Sports Weekend with Izvestia
Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 311 tournament. Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan, Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Merab Dvalishvili
The first truly high-profile tournament in 2025 with the participation of Russians will be held next weekend in Los Angeles. The main event of the evening will be a lightweight showdown between reigning UFC champion Islam Makhachev and number one ranked Arman Tsarukyan. The bout could be one of the most lucrative in recent memory for the promotion. It's no coincidence that Makhachev will earn about $1.5 million for his participation, and in case of victory - about $3 million. Tsarukyan's fee for the first time participating in such a high-profile fight, taking into account all the interest from broadcast sales, could be more than $1 million.
The co-featured event of the evening is also extremely interesting - in the lightweight division the reigning champion Georgian Merab Dvalishvili will make the first defense of his title. The challenger for the belt will be Russian Umar Nurmagomedov.
Also two more fights with Russians and Americans are waiting for us: Azamat Bekoev will meet Zachary Reece in the early prelims at middleweight, and Tagir Ulanbekov will face Clayton Carpenter in the lightweight division.
January 19, 02:00, Ulanbekov vs. Carpenter; 04:00, Reece vs. Bekoev; 08:00, Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov; 08:30, Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan. IntuitArena Dome (Los Angeles, USA). Live on Match TV and Match! Combatant
Tennis
Australian Open. Third and fourth rounds
As always, the really big tennis season begins in mid-January with the first of four Grand Slam tournaments - the Australian Open. This coming weekend will see the end of the first of two weeks of play. At that time, the first quarterfinalists will be determined. So far we are waiting for the third round matches (1/16 finals), where the Russians Karen Khachanov, Daria Kasatkina, Mirra Andreeva, Diana Schneider, Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have already reached in singles.
Should Schneider and Pavlyuchenkova win their closest matches, they will meet each other in the fourth round at the end of the week and one of them will reach the quarterfinals. Also in women's doubles, Andreeva and the same Schneider, whose duo won silver at the Olympics last summer - Russia's only medal at the Paris Games - will play their second match of the weekend.
January 17-19, 03:00. Melbourne Park Stadium (Melbourne, Australia). Live streaming on ATP and WTAwebsites
Figure Skating
Russian Jumping Championships
The figure skaters' jumping tournament has already become an integral part of the Russian calendar. Every season the best representatives of the sport gather for this competition. The upcoming tournament is no exception. It will be attended by pairs, the most famous of which are world champions - 2021, two-time bronze medalists of the Olympics-2022 Anastasia Mishina and Alexadr Galliamov, European champions - 2020 Alexandra Boikova and Dmitry Kozlovsky, as well as singles, among which stand out the European champion - 2022, bronze medalist of the Olympics-2022 in team competition Mark Kondratyuk and the current two-time champion of Russia Adelia Petrosyan.
January 18, 14:00, individual tournament. January 19, 14:00, team tournament. Yubileiny Sports Palace (St. Petersburg). Live broadcasts on Channel One and Channel One's website
Biathlon
Commonwealth Cup. Fourth stage
The calendar in Russian biathlon after the January holidays is very dense. Each week, spectators can see six races in domestic competitions. One of them - the fourth round of the Commonwealth Cup - will be held in the next three days in the village of Demino near Rybinsk in the Yaroslavl region. The best Russian and Belarusian biathletes will gather there. From us, in particular, the medalists of the last Olympics-2022 in Beijing Alexander Loginov, Eduard Latypov, Kristina Reztsova, Irina Kazakevich and many others will perform. From Belarus, the main stars, as usual, will be the Smolskiy spouses - the champion of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang Dinara and silver medalist of the Beijing Games Anton.
Jan. 17, sprint: 11 a.m., women; 2 p.m., men. January 18, pursuit: 11:00, women; 14:30, men. January 19, mass start: 10:00, women; 14:00, men. Demino Ski Center (Rybinsk). Live broadcasts on Match TV, Match! Arena and Match! Planet
Cross-Country Skiing
Cup of Russia. Fifth stage
On January 16, the season resumed at the Russian skiers, who held the first official starts in 2025. The first race was missed by three-time Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov - once again he did not take to the track due to health problems. It is not known whether he will compete in the remaining disciplines. But even without him, the spectators have something to look at at the fifth stage of the Russian Cup.
The main star of women's skiing, Olympic champion and 2022 World Cup winner Natalya Terentyeva, and the rising star of men's skiing, junior world champion Savely Korostelev, have already made their mark in the races with separate starts in the village of Mirny near Kazan. They and other champions and medalists of the last two Olympics will compete this weekend in the sprint and skiathlon.
January 18, 10:00 - 13:51, sprint. January 19, skiathlon: 11:00, women, 12:50, men. Ski and Biathlon Complex "Mirny" (Kazan). Live on Match TV, Match! Arena and Match! Planet
Soccer
French Championship. "Montpellier" - "Monaco", "Lance" - PSG, "Reims" - "Le Havre"
Russian legionnaires in the French Ligue 1 continue to try to help their clubs to achieve their goals. Goalkeeper "Paris Saint-Germain" Matvey Safonov is increasingly on the field even with seemingly hopeless competition with the European champion in the Italian national team Gianluigi Donnarumma and does not spoil the weather in the capital club, which is confidently leading after the first round. To consolidate the success, the Parisians will try to win next weekend away Lance in the framework of the 18th round.
"Monaco" Alexander Golovin will have to leave to "Montpellier". Back in the fall, the Monegasques claimed to compete with PSG in the fight for the championship, but a series of failures put them further and further away from the first place. Now the Russian midfielder needs to help his team at least stay in the top-4 and qualify for the Champions League again.
"Le Havre" Daler Kuzyaev lost the last five matches of the championship and is sinking deeper into the relegation zone. Our midfielder is almost not allowed to play. The nearest trip to Reims is one of the last chances to save themselves in the fight for salvation from relegation from Ligue 1.
January 17, 21:00, stadium "Stade de la Mosson" (Montpellier, France). January 18, 19:00, Stade Bollard-Delelis (Lance, France). January 19, 19:15, Stade Auguste Delon (Reims, France). Live streaming on "Okko Sports "
Hockey
KHL regular championship. "Avangard " - CSKA
KHL teams have played about two-thirds of the regular season. And more and more delight spectators with bright, productive games. A number of meetings next weekend should also cause increased interest among the public. Especially the confrontation between Avangard Omsk and CSKA Moscow.
The Army Men are fighting for second place in the Western Conference, while the Hawks are rapidly moving up in the East after a disappointing first half of the season, having changed coaches and a number of hockey players. So far, this has only allowed them to climb to sixth place after being out of the playoff zone for so long. Seven points separate the Omsk team from the top five, but it's possible that closer to spring they'll join the fight for the top spot.
January 17, 16:30. Stadium "G-Drive Arena" (Omsk). Live broadcast on "Kinopoisk"
Basketball
VTB United League. CSKA - "Lokomotiv-Kuban"
Another top game in the VTB United League will be played next weekend. CSKA Moscow, the regular-season leader and reigning champion, will host fourth-seeded Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar. Both teams will be fighting for a playoff spot in the spring. And in the next game they will show how ready they are to fight for the league's top trophy.
January 19, 15:30, "Arena" (St. Petersburg). Live on Match TV and Match! Game
