MORNING ROUNDUP

Cormier to defend UFC title on Nov. 3

Former Oklahoma State University wrestler Daniel Cormier is set to defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 on Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

Lewis has won nine of his last 10 bouts and will fight just weeks after he defeated Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 last weekend in Las Vegas. Cormier (21-1) is UFC’s light heavyweight and heavyweight champion and hoped to fight Brock Lesnar next year. But UFC was short on star power at a venue where some of the biggest stars have fought since mixed martial arts was legalized in New York two years ago and pressed Lewis and Cormier into service.

First black player drafted by NFL dies at 91

George Taliaferro, the star Indiana running back who in 1949 became the first black player drafted in the NFL when George Halas and the Chicago Bears took him in the 13th round, has died. He was 91.

Taliaferro was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981. In the NFL, he played seven positions and earned Pro Bowl honors in 1951-53. He was the leading rusher on Indiana’s 1945 Big Ten championship team that went 9-0-1, the only undefeated team in school history.

The Bears selected Taliaferro with the 129th overall pick — a potential dream come true for the Gary native who grew up following the Bears.

St. Louis pursuing MLS franchise

St. Louis is back in the hunt for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise after the family behind the rental car company Enterprise Holdings announced a bid that calls for a new stadium built mostly with private funding.

Members of the Taylor family said Tuesday that the franchise would be majority-owned by women, a first in MLS and a rarity in professional sports. The group also includes Jim Kavanaugh of St. Louis-based World Wide Technology.