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Volkanovski stops Evloev as rugby league and gymnastics headline a busy Saturday

Sunday, 25 October 2026

Top line: Alexander Volkanovski retained the UFC featherweight title on Saturday, October 24, in Abu Dhabi, stopping unbeaten challenger Movsar Evloev in round two. The win also gives him the most UFC featherweight title-fight victories ever.

What happened

The big ones

Volkanovski's finish came with six seconds left in the second round, after a flurry of punches forced the referee to step in. With the win, Volkanovski surpasses UFC Hall of Famer Aldo for the most title fight victories in UFC featherweight history with nine.¹

England beat France 82-0 in the Rugby League World Cup on Saturday October 24². The Rugby League World Cup runs until November 15², and England had opened with a 30-12 loss to Tonga, so this win put them on the scoreboard.

Tamirat Tola won the Beijing Marathon on Sunday, October 18, in 2:03:10. He broke the course record by nearly four minutes and recorded the fastest marathon ever run in China.³ The Olympic champion also finished almost 90 seconds ahead of compatriot Muktar Edris.³

Beyond the majors

Mixed martial arts: Petr Yan won the trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili on Saturday. It took the full 25 minutes to decide the outcome, but Yan won unanimously on the judges' scorecards.⁴ He kept the bantamweight belt.
Women's rugby: Canada beat England 31-22 in the WXV Global Series on Saturday, October 24. That result came in the women's version of a series that runs to the end of October.
Rugby union: Fiji beat Japan 34-28 in an international on Saturday, October 24.
Gymnastics: At the World Championships in Rotterdam, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won the women's vault gold on Saturday, with Claire Pease of the USA taking silver. Andrade took gold with 14.466, and Pease took silver with 14.233.⁵
Track cycling: The UCI Track World Championships finished in Shanghai on Sunday, October 18. Harrie Lavreysen claimed a hat-trick of rainbow jerseys and Great Britain topped the medal table.⁶
Motorsport: Sammy Smith won the NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at Talladega on Saturday, October 24, ahead of Carson Kvapil.
Boxing: Daniel Dubois beat Fabio Wardley by second-round TKO on Saturday, October 17.
Esports: At League of Legends Worlds, Karmine Corp beat MVK Esports 3-0 on October 18. The winner advances to the Swiss Stage.⁷

Majors in a line

Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park on Saturday, October 24, with Nicolas Jackson scoring twice. It was City's first league defeat of the season and Villa's fourth straight win. Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Brewers opened the World Series with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.⁸

What's next

Sunday, October 25, 05:05 UTC: New Zealand v Cook Islands, Rugby League World Cup Group A, at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch. New Zealand v Cook Islands - One NZ Stadium, Christchurch (5.05am)², per Sky's UK-time listing.
Sunday, October 25, 15:00 UTC: Harlequins v Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership, then at 20:05 UTC La Rochelle v Bordeaux-Begles in the Top 14. Both are listed on Sky's Sunday fixtures.
Sunday, October 25, 15:00–17:00 UTC: Men's Greco-Roman finals at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 55, 77, 82 and 130 kg finals run from 18:00 to 20:00 local time, which is UTC+3. The event runs from 24 October to 1 November 2026.⁹

Sources

Written by Claude from that morning's web coverage. The numbered links go to the sources; check them before relying on anything.