Two titles will be on the line at UFC 290 this weekend, as Alexander Volkanovski and Brandon Moreno defend their gold against formidable opponents. In the main event, Volkanovski defends the men’s featherweight title against interim champion Yair Rodriguez, who will try to become the first fighter to beat the Australian at 145lbs. In February, Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett to win the interim featherweight title, moments before Volkanovski challenged Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt and came up narrowly short. That was just the second loss of Volkanovski’s career, with the 34-year-old’s only previous defeat having occurred 10 years ago – and at welterweight. Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s victory over Emmett made him just the second Mexican champion in UFC history. His title win was followed by Alexa Grasso’s triumph in March, while Moreno preceded the pair as the first Mexican fighter to claim gold in the promotion. And Moreno will be in action again this weekend, defending the men’s flyweight title against a foe who has beaten him twice: Alexandre Pantoja. Moreno has improved significantly since those losses in 2016 and 2018, but this co-main event marks a difficult title defence to kickstart his second reign as champion. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? UFC 290 will take place on Saturday 8 July, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The early prelims are set to begin at 11pm BST (3pm PT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am BST on Sunday 9 July (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card is then due to begin at 3am BST on Sunday (7pm PT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET on Saturday). How can I watch it? The card will air live on BT Sport in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass. Odds Volkanovski – 2/9; Rodriguez – 100/30 Moreno – 1/2; Pantoja – 13/8 Whittaker – 1/4; Du Plessis – 3/1 Full odds via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title) Brandon Moreno (C) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title) Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight) Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (lightweight) Bo Nickal vs Tresean Gore (middleweight) Prelims Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (welterweight) Jack Della Maddalena vs TBC (welterweight) Yazmin Jauregui vs Denise Gomes (women’s strawweight) Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (light-heavyweight) Early prelims Vitor Petrino vs Marcin Prachnio (light-heavyweight) Cameron Saaiman vs Terrence Mitchell (bantamweight) Shannon Ross vs Jesus Aguilar (flyweight) Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (lightweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year Sean Strickland makes passionate plea for Israel Adesanya fight after dominant win When is the next UFC event? UFC schedule 2023: Every fight happening this year Controversial UFC star makes passionate plea for title shot after dominant win

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Jeff Stelling revealed singer Sir Elton John was among his well-wishers this week as the presenter signed off from the “best job that anybody could possibly have wished for” at Soccer Saturday. Stelling announced last month his intention to stand down as anchor of the Sky Sports programme after almost 30 years and earmarked the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday as his last show. In the days leading up to his swansong, Stelling divulged he had messages of support from the likes of Gordon Strachan and Neil Warnock, plus a phone call from John, former chairman and director of Watford. Stelling, an unapologetic Hartlepool fan who frequently celebrated their goals on Soccer Saturday, said: “Somebody asked me the other day if I’d ever been starstruck and yeah, I was starstruck when Elton John rang me at home to say ‘Thank you very much for all you’ve done’. “He said ‘Every week I watch the show and every week you tell me Watford are losing and every week you tell me Hartlepool are losing so I feel like we’re kindred spirits’. There’s something in that, isn’t there?” After touching tributes from colleagues past and present in a video montage, Stelling was given a standing ovation by the punditry panel of Paul Merson, Clinton Morrison, Kris Boyd and Michael Dawson. Stelling, who had planned to quit last year before reversing that decision, briefly hid his emotions with a mask of himself and quipped: “This is tricky because I’ve changed my mind – just kidding. “I haven’t changed my mind this time.” Stelling was clearly moved by the highlights package Sky televised in the final minutes of the show after Everton retained their top-flight status and confirmed the relegations of Leeds and Leicester. Merson, Alan Mullery, Frank McLintock, Clive Allen, Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson and Matt Le Tissier passed on their congratulations, as did Chris Kamara, who in a nod to the catchphrase that has become synonymous with the pair and the show, said: “You are unbelievable, Jeff!” Stelling looked back fondly on his 30-plus years with Sky, in which he not only covered football but live snooker, darts, greyhound racing, pool and thanked everyone with whom he had worked. So that's it. Soccer Saturday will be back next season. I'll be watching...From me, goodbye Jeff Stelling In his farewell monologue, he added: “It’s been the best job that anybody could possibly have wished for. My wife takes great pleasure in saying ‘You are the luckiest man ever to take a breath’ and you know what? I don’t tell her this often but she’s right. “The principle success of Soccer Saturday is you lot at home, who have given us unswerving support – both for the programme and for me personally. “So that’s it. Soccer Saturday will be back next season. I’ll be watching – when Hartlepool are not playing. From me, goodbye.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bielsa casts shadow and ownership uncertainty – reasons behind Leeds’ relegation Soccer Saturday’s Jeff Stelling gets surprise phone call from Elton John Wales to host South Korea in September friendly

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Stockport boss Dave Challinor always believed his side would be fighting for promotion as the Hatters prepare to face Carlisle in the Sky Bet League Two play-off final. County are bidding to make it back-to-back promotions on Sunday and booked their place at Wembley after coming from behind to beat Salford 3-1 on penalties after the two sides were locked at 2-2 on aggregate after extra time over two legs. Challinor took over at Edgeley Park in November 2021, just five months after he guided Hartlepool into League Two and the County boss repeated that feat with his current club – this time finding himself one game away from his first English Football League promotion. The 47-year-old admitted they suffered a poor start to the season but never stopped believing he could guide the club to successive promotions. He told a press conference: “The start of this season was tough but we have got over that and we have built. “Now it’s come up to this point where we have to back ourselves and we all hoped of having the shot of getting into League One because that was our ambition at the start of the season. “It was a big ambition some would say, now we have the opportunity to take it. Promotion was always the plan, the hope, the ambition and that’s the big thing.” Stockport ended the season unbeaten in 13 games but narrowly missed out on the automatic promotion places, finishing just four points behind Northampton in third place. Challinor admits the Wembley stage is a far different atmosphere to many that greet his players on the pitch on a weekly basis in the fourth tier, as around 40,000 fans are expected to descend onto Wembley Way. He continued: “You can have an impact in front of 10,000 at Edgeley Park, a bigger impact elsewhere in front of 2,000, it’s going to be difficult in front of the Wembley crowd. “What we do everyday on the grass outside gives us bigger belief and trust that the players are good enough and that’s not going to stop me from wanting to kick a bottle or an advertising board. “We are in a really strong situation, the fact we have got two players in (Antoni) Sarcevic and (Chris) Hussey that have played in a play-off final, so in terms of that, they can pass on completely different feelings and emotions, and we need to use those experiences in a positive way.” Striker Paddy Madden has scored 10 league goals this season so far, and was also a part of the side which won promotion to League Two last year. The 33-year-old made the switch to non-league from League One Fleetwood in the 20-21 season, and Madden insists his move was always based around the vision of the football club when many thought it was for financial reasons only. He said: “At the time there were a lot of eyebrows raised about dropping down the leagues but I knew what kind of plans were in place here. “I had the chance to watch a couple of game at Edgeley Park, heard the atmosphere and that played a massive part in me coming here because I knew how well the team was followed. “We always backed ourselves that we would get into a good position, we are annoyed with ourselves that we did not get top three but at the same time getting promoted through the play-offs is better.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Javier Tebas wants LaLiga to have power to eradicate racism in Spanish football Jason Roy looks Los Angeles-bound but says ‘I never will walk away from England’ Callum Smith’s ‘excited’ about his Canada bout

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