| Advertisement |
Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Major League Soccer's championship game leads the sports weekend schedule, which also features title bouts for boxing and UFC, as well as dozens of football and basketball games. The defending champion Seattle Sounders battle the Columbus Crew in the 2020 MLS Cup final on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. The match serves as the finale for the 18-team tournament, which started Nov. 20.
Advertisement
The MLS Cup final starts at 8:30 p.m. EST Saturday and airs on Fox.
The Sounders are slight favorites to win the championship on most sports betting websites. Columbus and Seattle played to a 1-1 tie in their only other matchup this season, which occurred on March 7.
"We are a much better team now," Crew manager Caleb Porter told reporters on Tuesday. "But we went there earlier this year and matched them on the road."
Columbus beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2 in their first-round matchup. They then beat first-year club Nashville SC in the conference semifinals before a 1-0 shutout of the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference final.
Seattle beat LAFC 3-1 in the first round before a 1-0 shutout of FC Dallas in the conference semifinals. The Sounders then beat Minnesota United 3-2 in the Western Conference final.
The Crew will be shorthanded for the title game after Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos were listed Friday as not medically cleared to play. Nagbe is a key facilitator for the Crew, while Santos had six goals and eight assists in the regular season and two goals in the playoffs.
The Sounders also won the MLS Cup in 2016 and appeared in the 2017 final before their 2019 title.
"It's going to be a good and entertaining final," Sounders manager Brian Schmetzer said. "As far as the dynasty word, folks have asked me about that. ... I wouldn't quite put us into that dynasty category quite yet."
Boxing title bout
Anthony Joshua will put his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles on the line when he steps into the boxing ring to fight Kubrat Pulev on Saturday at Wembley Arena in London.
The 6-foot-6 fighter from Watford, England, lost his title belts to Andy Ruiz Jr., on June 1, 2019. Joshua reclaimed the belts with a win over Ruiz in his last bout on Dec. 7, 2019. He has a 23-1 career record.
Pulev (28-1) has won his last eight bouts. The 6-foot-4 Bulgarian beat Rydell Booker in his last fight on Nov. 9, 2019.
Joshua is the favorite to win the main event. The fight card also features: Qais Ashfaq vs. Ashley Lane; Florian Marku vs. Jamie Stewart; Kieron Conway vs. Macaulay McGowan; Martin Bakole vs. Sergey Kuzmin; Hughie Fury vs. Mariusz Wach; and Lawrence Okolie vs. Nikodem Jezewski.
The main card starts at 1 p.m. EST Saturday and airs on DAZN.
UFC title fight
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno headline the main card of UFC 256 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Junior Dos Santos takes on Ciryl Gane in the first bout on the five-fight main card at 10 p.m. EST on pay-per-view.
In the final fight, Figueiredo (20-1) will put his flyweight title on the line against Moreno (18-5-1), who has won his last three bouts since a 2019 draw with Askar Askarov.
Figueiredo has won his last five fights. Moreno and Figueiredo each earned victories three weeks ago at UFC 255. Figueiredo defended his flyweight belt with a first-round submission of Alex Perez.
Moreno can become the first Mexican-born UFC champion on Saturday if he beats Figueiredo.
Friday
Golf -- PGA Tour
QBE Shootout: Second round from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST on Golf Channel
College basketball
North Texas at West Virginia at 3 p.m. EST on Big 12 Network
Omaha at Kansas at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2
Nebraska at Creighton at 7 p.m. EST on Big Ten Network
Villanova at Georgetown at 7 p.m. EST on FS1
Iowa State at Iowa at 9 p.m. EST on Big Ten Network
College football
Arizona State at Arizona at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN
Saturday
Soccer
Premier League: Manchester United vs. Manchester City at 12:30 p.m. EST on NBC
La Liga: Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid at 3 p.m. EST on beIN Sports USA
MLS: Columbus Crew vs. Seattle Sounders at 8:30 p.m. EST on Fox
College football
Alabama at Arkansas at noon EST on ESPN
Georgia at Missouri at noon EST on SEC Network
Illinois at Northwestern at noon EST on ESPN2
Utah at Colorado at noon EST on Fox
Michigan State at Penn State at noon EST on ABC
Coastal Carolina at Troy at 3 p.m. EST on ESPN+
Navy at Army at 3 p.m. EST on CBS
North Carolina at Miami at 3:30 p.m. EST on ABC
Wisconsin at Iowa at 3:30 p.m. EST on FS1
California at Washington State at 4 p.m. EST on Fox
LSU at Florida at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN
Oklahoma State at Baylor at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU
Louisiana Tech at TCU at 7 p.m. EST on FS1
USC at UCLA at 7:30 p.m. EST on ABC
San Diego State at BYU at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN2
College basketball
Florida at Florida State at 11 a.m. EST on ESPNU
Notre Dame at Kentucky at noon EST on CBS
Cincinnati at Tennessee at 12:30 p.m. EST on SEC Network alternate
North Carolina Central at North Carolina at 2 p.m. EST on ACC Network alternate
Illinois at Missouri at 8 p.m. EST on SEC Network alternate
Golf -- PGA Tour
QBE Shootout: Third round from 1 to 5 p.m. EST on Golf Channel
Boxing -- Main card starts at 1 p.m. EST on DAZN
Qais Ashfaq vs. Ashley Lane
Florian Marku vs. Jamie Stewart
Kieron Conway vs. Macaulay McGowan
Martin Bakole vs. Sergey Kuzmin
Hughie Fury vs. Mariusz Wach
Lawrence Okolie vs. Nikodem Jezewski
Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev
UFC 256 -- Main cards starts at 10 p.m. EST on pay-per-view
Junior Dos Santos vs. Ciryl Gane
Kevin Holland vs. Jacare Souza after first fight
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba after second fight
Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira after third fight
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno after fourth fight
Sunday
Soccer
Premier League: Fulham vs. Liverpool at 11:30 a.m. EST on NBCSN
La Liga: Barcelona vs. Levante at 3 p.m. EST on beIN Sports USA
Serie A: Genoa vs. Juventus at 11:50 a.m. EST on ESPN+
NFL
Texans at Bears at 1 p.m. EST on CBS
Cowboys at Bengals at 1 p.m. EST on Fox
Chiefs at Dolphins at 1 p.m. EST on CBS
Cardinals at Giants at 1 p.m. EST on Fox
Vikings at Buccaneers at 1 p.m. EST on Fox
Broncos at Panthers at 1 p.m. EST on CBS
Titans at Jaguars at 1 p.m. EST on CBS
Colts at Raiders at 4:05 p.m. EST on CBS
Jets at Seahawks at 4:05 p.m. EST on CBS
Packers at Lions at 4:25 p.m. EST on Fox
Saints at Eagles at 4:25 p.m. EST on Fox
Falcons at Chargers at 4:25 p.m. EST on Fox
Washington at 49ers at 4:25 p.m. EST on Fox
Steelers at Bills at 8:20 p.m. EST on NBC
College basketball
Richmond at West Virginia at 1 p.m. EST on ESPN
Tarleton at Kansas at 2 p.m. EST on Big 12 Network
Texas at Baylor at 3 p.m. EST on ESPN
Cleveland State at Ohio State at 4 p.m. EST on Big Ten Network
Arizona State at Grand Canyon at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN3
St. John's at Georgetown at 7:30 p.m. EST on FS1
Golf -- PGA Tour
QBE Shootout: Fourth round from noon to 2 p.m. EST on NBC; 2 to 4 p.m. EST on Golf Channel
