This past week in sports saw another great UFC card, a fantastic NASCAR race, and Bundesliga soccer action. There are also updates for a few other top soccer leagues while one of the most important horse racing tracks in the U.S. opens on Wednesday. Check out our weekly sports recap and update!
Weekly Sports Recap & Update – June 1st Edition
Burns upsets Woodley at May 30 UFC Fight Night
Let’s go right to the main event because it was awesome! Gilbert Burns outworked favored Tyron Woodley to win a unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship card was the first at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. This Saturday’s UFC 250 event is also scheduled to happen at the UFC Apex.
By beating Woodley, Burns made himself a title contender. Woodley fought a great fight as well. Expect both these guys in the future to show up on main cards.
In the fight before the main event, Augusto Sakai beat Blagoy Ivanov via split-decision. Sakai entered a slight favorite. Neither fighter disappointed in the tough battle.
Just two upsets happened on the card. The first was in a prelim fight between Brandon Royval and Tim Elliott. Royval submitted Elliott in Round 3.
The second upset happened in Katlyn Chookagian versus Antonina Shevchenko. Chookagian beat Schevchenko via unanimous decision.
UFC Fight Night Woodley vs. Burns was the fourth promotion in May. Most MMA fans have gotten used to watching fights without any fans.
That should give other sports leagues like the NBA and the NHL hope that they can resume their seasons.
Keselowski grabs pole and wins at Bristol
NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski is hot. But it’s not by choice.
This past Sunday, Brad took the checkered flag at Bristol. Keselowski also won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday’s race.
Although Keselowski deserves props, how can we not feel bad for both Joey Logano and Chase Elliott?
Joey and Chase were fighting for the victory on the final lap. They bumped, which allowed Keselowski to slip by and get to the finish line first.
It was the second time an incident helped Keselowski to the win. In the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on May 24, a caution with a couple of laps remaining got Brad and his crew to the trophy celebration.
So far, Brad Keselowski has used a couple of opportunities to take checkered flags. But NASCAR has a long season ahead of it.
We’ll see if Brad’s luck turns around in Atlanta on June 7.
Bayern pummels Dusseldorf by 5 goals
In the Bundesliga, one team stands above all others.
Last Tuesday, Bayern beat rival Dortmund 1-0. This past Saturday, they dominated Dusseldorf by 5 goals.
A week before, they took apart Frankfurt by 4 goals in a 5-1 victory. That’s a 16-1 goal differential in Bayern’s last 3 matches.
It’s a shame there’s no Champions League this year. If Bayern were part of the CL, they’d have a big shot versus the favorites before the shutdown Liverpool, Barcelona, and Juventus.
Dortmund spanked Paderborn 6-1 on Sunday. They remain Bayern’s top competition for a Bundesliga title.
But Bayern already beat Dortmund. The two teams don’t play again the rest of this season, which means Bayern must stub their toe big time to lose the championship.
MLB players and owners continue fight over money
The NBA and NHL have plans to restart. The National Hockey League must just decide on two sites to resume play. The National Basketball association has a huge meeting on Thursday that should put a plan in place for a restart.
Those two U.S. sports leagues are ready to go. Major League Baseball isn’t.
The problem for a restart is an age old one. Players and teams are fighting over money.
The player’s union don’t agree with MLB’s first proposal. It includes a massive salary cut for the highest-paid players. The lowest-paid players would get most of their salaries pro-rated.
But the highest-paid players wouldn’t get paid nearly as much as they would if the shutdown hadn’t happened.
There’s enough for Major League Baseball to worry about. Testing, game sites, and how to play without fans or with limited fans.
All those things MLB can solve. Money may not be one of them, which means, for now at least, baseball is the lone U.S. sports leagues with no real plan to return.
La Liga, EPL, and Italian Serie A set return dates
La Liga restarts on Thursday, June 11 when Real Betis battles Seville FC. With 11 rounds to go, Barcelona has a 2-point lead over rival Real Madrid.
English Premier League restarts on June 17. That day, Man City battles Arsenal and Sheffield United takes on Aston Villa. Liverpool has a 25 point advantage. They could lock down the EPL title in the first couple of restart weeks.
Italian Serie A power Juventus has a 1-point lead over Lazio. Internationale is 8 points behind. The season should restart the weekend of June 20.
Messi plays for Barcelona and Ronaldo plays for La Liga. Also, even though Liverpool should win the EPL, it doesn’t mean the action on the pitch won’t be fast and furious.
Sharpen those soccer handicapping skills. Because within a few weeks the top club teams in the world will start hitting the pitch.
Belmont Park’s opening day is Wednesday, January 4
Speaking of a significant reopen, Belmont Park in New York starts racing on Wednesday. Belmont racing horses is a big deal for a couple of reasons.
First, along with Churchill Downs in Kentucky, Santa Anita Park in California, and Gulfstream in Florida, Belmont is one of the four most important horse racing tracks in the U.S.
It means that all four of the top thoroughbred racetracks in the United States will have opened their doors.
Second, Belmont runs the Belmont Stakes on June 20. Because of the shutdowns, Churchill moved the Kentucky Derby to September 5. The Belmont Stakes is the first race in this year’s Triple Crown.
Make sure to watch and wager on Belmont Park’s Opening Day races. Now more than ever players must support all sports.
Have a great week!