The Professional Fighters League’s annual championship event went down on Wednesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and it was a huge night for women’s combat sports.

The card was topped by a 155-pound lightweight fight between unbeaten juggernaut Kayla Harrison (12-0) and a massive underdog in Taylor Guardado (3-2). The PFL lightweight title hung in the balance, as did the million-dollar prize the league awards the champion of each weight class at the end of each year.

As the pre-fight odds suggested, Harrison made it look easy, grounding and battering the outmatched Guardado en route to a second-round submission via armbar.

The fight marked the final obligation on Harrison’s latest PFL contract, making her arguably the hottest free agent in MMA today. She will undoubtedly field offers from other promotions like the UFC and Bellator, but could certainly be coaxed back to the PFL cage by the prospect of more million-dollar paydays.

“I have a lot to think about,” she said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “I have a family now. I still want to be the best in the world. I still want to continue to challenge myself. I feel like I can do that no matter where I go, but I got two mouths to feed and a family to take care of. We’ll see what happens.”

Congratulations Kayla Harrison!#PFLChampionship pic.twitter.com/cTORWGUllw

— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 28, 2021

While Harrison’s latest domination was deserving of its headlining spot, it certainly wasn’t the only big-ticket women’s bout on the bill. Earlier on the main card, three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields (11-0 boxing, 1-1 MMA) competed in her second MMA bout, taking on Mexico’s Abigail Montes (3-0) in a 155-pound scrap.

Shields had her moments in the fight, landing plenty of her Olympic-caliber punches and even competing her lone takedown attempt of the fight. Unfortunately for the boxing champ, Montes proved a little too much, too soon. The Mexican prospect completed two of four takedown attempts and controlled her foe against the cage for the vast majority of the fight—enough, in sum, to sway two of three cage-side judges and earn a split decision victory. The win will more than likely earn her a spot in the 2022 PFL season.

Abigail gets the takedown midway through the 3rd round!#PFLChampionship LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN2 & ESPN
🌍 https://t.co/WfOt9XBfzk pic.twitter.com/ZkGCHR8WxI

— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 28, 2021

“I was always very confident in the work I put in and all that I did in my camp,” Montes said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “That’s why I looked very confident inside the cage.”

Shields, meanwhile, will have to return to the drawing board if she intends to continue her quest to become a two-sport world champion. Before she gets back to training at Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, of course, she’ll need to prepare for her December boxing match with Ema Kozin.

The first women’s bout of the night, also contested at 155 pounds, pitted Minnesota’s Kaitlin Young against Canada’s Julia Budd. Young, a striking specialist, gave Budd some interesting looks on the feet, particularly in the first round, but Budd was able to ply her wrestling to secure multiple takedowns en route to a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.

Successful Debut for Julia Budd! Congratulations Julia!#PFLChampionship LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN+
🌍 https://t.co/WfOt9XBfzk pic.twitter.com/9w0aOaz9TX

— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 27, 2021

The win marks a successful PFL debut for Budd, who recently ended a lengthy stint with Bellator, one that included an impressive reign as the promotion’s featherweight champion. With Wednesday’s victory, she can look forward to a spot in the 2022 PFL season and a potential fight with Harrison. Budd is easily the stiffest challenge for Harrison in the PFL at present.

Young may also be invited to compete in the 2022 PFL season, but after going 1-2 in the PFL cage in 2021, it’s also possible she’ll lose her spot on the roster.

The USA women's hockey team came out on top over the weekend, kicking off the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada by dominating their northern neighbors, outscoring them by an impressive 10-2 margin across the pair's first two games.

US forward Abbey Murphy emerged as a series star, scoring a natural hat trick in the team's 4-1 win in Cleveland on Thursday — the first three-goal turn by a USA player against Canada since team captain Hilary Knight did so at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship.

"I told [Murphy], 'You set the bar pretty high,'" said Knight, who added her own hat trick to the mix in Saturday's 6-1 victory in Buffalo.

"I love how we showed up," the 36-year-old continued. "We've been working like dogs since August and to get rewarded for our work, and see situations that we need to work on."

Notably, while the USA brought their entire 2025 world championship-winning roster to the first two Rivalry Series games, Canada chose to evaluate some fresh faces while resting a number of standout veterans, including their No. 1 goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens — a fact that should temper the sting of adding two big losses to their now four-game skid against the US.

With women's hockey taking over Milan at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, the last two 2025 Rivalry Series matchups will more likely see both sides testing their final rosters for Italy.

How to watch the final games in the 2025 Rivalry Series

Canada will welcome the USA for the last two matchups in the 2025 Rivalry Series, with the puck dropping in Edmonton, Alberta, at 9 PM ET for both the December 10th and 13th clashes.

Both games will air live on the NHL Network.

The LPGA is bringing star power to Florida this week, as a wealth of women's golf talent — and one basketball superstar — tee off at the 2025 edition of The ANNIKA.

Kicking off the event on Wednesday was the annual Pro-Am, with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark headlining the field for the second straight year.

World No. 2 golfer Nelly Korda once again joined Clark through her first nine holes, as Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull served as guest caddies.

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The four-day professional tournament will then tee off on Thursday, though current world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul will not be in attendance for the second year in a row.

Korda, however, will lead the charge to both defend her 2024 title and secure her first win of the 2025 LPGA season — as well as add to her full trio of trophies collected at The ANNIKA.

Four other Top-10 players will look to upend Korda's back-to-back bid, including No. 3 Miyu Yamashita, No. 6 Charley Hull, No. 9 Mao Saigo, and No. 10 Lottie Woad.

With the 2025 CMA Group Tour Championship capping the LPGA season later this month, The ANNIKA will also see golfers on the bubble — like US stars Rose Zhang and 2023 champion Lilia Vu — try to snag enough points to make the end-of-year tournament's final 60-player cut.

How to watch The ANNIKA 2025 LPGA tournament

Coverage of the fifth edition of The ANNIKA continues through Sunday, airing live on the Golf Channel.

The No. 3 UCLA Bruins rose to the occasion on Monday, looking like 2025/26 NCAA basketball championship contenders as they took down the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners 73-59 in Sacramento.

Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens made the difference for the Bruins, leading all scorers with 20 points while opposing defenses limited both UCLA center Lauren Betts and Oklahoma big Raegan Beers to single digits.

Bruins forward Angela Dugalić also put up a standout performance, coming off the bench to score 16 points and snag 15 rebounds on Monday.

"There are so many weapons that I feel like it's hard for the defense to choose what to take away," Kneepkens said ahead of Monday's matchup. "What makes this team special is that any night could be someone's night."

Monday's clash with UCLA also served as the national broadcast debut of Oklahoma freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, with the No. 1 high school basketball recruit seeing her first Top 10 NCAA matchup as a Sooner.

Chavez had a slow start against the experienced Bruins, registering 11 points, three assists, and two rebounds across her 32 minutes on the court.

How to watch UCLA basketball this week

The heat continues for No. 3 UCLA on Thursday, when the Bruins will host the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels at 9 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Newly formed offseason league Project B is stocking up, with Phoenix Mercury star forward Alyssa Thomas becoming the second big-name WNBA player to sign with the overseas venture ahead of its anticipated November 2026 debut.

Thomas follows Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike in joining Project B, a traveling tournament-style competition reportedly offering players significant pay raises into the seven- and even eight-figure echelon — as well as equity stakes in the league.

Thomas will still feature in the 2026 season of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this January, with the launch of Project B expected to conflict with Unrivaled's third season in 2027.

With salaries reportedly topping both Unrivaled and the WNBA, Project B's funding sources came into question after Ogwumike's announcement last week.

In February, The Financial Times named Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as a league investor, though Project B co-founder Grady Burnett denied those claims to Front Office Sports last week.

However, the league is working with event partner Sela, a known subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, though Burnett was quick to qualify that "Sela is one event partner that we pay money to. We do not have any dollars coming from them."

With the first season of Project B set to field 66 players, expect more high-profile signings to continue as the new venture adds to the increasingly crowded WNBA offseason space.