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Zhong Kui is the next title from Game Science Studio

by admin August 20, 2025

Game Science Studio isn’t resting on its laurels after the success of Black Myth: Wukong. The developer teased a follow-up project as the closer to Gamescom’s Opening Night Live showcase with a brief but beautifully detailed glimpse at Black Myth: Zhong Kui.

There’s no date attached to the cinematic teaser, and that’s because the game is still very much a work in progress. According to the FAQ entry about a possible release window, the team says “Well, to be honest—even Yocar himself has absolutely no idea” when it’ll be ready. But the same page does confirm that the plan is for Zhong Kui to launch on both PC and “all mainstream console platforms” whenever it is done.

From the title and the previous Black Myth game, this new project will once again be drawing inspiration from Chinese mythology. Legends around Zhong Kui dub him a conqueror of ghosts and evil spirits, so perhaps there will be some supernatural vibes in this entry to the emerging game series. Pretty much the only other thing we know besides the name and character is that Black Myth: Zhong Kui will once again be a single-player ARPG and it will be “following the same business model as before.”

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Capcom asks PC Monster Hunter Wilds players to wait until Title Update 4 this winter for “CPU and GPU related optimizations”

by admin August 19, 2025

PC gamers who are hoping Capcom updates Monster Hunter Wilds to improve performance will have to wait a little longer. A statement made on X.com via the official Monster Hunter account has told players that improvements are coming, but not until this winter.

To our hunters playing #MHWilds on PC, we’re committed to listening to your feedback and improving both performance and stability of the game.

Although we will continue to implement gradual improvements in the weeks ahead, we are targeting Free Title Update 4 this winter to implement a multifaceted plan, including CPU and GPU related optimizations, followed by a second stage of mitigation measures afterwards.

We’ll share more information on the specifics in the future.

The news comes alongside the release of Hotfix patch Ver.1.021.02.00, which has dropped on PS5, Xbox, and PC.

Hotfix patch Ver.1.021.02.00 details:

Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments

Fixed an issue that reduced the invulnerability window upon successfully performing the long sword’s Iai Spirit Slash against monster attacks that have long hit detection durations.
Fixed an issue where, when the Item Bar Display option is set to Type 1, if you select an item using the Item Bar while in Aim/Focus Mode and then release Aim/Focus Mode, the selected item would revert to an empty slot.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is Europe’s best-selling new title so far, according to new data

by admin August 19, 2025

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is Europe’s best-selling new game so far this year, according to new data from GSD.

As reported by The Games Business, Ubisoft’s latest title beat the likes of Monster Hunter Wilds, Split Fiction, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

Split Fiction is the best-selling IP of 2025 so far, which reached No.6 on the Top 20 chart.

This comes from data collected by GSD up until July 28, 2025. However, this excludes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the game’s publisher does not share its sales data with GSD.

As for Nintendo titles, the publisher also doesn’t share its digital sales data.

Looking at the overall chart, Monster Hunter Wilds ranked at No.7, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was at No.10, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered came in at No.11 followed by Elden Ring Nightrein at No.13.

While AC Shadows is the best-selling new game, EA Sport FC 25 took the ultimate top spot following its release last September.

Elsewhere, 71 million PC and console games have been sold across the continent so far this year, reflecting a 6% decline year-over-year, according to additional data shared by GSD analyst Sam Naji.

This included 52 million digital games (down 3%) and 19.7 million physical games (down 9%).

During the first 19 weeks of 2025, games spending dropped 2% to €1.33 billion, with unit sales declining 9%. This was reportedly “due to an 8% increase in the average selling price of games” with “gamers spending on average €29 per game” compared to €27 last year.

Digital spending rose by 8% (compared to a 6% drop in unit sales) due to a 15% rise “in the average selling price of digital games” from €22 to €29.

Physical spending was down 16%, with unit sales declining a further 17%. The price of physical games has slightly increased by 2% compared to the same period last year from €39 to €40.

Here are the top 20 games in Europe from GSD data collected until July 28, 2025:

Position
Title

1
EA Sports FC 25 (Electronic Arts)

2
Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft)

3
Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

4
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)

5
Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)

6
Split Fiction (EA)

7
Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)

8
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Activision Blizzard)

9
Mario Kart World (Nintendo)*

10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (Plaion)

11
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered (Bethesda)

12
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA)

13
Elden Ring: Nightrein (Bandai Namco)

14
It Takes Two (EA)

15
Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar)

16
NBA 2K25 (2K Games)

17
F1 25 (EA)

18
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft)

19
Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*

20
Battlefield 1 (EA)

*Digital data unavailable

Games bundled with hardware is included (including digital and physical games)

Data covers Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Esports

NBA offseason 2025 – How close is every franchise to a title?

by admin June 23, 2025

Tim BontempsJun 23, 2025, 10:47 AM ET
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The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first championship Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to become the seventh straight new titleholder in a record-setting era of parity in the league.

Only time will tell if that milestone number stretches to eight next year or if OKC is about to become the league’s next dynastic force. What is certain is that the Thunder’s victory officially puts a bow on the 2024-25 NBA season. As a result, the chase to catch the champs is officially on.

To set up what portends to be a massive offseason in the NBA, we took a holistic look at where all 30 teams stand in their pursuit of a crown and the biggest questions each faces this summer.

To do so, we divided the 30 franchises into 10 tiers. We started with the true title contenders and ended with the teams facing what the Thunder themselves faced just four years ago: the throes of a full rebuild.

(Note: Teams are organized alphabetically within each tier, and the projected salary cap space for each comes via ESPN’s Bobby Marks.)

True NBA title contender

Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14)

Total players under contract: 15
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 10 first-round picks, 17 second-round picks

Oklahoma City has an embarrassment of riches. Not only did the Thunder just win their first title with a roster featuring no players older than 31 and only two older than 27. They also have 15 players under contract, with two more first-round picks coming in this year’s draft, meaning they will have to create some roster room this summer. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City secured the Larry O’Brien Trophy without paying the luxury tax, and it won’t be paying the tax next season, either. This will allow the Thunder to sock away savings for the future as the roster begins to get expensive this summer, when Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are eligible for rookie extensions and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can agree to a massive future supermax extension.

It pays to be in the East

Cleveland Cavaliers (64-18)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 4 second-round picks

The Cavaliers had a terrific regular season with the second-highest win total in franchise history, before falling flat in their Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Pacers. But while the Cavaliers had some issues exposed in that series, there aren’t a lot of avenues for them to be addressed, given Cleveland has a decision to make on Ty Jerome, who is going to get a significant raise from the $2.5 million he made this season. (The same goes for Sam Merrill and his $2.1 million.) But unless the Cavaliers make trades, they’ll be largely running it back.

New York Knicks (51-31)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 7 second-round picks

The Knicks made their first major move of the summer when they chose to dismiss coach Tom Thibodeau after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. Finding a new voice in the locker room comes with figuring out what the Knicks will do to try to augment the roster. With some creative accounting, New York should be able to use the $5.6 million taxpayer’s midlevel exception and stay below the second apron. Can the Knicks land a difference-maker with it? And can they add more depth beyond their top seven, with the bright lights of New York, a contending team and playing time to offer players on minimum deals? Or will they try to do something bigger and move players from that top seven to swing for a bigger fish? There’s also a potential Mikal Bridges extension to consider. Moving on from Thibodeau shows New York isn’t satisfied with just being good; the Knicks have made it clear that only a 2026 Finals berth will be deemed a success next season.

Best of the rest in the West

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Stephen A.: KD has plenty left to be Rockets’ No. 1 option

Stephen A. Smith loves the Kevin Durant trade for the Houston Rockets as they look to compete for an NBA title next season.

Denver Nuggets (50-32)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 1 second-round pick

If not for a wild fourth quarter from Thunder guard Luguentz Dort in Game 5 of the conference semifinals, perhaps Denver would be celebrating a second title in three years. Instead, the Nuggets are reeling from a second straight seven-game exit in the second round. The first order of business will be determining who will lead the front office after the team officially retained David Adelman as coach. Whomever Denver hires as general manager will face roster decisions right away. First, Denver has to see if it can get Christian Braun, one of the better young guards in the league, signed to a contract extension. Beyond that, the Nuggets will hope to upgrade their roster, with limited assets, to try to chase down OKC atop the West.

Houston Rockets (52-30)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 4 first-round picks, 2 second-round picks

After a tremendous season that saw the Rockets finish second in the conference and lose in seven hard-fought games to the Warriors during the first round, it became clear Houston needed to upgrade its offense. How about landing Kevin Durant? That was exactly what the Rockets did hours before Sunday’s Game 7, adding the future Hall of Famer in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft. That will allow the Rockets to remain an option if another star becomes available later this offseason or next year. And while Fred VanVleet has a $44 million team option for next season, expect him to remain in Houston either on that deal or a new one.

Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33)

Total players under contract: 8
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: no first-round picks, 4 second-round picks

Coming off back-to-back conference finals appearances is justifiable cause for celebration in the Twin Cities. But as Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez fully take over as owners this summer, there are several big decisions ahead. Will Tim Connelly, who can opt out of his contract, remain in charge of the franchise moving forward? What will happen with pending unrestricted free agents Julius Randle and Naz Reid — both of whom have player options for next season — and Nickeil Alexander-Walker? Connelly expressed optimism during his end-of-season media session that all three would be back, and Minnesota can’t afford to take any steps backward in the West.

Elite contenders with injury woes

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Rick Carlisle on Hali: ‘He will be back’

Rick Carlisle gives an update on Tyrese Haliburton’s injury and assures that “he will be back.”

Boston Celtics (61-21)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 2 first-round picks, 5 second-round picks

Few offseasons in NBA history have been more fascinating than what’s awaiting the Celtics. Because of Jayson Tatum’s left Achilles tear, a team that has ruled the East for the better part of a decade has massive questions as new owner Bill Chisholm gets set to take over this summer. There were doubts even before Tatum’s injury that Boston would have the first $500 million roster in NBA history. It’s impossible to see that happening now. How Boston approaches this summer could be the most important decision any team in the league makes, in terms of the ripple effects it could cause. Then there’s the future of franchise stalwart Al Horford. In the wake of Tatum’s injury, could Horford choose to play elsewhere? If he does, his stretch-big skill set would fit with any contending team, and he has shown he’s still a highly effective player even at 39 years old.

Indiana Pacers (50-32)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 4 first-round picks, 8 second-round picks

After their stunning run to the NBA Finals, and to within a few shots of the franchise’s first championship, the focus shifts to Tyrese Haliburton’s recovery from the right Achilles injury he suffered early in Game 7. Indiana has proved its resiliency in these playoffs, but if Haliburton is out for all of next season, it’s hard to see the Pacers replicating this year’s run. In the meantime, they also have to decide what to do about Myles Turner, the best available free agent center and a vital part of Indiana’s five-out offense. The Pacers are expected to re-sign Turner; the question is whether the Pacers will go into the luxury tax to do so.

Milwaukee Bucks (48-34)

Total players under contract: 7
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 2 second-round picks

Like the Celtics, the Bucks have a decision that could cause ripple effects throughout the league: What does Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee look like? After 12 seasons with the franchise, there are real questions about how competitive the Bucks can be next season following Damian Lillard’s left Achilles tear. The expectation is that the Bucks would like to get out of the luxury tax after paying hundreds of millions in recent years, meaning franchise stalwart and unrestricted free agent Brook Lopez could be priced out of a return.

Aging star power

Golden State Warriors (48-34)

Total players under contract: 9
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 4 first-round picks, 1 second-round pick

After landing Jimmy Butler III at the trade deadline, Golden State managed to win a playoff round before Stephen Curry got hurt and the Timberwolves dispatched the Warriors in five games in Round 2. Now, the focus shifts to what likely will be yet another eventful summer in the Bay Area, beginning with the tricky negotiations with restricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga. Golden State likely will either bring him back on a new deal or sign and trade him to add reinforcements. Each path has a differing level of complexity. Regardless, the Warriors will need to find ways to augment the roster to keep up in the very difficult West.

LA Clippers (50-32)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 2 first-round picks, 4 second-round picks

The Clippers outperformed this season, finishing fifth in the West and pushing the Nuggets to seven games in a thrilling first-round series. LA’s top priorities? Sorting out the future of James Harden, who has a $36.3 million player option, and deciding whether to extend Norman Powell, who is coming off the best season of his career. (Powell has a $20.4 million expiring contract in 2025-26.) The Clippers also could have most of the full midlevel exception available or they could use that salary flexibility to make moves via trade.

Los Angeles Lakers (50-32)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 1 second-round pick

Summer is never boring for the Lakers, and this year is no different. Not only did the Lakers just sell for a record $10 billion, but the franchise is waiting on another free agency decision from LeBron James. Now 40, he can opt into his $52.6 million player option for next season with an extension, opt in without an extension or opt out and sign a new contract. (Forward Dorian Finney-Smith faces the same three choices with his own $15.3 million option.) Luka Doncic, meanwhile, could choose to sign an extension or leave the Lakers in limbo until next summer. Austin Reaves can agree to an extension off his $13.9 million contract. And finally: After declining to complete the Mark Williams trade in February, can the Lakers get a rim-running center for Doncic?

Rising young teams with upside

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Why did the Magic trade for Desmond Bane?

Brian Windhorst breaks down the Grizzlies trading Desmond Bane to the Magic for a package that includes Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and several draft picks.

Detroit Pistons (44-38)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None (most likely)
Total tradable picks: 4 first-round picks, 13 second-round picks

The Pistons, who won a playoff game for the first time since 2008, have two very different paths they can take. Assuming they re-sign unrestricted free agents Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley and Dennis Schroder, they’ll operate as an over-the-tax team and try to add to their roster with the full midlevel exception or via trade this summer. The other choice? Let those players go, clear cap space and go after a free agent — potentially a floor-spacing big to create more room for All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham to operate. Either way, after general manager Trajan Langdon spent his first season in charge building a solid ecosystem around Cunningham — helping to launch him to another level as a player — expect that to be the guiding principle of Detroit’s summer.

Orlando Magic (41-41)

Total players under contract: 14
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 1 first-round pick, 11 second-round picks

After years of inactivity under president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, Orlando pushed in all of its chips by sending four first-round picks plus a swap to Memphis in last week’s stunning trade for guard Desmond Bane. Bane, a terrific shooter who also can create for himself and others and isn’t a defensive liability, is a dream fit for a Magic roster desperately in need of offense after ranking last in 3-point shooting this season. Bane boosts Orlando without the team sacrificing its defensive identity, and he’ll slot right in alongside Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero (up for a max extension this summer) and Franz Wagner as Orlando’s core moving forward. Trades such as this, however, are made only if you believe it makes you a true contender to reach the NBA Finals. Given Orlando hasn’t won a playoff series since 2010, that’s a lofty bar to clear.

San Antonio Spurs (34-48)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 3 first-round picks, 15 second-round picks

Having traded for De’Aaron Fox in February and then landing the second pick in this week’s NBA draft, San Antonio will be front and center in any discussion of stars changing teams this summer to potentially pair with rising superstar Victor Wembanyama, whom the Spurs believe will be healthy to start the season after having this campaign cut short due to a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis. The other question in San Antonio: What will Chris Paul do after a very successful first season with the Spurs?

Will the real team please stand up?

Dallas Mavericks (39-43)

Total players under contract: 13
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 3 first-round picks, 2 second-round picks

What a wild ride in Dallas. The Mavericks shocked the league by trading Luka Doncic in February, only to shock it again by jumping from 11th to first in the draft lottery last month to secure the right to draft another phenom in Cooper Flagg. With Flagg set to anchor the franchise for the next decade, the Mavs have to figure out what to do with Kyrie Irving, who will miss at least the majority of next season with a torn left ACL and has a $42.9 million player option on the books. Though Irving is expected to be back, Dallas desperately needs some more ballhandling, especially while he’s out.

Memphis Grizzlies (48-34)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: Fluid
Total tradable picks: 7 first-round picks, 6 second-round picks

After a disappointing final few months of the season, culminating in firing coach Taylor Jenkins and getting swept out of the playoffs by the Thunder, the first order of business in Memphis is figuring out whether Jaren Jackson Jr. can secure a new extension. Jackson is on an expiring $23.4 million deal, one far below his current value, meaning Memphis will need to renegotiate and extend the former Defensive Player of the Year to get a deal done. That’s why the Grizzlies moved on from Marcus Smart during the season. And Memphis has hoped to get Jackson locked up. Assuming the Grizzlies do, they also have to figure out the future of restricted free agent Santi Aldama and guard Luke Kennard.

Philadelphia 76ers (24-58)

Total players under contract: 9
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 3 first-round picks, 7 second-round picks

Any predictions for Philadelphia hinge on Joel Embiid’s health, which remains very much an open question. Philly will be hoping it can get something close to full strength from Embiid next season, as well as a better version of Paul George and an able-bodied Jared McCain, after the rookie standout was shut down with a left meniscus injury in December. The 76ers enjoyed a good start to their offseason by jumping to third in the lottery and thus keeping their top-six protected pick.

Stuck in purgatory

Atlanta Hawks (40-42)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 3 first-round picks, 6 second-round picks

After firing GM Landry Fields in April and promoting Onsi Saleh to run basketball operations, the first question for owner Tony Ressler and the Hawks is whether they’re going to hire a president of basketball operations over Saleh. (Ressler has made it clear — a year after hiring Saleh away from Golden State — that Saleh will be a huge part of the organization going forward.) Once that’s settled, a pivotal offseason awaits the Hawks, beginning with a decision on franchise player Trae Young. With one year left on his deal before a player option for the 2026-27 season, will Atlanta lock him up long term or potentially look to move on? Beyond that, there’s a fascinating extension discussion ahead for guard Dyson Daniels, who won the Most Improved Player Award after coming over in the Dejounte Murray trade last summer. The Hawks also have decisions on unrestricted free agents Caris LeVert and Larry Nance Jr.

Chicago Bulls (39-43)

Total players under contract: 12
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 5 first-round picks, 5 second-round picks

There is no team more stuck than the Bulls, who enter the summer with their roster largely under contract but with some significant decisions to make — beginning with restricted free agent Josh Giddey, whom they acquired for Alex Caruso last summer. Giddey is going to expect a big payday. Are the Bulls willing to give him one? Coby White has outplayed his contract to the point where an extension off his $12.9 million seems unlikely to get done. Does that make him a trade candidate? The Bulls have almost no money on the books for the 2026-27 season, but a Giddey extension would quickly change that.

Miami Heat (37-45)

Total players under contract: 12
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 2 first-round picks, 1 second-round pick

With the Butler saga officially behind them, what will it take for the Heat to regain their status as a top-tier team in the East after floating around in the play-in? Rookie Kel’el Ware had an impressive season, and he, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo give the Heat young building blocks moving forward. But how Miami improves isn’t clear. There’s a decision to be made on Duncan Robinson, who has $9.8 million of his $19.8 million expiring contract guaranteed until early July. And the Heat also could preserve what could be a ton of cap space for the summer of 2026, when a more active free agent crop could be available.

New Orleans Pelicans (21-61)

Total players under contract: 13
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 5 first-round picks, 4 second-round picks

New lead executive Joe Dumars has some work to do this summer. The Pelicans likely will be without Dejounte Murray for all of next season after he tore his right Achilles tendon, meaning the expectation will be for this team to again be deep in the lottery. With Zion Williamson representing the team at this year’s lottery, what does that portend for his future in New Orleans? He has three more years on his contract. Does New Orleans keep trying to build around this young core of Williamson, Murray, Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones or begin moving in another direction?

Phoenix Suns (36-46)

Total players under contract: 11
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 2 first-round picks, 7 second-round picks

The first move of the Suns’ new era, directed by lead executive Brian Gregory and coach Jordan Ott, was to send Kevin Durant to the Rockets in the hours leading up to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Though Houston got back Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft, the deal won’t be official until July 6. By then, expect the Suns to look a lot different from today. Devin Booker is going to get a massive two-year extension next month, but the Suns are expected to be aggressive in trying to retool the roster around him, sources said, and try to get Phoenix back into the playoff mix. That won’t be easy: The skill sets of Green, Booker and Bradley Beal — who still has his no-trade clause — all overlap, and there are limited mechanisms for the Suns (who remain wildly expensive) to improve.

Sacramento Kings (40-42)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 6 first-round picks, 3 second-round picks

New lead executive Scott Perry takes over an unbalanced Kings roster. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk all have overlapping skill sets, and the De’Aaron Fox trade left the team without an obvious point guard option on the roster. Perry has an intriguing decision to make on Keon Ellis, who has a $2.3 million team option and has turned into a nice developmental story as a 3-and-D guard, a necessity for a roster devoid of many defensive options. But the Fox move seemed like the first of a two-step process; and though Perry didn’t make that first move, it will be up to him to make the second.

Toronto Raptors (30-52)

Total players under contract: 13
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 4 first-round picks, 6 second-round picks

President of basketball operations Masai Ujiri declared Toronto wouldn’t be rebuilding forever, and the Raptors have stuck to that vision, quickly overhauling the roster in 18 months. Now, they are bumping up against the luxury tax and are going to have to make some interesting decisions this summer after trading for Brandon Ingram and signing him to an extension in February. Because of a left ankle sprain that kept him out the remainder of the campaign, we never saw what this Raptors group looked like together after the trade.

Rebuilding teams with talent

Charlotte Hornets (19-63)

Total players under contract: 12
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 7 first-round picks, 11 second-round picks

The Hornets had designs on jumping up in the lottery and getting either Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper in the draft but instead fell to seventh. And after Mark Williams was traded to Los Angeles — then wasn’t — back in February, those will be very interesting extension negotiations. As long as the franchise remains near the bottom of the East standings, there will at least be a question as to Charlotte’s long-term direction, and what that means for star guard LaMelo Ball. And veterans Miles Bridges ($25 million this year, $22.8 million next year) and Jusuf Nurkic (expiring $19.3 million) could also be potentially traded. They also have to make a decision on restricted free agent Tre Mann after he missed most of the season with a back injury.

Portland Trail Blazers (36-46)

Total players under contract: 13
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 3 first-round picks, 5 second-round picks

There’s a lot happening in Portland. The team is now up for sale, and after a strong close to the season, both general manager Joe Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups were given extensions. But where does Portland go from here? Anfernee Simons is on an expiring contract; does he get an extension, or does he potentially get dealt? What about Deandre Ayton, who is on a $35 million expiring contract of his own and remains an impediment to giving last year’s seventh overall pick, Donovan Clingan, a full runway as the team’s starting center?

Sitting at Step 1

Brooklyn Nets (26-56)

Total players under contract: 10
Projected salary cap space: $40-60 million
Total tradable picks: 9 first-round picks, 15 second-round picks

The Nets, like several other teams, hoped for good lottery luck. Instead, they moved back two spots to eighth. They enter the summer with the most cap space in the league but with little of value to spend it on. They also have a ton of picks, but it makes more sense for this team to struggle one more season and use its draft pick (the rights to which it reacquired from Houston in the Mikal Bridges trade last year). Still, the Nets could choose to use their cap space to speed up the rebuild this summer, they could use it to allow teams to save money and get even more assets, or some combination of the two. There’s also the possibility of moving their two veterans under contract, Nic Claxton and Cameron Johnson.

Utah Jazz (17-65)

Total players under contract: 14
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 7 first-round picks, 7 second-round picks

After locking up coach Will Hardy to a long-term contract extension and hiring Austin Ainge away from the Boston Celtics to be the team’s president of basketball operations, Utah’s leadership is set for years to come. Now comes the hard part: beginning to build out this roster out to the point where it can contend in the ruthless Western Conference. Step 1 in that plan? Deciding what to do with Lauri Markkanen. After last year’s tank for Flagg failed, could Markkanen be traded to add more assets and align the team around its young players — including the fifth pick in this year’s draft — going forward? Veterans John Collins, Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson also have a combined $60 million in expiring deals that could be used in a variety of ways.

Washington Wizards (18-64)

Total players under contract: 13
Projected salary cap space: None
Total tradable picks: 6 first-round picks, 14 second-round picks

Yet another team that struck out in the lottery, the Wizards can at least point to young players such as Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George getting valuable experience as part of Washington’s season among the dregs of the league. But don’t expect a wildly different playbook in D.C. next season, as the young guys will continue to play a lot, veterans such as Marcus Smart and his expiring $21 million could be used to bring back more assets in deals and the Wizards will again likely remain in the hunt for one of the league’s three worst records.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

After suffering an influx of overwhelmingly negative Steam reviews, can Capcom turn around Monster Hunter Wilds with the upcoming Title Update 2?

by admin June 23, 2025

Monster Hunter Wilds has been having a rough time of it lately. Over the course of the past week, Capcom’s seventh ‘main’ Monster Hunter title has racked up over 2,000 negative reviews. Most embittered reviewers are lamenting the game’s poor PC performance, whilst others criticise Capcom for the poor optimisation and lack of PC-specific support.

Others bemoan the much slower update cadence the game has received since launch – which is quite light when compared with the previous two games in the series, World and Rise. A popular post by Monster Hunter megafan and content creator, ShinCry, which you can see below, highlights the somewhat scant offering Wilds has had compared to the previous games in the same timespan.

ShinCry’s chart shows the discrepancy between the last three mainline Monster Hunter games. | Image credit: ShinCry

Whilst most of the reviews are fixated on the technical (specifically citing crashes, stuttering, and visual bugs in Wilds), others are getting frustrated with the lack of communication from Capcom, that has been somewhat tight-lipped on what – if anything – it plans to do about all the negative feedback. One complaint fans repeatedly raise about the game is the difficulty and the lack of end-game content – something very important in the health of a Monster Hunter title. “[Capcom] charged $70 for a game that feels like it has less content than its precursors,” reads one highly-rated Steam review, for example.

Some even claim that the updates Capcom has added since the game’s launch on February 28th have made PC performance worse. And that’s saying something. All eyes are on the next big content drop in the game, coming 30th June: can this update address all the issues players have with Capcom’s tentpole release for 2025? Probably not, but at least all of us carving enthusiasts have something to look forward to.

Lagiacrus is no joke, and many are hoping it will be a tough fight. | Image credit: Capcom

Officially, we know that we’re getting at least one “fan-favourite” monster as part of Title Update 2: Lagiacrus, the underwater leviathan. Thanks to a (now removed) update on the Monster Hunter Wilds page on the PlayStation Store, however, we also know more about what we can expect from the incoming update.

The page disclosed that we’re actually getting two “fan-favourite” monsters in this update. Datamines around the game suggest this may be Seregios – known to long-time fans of the series as ‘Steve’ for ridiculous fandom-related reasons – which will hopefully prove to be a tougher opponent than many of the monsters seen in-game to date. As well as the leviathan and Steve, which is based on the real-world Secretary Bird, we will also get an Arch-Tempered Uth Duna, layered weapons to satiate the needs of all the Fashion Hunters out there, and a couple more events over the coming weeks and months.

But will this be enough? Capcom still hasn’t said much about planned performance improvements for the title, nor has it promised balance changes or tweaks providing extra challenge to seasoned pros itching for more of a fight. We’re going to get more solid news about this update at this week’s Capcom Spotlight on Thursday, 26th June, but many fans are dubious about their actual issues being addressed.

At the time of writing, Monster Hunter Wilds has just one percent of the concurrent players it did at launch; that’s not surprising in itself, since we’re a good five months out from launch, but given how ‘sticky’ past Monster Hunter games have been, figures like that will no doubt be setting alarm bells off at Capcom HQ.

The numbers paint a bleak picture for Capcom. | Image credit: SteamDB

I love the Seregios fight, and I think the wounds system and slightly more mobile play style in Wilds will really suit the monster. So I know I’ll be jumping back in to enjoy that, and see how it all works within Wilds’ more developed ecosystem. But I play on console, and the version I play does not suffer from the same issues disenfranchised Steam players have been kicking up such a fuss about over the past week.

I also think a more robust and varied set of events can help turn things around for Wilds. So far, many of the special event quests added to the game have offered insignificant or otherwise forgettable rewards for players, and I wasn’t even that enthused by the Street Fighter collaboration that was added to the game in May, and I’m a bonafide Street Fighter apologist.

Capcom has generated a lot of positive consumer sentiment in the past few years. Between great quality games, a selection of interesting products across multiple genres, and – usually – pretty good comms with its players, the publisher has garnered quite the reputation. To see it marred by out-of-character post-launch support for Wilds seems odd. I know game development takes longer, and drinks more resources, than it did back in the World and Rise cycles, but you’d think the publisher would be keen to press that message publicly, instead of sitting back and letting players stew like they are as we’re awaiting the deployment of Title Update 2.

I think Capcom has what it takes to turn the fortunes of Monster Hunter Wilds around. It took seven patches for the publisher to figure out the issues with Dragon’s Dogma 2 back in 2024, and I’m just hoping Capcom can work that same engineering magic with Monster Hunter Wilds before it’s too late.

After all, I do not want to have to wait until the inevitable Sunbreak- or Iceborne-style DLC in order to really get the most out of what I think has the potential to be one of the best games in the series.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Esports

What an NBA title would mean for two generations of Pacers legends

by admin June 22, 2025

Stephen HolderJun 20, 2025, 01:57 AM ET
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INDIANAPOLIS — Surrounded by pandemonium in the wake of arguably the most meaningful win in Indiana Pacers history, former Pacers star Metta Sandiford-Artest tried to collect his thoughts and put the victory into historical perspective.

“This city deserves it, man,” Sandiford-Artest said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Quite a long time — as in forever.

That’s the notable context around this 108-91 Pacers win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. With the series tied 3-3, the Pacers have a chance to do what the 2000 Pacers never did: Close out an NBA championship series.

The 1999-2000 Pacers lost 4-2 in a Finals defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers. Those Pacers never led the series and were never this close to hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Sandiford-Artest didn’t join Indiana until the 2001-02 season, but he has a deep appreciation for the franchise and its fans in this state where basketball roots run deep, which is why he stayed long after the final horn to soak in the celebration.

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Just across the way was Rik Smits, who spent the entirety of his 12-year career as a Pacers center and was a member of that 2000 Finals squad. The significance of the franchise finally breaking through for a possible title was top of mind for him.

“This franchise really deserves it,” Smits said. “We had a lot of great years, but obviously never made it this far. So, I’m just happy for the team, the owners, the whole city. It’s a great fan base here. I’ve always loved playing here, so I would love to see a championship.”

The 2000 Finals loss will always prompt “what-if’s” in these parts. But so, too, does the 2004-05 season — one marked by one of the ugliest chapters in Pacers history. After the so-called “Malice in the Palace,” during which Pacers players brawled with the Detroit Pistons and their fans during a game in Detroit, the unprecedented suspensions handed down to Sandiford-Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal derailed what players thought was a championship team.

Those thoughts flashed back to Jackson on Thursday night.

“This means everything for the guys who played [years ago] to the guys playing now,” he said. “We were supposed to win one when we were here. But it didn’t work out. So, it’s good to see the young guys bring this back.”

How the current Indiana players have gotten here was not lost on these Pacers legends. And they encouraged them to double down on their strengths heading into Game 7.

“It’s different contributions from different guys every night,” Smits said. “It’s really a team effort with them. We don’t have to rely on one or two old stars. It’s been really fun to watch.”

That might have been a reference to Smits’ own 1999-2000 Pacers. Four of the five starters on that squad were 30 or older. That includes Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who was 35 that season.

These Pacers are led by 25-year-old Tyrese Haliburton, who has solidified his stardom during a stunning postseason run. But Thursday’s win was emblematic of the Pacers’ makeup: Their leading scorer was forward Obi Toppin, who finished with 20 points off the bench.

(Photo by A.J. Mast/NBAE via Getty Images)

Sandiford-Artest, sitting on the baseline at Gainbridge Fieldhouse near other former teammates, found the composition of today’s Pacers refreshing. They are giving the rest of the NBA something to think about, he said.

“What a great team,” he said. “It’s not like a LeBron James team. From that perspective, I feel like if they win it, it changes how people put together teams. They’re changing the game.”

With one more victory, the current Pacers can call themselves something no previous Pacers have: NBA champs.

And one of the most beloved former Pacers believes that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Former Pacers guard Lance Stephenson still receives ovations that rival those of Hall-of-Famer Miller when he is shown on the giant screen inside the arena.

Stephenson, still brimming with excitement long after Game 6, anticipates having more to celebrate soon.

“I think we’ve got this, man,” he said of Sunday’s Game 7, the league’s first since 2016. “It’s going to be tough, but I think we’re going to have a great game altogether. You’re going to have a bunch of guys in double figures and they’re going to win.

“Nobody here has an ego. They play together.”

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Jodie Comer holding a baby in 28 Years Later.

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We nearly got a Jaws sequel with a bonkers title and plot

by admin June 20, 2025

Before Jaws: The Revenge killed the shark franchise stone-dead, we nearly got a spoof movie from the director of Gremlins, that had a truly bizarre title and premise.

Jaws turns 50 today, so we’re celebrating the birthday of a film that regularly tops best movie lists – and pretty much invented the summer blockbuster – by recounting the story of a sequel that never was.

Jaws was a phenomenon when it hit screen on June 20, 1975, so-much-so that by the end of the year, it was the most successful film in history.

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Jaws 2 followed in 1978, and was also a sizeable hit, meaning talk soon turned to Jaws 3. Which is where the story gets strange.

‘Jaws 3, People 0’ was nearly a movie

Universal Pictures

‘Jaws 3, People 0’ – aka ‘Jaws 3 People Nothing’ – was the brainchild of National Lampoon publisher Matty Simmons, and was planned as a spoof of the original film.

Simmons had an office near Jaws producers Richard Zanuck and David Brooks, who told Matty that they wanted to make a movie with him.

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“So out of the blue I just start kidding around,” Simmons explains in the Shudder documentary Sharksploitation. “I just said, ‘Jaws 3, People Nothing.’ I said, [Jaws author] ‘Peter Benchley walks out of his house in a bathing suit, jumps into his pool, and disappears. And the next thing we see a fin floating around in the pool.’ He said, ‘I love it, I love it, I’ll call you tomorrow. We’re going to make this movie.’”

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Simmons recruited screenwriters John Hughes and Tod Carroll to flesh out the story, which featured Steven Spielberg, a Quint-like character called Pierre Cockatoo, an homage to the bonfire beach party from the original – where the teens are replaced by Hollywood executives – and a scene in which a bunch of bizarre items are pulled from a shark’s stomach, including some weed.

Gremlins helmer Joe Dante was going to direct

Warner Bros.Joe Dante directing Gremlins.

In 1978, Joe Dante directed Piranha, a comedy-horror that either paid homage to or ripped off Jaws, depending on who you ask.

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“Universal was very concerned and annoyed that [producer] Roger [Corman] was putting out his rip-off of Jaws the same year that Jaws 2 was coming out and so they apparently threatened an injunction,” says Dante in the same doc.

“I discovered much later that Spielberg had stepped in and said, ‘No, you don’t get it, this is a spoof, this isn’t really a rip-off.’ Although it is a rip-off. And we basically got away with it, I guess is the phrase. And because of that, I was offered Jaws 3, People 0.”

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Dante was interested, but reveals that disagreements about approach, tone, and potential audience ultimately scuppered the project.

Universal Pictures

“The National Lampoon people wanted to make an R-rated comedy, like Animal House,” says Dante. “And the more conservative Zanuck and Brown team wanted to make a PG and have it be a wide-release family picture.”

Which spelled the end, as Dante explains: “You can’t go into a movie with two entities as powerful as National Lampoon was at that time and Zanuck and Brown and have them fighting constantly through the entire movie. It’s just a bad idea, and I think they just pulled the plug.”

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So Jaws 3, People 0 remains unproduced, and we got Jaws 3D instead, a true disaster movie that had people laughing at it rather than with it.

The Sharksploitation doc is currently streaming on Shudder, while for more similarly themed action, here’s our review of Dangerous Animals, plus how it was made as a response to Jaws. Plus you can check out our list of the best shark movies ever.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Fast Fusion may be the most technically impressive Switch 2 launch title – but image quality is an issue

by admin June 12, 2025

While many of Switch 2’s launch games are merely ports of existing games, the platform currently excels in one key area – racing games. For my money, there’s nothing better than a system launch packed full of arcade racing action and, in that sense, Switch 2 doesn’t disappoint. Mario Kart World is the system’s biggest title, while the original arcade version of Ridge Racer also makes its appearance – finally another system launch with a Ridge Racer game! Yet perhaps the most impressive racer on the system thus far, and also one of the most enjoyable games period, is Fast Fusion from Shin’en Multimedia.

We’ve featured Shin’en’s work on Digital Foundry many times over, most recently The Touryst, and for good reason: this Munich-based team has continued to produce amazing, tightly designed games across multiple genres, all while maintaining an exceptionally small team.

Fast Fusion is a proper sequel to the original Switch’s Fast RMX and the Wii U’s Fast Racing Neo, offering new mechanics and massively enhanced visuals while aiming for a fluid 60fps. At the same time, the game looks weirdly pixelated, so I wanted to investigate this issue and determine what’s going on.

Launching on the original Switch with Fast RMX was an awesome choice by Shin’en but, ultimately, it was an enhanced and expanded port of Fast Racing Neo for Wii U – which, to be fair, few people probably played given the console’s lack of success. With Fast Fusion, however, we finally have a proper sequel to that game. All new tracks, new mechanics and the fusion concept work in tandem to create something very special and fun. However, it was the visuals that caught our attention, with modern rendering techniques producing a stunning experience at 60fps.

Fast Fusion is the surprise essential launch game for Switch 2. Watch on YouTube

The biggest upgrades stem from fundamental changes to the lighting and materials model deployed in Shinen’s proprietary engine. It needed to be beautiful but also robust enough to handle the game’s enormous, high-speed tracks. More traditional light probe solutions were too memory-intensive – according to Shin’en, it would require upwards of 1GB of lighting data for just a single track. Furthermore, screen-space lighting alone wouldn’t be sufficient, as ambient and specular lighting were both necessary to pull off the look.

To solve this, they engineered a hybrid system – blending multiple lighting techniques with a mix of dynamic caching and a small amount of baked lighting data. Lighting data per track comes in at just 5 to 15MB total, while pre-calculation only needs 1 to 2 minutes per track. This means the game only needs around 120MB of baked lighting data in total, keeping the file size down to just 3.5GB in a proud Shin’en tradition.

There’s also an abundance of volumetric fog introduced in the game, basically simulating light scattering through the atmosphere. Volumetrics are usually rendered at much lower resolutions to maintain performance, especially on a bandwidth-constrained mobile system, but in Fast Fusion the devs were able to blend the 3D froxel volume rendered at a very low resolution with a screen-space upsampling pass to improve the fog. It’s impressively stable and even supports variable occlusion based on moving environmental details – so it is not static!

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The performance implications are huge, with all lighting calculations being deferred and executed entirely on the GPU, so there’s zero CPU cost. Better still, the system scales linearly with resolution, so the lighting cost remains fixed at just 0.5ms whether you’re playing solo or in 4-player split screen.

However, it’s this scalability with resolution that connects us back to perhaps the game’s one visual foible – image quality. Shin’en has often deployed clever image quality tricks to squeeze more out of a piece of hardware. Fast Racing Neo, for instance, uses interlaced rendering while Fast RMX uses both dynamic resolution scaling and variable rate shading.

Fast Fusion, is a little different, with pixel counts during camera cuts revealing heavy DLSS upscaling. The 1080p mode seems to render around 540p, 1440p mode is weirdly slightly lower at 504p, while the 4K60 mode renders at roughly 648p. Portable mode seems slightly lower than this as well, though it only needs to upsample to a 1080p screen. The huge upscale factors needed to target a 4K screen cause the significant image break-up evident in the game’s fast-paced visuals. That’s the main weakness here, and in terms of raw pixel output, Fast RMX on the Switch actually runs at a higher resolution with more stable image quality.

The developers do seem aware of the issues with the DLSS presentation though, and a patch expected next week will add a “pure” mode that strips out DLSS in favour of a straight 1440p docked and 1080p handheld experience.

Here’s a glance at how each mode compares visually – there’s little between them, save for the resolution differences and some extra settings tweaks on ultra quality. | Image credit: Digital Foundry

Regardless of the image quality concerns, the frame-rates on the four modes available now are excellent, with performance, balanced and quality modes all running at a near-locked 60fps, while the quality mode drops down to 30fps. Interestingly, the quality mode also disables real-time shadows in order to maximise resolution – a trade-off that’s not really worth it.

Beyond image quality, the rest of the visuals deserve plenty of praise. We already talked about lighting but the actual quality of the materials, the track detail and the ships are all wonderful. I love the subtle specular reflections on tracks with shiny or wet materials. The tracks themselves are also massively more detailed than anything in Fast RMX and the quality of the post-processing is improved as well, with sublime motion blur . Weather looks great too, with the rain and droplets forming on the screen looking suitably dramatic.

Fast Fusion also features an excellent HDR implementation, better distinction between highlights and darker regions of the image than Nintendo’s own games. In portable mode, this is limited by the screen, but on a proper HDR display, it really pops. All this is to say that, despite the chunky image quality, it is genuinely a stunning game and I still believe it’s the most technically impressive game of the launch lineup, due to its mix of high-quality visuals and fast performance.

Fast Fusion on Switch 2 actually runs at a lower base resolution than Fast RMX on the OG Switch. | Image credit: Digital Foundry

Another aspect I wanted to briefly mention is the audio – Fast Fusion supports full surround sound, for starters, which is something that was relatively uncommon on the original Switch – hopefully we’ll see it more often this time. The sound work is really well done, and the music steals the show with proper high-energy electronic tracks that perfectly suit the action.

To wrap this up, though, let’s talk about the game. Now this is an interesting one because Nintendo has released F-Zero GX alongside the console via the GameCube NSO app. GX is one of the best futuristic racing games ever made, so how does Fast Fusion compete?

Well, fundamentally, while they’re both very fast, the core mechanics are rather different. Fusion focuses on a blue/orange mechanic that requires you to match your ship’s colour to the boost pads you hit, similar to Treasure’s Ikaruga. Adding the ability to jump to the mix makes the game so much more exciting, not only by allowing for more branching track designs and pickups in different locations, but introducing some risk/reward, as it’s easy to jump off the track or crash into a bridge.

All in all, though, even with its shortcomings, I think Fast Fusion is a must-have launch title for Switch 2. With so few choices in terms of actual new games, it’s a no-brainer, really.

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June 12, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Outer Worlds 2 is first Xbox Game Studios title to retail at $80

by admin June 9, 2025

The Outer Worlds 2 will be the first Xbox title to retail at $80 following Microsoft’s planned price rises announced last month.

Published by Xbox Game Studios, the Obsidian Entertainment title will launch on October 29, 2025, just as the holiday window starts.

This is the time frame Microsoft previously confirmed for consumers to expect pricing to climb for its first-party titles, as well as consoles, controllers, and headsets.

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” it said.

“Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”

The rise in price of Xbox games came after Nintendo announced its flagship title Mario Kart World would retail at $80 for both its physical and digital versions.

This decision received major backlash from consumers. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said the $80 price tag “equal[s] the value of the gameplay experience”.

“We look at things such as the content, the extended amount of play that would be provided through the gameplay experiences, and the number of different factors as we consider what the pricing may be,” Bowser explained.

GamesIndustry.biz also spoke with analysts about why Nintendo game prices are so high, citing global inflation and development costs as major factors.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Merab Dvalishvili taps Sean O’Malley, retains title at UFC 316

by admin June 8, 2025

Brett OkamotoJun 8, 2025, 01:14 AM ET
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NEWARK, N.J. — Merab Dvalishvili put a a stamp on his two-fight rivalry with Sean O’Malley on Saturday night, dominating the challenger in a third-round submission victory at UFC 316 at Prudential Center.

Dvalishvili (20-4) took the 135-pound title from O’Malley (18-3) in a unanimous decision at UFC Noche in September, in a competitive affair. Saturday inside Prudential Center was not close in the least. Dvalishvili pushed O’Malley backwards with constant pressure, out-landing him on the feet in the process. He picked him up and slammed him in the third, and secured a D’Arce choke at the 4:42 mark.

The victory marked Dvalishvili’s 13th straight, which ties him for the fourth-longest win streak in UFC history. He also moved into fourth on the all-time list of bantamweight wins with 12.

“I just work every day and repeat,” Dvalishvili said. “Training is number one for me. … It doesn’t matter what you have as long as you know where you’re going and you have a goal. Guys, please believe in your dreams and work for them. Everything is possible.”

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O’Malley, who underwent hip surgery and made several life changes ahead of the rematch, was gracious in defeat. He simply had no answer for Dvalishvili’s smothering style. He showed composure and threw some threatening shots here and there, but quickly fell behind in every statistic.

According to UFC Stats, Dvalishvili outlanded him 135-34 in total strikes, and he converted five of 12 takedowns.

“I didn’t feel like it was going to go like that, unfortunately,” O’Malley said. “Merab is a motherf—er. I just feel super grateful I get to do this. I have a two-week old and a 4-year old, a perfect wife. I’m excited to go home and spend some time with them. But Merab is a motherf—er.”

It is Dvalishvili’s second defense of the 135-pound title. He recorded his first defense against Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, in January. He is expected to face No. 1 contender Cory Sandhagen in his next fight. Sandhagen (18-5) is coming off a second-round finish of Deiveson Figueiredo last month.

Saturday’s fight marked the first time O’Malley lost via submission. Dvalishvili entered the weekend ranked the No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter in the world in the UFC.

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June 8, 2025 0 comments