Defending champion Luke Humphries beat 2021 winner Jonny Clayton 3-1 to move into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester.

World number one Humphries started strongly but was pegged back at 1-1 – then made a superb 146 checkout as he recovered from two legs down to win the third set before sealing his victory.

“That’s the most nervous I have felt in a long, long time,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“It is hard playing your friends but I just felt nervous, It is really not like me. There is an opportunity to win again and maybe I am trying too hard. Jonny was unlucky there, he could probably have had the third set, that 146 changed everything.

“I am trying to strive for more and achieve perfection but I am very lucky I am still here. Sometimes you have to ride your luck.”

Humphries will face Ryan Joyce in a best-of-nine encounter in the last four after the 39-year-old continued his fine run in the competition with a 3-2 win over fourth seed Rob Cross.

Cross, who won the World Championship on his debut in 2018, took the opening set with an 11-dart leg but then lost the next two before drawing level.

However, Joyce punished misses from his opponent in the decider to book his first appearance in the semis.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s Mike de Decker defeated two-time champion James Wade 3-0 in Friday’s opening match in a high-quality contest that went to a deciding leg in each set.

He will now face Joe Cullen or Dimitri van den Bergh on Saturday.

BKFC champion Austin Trout defends his title on Saturday at the promotion’s debut card in Marbella, Spain and it’s Conor McGregor who deserves credit for it.

Over the past few months, McGregor has been heavily promoting BKFC after becoming a part owner in the bare-knuckle outfit but his investment wasn’t just a way to grab a few headlines. Instead, McGregor has been present for many recent BKFC events with company founder and president David Feldman praising the Irish superstar for his constant involvement on the business side of things.

In fact, Trout says it was McGregor who orchestrated almost every aspect of the upcoming card in Spain, which also serves as the first BKFC event with DAZN after inking a new broadcast deal recently.

“This Marbella fight in Spain was his idea,” Trout told MMA Fighting. “He really took reins. He got the venue. He’s putting in work. He’s promoting the hell out of it. I don’t think he’s really left Spain but to promote other bare-knuckle fights. He’s made a home out there in Spain himself right now.

“It’s really exciting to have Conor behind [BKFC]. I mean he’s really backing it. He’s putting in work.”

Since his investment in BKFC was announced in April, McGregor has constantly touted the promotion on his various social media accounts where he has over 60 million followers combined.

Trout has seen it firsthand that McGregor is truly doing everything possible to make BKFC a bigger brand and his ownership stake actually means something to him.

“A publicist said you couldn’t pay for this type of publicity from him,” Trout said. “You couldn’t write a check for this type of publicity that he’s giving us. Even when he’s firing Mike Perry, shit like that means he’s very emotionally involved.

“Shout out to Conor. He’s about to blow this shit up and it’s a good time to be a champion. It’s a good time to stay a champion.”

While his primary focus on BKFC thus far has been serving as a promoter and co-owner, McGregor has openly stated that he eventually wants to cross over and compete in a bare-knuckle fight as well.

McGregor currently only has two bouts remaining on his current UFC contract and unless he reaches an extension, it’s possible he could fight for BKFC once that deal comes to an end.

Of course if that happens, McGregor could probably pick any opponent he wanted for his bare-knuckle debut but Trout believes he would be the perfect candidate because he’s not only a BKFC champion but he built his name through a very successful boxing career where he battled names like Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez as well as Jermall and Jermell Charlo.

“It’s one of the bigger fights in BKFC,” Trout said about potentially fighting McGregor. “I would gladly oblige. I’m your huckleberry, for sure.”

There’s no telling when or if McGregor might actually make that move but based on the current roster at BKFC, Trout feels like he would present biggest challenge along with a name to help push the event.

Of course as much as he would gladly welcome the chance to trade punches with McGregor in bare-knuckle, Trout warns him that he might not like the result.

“Bare-knuckle, me and Conor, he ain’t got no chance with me,” Trout said. “I ain’t even going humble myself on that one. But I would love for him to try. It would be good.

“I can’t see another [name]. Unless he wants to just buy a win, that’s another thing. There’s plenty of names for that. But for a fight that’s worthy of Conor, Austin Trout is it.”

JAMES McATEE paid tribute to George Baldock after firing a late double to seal an epic comeback over Ukraine.

McAtee lifted his shirt up twice to reveal the name of his old Sheffield United teammate, who was found dead in a swimming pool on Wednesday.

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The Manchester City starlet played alongside the former Greece defender in loan spells at Bramall Lane over the past two seasons.

And after both his fine finishes for the Young Lions, McAtee peeled his shirt up to show a white top with the words “GB 2 REST EASY BROTHER X”.

Ahead of kick-off the 21-year-old had posted: “I love you to bits brother, thank you for looking after me and also thank you for the memories that we shared together.

“Thoughts go out to your amazing family. Special player, special teammate, special person.”

On the pitch it looked like the Young Lions would endure the same fate as the senior side the previous night as Dynamo Kyiv defender Taras Mykhavko put Ukraine ahead on 70 minutes at a sold-out Vitality Stadium.

But McAtee, who has made just one Premier League appearance for City this season, saved the day with a ferocious strike into the top corner on 88 minutes.

He then wrapped things up by firing in a fierce, low drive for the winner two minutes later to give Pep Guardiola some food for thought following his first-ever City goal against Slovan Bratislava a week ago.

The defending champions are now two points behind Group F leaders Ukraine with one match to play against Azerbaijan next Tuesday, while the table-toppers will take on Serbia.

England were in the driving seat for most of the game with Ipswich’s Omari Hutchinson being teed up by Aston Villa’s Jaden Philogene, but blazing over the bar.

The best chance of the first-half came 23 minutes in when McAtee stung the hands of an onrushing Ruslan Neshcheret with a rasping, close-range shot.

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After the break, the Young Lions had a fire lit in their bellies with Neshcheret tipping a rocket strike from Liam Delap over the bar before McAtee fired one agonisingly wide moments later.

England were wasteful in front of goal though and scuppered another peach of a chance as Philogene broke free in front of goal but fired straight at Neshcheret.

The hosts shirked their defensive duties and Kostiantyn Vivcharenko nearly poked one home before Jack Hinshelwood cleared the danger.

England should have seen the warning signs as Mykhavko headed home after an inch-perfect corner from Oleh Ocheretko with half-an-hour to go.

The hosts were handed a golden chance to get back in it when Maksym clattered into McAtee on the edge of the box before the winger equalised and hit the winner.

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Jorge Masvidal is looking to make his UFC comeback in the first quarter of 2025.

Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) retired from MMA at UFC 287 in April 2023 after suffering his fourth consecutive loss to Gilbert Burns. He was granted permission while under contract with the UFC to box Nate Diaz in July, but lost the bout by majority decision.

It didn’t take long for “Gamebred” to get the itch to compete in MMA again, and hopes to return early next year.

“Next year in March, I’m there,” Masvidal said on Bo Nickal’s YouTube channel. “If they go to Miami, I’m going to f*ck somebody up in Miami.”

Despite Masvidal’s enthusiasm, UFC CEO Dana White said “probably not” when recently asked about the possibility of having both Tyron Woodley and Masvidal back to the UFC.

Masvidal, 39, capitalized on his time off since retiring from MMA to rest his body. He may have been prepping for a boxing match, but he wasn’t putting his body through strenuous sparring sessions, as well as grappling and jiu-jitsu.

“There’s nothing more f*cking demanding in this world, sport-wise, than MMA,” Masvidal said. “Because when you add in the wrestling, mixed with the f*cking knees to your nose, mixed with people trying to choke you out, and then the strength and conditioning we’ve got to do to keep it up, to be able to stay healthy. In a way, time away from MMA is like getting healthy (laughs).”

Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam winner, says he is “shocked” and “overwhelmed” by the news that Rafael Nadal will retire at the end of the season.

Reflecting on the exit of three of the ‘Big Four’, Djokovic said “a part of me left with them” as Nadal follows Andy Murray and Roger Federer in choosing to retire from the sport.

READ MORE: Djokovic & Federer lead tributes to retiring Nadal

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Bo Nickal reiterates he is in no rush to climb to the top.

Nickal (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) faces his most notable name to date when he takes on Paul Craig (17-8-1 MMA, 9-8-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout at UFC 309 Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden.

Although Nickal is a highly touted prospect, he isn’t looking to be fast tracked. He has an idea of how his path to the UFC title will look like.

“This is a good step up with Paul Craig,” Nickal said on his YouTube channel. “So, take care of business and then I want to (fight) two more guys that are unranked. Then fight a ranked guy.

“So at that point, I’ll be 7-0, 8-0, 9-0, fight a ranked guy, 10-0. 11-0, probably fight a top-five guy, and then fight for the belt around 12-0. That’s what I’m planning on right now. We’ll see, but definitely zoom focused on this next fight.”

If he can get through Craig, Nickal hopes to draw bigger names moving forward.

“I’m just going to smash this guy, and then I want to get exciting fights now,” Nickal said. “I feel like I’ve fought enough guys that have kind of not really been very dangerous to me. I haven’t even been hit really in a real fight yet.

“So I want to start fighting better guys for sure. Once I get a ranked fight, I think I’m only going to have to fight two or three before the belt. At that point, it’s like straight to it.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.