Briefly: ESPN and UFC are getting together for the first time

ESPN will raise the curtain on the mixed martial arts octagon Saturday, airing the first card of a $1.5 billion, five-year deal that will plaster UFC all over the network's various platforms.

"It's our time now on ESPN," UFC President Dana White said. "We want to kill it this weekend."

For years, White pleaded with ESPN for airtime, just some highlights on "SportsCenter." "We used to fight just to try and get covered by them," he said.

Saturday night's UFC card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., features a pay-per-view-worthy main event: Henry Cejudo defends the 125-pound title against T.J. Dillashaw, the current bantamweight champ. UFC's career wins leader, Donald Cerrone, crossover star Paige VanZant and troubled former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy all fight on the debut show.

A record number of players will bypass their remaining years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

The 135 players forgoing eligibility this year surpasses the record of 119 set last year. There are 103 underclassmen eligible for the April 25-27 draft, and another 32 players have graduated but still have college eligibility.

• Wisconsin renewed coach Paul Chryst's five-year contract, extending it through January 2024.

Righthander Cody Allen and the Los Angeles Angels have agreed to an $8.5 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

Allen, 30, has spent his entire career with Cleveland and is the franchise's leader in saves with 149. He struggled last season, posting a career-high 4.70 ERA while going 4-6 with 27 saves in 70 appearances.

• Miguel Sano will miss the Twins Winter Caravan and TwinsFest next week to participate in the Dominican Winter League championship series. Sano's Estrellas de Oriente team leads the nine-game series over Toros del Este 1-0 after a 13-1 victory on Thursday night. Sano was 1-for-4.

Lindsey Vonn returned to racing wearing braces on both knees and finished tied for 15th in a World Cup downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Vonn made a mistake midway down and finished 1.19 seconds behind winner Ramona Siebenhofer of Austria.

Vonn will race another downhill Saturday and a super-G Sunday as she pursues the World Cup record of 86 victories held by Swede Ingemar Stenmark. She has 82 victories.

• Austrian Marco Schwarz won the World Cup Alpine combined at Wengen, Switzerland, 0.42 seconds ahead of Victor Muffat-Jeandet.

Manny Pacquiao, now 40, will fight Adrien Broner on Saturday in Las Vegas. The prize might be a rematch with Floyd Mayweather.

Pacquiao (60-7-2) sees Broner (33-3-1) as standing between him and redemption with fans after a 2015 loss to Mayweather. "I think they have a big question mark in their mind and their heart about what happened," he said.

Auto racing: Glen Wood, who had been the oldest living member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, died in Stuart, Va., at 93.