Sports briefs
Source: Jags trading Campbell to Ravens
The “Mayor of Sacksonville” is on the move. And the Baltimore Ravens made quite the deal to land veteran Calais Campbell, essentially giving up a backup kicker who spent time on five NFL rosters over the last eight months for a five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman who’s also the reigning Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
The Ravens agreed Sunday to trade a fifth-round draft pick in the upcoming draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Campbell, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade can’t become official until the new league begins Wednesday.
It’s a great value for the Ravens and a downright steal considering they’re parting ways with the 170th overall pick, which they got by trading place-kicker Kaare Vedvik to Minnesota last August. The Vikings cut Vedvik three weeks later.
Now, they’re working to get Campbell a new contract that should make one of the league’s best defenses even better.
UFC holds fight card in Brazil
The UFC staged a full fight card in an empty arena Saturday night in Brazil’s capital city, sticking to its plan to keep fighting in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Charles Oliveira stopped lightweight Kevin Lee with a guillotine choke in the third round of the main event in the UFC’s first show since many other sports organizations around the world postponed and canceled competitions.
The world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion held 12 bouts in Brasilia with only the fighters, their camps, the television production crew and a few dozen essential personnel inside Nilson Nelson Gymnasium.
“It was a bit weird not having any fans inside the arena,” said Bea Malecki, a Swedish bantamweight who won a decision over Veronica Macedo in the show’s opening bout. “But I was able to hear everything my coaches were saying, and it was good. Sometimes it is so loud out there. It was a crazy week. We didn’t know if the fight was going to happen or not, but we stuck to the plan. It was really emotional.”
The UFC has not canceled any events in the wake of the pandemic, going against the plans of nearly all major sports leagues and organizations. UFC President Dana White has claimed the sports world is “panicking” with its cancellations, and he remains determined to stage four more shows over the next five weekends.
But White announced Saturday night that all four shows must take place at new, currently undetermined venues – including UFC 249, the promotion’s next pay-per-view event headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov fighting top contender Tony Ferguson.