Los Angeles Times

St-Pierre, who helped shape UFC, to retire

- Staff and wire reports — Lance Pugmire

UFC veteran Georges St-Pierre will announce his retirement Thursday morning at Montreal’s Bell Centre, officials connected to the event said Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Canadian has been training occasional­ly during the last month at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, aiming for a showdown with lightweigh­t champion Khabib Nurmagomed­ov, but that bout failed to materializ­e.

“Let’s do it in November,” Nurmagomed­ov pleaded to St-Pierre in a post on Instagram and Twitter. “After this fight, you can retire. I grow up on your fights and have nothing but respect for you, and I believe [I] showed that to you, [Georges], when you were in Moscow.”

St-Pierre, who has long tussled with the UFC over pay, returned from a four-year absence in November 2017 to capture the middleweig­ht belt by submitting England’s Michael Bisping with a third-round rear-naked chokehold.

Instead of maintainin­g a promise to defend the belt, St-Pierre cited an injury and vacated the belt now worn by Robert Whittaker.

St-Pierre elevated to welterweig­ht champion in 2006 at UFC 65 in Sacramento, representi­ng a shift toward universal skills that defused the rugged tough-man style of then-champion Matt Hughes. on the trade market and we certainly will not be releasing [him].”

A person familiar with the negotiatio­ns said free agent Josh Harrison agreed to a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a physical.

The 31-year-old Harrison spent his first eight major league seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s played second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield.

Harrison did not have a great 2018 at the plate, hitting .250 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. He missed time early in the season because of a hand injury and played only 97 games.

Philadelph­ia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid will miss at least a week with a sore left knee. An MRI revealed no structural damage.

Steve Stricker was appointed Ryder Cup captain, his seventh straight time taking part in the golf matches, this time in charge of an American team trying to win back the gold trophy in his home state of Wisconsin in 2020.

The Ducks assigned right wing Patrick Eaves to the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League. Eaves did not score in seven games this season .... The Washington Capitals placed playoff hero Devante Smith-Pelly on waivers ahead of next week’s NHL trade deadline . ... The Boston Bruins acquired center Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild for center Ryan Donato and a conditiona­l fifth-round pick that would become a fourth-round choice if the Bruins win a playoff round.

Just weeks after becoming baseball’s first unanimous Hall of Fame selection, Mariano Rivera defended himself from accusation­s in his native Panama that he had failed to support two children he had outside his marriage, saying they were “unfounded.”

Atletico Madrid kept Cristiano Ronaldo in check and defeated Juventus 2-0 in Madrid in the Champions League’s round of 16 . ... Manchester City scored two late goals, including a 90th-minute winner from Raheem Sterling, to beat Schalke 3-2 in Gelsenkirc­hen, Germany.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States