Belgian takes pentathlon gold at European Indoor Champs ahead of Tokyo showdown with Katarina Johnson-Thompson, while Holly Mills impresses in fifth

Two years ago in Glasgow, GB duo Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson finished one-two in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships. This time, in the Polish city of Toruń, Belgian pair Nafi Thiam and Noor Vidts took gold and silver in the same event. If they all turn up in Tokyo fit and healthy, we should be in for a treat.

In the absence of the injured KJT in Toruń, Thiam was relatively untroubled as the Olympic heptathlon champion dominated the five-event contest on Friday (March 5). With a Belgian record of 4904 she beat team-mate Vidts by 113 points with Xenia Krizsan of Hungary third (4644), Ivona Dadic of Austria fourth (4587) and British youngster Holly Mills a fine fifth (4517).

Mills put in a plucky performance. Only 20 and making her senior GB debut, she led the entire field after the first event and in the final event blasted into a lead before fading from first to third on the last lap.

Thiam got off to a slow steady start as she was only fifth best in the 60m hurdles with 8.31 as Mills clocked 8.22. But Thiam began to show her class with 1.89m in the high jump, which was better than any of her competitors despite being below her usual standard. In the shot put Thiam also won the event with 15.16m and held a 157-point lead over Vidts going into the final two events.

Mills (below), meanwhile, fell back to eighth overall after a 1.74m high jump PB and 13.22m shot put.

The long jump saw Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands and Maria Vicente of Spain both bomb out after failing their first three efforts. But Thiam and Vidts jumped 6.60m and 6.47m respectively to cement their positions, while Mills jumped a 6.10m PB.

Gold was a virtual formality for Thiam going into the 800m and the tall Belgian strode around in 2:18.80 to seal the title. But Mills was on a mission and blasted through the first 400m in 64.2 before going on to clock 2:13.59 as Krizsan won the event.

Thiam embraced Vidts as they celebrated but she was the first to admit that Tokyo is her main goal and she didn’t specifically prepare for the European Indoor Championships.

“It was a last-minute decision to compete here,” said Thiam. “And I really felt this in the high jump as I haven’t done much technical work yet.”

On the problems of the pandemic, she added: “Last year was weird with no goal to aim for but now it (the Olympics) seems very real.”

“It was incredible and very intense,” said Mills. “Tokyo is definitely in my sight lines. If you don’t aim for it, you won’t get it.”

No doubt KJT will have been a keen spectator back home as she continues to return from a recent injury.

PARIS – Pirelli has agreed to a one-year extension to its current tire supply contract that will see the company continue as the official tire of Formula One through 2024.

The most recent agreement between the FIA, Formula One and Pirelli in 2018 was for the supply of a 13-inch tires during the 2020 season, followed by three consecutive seasons of 18-inch tires from 2021 to 2023 inclusive.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which also disrupted the 2020 Formula One season, forced FIA and Formula One officials to implement emergency measures that included the cancellation of tire development tests last year and the postponement of planned new technical regulations – which included 18-inch tires – from 2021 to 2022.

As a result, the current rules now state that 13-inch tires will be used during the 2021 season, with a move to 18-inch tires in 2022.

“The pandemic caused disruption across the world and Formula One was not immune from that,” said Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali. “We therefore took the necessary measures last year to defer the regulations by one year to 2022. We are very proud of our partnership with Pirelli and grateful to them for their constructive approach to this timing change. Pirelli are very conscious of strategic role that the tires have in F1 and we know that they are working very hard to make sure that their products will represent the best balance between performance and durability in the new technical context. We look forward to the start of the 2021 season and we are all excited for the new cars and new 18-inch tires to hit the track under the new regulations in 2022.”

“The world of motorsport has also had to face up to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the FIA and FOM did an extraordinary job to organise a 17-race championship in 2020,” said Pirelli Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera. “We’re obviously pleased to have reached this agreement that will extend our presence at the pinnacle of world motorsport until 2024. Pirelli has been alongside Formula One for more than 70 years, since the very first race in 1950, and the company continues to invest in the highest technological levels of research and development, as shown by the introduction of 18-inch tyres from next year. Motorsport forms part of our DNA and Formula One represents an open-air laboratory that allows us to apply the know-how gained on track into our road car tyres, starting off with the Ultra High Performance range that equips the most prestigious cars in the world”.

DILLON, S.C. — When Jonathan Shafer made the move from Nelson Motorsports to Lee Pulliam Performance during the offseason, he did so with hope of being able to spark a championship run on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour.

To do that, Shafer knows he needs to break into victory lane and that’s the goal for the 15-year-old native of Ashland, Ohio, starting this weekend at Dillon Motor Speedway.

Shafer will take the wheel of the renumbered No. 91 for car owner Lee Pulliam, chasing his first CARS Tour victory at the four-tenths-mile paved oval during Saturday’s Black’s Tire 125.

Under the watchful eye of the four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion, Shafer was the fastest car in testing on Thursday, but he knows that early speed doesn’t always tell the final story.

“It gives me confidence, but we’re always trying to get better,” Shafer told SPEED SPORT in a phone interview Thursday night. “I like this place, though. It’s a lot of fun to drive. I felt comfortable right away and Lee always brings really good cars to the race track; we knew that from racing against him last year.

“If we can keep this kind of strength up, I like where we could be for the race on Saturday. You never fully know, but I think we’ll have good speed.”

Shafer noted the strength of team he saw when racing against Pulliam’s fleet last year, as well as the mentor that Pulliam has been to young drivers in the past, were qualities that stood out when he was making the decision of which team to join for his second season with the CARS Tour.

“The Pulliam cars, no matter which car it was, always ran strong every weekend last year and we knew at the end of last season that we were looking for a new team for this season … and when we talked to Lee, all the experience he has and the strength of his equipment really stood out to us,” Shafer tipped. “We figured out a deal with him andthings have gone really well so far. I’ve felt really comfortable working with Lee and his guys and I feel that we have a great opportunity this year to make some noise.

“Working with this team is a great chance for me to gain more knowledge and learn even more of the skills that I need to eventually move up the ladder,” Shafer continued. “You can’t stop learning, especially with the amount of experience that Lee has to pass on. I feel like he can really coach me and mold me into a better driver than what I am now.”

No longer a rookie, Shafer comes into this season with a clean slate and experience at most of the tracks that the CARS Late Model Stock Tour will visit.

He finished ninth in points on the strength of four top-10 finishes last season, as well as a pole at Virginia’s Dominion Raceway, where he came home a season-best fourth after leading 58 laps.

Shafer’s main objective is to quickly erase the goose-egg he has in the win column and contend for a series championship, hoping to exceed the standards that Pulliam’s team has met in late model competition in prior years.

“I really think we were close to winning last year, but this year I’ve definitely circled getting a win as a big priority and believe we’re capable of doing that,” he said. “With the extra edge that Lee’s leadership provides and the knowledge throughout the whole team, we have all the tools we need to be successful.

“I’d say our goal is to be contend for a championship and just to be up there running for the points title because that means you’re in contention every week and doing all the things that we feel we need to be doing,” Shafer noted. “I think that would be a pretty big accomplishment for us and, hopefully, we can do just that.”

The Black’s Tire 125 at Dillon Motor Speedway, the season-opening race for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, can be streamed live through SPEED SPORT Network affiliate CARS Tour TV.

Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and CONMEBOL will meet on Saturday via video to find a solution to the impasse created after several top European clubs announced they will not release their South American players in March to compete in World Cup qualifying due to COVID-19 transmission fears over travel.

"We have set a virtual meeting for tomorrow [Saturday] between the FIFA president and the CONMEBOL executive committee," CONMEBOL said in a tweet on Friday after a meeting.

The talks between FIFA and the CONMEBOL are focused around the double header of qualifiers for Qatar 2022 scheduled for March 25-26 and March 30.

European clubs, where a large number of South American players ply their trade, are unlikely to release their players to travel amid concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions.

All 10 South American countries feature on the UK government's "red list" travel ban, which does not include exemptions for athletes and sports people. Any UK-based players who played in the games would face 10 days in hotel quarantine on return.

Colombia suspended flights to and from Brazil at the end of January as cases there began to rise and a new more contagious strain appeared. And the country's health minister has rejected the idea of allowing a charter flight of Brazilian footballers to land in Colombia later this month.

"The chance of receiving any flight from Brazil is very remote, there's no way to justify the arrival of a charter flight," the minister, Fernando Ruiz, said in a statement released on Friday.

Sources say one option discussed is playing the qualifiers in a "bubble" in a European city. Recent Champions League and Europa League matches have been played in neutral venues in Athens, Bucharest, and Budapest.

Some 1,910 people died in Brazil on Wednesday, a record daily high. More than 260,000 have perished in the South American nation, more than anywhere in the world outside the United States.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Borussia Dortmund suffered a major blow on Friday when Jadon Sancho, Raphael Guerreiro and Giovanni Reyna were ruled out of Saturday's Bundesliga game at champions Bayern Munich (12:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+), the club said on Twitter.

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Winger Sancho and midfielder Guerreiro had been taken off with minor muscle injuries in their midweek German Cup quarterfinal win and have not fully recovered yet.

It was not clear why United States men's national team player Reyna had not joined the squad on the trip to Munich, although sources tell ESPN "it's nothing bad."

Sancho's absence is especially painful as the in-form England international has been sensational in 2021, scoring eight goals in all competitions while setting up another seven.

Sancho was also on target in their 1-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday that sent them into the German Cup last four before being taken off.

Dortmund have climbed back up to fifth place in the Bundesliga on 39 points having won their last two league games.

They are three points behind fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, with the top four finishers qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Bayern are top on 52, two ahead of RB Leipzig.

Meanwhile, Bayern manager Hansi Flick confirmed that defender Benjamin Pavard will not be fit in time for the match.

France's World Cup winner was the latest Bayern player to test positive for the coronavirus and went into quarantine on Feb. 18. He has returned to individual training this week but has not yet trained with the team.

Flick warned that Dortmund's four-game winning run in all competitions coupled with their high quality squad made them a dangerous opponent even though they are fifth in the table.

"We are the league leaders and we want to protect our lead. We want to win the game and that is how we approach it," Flick said.

"Dortmund are more consistent now. The last days and weeks showed it. [Coach] Edin Terzic does a very good job. The last games have been consistent, the results are there. They have gained in confidence and you can see it."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced Friday that he has signed a letter of intent to perform major renovations at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in an effort to bring NASCAR back to the historic facility.

The agreement was made with Bristol Motor Speedway, which is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. SMI, led by CEO Marcus Smith, has been working towards bringing NASCAR back to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for the last few years.

Smith and two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. were present when Mayor Cooper signed the agreement.

Subject to approval by the Board of Fair Commissioners and Metropolitan Council, Bristol Motor Speedway would have a long-term contract to lease, manage, and operate Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, as well as assume financial responsibility for track renovations and ongoing maintenance.

“The goal of the partnership is to bring our historic racetrack back to life as a valuable and exciting part of the Fairgrounds,” said Mayor Cooper. “We have an obligation to maintain the track, so it is smart for Nashville to engage a strong, long-term partner from the auto racing industry to operate it successfully. The business terms in this LOI protect Nashville, with multiple revenue streams to make this a financial success. We can put this landmark back on the national stage. I look forward to working with the Fair Board and the Metro Council in the months ahead.”

“We can work together to transform Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway into an amazing multipurpose entertainment destination,” said Smith.  “We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work to fully restore the speedway, recruit national events and breathe new life into a venue that has a legendary status in auto racing history.”

I’ve signed a letter of intent with @BMSupdates to renovate @FGSpeedway and bring @NASCAR back to Nashville. The business terms of this LOI protect Nashville, with multiple revenue streams to make this a financial success. We will put this landmark back on the national stage. pic.twitter.com/Dn1yXB9nFM

— Mayor John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) March 5, 2021

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway hosted 42 NASCAR Cup Series events from 1958 to 1984, with Geoff Bodine winning the last Cup Series event held at the .959-mile oval in 1984. The venue has continued to host short-track racing through the years, including the All American 400.

Most recently Track Enterprises, led by Bob Sargent, has promoted weekly racing at the track after agreeing to a contract with the Metro Fair Board in late 2019.

Last December officials from Metro Nashville and SMI formally announced that the two sides were in negotiations to bring NASCAR back to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. In that announcement it was revealed that, should a deal be reached, NASCAR could return as early as 2022.

Key terms of the letter of intent, signed late Thursday by Mayor Cooper and Smith, include:

• Metro would issue no more than $50 million in bonds for racetrack renovations, as is already specified in the Capital Improvements Budget. Debt service and project-related expenses would be fully covered by revenues generated from racing and non-racing event activities held at the track, including lease payments, and taxes and fees generated by track event patrons.
• Under a lease and management agreement, BMS would pay Metro an annual lease payment for track management and operations and share a percentage of revenues from events.  Additionally, for four weeks a year, BMS would lease all Fairgrounds property (except for the MLS stadium and commercial developments) for $1 million annually to host major racing events.
• BMS, which possesses decades of major auto racing design, construction, and operations experience, would serve as development manager for track and facility renovations. Improvements would include safety upgrades, spectator amenities, and new ancillary facilities for both racing and non-racing experiences.
• Noise mitigation would be an integral part of the redesign and track improvements.
• BMS is committed to an extensive community engagement process with neighborhood residents and Nashville organizations.
• The new operating model for the speedway will provide the neighborhoods around the track with schedule certainty so residents know in advance when racing and practice will occur.
• BMS will renovate the race track to meet NASCAR safety and design standards necessary to host national series events and modernize NFS as a multi-function facility for non-racing special events to generate tourism-related revenue that is healthy for Nashville.

LAS VEGAS -- Israel Adesanya will be significantly lighter than Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. Though, not as much as he indicated earlier this week.

Adesanya weighed 200.5 pounds Friday morning at the official UFC 259 weigh-ins at the UFC Apex. He didn't strip down, as athletes usually do. He just wore sweats and then had a cornerman bring him a box of pizza afterward.

No one has ever weighed as light as Adesanya did Friday and won the UFC light heavyweight title, per ESPN Stats & Information. Any fighter who weighed in lower than 202 pounds is 0-2.

On Saturday, the UFC middleweight champion is moving up to challenge for the light heavyweight title against champion Blachowicz. Earlier in the week, Adesanya told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he could weigh as little as 193 pounds at weigh-ins. That was not the case. But Blachowicz weighed right at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit for a title fight and told ESPN he'd weigh about 220 pounds Saturday. Adesanya is unlikely to weigh much more Saturday than he does now.

Adesanya is attempting to become just the fifth fighter in UFC history to hold two titles in two different divisions simultaneously. The others were Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo and Amanda Nunes, who still holds a pair. Nunes defends her UFC women's featherweight title against Megan Anderson in the co-main event Saturday.

Nunes was first to the scale Friday morning and weighed 145 pounds. Anderson was 144.5. Nunes is both the UFC women's featherweight and bantamweight champ. She is regarded as the greatest women's MMA fighter of all time.

ESPN has Adesanya ranked No. 4 in the world in its pound-for-pound rankings. At middleweight, Adesanya is ranked No. 1, while Blachowicz is ranked No. 2 at light heavyweight behind all-time great Jon Jones, who is in the process of moving to heavyweight.

Adesanya (20-0) has been the UFC middleweight champion since October 2019. He has two title defenses, including a dominant, second-round TKO over Paulo Costa at UFC 253 last September. Adesanya, 31, has won nine straight in the UFC going back to his February 2018 debut.

Blachowicz (27-8) won the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round TKO over Dominick Reyes at UFC 253, the same card Adesanya headlined against Costa. The Poland native has won four straight, three of those by KO/TKO. Blachowicz, 38, has won eight of his last nine fights overall.

Petr Yan will attempt his UFC bantamweight title for the first time on this card, as well. Yan weighed in at 135 pounds and challenger Aljamain Sterling was 134.5 pounds.

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce announced that he will return for an 11th season and has restructured his contract for 2021.

Kelce has been contemplating retirement the past several offseasons but has decided to play for at least another year even though the Eagles are going through a transition period.

The reworked deal contains $9 million in guarantees and can be worth up to $12 million, a source told ESPN. Although there are multiple years to the contract, it will function essentially as a one-year deal and offers Philadelphia cap relief for 2021.

"I'm really fired up to be able to come back and play for the Eagles again," Kelce said, via the team's website. "I've always said I'm playing until I'm not and I still have a very strong desire to play the game of football. I still want to do it. I still want to be around the guys. I want to be around the building, around the coaches. I still enjoy that aspect of it and I'm not ready to stop doing it yet. I'm excited with a lot of the energy going around right now and, also, I didn't want to end my career on a season like we had last year. It wouldn't feel right.

"I want to leave the Eagles knowing that I left it in good hands."

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Philadelphia entered this week projected to be approximately $40 million over the cap. It also reworked the contract of cornerback Darius Slay, a source confirmed to ESPN, and that reportedly will free up about $9 million.

Other restructures are likely coming, with tackle Lane Johnson and defensive end Brandon Graham among potential candidates.

Kelce's return is big for new Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who takes over a team that went 4-11-1 last season and was hit hard by injuries. Kelce was the one constant on an offensive line that had an NFL-record 13 different groupings over the first 14 weeks.

He has quietly put together a résumé worthy of Hall of Fame consideration. Kelce is a three-time first-team All Pro and has made the Pro Bowl four times while serving as a team leader, including during Philadelphia's 2017 championship run.

"I'm having fun and as long as I'm having fun and I feel I'm playing at a level I want to play at, I'm going to keep doing it," Kelce said. "I'm looking forward to what's ahead for us."

NFL Network first reported details of Kelce's reworked contract.

In the 27-year history of the UFC, only seven fighters have won championships in multiple weight classes -- and only four of those have held both titles simultaneously.

Such is the rare air UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (20-0) is hoping to reach Saturday, when he challenges Jan Blachowicz (27-8) for the light heavyweight title at UFC 259. The Nigerian-born, New Zealand-based star will look to become the UFC's next ''champ-champ,'' a term used by Conor McGregor in 2016 when he became the first to hold two belts at the same time.

The feat was so unusual that UFC president Dana White didn't have two championship belts ready for McGregor's postfight photo-op in the Octagon after he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title. White thought McGregor would have brought the featherweight belt he already owned. As McGregor yelled in the Octagon for a second strap, someone from the UFC borrowed the welterweight belt of Tyron Woodley, who had fought in the co-main event. That set up the iconic shot of McGregor sitting on top of the cage in Madison Square Garden, holding up two trophies.

"Winning them both at the same damn time was the best," McGregor posted on Instagram in 2019. "I've had glorious moments in my career, but to be able to strap both unified world titles around your waist with no question, no doubts as to who is the champion, that was the most glorious moment of my career -- winning them both at the same time and birthing the champ-champ."

Ruling two divisions at the same time was a career-changing moment for each of the four champ-champs. Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo discussed how the accomplishment changed their lives, touching on everything from finances to national pride. And their advice to Adesanya ranged from "be careful of the power" in the heavier division to be ready for your life to change.

Editor's note: Some content was edited for brevity and clarity.

How to purchase UFC 259

'It really does change everything'

By Daniel Cormier

Cormier was the light heavyweight champ from May 23, 2015, until Dec. 28, 2018. And he was the heavyweight champion from July 7, 2018, until Aug. 17, 2019. Cormier did not defend the light heavyweight title after winning the heavyweight belt.

It was never my idea to go for a second belt. It was Dana White's. He came up to me in Boston, right after I defended my light heavyweight belt against Volkan Oezdemir in January 2018, and that was the moment I realized I was getting a chance to chase history. He came in the back and said, "What do you think of you versus Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title?" And I was like, "Wait, what?" And after a minute, I was all in. He said, "Let me work on it." That was Saturday. I'd barely gotten back to San Jose (California), and he called and said, "You and Stipe as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, then fight for the belt." I think I said yes to everything by Monday. It was crazy.

The beauty for me going into that Stipe fight was that he wasn't a big guy. I was able to go fight a guy that weighed 241 pounds, that's only a 15- to 20-pound difference from what I was weighing at light heavyweight. I didn't fight a guy who weighed 260 pounds.

When I think about those two title victories, I can honestly say I felt I was supposed to win those fights. I knew Stipe was tough, and I knew it was going to be hard to beat him, but I just felt like I was supposed to beat him at the time. I felt the same with Anthony Johnson for the light heavyweight title.

When you become a UFC champion for the first time, it's such a big deal. All we want as fighters is to become a UFC champ. So, to get that first belt, it was so satisfying. But I knew very well what becoming the heavyweight champion meant. The moment I won the second belt and became the heavyweight champ, my profile raised instantly. When you're the heavyweight champ of the world, people take notice. It was different overnight.

My pay structure changed when I moved up to fight Stipe, and then once I had both belts, it never went back down. My pay never changed, even when I lost the title back to Stipe and then I challenged him again. It only got bigger from the moment I moved up. Once you get two belts, it really does change everything. So, what Adesanya is on the cusp of right now, if he wins the second belt, he's going to see a change overnight.

It takes a perfect storm to be able to do this. Every person who has been a double-champ, there were so many things that could have prevented it. Look at Conor McGregor. Khabib Nurmagomedov was always hurt when McGregor went to lightweight and won a second belt. Imagine if Khabib had been healthy. Conor probably never wins a second title. So, I look back and think, what if it wasn't Stipe for me, a guy who I felt I matched up well with? If it had been Francis Ngannou, would I have still moved up or decided he was just too big and stayed at 205 pounds? I don't know if I would have made the same decision.

I think for Adesanya, he understands what's in front of him. And that's part of the reason it's happening right now. He's not fighting a wrestler, a guy who is going to try to take him down the whole time. He's fighting someone who will stand in front of him. I wonder if he were facing a different style, like when I was champion and taking people down, would he still be doing it? And I'm not trying to say I could beat Adesanya, I'm just pointing out it's a completely different style. Here, he gets to fight for a second belt with an opponent who will meet him on his terms.

I would encourage Adesanya to pay close attention to everything that is going to come in his direction. Be prepared to be bigger than you even could have expected. Once you get two belts wrapped around you, that image lasts a lifetime. Me sitting on top of the Octagon with two belts, Conor having them over his shoulders, those things never disappear. It's not only the MMA world paying attention anymore, it's the entire sports world.

'I see myself and my moments in him right now'

By Amanda Nunes

Nunes won the bantamweight title on July 9, 2016, and won the featherweight title on Dec. 29, 2018. She has defended her 135-pound title twice and her 145-pound crown once since becoming a champ-champ. She'll be defending at featherweight against Megan Anderson at UFC 259.

When I saw the 145-pound division had nobody there but Cris Cyborg, I started to think about me and her. And I thought about Brazil, how it would be huge -- two dominant female fighters from Brazil. I thought about putting the name of the country out there, as having the two best female fighters on the planet. I thought that fight was the best thing for me, for her and for all the girls out there watching. I felt like it would be huge, and said, "I want to do this. I have to do this, to make the women's division exciting." And at that point, I had already kind of cleared out 135 and I wanted to challenge myself. And when I thought about a challenge, I thought about Cyborg.

I think I always knew inside my heart and mind that I would be the one to beat her. I was just waiting for the right moment. But, you know, who woke that up inside of me was [wife and UFC strawweight] Nina [Ansaroff]. We watched Cyborg beat Leslie Smith in 2016. I remember watching that fight sitting down, and after she won, Nina looked at me and was like, "You're going to be the one who will beat her." That was the moment everything started to build. From then on, I always knew, but I hid it. My coach said the same thing. Everybody in the gym said, "What are you waiting for? Let's do it." I believed in myself, but to have people believing in me even more than I did, I started to think, "I'm powerful for sure."

I feel like my two title fights at 135 and 145 played out very different than I actually thought they would. The most difficult part was the preparation for those fights. Before Miesha Tate in 2016, there were still a lot of things I needed to fix and get better at. I got the opportunity to fight for the title, but at that moment I wasn't sure if I was 100 percent ready. So, the preparations were harder than the fight itself. The biggest fight for me was actually beating Felicia Spencer last June, because at that moment I did something nobody had ever done, which was defend both belts as I held them at the same time. So, that was huge.

Israel is a champion, so he thinks like a champion. I think he's in a good spot right now. He has all the tools to beat this guy. I don't have any advice for him because I feel he's in the right moment. I see myself and my moments in him right now. I feel he can get it. I could be wrong, because we all know how MMA is, but I feel he's in a good place in his career.

'I would just be careful of the power'

By Henry Cejudo

Cejudo was the flyweight champ from Aug. 4, 2018 until Feb. 29, 2020. And he was the bantamweight champ from June 8, 2019 until May 24, 2020. Cejudo never defended the flyweight belt after becoming a champ-champ.

For me, I had to win that first one. You always have it in your mind what you want to accomplish, but I didn't see it into existence until I beat Demetrious Johnson in 2018. My honest goal was always to be the greatest combat athlete of all time. Not even the best fighter, or the pound-for-pound greatest, but to go down in sports as someone who did something no one else had done. But I didn't start believing it was going to happen until I got past Johnson. After that, I was an Olympic champ and a UFC champ -- so going for a second belt, that put me on GOAT mountain.

The more competitive title fight for me was Demetrious Johnson, the harder fight was against Marlon Moraes for the bantamweight title. One of them was a fight, the other was a competition. What I mean by that is the way I beat Demetrious was control, managing time, getting on top of him, pressing him in the final 10 seconds of the round. There was a lot of acting involved in that s---. I knew I had to show the judges that he was the man going backward. I had to use every edge I could to get that win. People don't talk about that kind of stuff, but I'm a real one.

"I would just be careful of the power, because he's going up 20 pounds, and the power will change. The power changed for me, going up 10 pounds from flyweight to bantamweight. But I think he's gonna knock out Jan Blachowicz."

Henry Cejudo

I was struggling to make 125, and that became a burden. That's probably the reason I retired from wrestling too; the weight was too much. After winning my second belt at 135 and realizing I could stop a guy like Marlon -- that it's all about skill and belief and precision -- going up in weight isn't an issue anymore. That's why I feel so comfortable if I ever were to get the opportunity to go up to 145 pounds. I know I can become the first person to win a third belt, because of the confidence winning that 135 belt gave me.

Defending a belt is harder than winning another one, but more gold is more motivating. For me, right now, that's the only thing that would motivate me to fight again, is move up and fight for a third belt. And I know Dana knows I could win it, because he's mentioned he doesn't trust me to go out and win another one of his belts and retire again.

I do believe, with all sincerity, that among the champ-champs, the two people I beat -- I would put those credentials against any of the other double-champs. I will always feel like my champ-champ status was the greatest because I beat Demetrious Johnson. And when I went up a weight class, I was an underdog to beat Marlon.

I don't think you need to give Israel advice, because it's a great fight for him. I would just be careful of the power, because he's going up 20 pounds, and the power will change. The power changed for me, going up 10 pounds from flyweight to bantamweight. But I think he's gonna knock out Jan Blachowicz.

Six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin has agreed to a contract buyout with the Detroit Pistons and will become an unrestricted free agent, sources tell ESPN.

The Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be among the teams Griffin will be considering for his next stop, sources tell ESPN.

Griffin, 31, is expected to make a decision on his next team after conversations with prospective teams, sources said.

Finding a trade for Griffin -- who was owed a remaining $36.6 million this season, and $39 million in 2021-22 prior to the buyout -- was an insurmountable challenge for the Pistons. Detroit finalized a reduction in his remaining salary to gain free agency with Griffin's agent, Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports, since the sides mutually agreed he would leave the active roster on Feb. 15 awaiting a trade or a buyout.

Detroit has entered a full-fledged rebuild under first-year general manager Troy Weaver, and the opportunity to play the franchise's younger players has taken precedence for the Pistons.

Injuries have dramatically altered Griffin's game, eliminating the high-flying rim attacks that marked his All-Star career. He's averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists for Detroit this season.

Griffin was traded less than a season into a five-year, $171 million max deal with the LA Clippers, arriving in Detroit in late January 2018.