Sep 11, 2022; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) warms up before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.
The Minnesota Vikings don’t necessarily have oodles of spending money on hand for free agency, but if they find some, the organization has a clear connection to New York Jets running back Breece Hall. Before joining the Vikings in 2025, new offensive line coach Keith Carter served as the Jets’ run game coordinator, and it really doesn’t get any closer to Hall than that from a coach’s perspective.
If Minnesota wants more juice from the ground game, Hall fits the profile, and he has a previous connection to the Vikings’ new OL coach.
Hall won’t be cheap, but Minnesota has a real shot at landing his services if interim general manager Rob Brzezinski is in the mood.
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A New Decision Looms in the Vikings’ Backfield
It’s another name for your Vikings’ free-agent bingo board.
New York Jets running back Breece Hall lowers his shoulder while navigating traffic at MetLife Stadium, captured during first-half action on Sep 29, 2024, as Denver’s Nik Bonitto closes in. The play reflects Hall’s balance and burst through contact, a consistent trait in his workload-heavy role within the Jets’ offense. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Hall to MIN with Carter Promoted?
Carter drew scorn on social media from former Tennessee Titans players a while back, but that didn’t stop the Vikings from hiring him as an assistant offensive line coach last offseason. And when the 2026 offseason rolled around, head coach Kevin O’Connell opted not to retain main offensive line coach Chris Kuper.
That put Carter in the driver’s seat to earn the top OL job in Minnesota, which he fulfilled last week.
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From 2022 to 2023, Carter was in charge of the Jets’ rushing offense, a group highlighted by Hall. Fast forward to 2026 free agency, and Hall is a free agent, expected to command about $10 million to $12 million on the open market.
So long as Hall doesn’t share any of the aforementioned resentment toward Carter and his alleged grueling practices, there’s a path for Hall to land in Minnesota via free agency. Most other Hall suitors won’t have his former coach on staff.
Hall’s Career to Date
Hall’s resume starts with availability, which matters more at running back than almost anywhere else. Outside of a rookie year injury, he’s been consistently on the field, a rarity at RB. Over four seasons, the production has followed: 681 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2022, 1,585 and 9 in 2023, 1,359 and 8 in 2024, then 1,415 yards with 5 scores in 2025. He’s sitting on a 4.5 yards-per-carry career average.
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Minnesota, though, would draw little pushback if it found a way to add him. The Vikings know what that level of output looks like, but the money is tight. That matters, especially with more than $20 million already tied up in the running back room through Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. That’s significant money for the RB spot.
The 2025 rushing attack was serviceable, but it never dominated opponents. O’Connell leaned pass-heavy even when quarterback play faltered, and the ground game never forced defenses to adjust. The draft remains the cleanest long-term answer, yet Hall offers something different: certainty. He’s not a rookie, and he removes draft guesswork. Minnesota would onboard a sure thing in Hall.
Sportsnaut‘s Andrew Buller-Hall on Hall to MIN: “The Vikings should make a strong play for free agent Breece Hall this offseason. Minnesota could have an inside line to signing Hall after promoting OL coach Keith Carter, Hall’s running game coordinator from 2023 to 2024. Yet, other teams will surely have interest in Hall after he compiled a career-high 1,065 rushing yards this season.”
“Hall’s longest rush this season went for 59 yards, and he averaged 4.4 yards per carry. He’d also help replace Jones in the passing game, giving Vikings QBs another option out of the backfield. He’d surely be an upgrade over Jones, especially if the Vikings can still pair Hall with Mason to form an extremely effective 1-2 punch. Not only would that duo help take pressure off whoever plays QB for the Vikings in 2026, it might be one of the best rushing tandems in the NFL.”
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Getting Serious about Fixing the Rushing Offense
These are the numbers for the Vikings’ rushing offense since the arrival of O’Connell four years ago:
O’Connell has never featured a game-changing running back. Dalvin Cook had begun his age-related decline in 2022. Alexander Mattison stunk in 2023. Ty Chandler and Cam Akers are backup tailbacks. Aaron Jones represented a refreshingly productive alternative, but he’s over the age of 30. Jordan Mason is a wonderful roster piece, but is more of a mid-tier RB1 — or elite RB2.
New York Jets running back Breece Hall accelerates upfield after securing a pass at MetLife Stadium, shown in early action on Sep 24, 2023, against New England. The moment highlights Hall’s versatility as a receiver, turning short touches into chunk gains while stressing linebackers and safeties in space. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
It’s time for O’Connell — now a de facto general manager, too — to sign Hall or draft a high-round rookie running back. Don’t leave it until Round 5 for half-measured solutions.
Other Options if Not Hall
For the sake of argument, let’s assume Minnesota will pursue a free-agent running back, but Hall is not interested in the Vikings. These high-profile halfbacks are also scheduled to test free agency:
JK Dobbins
Travis Etienne
Isiah Pacheco
Kenneth Walker
Rachaad White
Javonte Williams
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. jogs across the field during pregame warmups at EverBank Stadium, framed ahead of kickoff on Dec 15, 2024. The image captures Etienne’s readiness and routine as Jacksonville prepared its offensive personnel, emphasizing tempo and focus before divisional competition at home. Mandatory Credit: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
That’s about seven prominent free agents and arguably 5-6 rookie running backs who could move the needle as an RB1.
Now, it’s up to Minnesota to decide if these options are wiser than Jones + Mason again in 2026.
Oleksandr Usyk is currently searching for his next opponent and he may not have to look much further after being called out by one big name in particular.
Usyk has beaten all comers throughout his professional career, first clearing out the cruiserweight division before moving up to heavyweight and repeating that success.
The one other name that once ruled over the heavyweight division that eludes Usyk is Deontay Wilder, and it seemed that the former WBC champion would earn a shot at the Ukrainian after they were reported to be in negotiations over a summer fight.
Miller returned to action on the Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson card at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night, claiming a unanimous decision victory against Kingsley Ibeh.
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It was Miller’s first fight since a draw against Andy Ruiz in August 2024, and prior to that the American suffered a stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois, so his return to winning ways may well have helped his cause for securing a clash against Usyk.
Perhaps the biggest talking point in the bout though was a bizarre moment when it transpired Miller was wearing a toupee, as his hair was punched off his head during the action.
The connections of Where’s The Circus, a value buy, join others in anticipation of another major Inglis payout as she enters Saturday’s Inglis Millennium.
Paul Murray’s two-year-old’s brother, a Widden Stud colt, goes under the hammer at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale within 24 hours of the $2 million Randwick feature for Inglis grads.
Murray, who snagged Where’s The Circus for $1250 on Inglis Digital in September 2024, expects the Trapeze Artist colt (Lot 190) to command far more, but he’ll inspect anyway.
“We knew he was in the sale and the owners have said, ‘we’ve got to go and have a look at him’, so we’ll be doing that,” Murray said.
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Murray’s familiarity with the Fastnet Rock mare Misplaced’s line makes his attention to her 10th foal unsurprising.
He and Michelle Ritchie trained Misplaced’s first pair of Snippetson fillies: Where’s Snippy ($600) and Can’t Find Snippy ($14,000).
Four wins and $61,000 came from Where’s Snippy, with Can’t Find Snippy earning multiples and third in the 2016 race Where’s The Circus contests this weekend.
“Where’s Snippy, she was only a cheap horse and we had a lot of fun with her so we bought the sister and then when she (Where’s The Circus) popped up we thought we’d have a crack at her as well,” Murray said.
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“The family’s been good to us.”
Her $231,000 Inglis Nursery score marks Where’s The Circus as the Murrays’ top earner from the family, with more expected.
“We don’t put much pressure on the babies, we just let them tell us what is going on,” Murray said.
“She trialled against the older horses and went well, so we thought we might give her a go at the Inglis (Nursery) and just see how good she is.
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“But to this day, we still haven’t really opened her right up. She’s a bit untapped, we don’t know how much further or how good she really is, but we’ll test that a bit on Saturday.”
Aware of the Millennium’s 1100m superiority over Nursery, Murray notes leaders like Plagiarism, Alibaba, Jacaranda atop odds, heightening barrier significance.
From gate four wire-to-wire in Nursery, now barrier two or the rail sans Profitabelle.
“We were hoping for a nice barrier and we got it,” Murray said.
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“It was the same as the first start, so she’s really getting the right barriers in these big races, which is a very handy.”
Jay Ford replaces Nursery rider Jean Van Overmeire aboard Where’s The Circus.
The pre-Classic Sale Randwick card spotlights the Millennium, with several having sale siblings.
On sale’s last day Tuesday, Yarraman Park’s Dundeel filly from Advance Party shares blood with Waller’s Snitzel colt Fireball, unbeaten at Rosehill in November.
Zoe’s sister Izzy claimed slopestyle bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018.
It gave Britain a first skiing medal at a Winter Olympics – 16 years after Alain Baxter lost his slalom bronze when he failed a drugs test after using an over-the-counter nasal decongestant that he believed to be permitted.
Zoe was watching from the stands eight years ago in South Korea with her parents, and her sister’s achievements spurred her on to pursue her own skiing career.
“Working with a sports psychologist has been important – when I was younger, I felt more intense fear, which was a barrier to performance,” Atkin says.
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“I am pretty young still, but there were a lot of expectations internally, things I want to achieve.”
She heads into the Games as the reigning world champion and this season has finished on the podium in each of the World Cups, including a win at Copper Mountain and claimed gold at the X Games.
“Now I’ve won things, surely I shouldn’t be afraid and I should have confidence?” she says.
“But no matter how established you are, there’s always a comfort zone you need to push to progress. It’s always a continuous progress, a journey I now have more fully embraced.”
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Atkin has been fortunate in that she has avoided serious injuries, unlike her sister who broke her pelvis just before the 2022 Winter Olympics and has since retired from competitive skiing.
GB team-mate Kirsty Muir has also had her fair share of injuries.
The 21-year-old competes in ski slopestyle and big air. She rides rails and performs tricks of large ramps.
She knows all too well about the horrors of serious injury in the line of duty.
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In December 2023, a scan revealed that repeated blows to her knee had resulted in a torn cruciate ligament, ruling her out for a year.
Muir, having “never not skied for that long in my life”, says she is fit and firing for Milan-Cortina – but admits the road back was hard.
“The sport progresses continually, so having that much time off was difficult,” Muir tells BBC Sport.
Muir has won World Cup events in ski slopestyle and big air this season and also won at the X Games but is no stranger to the occasional crash landing.
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The key to overcoming that fear, she says, is accepting they will happen.
“The injury wasn’t my scariest, as it didn’t happen at a specific moment,” she says. “It’s more when things out of your control go wrong.
“I’ve had skis come off my feet or my goggles come over my eyes when about to jump, and I’ve been flying through the air without skis on my feet. That is a weird feeling.
“We are good at adapting to situations, not thinking about it until it happens. There is no point in worrying - be prepared, then adapt.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shane Wright scored twice to lead the Seattle Kraken to a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson also scored and Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau each had two assists for the Kraken, who have won five of their last six games. Joey Daccord made 25 saves.
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Andrei Kuzmenko scored both of Los Angeles’ goals and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves.
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The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period when Kuzmenko scored on the power play.
Wright tied it at 1 at 9:16 on a backhander for his first goal of the game and Larsson put Seattle up 2-1 at 10:14 on a one-timer. Dunn made it 3-1 on the power play at 15:21.
Kuzmenko cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 10:27 of the second period, but Wright gave the Kraken a two-goal lead again with a power-play score at 5:50 of the third.
Ivan Barbashev scored a goal for the fourth straight game, and Cole Reinhardt, Pavel Dorofayev and Alexander Holtz also had goals for the Knights. Mark Stone had a pair of assists.
Akira Schmid made 21 saves, including a spectacular stop on Vancouver’s Pierre-Olivier Joseph midway through the second period when he dove across the crease to snag the puck with his glove and preserve a 3-1 lead.
Elias N. Pettersson and Joseph had goals for the Canucks, who have now lost three in a row and six of their last seven games and remain in last place in the NHL. Teddy Blueger had a pair of assists and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.
After a scoreless first period, things heated up in the second when the teams combined to score on four straight shots, with all four goals coming in a span of 2:30 and Vegas taking a 3-1 lead.
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With two third-period goals, the Golden Knights now have 75 third-period goals this season, the most in the NHL. Eichel has 21 multipoint games this season.
Canucks: At home against Winnipeg on Feb. 25.
Golden Knights: Host Los Angeles on Thursday night.
As much as the mood has undoubtedly improved this season, the root causes of Cardiff’s recent troubles have not simply disappeared.
Tan remains a divisive figure, as do chairman Mehmet Dalman and chief executive Ken Choo.
They were the target of numerous protests last season, some of which saw hordes of supporters marching to Cardiff City Stadium, holding banners and singing songs demanding that Tan and his fellow board members leave.
Some of the ill feeling can be traced back to Tan’s highly controversial rebranding of the club’s colours from red to blue in 2012, even though he reversed the decision three years later.
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More recently, the anger relates to his perceived lack of interest, with Tan having not attended a home game for more than two years.
Then, perhaps most damningly, there is the way he, Dalman and Choo have run the club.
Cardiff at least tried a new method in their appointment of Barry-Murphy, forming a one-off sub-committee which included the club’s academy manager Gavin Chesterfield, former Swansea City sporting director Mark Allen and members of the Wasserman agency. However, the final decision still belonged to Tan.
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“They didn’t plan to get relegated,” says Perry. “And in hiring Barry-Murphy, is it really a thorough process that we’ve got to the outcome of getting him? I don’t think so.
“It’s a filtering system, a few people narrowing it down to five choices, and those five choices go then to the owner.
“The problem will always be the owner, simply because he hasn’t got that knowledge to pick out of those five. Nathan Jones was in there [on the shortlist], there were others who weren’t similar to Barry-Murphy.
“I’ll only start calling it a process if Barry-Murphy goes and the next appointment is very similar. Then it becomes a process, get another coach who puts a team out that we can identify with as supporters and is also successful.
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“But you must have knowledge of what you’re looking for. The same problems are here at this club, and they need to change for us to have success continuously.”
Given how well the Barry-Murphy appointment has gone so far, then, might Tan be convinced to use a director of football or similar on a permanent basis?
“The total opposite,” Perry says. “I think he’ll get carried away, so much so that it will reinforce his own opinion of himself, that he is the right man because of what we’re seeing now.
“He will not look at the process and put his hands up and go, ‘possibly we’re fortunate here because it wasn’t our first choice’.
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“You have to be honest, reflection is a key part of football or any big business, but when you reflect you have to be honest and you have to look at your skillset. Then you have to either improve that skillset or you bring somebody in that has those skills. Unfortunately, at City we don’t have that and that is my concern.”
There is no guarantee of an instant return to the Championship. It took Cardiff 18 years to get back to that level when they were last relegated to the third tier in 1985.
Of the 30 teams to have been in the Premier League and relegated to League One, six have never made it back to the Championship.
Given how Cardiff are going this season, they should not add to that number.
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Promotion will not fix everything, though.
“I came into this season determined to enjoy it,” says Perry.
“We’re doing well, playing a brand that we identify with and everybody’s happy.
“But you’ve only got to look around the football club and I still see the same mistakes.”
The Ben, Will and J D Hayes team at Lindsay Park believes the Blue Diamond Stakes dreams for their two-year-old Eurocanto are realigned properly now.
Post his scratch from the January 24 Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) at Caulfield, the colt was dispatched for more trials.
Eurocanto had gate issues that day, resulting in a barrier scratch.
To resume racing, the two-year-old required a clean bill from vets after being diagnosed lame in the near fore on race day, plus a stewards-approved jump-out trial.
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Eurocanto delivered in that trial last Friday at Flemington, running second over 800m to Don’t Hope Do.
J D Hayes shared relief at having the Blue Diamond aspirant primed again, with a start confirmed in Saturday’s Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) at Caulfield.
Hayes would prefer Eurocanto approaching the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 21 at his third run this term.
The stable drew encouragement from his Flemington performance.
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“He trialled really well against the older horses, and he’ll be taking his place,” Hayes said.
“He’s back on track and I thought it was a good trial.
“He passed with flying colours, and he was on his best behaviour and hopefully he stays that way.”
Eurocanto’s sole prior race was a win in October’s Listed Maribyrnong Trial (1000m) at Flemington.
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Leading into the January 24 attempt, he trialled third at Flemington on January 2 and won at Werribee January 16.
“I don’t think he will be lacking anything for fitness on Saturday,” Hayes said.
In the Prelude’s colts and geldings’ bracket, Eurocanto is Lindsay Park’s lone runner, as Jacaranda, Medicinal and Portinari enter the fillies’ side. Punters can find plenty on the racing betting markets for the Blue Diamond Prelude.
The baseball world is mourning the loss of a player who made history with the Detroit Tigers.
Mickey Lolich, remembered as the Tigers’ hero in the 1968 World Series, has died, the Tigers announced. He was 85. Lolich is the last MLB pitcher to win three games in the World Series. He was named World Series MVP that year.
The Tigers said Lolich’s wife informed the franchise that Lolich was recently in hospice care. The cause of death was not released.
In this Oct. 3, 1968, file photo, Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers pitches during the second game of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo.(AP Photo/File)
Lolich is No. 23 on the all-time career strikeouts list with 2,832.
Lolich was an unlikely star of the Tigers 1968 title run. During a reunion of the World Series team, he recalled how manager Mayo Smith had sent him to the bullpen for much of August. He returned to the Tigers’ starting rotation and was 6-1 in the final weeks.
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“I was having a few problems, but I had been a starting pitcher ever since 1964,” said Lolich, who was upset about the bullpen move. “I remember telling him, ‘If we win this thing this year, it’s going to be because of me.’ But I was only talking about the season. I wasn’t talking about the World Series.
“I got my revenge back in the World Series.”
Mickey Lolich, pitcher of Detroit Tigers, poses for a photo in March 1968. (AP Photo, File)
Lolich pitched Game 7 after only two days rest. He figured he would get a Corvette from General Motors for being the Series MVP but had to settle for a Dodge Charger GT because Chrysler was the sponsor in 1968.
“Nothing against Chargers, nothing at all,” Lolich said in his book, “Joy in Tigertown.” “It’s just that I already had two of them in my driveway.”
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Since Lolich, only two pitchers have won three games in a single World Series — Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2001 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025. But they pitched fewer innings and got their third victories in relief.
Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates March 30, 2018, in Detroit.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
WWE CCO Triple H is leading the creative side of the business. Often, thanks to Unreal, HHH is seated at the table with writers, pitching ideas. The concern is who he passes the baton to in his absence. Now, it seems the former WWE head writer has a clear vision: Robert Roode.
In a post on X, Vince Russo has sung Roode’s praises. He states that the former US Champion is the only guy who stands out in management. The retired Canadian wrestler currently works for WWE as a match producer. Robert,, better known as ‘Bobby’ is a real and pure professional who carries himself perfectly. If it were for Russo being the decision-maker, Roode would lead WWE into the future.
Thanks for the submission!
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The veteran took a moment to humble the former NXT Champion, too. Russo cites him as certainly not the Greatest Worker in the History of the Business. However, neither is he a gimmick nor an ego-maniac and surely not a ‘Walrus’. Roode is the GUY.
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Why Did WWE Waste This Year’s Royal Rumble? Find Out!
The 49-year-old was still pretty much active till mid-2022. However, later that year, Roode underwent neck surgery. In May 2023, he underwent another. In the next few months, he took on the role of a match producer and retired from wrestling.
Robert Roode’s resume in WWE
The first title Roode won was the NXT Championship. Known exceptionally for his workhorse nature and technical abilities in TNA, the Stamford-based promotion trusted him. Within a year of his debut, he defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the NXT title in 2017. Later on the main roster, he won the US Championship in 2018 in a tournament.
Later that year, the Glorious star captured the RAW Tag Team Championships with Chad Gable. Roode and Gable defeated Authors of Pain. Next year, he teamed up with Dolph Ziggler, Dirty Dawgs. They defeated Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman for the same titles. In 2021, his last reign as a ‘Dirty Dawg’ came as he held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
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ONE bantamweight MMA contender Carlo Bumina-ang of the Philippines said Marcos Aurelio should keep his head up high in the aftermath of their ONE Fight Night 39 showdown.
‘The Bull’ pushed Aurelio from the ranks of the unbeaten on Jan. 23, handing the Brazilian his first career defeat with a crushing TKO finish inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.
The 31-year-old bucked a slow first round and found his opening in the ensuing frame, dropping Aurelio multiple times with ferocious punches to get back in the winning column.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
In his ONE Fight Night 39 post-fight interviews, Bumina-ang graciously commended the talented 21-year-old.
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The Team Lakay standout said Aurelio has a bright future and will bounce back from this loss.
“He’s still young and he can do more in this sport. And I know he will come back, like I said, I know he will come back stronger, and he will keep on pursuing his dream.”
“I’m just so happy that I was the first to stop him, but that’s what we always do, you know? We stop our opponents.”
Carlo Bumina-ang says Marcos Aurelio showed a lot of heart
Carlo Bumina-ang hit Marcos Aurelio with everything he’s got. Somehow, the 21-year-old survived the first wave of punishment and tried to regain his bearings.
‘The Bull’ shared with Nick Atkin of The Bangkok Post:
“Yeah, he was already stumbling. The referee gave him a few seconds to give him a chance, but he didn’t recover, so it needs to be stopped, or he would get more damage.”
North American fans can stream the ONE Fight Night 39 replay on demand via Prime Video.