Alex Volkanovski defeated Diego Lopes by unanimous decision to win the featherweight championship at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday. After five rounds, Volkanovski won by scorecards of 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46.

In the co-main event, Paddy Pimblett dominated Michael Chandler in a third-round TKO and showed he's a problem for the lightweight division, especially because he's younger than all the top contenders.

Also on the card, Yair Rodriguez revived his career with an impressive performance to ruin Patricio Pitbull's UFC debut. When Rodriguez is at the top of his game, the already tough featherweight division is better than ever.

Brett Okamoto and Andreas Hale share their thoughts on these fights.

The kingdom Volkanovski reigns over looks different this time around

"Old Man Volk" is champion once again but the division is a lot different than the one he reigned over when he was champion from 2019 to 2023. Yes, it's only been two years but a look at the landscape at 145 pounds reveals that the division has seen an overhaul over the past 24 months. Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria have moved on to the lightweight division and there are new names that weren't knocking at the door looking for a title fight.

Volkanovski's initial featherweight title reign saw him spend more than half of his 145-pound title fights against Holloway. Chan Sung Jung has since retired while Brian Ortega has struggled with a 1-3 record in his last four fights. This run could be seen as far more challenging because the 36-year-old will be tested by a new breed of featherweights that include Movsar Evloev, Lerone Murphy and Jean Silva, who put together a blistering demolition of Bryce Mitchell on the main card. There are also recent signees Aaron Pico and Patricio Pitbull. And even though the latter fell short against Yair Rodriguez, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he works his way up the ladder.

Stylistic matchups and the youth of his opponents could present quite the mountain for Volkanovski to overcome. However, if he manages to make a couple of successful title defenses, Volkanovski has an opportunity to separate himself from fighters likeHolloway and José Aldo as the greatest featherweight in UFC history.

What we do know is that this is one of the deepest, most talent-rich featherweight divisions in recent memory. Volkanovski has his work cut out for him, but it will be a treat to watch based on his Saturday's performance. -- Hale

Pimblett is a huge problem at lightweight, especially because of his youth

If this sounds like a backhanded compliment, it's truly not. Pimblett's skills are legit and he'd be a handful for any lightweight in his prime. But the fact he's wading into the deep end of the lightweight waters at a time when those waters are filled with fighters in the twilights of their careers certainly doesn't hurt.

Pimblett, 30, is confident, talented and a very dangerous finisher. He's already fought Tony Ferguson (41), King Green (38) and Chandler (38). He's now targeting Charles Oliveira (35), Justin Gaethje (36) and Dustin Poirier (36). Again, I am not taking anything away from Pimblett -- but it's OK to point this out. He is coming into his prime at the best time possible for this division.

If Pimblett can keep this going, we could be looking at a UFC superstar. And let's be honest, the sport needs as many as it can get right now. The UFC is relatively star starved at the moment, if you compare it to other eras. That's cyclical and it'll come around, and Pimblett could be one of the key fighters to turn the tide.

Pimblett is the real deal, he knows he's the real deal and the gauntlet of absolute killers at the very top is (mostly) fighters who are starting to slow down. He has a tremendous opportunity ahead of him. -- Okamoto

A "good" Rodriguez is so good for this division

The featherweight division is in a solid place, but it is so much more interesting and better with a great Rodriguez. And not just a great Rodriguez, a fired up one.

When he is on, he's nothing short of dazzling. That 2018 knockout of "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung in the final second was the greatest knockout in UFC history - until Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 last year. The spinning attacks, the flying attacks, the choke of Josh Emmett for the interim championship at UFC 284 in 2023 -- Rodriguez can do things that others simply cannot do. His best moments against Pitbull on Saturday came when he was under fire and in danger. Rodriguez can be a menace at times, and it'd be so welcome if he could be one always.

Don't get me wrong, his losses have come against elite talent, but I can't help but think I still haven't seen Rodriguez at top speed. I want to see him emotionally invested, if that's what it takes. I wouldn't mind seeing him fight Diego Lopes after they went at it during this week's press conference. Rodriguez has been great in flashes, but he's also been inactive at times, including when the UFC nearly cut him in 2018. I'm nitpicking a little, but I just want to see what Rodriguez looks like with a bit of swag. A bit of that arrogance people accused him of having before he lost in the UFC for the first time to Frankie Edgar back in 2017.

The 145-pound division would benefit greatly from that Rodriguez. -- Okamoto

CINCINNATI -- Elly De La Cruz has struggled at the plate in April, but on his bobblehead giveaway night Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds shortstop broke out in a big way.

On a 3-2 pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Andrew Heaney in the third inning, De La Cruz, batting right-handed, sent a towering fly ball into the left-field seats for his second career grand slam, lifting the Reds to a 5-2 victory.

Many of the 31,188 fans showed up early to grab a De La Cruz switch-hitter bobblehead, and they weren't disappointed.

"There were a lot of fans, and they are special to me," De La Cruz said. "It was crazy, electric. It felt really good. I hit it really well. When I hit it, I (could) tell it was gone."

The grand slam was an encouraging sign for De La Cruz, who was batting .153 this month and hadn't homered since going deep twice March 31 against Texas.

"I'm feeling good," De La Cruz said. "I'm feeling comfortable both sides of the plate. The results haven't been there but that doesn't matter. We just keep going."

He was 6-for-39 coming into the game. His manager wasn't concerned but recognized the importance of the grand slam.

"When you get to Elly, there's always that chance," manager Terry Francona said. "That was a game changer for us."

At 23 years and 91 days old, De La Cruz became the youngest Reds player to hit a grand slam at Great American Ball Park. He's just the sixth Reds player to hit two grand slams before the age of 24.

"He's a difference maker," said Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, who earned the victory in his season debut. "Everyone in the room knows that."

De La Cruz fell behind 1-2 to Heaney before working the count to 3-2. De La Cruz said he knew Heaney needed to throw a strike.

"3-2, trying to make a pitch, guy is a good hitter and he put a barrel on it," Heaney said. "Probably went to the well one too many times there. Tried to be competitive there and got beat to the spot."

Despite the early season slump, De La Cruz has been a run-producer for a Reds offense that began the month with three straight 1-0 losses. He's just the ninth National League switch-hitter since 1920 to have 16 RBIs in his team's first 15 games.

"He's always one swing away," Francona said. "As cold as guys get, they get just that hot. It'll even out. I don't worry about him too much. He's a fun player to be around."

HOUSTON -- A fan grabbed the baseball out of Mike Trout's glove after the Los Angeles Angels star reached into the right-field stands Saturday night to make what appeared to be a great catch against the Houston Astros.

Trout raced into the right-field corner on the fly ball hit by Yainer Diaz in the second inning of the Angels' 4-1 win, leaped and extended his left arm into the stands to make the grab. But a fan wearing an Astros jersey was also reaching for the ball at the same time.

The ball appeared to simultaneously glance off the fan's hand while Trout made the catch. The fan immediately snatched the ball from Trout's glove with his left hand.

Trout gestured emphatically to umpires that the fan had taken it out of his glove. The fan then looked as if he was trying to give the ball back to Trout, raising both arms while holding the ball in his right hand.

"I jumped in, it was in my glove and the guy just literally took it out," Trout said after the game. "He was really apologetic. I learn new things every single day. Once I go into the stands, it's free game. Being in center field is a little different because I don't really get that play."

The Athletic reported that the fan's name is Jared Whalen, and the outlet spoke with him after the game.

"I just didn't know what was going on," Whalen told The Athletic. "I didn't realize it was a play. It was coming at my son's face. I just reached out."

Trout, who hit a two-run single in the first, moved from center field to right field this season to reduce wear and tear on his body and help him stay on the field.

First-base umpire Alan Porter ruled it a foul ball and not a catch. Angels manager Ron Washington came out to discuss the play with the umpires, but the ruling stood and was not reviewed by replay.

"He said it doesn't matter," Trout said of what he was told by Porter. "As soon as your glove goes into the stands, it's fair game. And if it hits their finger or the ball hits their hand, I guess it's ruled dead. I guess if you saw the replay, it hits his hand first, then goes in my glove. So even if I would have come back out (with the ball), they probably could have challenged it. That was my understanding."

Washington said he was told he could have challenged the play, but didn't want to risk losing his challenge at that point in the game.

"I thought he had it and we looked at it," Washington said. "It looked like a fan pulled it out of his glove as he was coming out, but I would have had to use a challenge. And if the umpires didn't do that, I would have lost it early."

Porter, who is the crew chief, told a pool reporter after the game that the play was reviewable, but is also a judgment call.

"The fly ball was in the stands -- it was not over the field of play," Porter said. "Once the ball is outside of the field of play, the fielder goes into the stands at his own risk. So, the ball being touched by the fan does not create spectator interference at that point."

Whalen and his son were escorted out of the section by security and moved to a different section. Trout had security bring the fan and his son to the Angels clubhouse after the game. In an exchange that was posted on social media by The Athletic, Trout gave the fan's son a bat and signed the ball. He also took a picture with the fan and his son.

"They were really apologetic," Trout said. "It didn't really affect the game. I have a kid myself. That kid was probably 9 years old, so just seeing him after the game, they were really nice people."

Diaz ended up flying out to center to end the inning.

The play was reminiscent of Game 4 of last year's World Series when two fans interfered with him and one pried a foul ball out of the glove of the Dodgers' Mookie Betts at Yankee Stadium. Umpires ruled that was fan interference and a catch by Betts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- The Chicago Cubs had a big night against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

One night after being shut out, the Cubs broke out for 14 runs and 15 hits in the final three innings of a 16-0 victory Saturday night to hand the Dodgers their first home loss of the season and their worst home shutout defeat in franchise history.

The Cubs finished with 21 hits, including nine for extra bases.

"The boys came out swinging, and it was pretty cool to see," said Chicago's Carson Kelly, who homered twice among his three hits and drove in three runs. "Kudos to our guys for working at-bats, really working counts, getting good pitches to drive and not missing them. We also ran the bases well and took our walks. ... I think it's just the mentality of this team that we're going to fight to the end no matter what the score is."

Michael Busch, once a top prospect in the Dodgers' farm system, had four hits, including a homer and two doubles, and drove in three runs. The first baseman is batting .308 (12-for-39) with three homers, six doubles and 11 RBIs in 10 career games against the Dodgers.

Ian Happ had three hits and scored two runs, and Miguel Amaya replaced the injured Seiya Suzuki (right wrist pain) in the fifth inning and homered among his two hits and drove in three runs.

Kelly keyed a five-run seventh inning with a homer 384 feet over the left-field wall against Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius and then crushed a 391-foot homer on a floater from infielder-turned-pitcher Miguel Rojas for a two-run shot in the ninth.

"You have to take a quick swing, not a big swing," Kelly said, when asked how hard it is to homer off a 40-mph pitch. "You have to find the right timing of it."

The Cubs pushed their major league-leading run total to 112, which is 21 more than the second-place New York Yankees (91), and they have outscored opponents by 41 runs, a margin nearly twice as much as any team.

Busch, who homered off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki for a 1-0 lead in the second, came within inches of a monster game when he was robbed of a grand slam by center fielder Andy Pages to end the third.

"I saw him [make the catch] -- unfortunately," said Busch, a former minor league teammate of Pages. "He's a good player. I didn't want him to do that, so we're going to have to have a conversation."

Sasaki (0-1) left with a 1-0 deficit after allowing one run and four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two. However, the Cubs broke through against a Dodgers bullpen that entered the contest with a 2.15 ERA, the fourth-best mark in baseball.

Busch doubled and scored on Justin Turner's RBI single off Casparius for a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Amaya (single), Busch (single), Dansby Swanson (single) and Nico Hoerner (sacrifice fly) drove in runs after Kelly's leadoff homer in the seventh.

Kyle Tucker had a two-run single and Amaya a two-run homer in the eighth, and the Cubs teed off on Rojas in the ninth.

The offensive outburst backed a superb start by Cubs right-hander Ben Brown, who used only two pitches -- a four-seam fastball that averaged 95.6 mph and a knuckle-curve that averaged 86.9 mph -- to blank the Dodgers on five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking none.

Brown (2-1) gave up five runs and seven hits in four innings of his previous start, a no-decision against San Diego.

"Just trying to do the exact opposite of last week," Brown said. "This past week was a grind working on things, mentally going through things, but I put in that effort, and it obviously showed tonight.

"I was able to slow the game down, slow the heart rate down, execute pitch by pitch and go back to where I was last year ... when my stuff is there, we can get through lineups like that."

"It's been a long time since I've had the chance to win a title on clay and I can't wait to try my luck again here," the 21-year-old said.

"I just had to be patient and believe that this moment was going to come again.

"Sometimes the people are not patient, they want me to make the final in every tournament."

A four-time major champion, Alcaraz has had a mixed start to the season, winning the Rotterdam Open but suffering some surprising losses during the hard-court season.

In Monte Carlo, the world number three made a quick start against Davidovich Fokina, going up an early break but faltering when serving for the set at 5-3.

Davidovich Fokina held firm to send the opener to a tie-break, but Alcaraz ran away with it and again went up an early break in the second set.

This time he was able to hold on to his lead, hitting 21 winners to Davidovich Fokina's 19 to reach his first Masters final since Indian Wells in 2024.

Meanwhile, Musetti, who ended Stefanos Tsitsipas' title defence in the quarter-finals, could not find his range in the opening set against De Minaur.

However, he claimed a crucial break in the second as the rain arrived, using his one-handed backhand to great effect to force a decider.

Another break allowed Musetti to serve for the match at 5-4 - but De Minaur, one of the best defensive players on the men's tour, broke back and ensured the match would be decided on a tie-break.

Musetti held his nerve well, taking control of the breaker and moving into the biggest final of his career as De Minaur planted a forehand into the net.

Watch the moment Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage beat Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands to secure Great Britain's place in September's Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

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Boulter and Burrage were playing together for only the second time, having practised as a partnership in the build-up to the competition.

"We went out there and we gave it our all. We swung and that is what we wanted to do," Burrage said.

"It was great to step on the court with Katie - good friends and good partners, I think."

It is a credit to Boulter that she came out after a disappointing loss to world number 70 Lamens in the singles.

She and Burrage claimed an excellent win against the formidable Dutch pairing - Lamens was on a 13-match unbeaten run at the BJK Cup while veteran Schuurs had not lost a match for her country since 2022.

Boulter and Burrage played with aggression, targeting Schuurs' serve in particular.

They hit 26 winners to 10 from the Netherlands, with Boulter cranking up her forehand in the deciding moments.

Schuurs was left in tears after the match, with her side now needing to compete in the play-offs to secure a place in the 2026 qualifiers.

Britain go on to compete at the eight-team Finals in Shenzhen, China from 16-21 September.

Connacht: Hansen; Jennings, Gavin, Aki, Treacy; Hanrahan, B Murphy; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham, J Murphy, Joyce, Prendergast (capt), Hurley-Langton, Jansen.

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Dooley, Aungier, Dowling, Boyle, Devine, Ioane, Forde.

Racing 92: James; Naituvi, Habosi, Tuisova, Spring (capt); Lancaster, Le Garrec; Ben Arous, Escobar, Bamba, Palu, Rowlands, Baudonne, Kpoku, Joseph.

Replacements: Couly, Gogichashvili, Leota, R Taofifenua, Manyarara, D Taofifenua, Farrell, Chavancy.

France: Morgane Bourgeois; Kelly Arbey, Marine Menager (co-capt), Montserrat Amedee, Emilie Boulard; Carla Arbez, Pauline Bourdon-Sansus; Yllana Brosseau, Manon Bigot, Rose Bernadou, Manae Feleu (co-capt), Madouddou Fall-Raclot, Charlotte Escudero, Seraphine Okemba, Teani Feleu.

Replacements: Elisa Riffonneau, Ambre Mwayembe, Assia Khalfaoui, Kiara Zago, Axelle Berthoumieu, Lea Champon, Oceane Bordes, Lina Queyroi.

Wales: Jasmine Joyce; Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones (capt), Courtney Keight, Carys Cox; Kayleigh Powell, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Jenni Scoble, Abbie Fleming, Gwen Crabb, Kate Williams, Bethan Lewis, Georgia Evans.

Replacements: Kelsey Jones, Maisie Davies, Donna Rose, Natalia John, Alaw Pyrs, Bryonie King, Sian Jones, Nel Metcalfe.

Referee: Holly Wood (RFU)

Assistant referees: Sara Cox (RFU) & Maria Heitor (FPR)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

FPRO: Rachel Horton (RA)