Israel Adesanya knows as well as anyone when Alex Pereira is ready to rock.

The combat sports rivals have squared off twice in kickboxing and twice in MMA championship bouts, with Pereira winning two of those fights via knockout, and Adesanya holding bragging rights most recently when he flattened Pereira at UFC 287.

Pereira subsequently moved up to light heavyweight, where he captured a second UFC title that he has defended three consecutive times. This past Saturday at UFC 307, Pereira was taken to the limit by challenger Khalil Rountree Jr., but emerged victorious with a fourth-round finish.

As he does with most major UFC events, Adesanya uploaded video of his reaction to the main event and the rest of the main card, which can be watched below.

“If Khalil knocks him out, it would be amazing, but I think Alex is going to knock him out,” Adesanya predicted ahead of the fight.

During the contest, Adesanya broke down how Pereira’s strategy differed from previous fights, pointing out how Pereira was keeping a higher guard than usual and that Rountree would need a knockout to win after absorbing a number of debilitating leg kicks in the fight.

He also marveled at Pereira’s ability to continue pushing the pace in the championship rounds.

“Pereira doesn’t look gassed,” Adesanya said. “He recovers well. I’m telling you, he’s a f*cking demon.”

Rountree was actually up on all three judges’ scorecards heading into Round 4, but Pereira appeared to be gaining strength at the end of the third and Adesanya sensed the end was near for the challenger.

“I can feel it,” Adesanya said. “Now, it’s going to be ‘Chama’ time.”

Sure enough, Pereira closed the show with a brutal flurry of offense, hammering a resilient Rountree until he crumbled to the canvas and was saved by referee Marc Goddard.

It was yet another crowd-pleasing performance from “Poatan” and Adesanya made sure to pay him his proper respect.

“He’s got some hard fights in front of him, but he is that guy right now,” Adesanya said.

The head of women’s refereeing in England, Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, is leaving the role to take up a position with Fifa.

The German, who is married to men’s referee boss Howard Webb, joins the world governing body as its new head of women’s refereeing.

The 45-year-old previously enjoyed a stellar career as an official and joined Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in 2021 when the organisation took charge of officiating in the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship.

Under her leadership the select group of officials for the women’s professional game has doubled in size.

In a statement the PGMOL said it wanted to build “on the progressive foundations” set by Steinhaus-Webb and thanked her for her “immense contribution”.

SALT LAKE CITY – Roman Dolidze beat Kevin Holland with a first-round TKO Saturday on the main card at UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Take a look inside the fight with Dolidze, who got the win when Holland’s coach stopped the fight after the first round due to a rib injury.

Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland

Roman Dolidze

Result: Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland via TKO (injury retirement) – Round 1, 5:00
Updated records: Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC)
Key stats: Dolidze’s takedown led to nearly three minutes of control time and may have done something to help cause Holland’s fight-ending injury.

Dolidze on the fight’s key moment

Kevin Holland after UFC 307 loss to Roman Dolidze

“Honest answer: No, (I wasn’t unsatisfied). A win is a win. I don’t want to create a beautiful image (of my win), but it is how it is. We all get something happen with us – I have torn biceps, torn chest, a lot of different crazy injuries. I know how it is.”

Dolidze on getting his black belt

“They didn’t expect. I can expect everything, but not black belt. It’s like out of nowhere. All of these (jiu-jitsu) belts, I wasn’t thinking about it. And now black belt. It’s a big gift.”

Dolidze on what he wants next

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Advertisement

“I would like to fight in December (against) the winner or loser of the Khamzat (Chimaev) and (Robert) Whitaker fight because both of these fighters are incredible – good fighters. I respect them, and as always, I want to test myself with the best. I think these guys are best in our division.”

To hear more from Dolidze, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

UFC 307 images

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Kevin Holland is his own worst critic.

Middleweight contender Roman Dolidze handed Holland a rough loss this past Saturday at UFC 307, with their bout ending at the very end of the opening round when it was ruled Holland could not continue due to a rib injury suffered while Dolidze attacked him on the ground. Holland looked like he wanted to come out for Round 2, but the bout was eventually waved off.

Holland later replied to an internet troll on Instagram, who wrote him a vulgar message (screenshot courtesy of The Fight Bubble):

Holland captioned the Instagram Story post, “Can’t have a response to everyone but yeah I feel like a total piece of shit. My bad to all the ones who put some bread on the line or told they friend I was gonna win. I’m a p*ssy.”

The screenshot also contains a DM reply from Holland, in which he wrote, “I feel like a piece of shit. Rib pain like a vagina.”

With the loss, Holland has now dropped three of his past four fights competing in both the middleweight and welterweight divisions. The extent of his rib injury is unknown.

This case is not directly related to the hearing into Manchester City’s 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, which began last month.

City were charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.

It is alleged City breached the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

“I don’t think this will have too much of a direct impact but this will probably give Manchester City a slight bounce because they’ve been found to be correct in a couple of narrow areas,” said Leaf.

“But equally, I think the Premier League will be relieved, especially after the recent Leicester decision where their rulebook was heavily criticised by an esteemed panel.”

He was referring to Leicester’s successful appeal against an alleged breach of Premier League financial rules – which means they are set to avoid any punishment.

Leicester successfully argued that because their 2022-23 accounting period ended on 30 June, they were not longer bound by Premier League rules – because they had just been relegated to the Championship – and so could not be found in breach.

Leaf added: “The fact that the majority of the Premier League’s rules have been found to be lawful and OK will probably come as a relief to them.”

BBC Sport’s chief football news reporter Simon Stone said: “The fierce manner in which City have responded to the verdict, allied to the knowledge they are currently fighting the substantive issue of 115 financial breaches, suggests they have spotted a weakness in the Premier League’s regulations which they will look to exploit as far as they can.”