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ATLANTA — To accommodate much larger crowds, the Atlanta Dream are moving their two regular-season home games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to the home of the NBA Hawks.

The Dream’s regular venue, 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena near the city’s airport, is the smallest in the WNBA. The Hawks play downtown at State Farm Arena, which can hold more than 17,000.

Atlanta is scheduled to host the Fever on June 21 and Aug. 26. Those games will feature the last three No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft: Clark and her teammate Aliyah Boston as well as Dream star Rhyne Howard.

“Atlanta Dream fans are the best in the WNBA,” team President and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in a statement. “Their passion and excitement led us to the most sellouts in the league over the last two years and has created a demand for tickets that far outpaces the supply inside our current arena, which is why we wanted to find a way to give more fans access to experience these two games.”

Clark’s record-setting college career ahead of her draft by the Fever has sparked unprecedented interest in the WNBA. She scored 20 points but committed 10 turnovers in her first professional game, a loss at Connecticut on Tuesday.

Atlanta opened the season Wednesday with a 92-81 victory at Los Angeles.

The Dream played at State Farm Arena, formerly known as Philips Arena, from their founding in 2008 until 2016, when the team moved to Georgia Tech’s campus arena for two seasons. After returning to the Hawks’ arena in 2019, the team moved to the new Gateway Center Arena in nearby College Park the following year.

The largest crowd in franchise history was 11,609 for the inaugural game against the Detroit Shock in 2008. The Dream hope to eclipse that mark for both games against the Fever.

In April, the Dream became the second team in WNBA history to sell its entire season ticket allotment. Ten of its 20 games at Gateway Center Arena are already listed as sellouts.

“We are excited to welcome our loyal Dream fan base, along with new fans, to State Farm Arena,” coach Tanisha Wright said. “We want to create the ultimate home court advantage and pack the house with red and blue as we work toward another playoff push this year.”

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Leon Edwards is officially set to make his next title defence and it will be in a rematch with Belal Muhammad. The welterweight championship bout will headline UFC 304 in Manchester, England, this summer, Dana White announced Thursday.

In addition to that 170-pound main event, the co-main event will see Tom Aspinall attempt to defend his interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes. A pivotal flyweight matchup between Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape, a fun featherweight tilt with Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze, plus a lightweight scrap between Paddy Pimblett and Bobby Green were also announced.

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik teased the Edwards vs. Muhammad matchup earlier this week when he wrote on social media that he had booked his flight to England for the July 27 event and had tagged Muhammad in the post, suggesting he’d be fighting on the card.

Both headliners are riding lengthy unbeaten streaks (the reason they are unbeaten streaks, not winning streaks, is because of the no-contest result the last time they were face-to-face inside the Octagon).

The two fought in March 2021 to an inconclusive result when the scheduled five-round Fight Night main event ended after less than six minutes of fighting. Edwards was looking solid in the opening round in his return to competition after a roughly 20-month layoff, yet 18 seconds into the second round an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue.

Edwards, 32, has gone 4-0 since facing Muhammad and has seen his star power grow substantially. The Jamaican-born, Birmingham, England-raised fighter defeated superstar Nate Diaz to earn a title shot, won the belt with a dramatic fifth-round head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman before cementing his status as the UFC’s top welterweight with a unanimous decision in the immediate rematch with Usman.

The champ defended his title again in December, when he took four of five rounds against Colby Covington in a 25-minute bout that was far from aesthetically pleasing.

Muhammad served as the official backup fighter for that UFC 296 bout, and he was critical of the champion’s performance after the event.

“It was a joke to the division,” Muhammad said during an appearance on ESPN’s UFC 296 post-fight show, adding, “I need to get in there (next). I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 per cent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.”

Muhammad does not necessarily hold a reputation as an exciting fighter but he weaponizes pace effectively. In his five appearances since his first bout with Edwards, he has victories over former title challengers Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns, and he picked up signature wins over Sean Brady and Vicente Luque.

There is no question this title shot for Muhammad, who will be 36 by the time the rematch occurs, is warranted, even if it might not be the most popular option with Shavkat Rakhmonov now 18-0 with a 100 per cent finishing rate.

At UFC 297 in Toronto in January, during a Q&A with fans and media before the ceremonial weigh-ins, former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was asked about Rakhmonov and how he might do against Edwards, and Edgar was met with boos when he said he thought Muhammad should be next in line for the title shot and not the undefeated Kazakh.

This matchup has been in the works for months, however, the organization waited until after April’s UFC 300 to finalize plans. White explained earlier this year that Edwards was offered three separate opponents ahead of UFC 300, all of whom he accepted, however, none of those proposed bouts materialized. It is unclear exactly who those three opponents were, although Muhammad was not believed to be one of them.

UFC 304 will be the fifth event held in Manchester and first since 2016, when Michael Bisping defended the middleweight title in his hometown and avenged a previous loss to Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 204. Edwards earned a submission win over Albert Tumenov on the preliminary card that night in his sixth UFC appearance.

July’s event will be the 25th UFC card held in England. The most recent was a Fight Night in London in July that saw Aspinall return from a one-year layoff following the significant knee injury he sustained 15 seconds into his first fight with Blaydes one year prior at the same venue.

Aspinall needed 73 seconds to finish Marcin Tybura in London, and he followed that up with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in November to win the interim belt that was introduced after champion Jon Jones revealed he’d be out of action with a shoulder injury.

With Aspinall from nearby Salford and Mokaev calling Manchester home, plus Edwards being from Birmingham, Pimblett from Liverpool and Allen from the Suffolk area, fans can expect the event to have a home vs. away feel to it like many U.K.-based cards have in the past. England’s Molly McCann is also expected to compete on the card in a women’s strawweight bout versus Bruna Brasil.

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Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand spoke Thursday for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury during the first period of Game 3 last Friday following a hit by Florida Panthers‘ Sam Bennett.

The 36-year-old was asked whether he thought he was a victim of a cheap shot by Bennett.

“He plays hard, is an extremely physical player and a great player for their group. I think he got away with a shot but I’m not going to complain, (expletive) happens,” Marchand told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s playoff hockey. I’ve been on the other side of a lot of plays and I think you get away with one but that’s part of the game. It sucks to be on the other side of it but that stuff happens, so I’m not going to sit here and complain about it.”

Marchand was back at practice Thursday, a day before his Bruins host the Panthers for Game 6 of their second-round series.

Marchand appeared to be in full gear as he took the ice at Warrior Arena. Marchand has missed the past two games in the series.

When asked if he expected to play in Game 6, Marchand wasn’t ready to give a definitive status.

“Just going through the steps and see how tomorrow goes,” Marchand told reporters. “It’s very tough to watch this time of year. You want to be part of it and it was great to get back out there and to be around the energy and the emotion.”

Marchand led the Bruins in playoff points before the injury, with three goals and 10 points in 10 games.

He didn’t miss a game during the regular season while registering 29 goals and 67 points.

The Panthers hold a 3-2 series lead as the Bruins look to stave off elimination again and force a decisive seventh game. Watch Game 6 live Friday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

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Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly has formally withdrawn from the CFL club’s training camp.

Kelly made the announcement Thursday in a statement provided to The Canadian Press. The CFL’s outstanding player last year wants to digest the findings of the league-mandated investigation that figured prominently in his suspension for both Toronto’s exhibition games and at least nine regular-season contests.

Kelly said he wants to “work to earn both reinstatement in the CFL and everyone’s trust.”

“I have had to take time to process the findings from the CFL investigation released last week as they were not consistent with the person I am, nor the team and community leader I strive to be,” Kelly said in the statement. “I want to be the leader who brings people together, and I strongly believe that all workplaces should be safe and healthy for every member of the team.

“While my legal team awaits the legal findings for review, and explores options to clarify a number of the conclusions from the report, and considers next steps, I will take full advantage of this counselling opportunity to learn, grow and better myself. At the same time, I want to support the Argonauts organization as it prepares for the season and have made the decision to withdraw from training camp to minimize distractions for the team.”

Last week, the CFL suspended Kelly for violating its gender-based violence policy. It followed an independent investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against Kelly for sexual harassment and the Argos for wrongful dismissal.

Two days later, Kelly was on the field during Toronto’s rookie camp at the University of Guelph. He wasn’t in equipment and didn’t practise but afterwards Argos GM Mike (Pinball) Clemons said Kelly’s presence was within the conditions of the CFL’s discipline.

A league spokesman said Kelly was on the field at Toronto’s discretion.

Like all CFL clubs, Toronto opened training camp Sunday but also announced Kelly wouldn’t be participating in team activities. Despite the release of his statement, Kelly hadn’t been seen at the University of Guelph since rookie camp.

As per the suspension, Kelly must undergo confidential assessments by an independent expert and attend mandatory counselling sessions conducted by a gender-based violence expert. Both must be satisfactorily completed before the CFL will consider Kelly’s reinstatement and it reserves the right to modify his discipline.

“Chad just didn’t want to be a distraction,” said Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “It’s good for him to do his counselling and all of the classes.”

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Aston Villa are close to agreeing a deal for goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, who will leave Arsenal when her contract expires at the end of the season.

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England fast bowler Lauren Bell says the team are committed to their positive approach despite a top-order collapse in the first T20.

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills addressed their depth at safety by signing Dee Delaney to a one-year contract on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Delaney has five seasons of NFL experience, including the past three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he had five starts in 49 appearances. An undrafted free agent out of The Citadel, he broke into the NFL playing two games with Jacksonville in 2018, and spent the next season appearing in one game with Washington.

Delaney joins a Bills team in transition at safety, following the breakup of the Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer starting tandem that had been together since 2017. Poyer was cut in March and has since signed with Miami, while Hyde is unsigned and considering retirement.

Returning backup Taylor Rapp and off-season addition Mike Edwards are projected to take over as starters on a unit that also includes Cole Bishop, who was selected in the second round of the draft last month.

Buffalo freed up a roster spot by releasing recently signed receiver Quintez Cephus, who became expendable after the team added free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Tuesday.

Cephus, who spent his first three NFL seasons with Detroit, was seeking a fresh start after missing the entire 2023 season as part of a league suspension for betting on NFL games in 2022.

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ROME — Tommy Paul has produced the biggest clay-court result of his career at the Italian Open. And he’s still going.

The American outlasted ninth-ranked Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday to earn a spot in the semifinals at the Foro Italico, following up from a straight-set victory over defending champion Daniil Medvedev.

Paul broke the big-serving Hurkacz seven times but also dropped his own serve six times.

“My game plan coming in was, I got to get in as many of his service games as possible and try and get a couple of breaks. So on that aspect, I did very, very well today,” Paul said. “But my next match, I’m probably going to focus on holding serve a little bit more.”

Before beating Medvedev, Paul had never defeated a top-20 player on clay. Now he’s defeated two top-10 players back-to-back for the first time in his career — on any surface.

In the semifinals on Friday, the 16th-ranked Paul will face either Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Nicolas Jarry, who were playing their quarterfinal later.

The other semifinal match will feature 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev against Alejandro Tabilo, who eliminated top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the third round.

In the women’s semifinals, top-ranked Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 11 matches with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff. Swiatek, who is attempting to complete the “dirt double” by winning the Madrid Open and Italian Open back-to-back, will face either second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka or Danielle Collins in the final.

Paul is attempting to become the first American man to reach the Rome final since Andre Agassi won the trophy in 2002. Together with Gauff and Collins, there were three American semifinalists.

Rome is the last big warmup tournament before the French Open starts in 10 days and Paul has never been past the second round at Roland Garros.

Paul was better on the longer rallies than Hurkacz and twice came back from a break down in the deciding set.

Hurkacz eliminated record 10-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal in the second round.

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Long-time TSN SportsCentre host Darren Dutchyshen passed away Wednesday, the network announced. He was 57.

“Darren Dutchyshen was a legend of Canadian sports broadcasting, a great teammate, and an essential part of TSN for the last three decades,” said Stewart Johnston, senior vice-president, sales and sports for Bell Media.

“A larger-than-life personality, Darren’s incredible sense of humour and magnetic energy made him a natural broadcaster who connected easily with viewers. His enthusiasm reminded us every day of why we love sports. Most significantly, Darren was a friend to all of us at TSN, and we will miss him dearly. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his loved ones.”

Dutchyshen started at TSN in 1995, hosting SportsDesk and CFL Live.

The Regina native hosted TSN’s flagship news program for the next three decades, joining Rod Smith and Jennifer Hedger for late-night editions.

Dutchyshen also hosted Olympic Prime Time during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and London 2012 Summer Games.

After the announcement, many paid tribute to Dutchyshen on social media.