Sports
Jayden Maiava poised to become the first Polynesian starting quarterback at USC
Before he’d ever played the position, Jayden Maiava had a sense of what a Samoan quarterback could mean to his community. Growing up in Oahu’s Palolo Valley in a big Samoan family, he’d felt that power firsthand. Like so many other boys his age on the islands, he watched Marcus Mariota at Oregon and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama with a sense of awe and wonder. He watched as the whole of Hawaii seemed to galvanize around them and boys emulated them, promising their friends they would be the next Marcus or Tua someday.
Maiava, at the time, had never been so bold as to envision a similar path for himself. Playing football had always been a foregone conclusion, but he’d never really considered playing quarterback. In his own family, where football roots ran generations deep, no one had ever tried the position. Most had settled along the defensive or offensive fronts, where Polynesian prospects were so often penciled in. Plus, Maiava was a quiet kid — not the type you’d first expect to welcome the pressure of the position.
But one day, soon after his family moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas, his new youth football team was in need of a quarterback. Uriah Moenoa, a former Hawaii offensive lineman who Maiava calls uncle, was helping coach the team. Moenoa expected, with his size and athleticism, that the seventh grader would gravitate to defense. Until someone asked if anyone could throw, and Maiava raised his hand.
“He’s been a quarterback pretty much ever since,” Moenoa says.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, right, fends off Wisconsin linebacker Christian Alliegro as he carries the ball on Sept. 28 at the Coliseum.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Now that shy Samoan boy who watched Marcus and Tua captivate the Samoan community is poised to step into a place of similar cultural significance. When he takes the field Saturday against Nebraska, he’ll become the first passer of Polynesian descent to start a game at quarterback for USC.
The weight of that history — at a school known both for its wellspring of quarterbacks and lineage of Polynesian stars — hasn’t been lost on Maiava, who called it “a blessing and a privilege.” The fact that he’ll duel with Nebraska freshman Dylan Raiola, another quarterback of Polynesian descent, only adds to the special moment.
“It’s big shoes for me to fill,” Maiava said. “But I think, with the great team we have, the great players, great coaches we have, it takes a lot off. It makes my job easier.”
Consider the rest that’s at stake Saturday, with USC’s hopes of bowl eligibility hanging by a thread, and you might wonder if that weight would be too much to shoulder for a young quarterback still finding his way. But teammates and coaches say they’ve seen Maiava step seamlessly into that spotlight since being named the starter during USC’s bye last week.
“He’s been way more confident,” said wideout Makai Lemon.
“He’s been putting his heart out there,” added offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon.
That certainly seemed to be the case last Tuesday as Maiava strolled into a crowd of reporters with a newfound air of confidence, just 24 hours after he’d been named the starter. This quarterback was not the same one that had mumbled through his first meeting with the media months earlier. It was as if, suddenly, he’d found his voice.
“How’s everybody doing?” Maiava said for all to hear, smiling as he approached. “Why’s everybody so quiet?”
The irony of that moment was not lost on Moenoa, who’d known Maiava since he was born. He’d been on four-hour car rides to Las Vegas with Maiava where he barely spoke a word.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava runs off of the field during a game against Wisconsin on Sept. 28 at the Coliseum.
(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
That was how Moenoa had always known Maiava to be as one of eight siblings on the island. Hed’ always been quiet – and quick to defer to others around him.
“In Samoan culture, you never talk out of turn,” Moenoa said. “You never overtalk. You never boast. You just do your thing.”
But football had a way of bringing Maiava out of his shell. Quiet as he was off the field, Maiava had never shied away from contact on it. He was big and physical at a young age, but he was less sure quarterback was the right fit.
“At first, I didn’t want to play the position,” Maiava said this week. “I didn’t think I had what it took to play the position, honestly. But [family members] really pushed me and told me I could do it. As long as I put my mind to it, the rest would take care of itself.”
It wouldn’t be long before he started to believe. Maiava recalls one particular game against national power Bishop Gorman during his freshman year at Sierra Vista High as the moment it dawned on him that he could hang at quarterback.
Moenoa never doubted Maiava had the tools. Anyone could see that just looking at him. But that one season at Sierra Vista, he watched Maiava assert himself in a way he never had before.
“As a freshman, he took command of the team,” Moenoa said. “He had a lot of seniors on that O-line, but he really took command and everyone listened. As an uncle, I was proud watching him.”
Maiava would never get long to set his feet as a quarterback after that. He bounced between three high schools in two states before taking the reins as a freshman at Nevada Las Vegas last season. When he transferred to USC this past January, he stepped into a locker room that already had an entrenched leader at quarterback in Miller Moss.
Maiava was slow, at first, to warm up.
“He was new,” running back Woody Marks said, “so he really didn’t feel ready to open up.”
But that would come in time. By last Monday, when Lincoln Riley called him into his office to tell him he was the new starter, his teammates had already come to count on his steady demeanor.
“He’s just a guy who puts his head down and works every day,” wideout Kyle Ford said. “He’s not really worried about the end outcome all the time. He’s worried about the process and how he can get better every day, and I think that’s what he’s done to put himself in position.”
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava holds up the ball as he runs into the end zone in front of Utah State players on Sept. 7.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Stepping in as the starting quarterback, Maiava knew that he would have to be more vocal. But it wasn’t in his nature to announce himself as such, either.
“It’s just a matter of being present for them, letting me know I’m here for them,” Maiava said. “I’ve got my teammates’ back.”
For now, that’s all he’s worried about. He has tried to set aside the significance of Saturday, training his focus instead on his preparation.
“I know he’s hearing it, and he’s feeling it,” Moenoa said. “The message is still the same. Do what you need to do. Drown out the noise, focus on the task at hand.”
But for those who have watched his progress firsthand, it’s hard not to imagine what it would mean for a Samoan quarterback to become a star at USC.
Maybe, safety Akili Arnold wondered, he would even inspire other Polynesian football players to “not shy away from being that guy.”
“Now that Jayden is the first one at USC,” Arnold said, “it opens a lot of eyes for us.”
Sports
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited Octagon return cut short by apparent knee injury seconds into UFC 329
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Nearly five years after his last walk to the Octagon, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited UFC return Saturday night against fellow MMA star Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
McGregor opened aggressively, attempting a running kick before throwing a head kick moments later. He appeared to slip on both tries. Holloway quickly capitalized after the second, taking top position and landing a right hand before McGregor was able to work his way back to his feet.
Moments later, McGregor hit the canvas again after trying to throw a kick with his right leg, which appeared to buckle underneath him.
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Conor McGregor of Ireland participates in the walkout before facing Max Holloway of the United States in their welterweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
The official inside the Octagon waved off the fight moments later, giving Holloway a TKO victory.
During the broadcast, UFC CEO Dana White pointed to a first-round replay that appeared to show the moment McGregor suffered the injury. The apparent injury was not to the same leg McGregor broke during his 2021 fight against Dustin Poirier, which led to a lengthy absence from the Octagon.
The loss extended McGregor’s long winless drought, with his last UFC victory coming by first-round TKO against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in January 2020.
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McGregor earned a unanimous decision over Holloway in a featherweight clash in 2013, when neither was an MMA megastar. In the blink of an eye, McGregor’s star rose.
Conor McGregor and Max Holloway face off during the UFC 329 ceremonial weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 10, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
On Wednesday, he admitted he got caught up in his own stardom after winning UFC belts in two weight classes and becoming one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“I launched an Irish whiskey,” McGregor said. “I didn’t drink heavily, if at all, at that time of my life. I was an athlete at the top of my game. Next thing you know, thousands upon thousands of bottles (are) in my garage.
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“‘Sell this, Conor.’ OK, I’d leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught. And I wasn’t used to it. And that’s it. God gave me these lessons. That’s it. I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is.”
Conor McGregor jumps into the air for a kick as he fights Max Holloway in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (John Locher/AP)
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Easier said than done, perhaps, as the controversial former champion has been embroiled in multiple controversies and legal issues over the past several years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS — The door opened for Arthur Kaluma to show his worth for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League on Saturday night.
He did so in a big way.
Kaluma had 34 points and five rebounds during the Lakers’ 91-70 win over the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center.
He was 11 for 16 from the field and six for 10 from three-point range.
With Lakers rookie guard Cameron Carr unable to play because of a right thumb contusion, Kaluma took over the scoring role. Carr, the 24th pick in the NBA draft, is averaging 17 points per game.
“Cam doesn’t play tonight, so he gets a little bit more minutes, gets a couple more touches,” said Lakers Summer League coach Ty Abbott about Kaluma. “But he’s done a really good job of making the most of it when he doesn’t have actions run for him. So the way that he’s been able to stay ready, find windows for himself has kept him in a rhythm. So, on a night like tonight, when we can run some actions for him, he knocks them down and just plays out of his mind. It was great.”
Kaluma said he was “a little nervous” but his three-point shooting said otherwise.
“When [teammate] Jon Elmore came down and he pitched it back to me for a three … I just knew when it came off my hand it was cash,” Kaluma said. “So I said, ‘Yeah, I’m hot.’ It went on from there.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Kaluma lined up a three-pointer, setting his feet and scoring from 29 feet out. He flashed three fingers and smiled. His teammates on the bench stood and cheered, as did the fans.
“We have such a great group of guys this year at Summer League and going through this it’s hard to get that camaraderie with a group,” Kaluma said. “But I feel like everybody wants to see everybody succeed and I felt that tonight. I’m not going to lie to you. They tell me to shoot the ball. I passed up a couple of shots and they were mad at me the other day.”
Kaluma played for the South Bay Lakers in the G League last season. He averaged 14.6 points per game, 4.9 rebounds and shot 55% from the field, 37% from three-point range.
“The G can get grimey, you know what I’m saying? It’s a time where everybody is trying to fight for a position and there is a certain hunger that you have to have in order to be successful in the G,” Kaluma said. “And I feel like that drive that I had my first year in it pushed me into this summer to really get better and work on my game and come here and have the opportunity to perform.”
Kaluma wasn’t alone in helping the Lakers improve to 2-0 in Summer League play.
Adou Thiero ran the court, took a lob pass from Chris Mañon and threw down a two-handed dunk. He had another solid outing with 15 points and four rebounds. He shot just four for 12 from the field, but was a plus-15.
But the night belonged to Kaluma.
“I pride myself on the defensive end,” he said. “I know I got hot offensively, but the shot was just falling today, you know what I’m saying? My game is three-and-D. I lock-up on defense and I know I can hit open shots. I just got hot today and I’m not going to try to let it get to my head.”
Sports
Golf star records lowest round in LPGA major history with astounding performance at Evian Championship
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There are good days on the golf course, and then there is what Haeran Ryu just did on Saturday.
Ryu, 25, recorded the lowest round in LPGA major history on Saturday with an 11-under 60 at the Evian Championship. With the South Korean golfer’s historic round, she holds a three-stroke lead.
Ryu’s round comes just two weeks after winning her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship. On the 18th hole, Ryu left a 30-foot eagle putt a few inches short, and instead settled for a birdie.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea reacts on the 18th green after the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
She said after the round that she had no idea what she had done until she counted up her scorecard.
“But after the putt and I counted my score with my caddie,” she said. “Oh my God, it’s 11-under par today. It was so amazing. My caddie says, ‘Yep.’ I’m so happy right now.”
If Ryu had made the eagle putt on the 18th hole, she would have been just the second player to shoot a 59 in LPGA history.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea celebrates a birdie on the 15th green during the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 11, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Her 60 broke the record for the lowest round in an LPGA major by one shot. Leona Maguire and Jeungeun Lee6 in 2021, and Hyo Joo Kim in 2014, each shot 61 at the Evian Championship, which was designated as an LPGA major in 2013.
The lowest round in a men’s major is 62, which is shared by four players — Branden Grace at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, and Schauffele and Shane Lowry in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea and Lottie Woad of England interact after their round on the 18th green during the third round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Ryu hopes her historic third round can help propel her to a second major win in three weeks.
“That is amazing, amazing dream,” Ryu said. “So I just want that one to come true, but we have one more day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Lakers’ Arthur Kaluma erupts for 34 points in breakout Summer League performance
