkoa both have four points occupying the first and second position respectively.

Elsewhere, Burkina Faso’s USFA defeated Athleta Football Club 5-1 to clinch the third spot.

Bayelsa Queens final group stage game is against USFA scheduled for Saturday, 27th August. The winner of the group qualifies for the second phase to be hosted in Morocco in September.

Three-time African champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria maintained the same position in the latest monthly ranking released by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on Thursday morning.

The Super Eagles, who were not in action in August remain in 31st position.

Jose Peseiro’s side also retained their fourth position in Africa.

The Terangha Lions of Senegal occupy the top spot on the continent with the Atlas Lions of Morocco and Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in second and third positions respectively.

There were no changes in the top 10 in the world as Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, France, England, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Denmark maintained their spots.

The Super Eagles will be in action on Tuesday, September 27 when they take on the Desert Foxes of Algeria in a friendly at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium, Oran.

World and Commonwealth Champion Tobi Amusan will be tested tomorrow as the Nigerian defends her Diamond League title in Zurich.

Amusan will return to track after her title defence at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and world record and title win at the Athletics World Championship in Oregon.

The 25-year-old, who ran 12.12 in the World Championships semifinals, will be hoping for another strong run with a field as strong as that in Lausanne.

Amusan will be up against Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, world silver medallist Britany Anderson and former world record-holder Kendra Harrison, plus home star Ditaji Kambundji.

With world titles won and continental crowns claimed, many of the sport’s stars will clash again at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne as the Wanda Diamond League continues towards its crescendo.

Global gold medallists are among those heading to the Swiss city on the hunt for performances that will secure their spot in the Diamond League final back in Switzerland – at the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich – on 7-8 September.

The stacked fields feature 12 recently-crowned individual world champions, the same number of individual Olympic gold medallists from Tokyo and nine champions from last year’s Diamond League.

India’s football association has asked world governing body FIFA to lift the suspension imposed on it after the mandate of a court-appointed committee to govern the sport in the country was terminated this week.

India’s highest court disbanded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in May and appointed a three-member committee to govern the sport, amend the body’s constitution and conduct elections that have been pending for 18 months.

FIFA banned the AIFF this month, citing “undue influence from third parties” and said the suspension would be lifted once the national body regains full control of its daily affairs.

On Monday, India’s Supreme Court ruled that the committee’s mandate “stands terminated” and the day-to-day management of the country’s soccer affairs will be handed back to the AIFF.

In a letter sent to FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura on Tuesday the AIFF apprised the world governing body of the court’s ruling.

“We request the FIFA… to reconsider their decision of suspending the AlFF,” Sunando Dhar, AIFF’s acting general secretary, wrote in the letter.

“Since the conditions set out in your letter for lifting of the suspension stand satisfied, we request that a order to that effect be passed at the earliest for the AIFF to continue with the smooth running of football in India.”

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the AIFF letter.

India is scheduled to host the Under-17 women’s World Cup from Oct. 11-30 but their hosting right is under threat due to the FIFA suspension.

The elections of the AIFF, formerly led by FIFA Council member Praful Patel, were to be held by December 2020 but were delayed due to an impasse over amendments to its constitution.

The AIFF elections are currently scheduled to be held early next month.

Veteran U.S. tennis player Serena Williams returns a ball during her match against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic during the National Bank Open in Toronto, Ontario, Canada August 10, 2022.

Serena Williams enters her final U.S. Open as a long shot to take home the trophy but her title as the biggest earner in the history of women’s tennis will remain for many years to come.

Since turning professional in 1995, Williams has amassed a mind-boggling $94.6 million in prize money, more than twice as much as the second name on the list, which happens to be her older sister Venus, with $42.3 million.

“It’s hard to overstate her success,” Victor Matheson, a sports economist at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, said of the 23-time Grand Slam champion.

“There are few other examples of athletes in sport who are so far beyond the number two like that.”

Put another way, about 25,000 women have won prize money in the history of the WTA and Serena Williams has earned more than the bottom 80% of those players combined, he said.

“She has far and away the most career earnings among female athletes and is one of the very few female athletes to be solidly in the top 20 money earners among all athletes in a given year.

“It’s very unusual in sports to see a female athlete have this sort of financial presence.”

While it is difficult to quantify Williams’ financial impact on the sport as a whole, her career has coincided with huge growth in the women’s game.

In 1995, the WTA handed out $35 million in total prize money, an amount that jumped to $180 million in 2020, said Bob Dorfman, Sports Marketing Analyst at San Francisco’s Pinnacle Advertising.

But there is no doubt that Williams, who along with Venus was introduced to the predominately white sport at an early age by their father in Compton, California, helped bring in a new audience.

“It used to be very country clubby,” Dorfman said.

“Then she came along and it became accepted in public parks and people who never thought about playing tennis before started playing. And a lot more African American players came along.”

And as she turns her attention to growing her family and becoming a full-fledged business mogul, it is tough to see anyone replicating her on-court dominance anytime soon.

“There’s nobody on the horizon right now that’s going to come close to that,” Dorfman said.

“Hopefully somebody else will come along and dominate but nobody is doing it right now. I don’t think there’s anybody who has the drive and desire to win that Serena does.”