Alex Pereira did it again, as he knocked out a game Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 to retain the UFC light heavyweight title. “Poatan” now has options galore, so is sticking around at 205 the way to go, or should he move up to heavyweight to entice Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic to stick around?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the fallout of this past Saturday’s pay-per-view event, comparing Pereria’s run to any other we’ve seen in the UFC, Julianna Pena regaining the women’s bantamweight title, whether or not Raquel Pennington was robbed, and other storylines from the card. Additionally, topics include this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 98 event headlined by Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira, PFL’s pay-per-view price, Donn Davis continuing to frustrate the MMA community with his comments, and much more.

Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and UFC analyst Din Thomas.

Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle face a “nearly impossible task” to avoid successive relegations if the club goes into administration, admits head coach Duncan Ferguson.

On Monday, the board of directors revealed that administration was the most likely course of action, although it could be averted if fundraising efforts reach £200,000 by the end of next week.

That fund currently stands at £75,000.

Caley Thistle are second bottom of Scottish League 1 with nine points from nine matches, having dropped from the Championship over the summer.

Administration would bring a 15-point penalty from the Scottish Professional Football League, along with a threat to jobs.

“Everyone at the club is finding it difficult at the moment,” Ferguson said. “I hope everybody is still here next week, but we know there’s a big cloud hanging over us.

A.J. McKee is closing in on his desired shot at Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.

But first, McKee (22-1) has to get past Paul Hughes (12-1) at PFL: Battle of the Giants on Oct. 19 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN+).

McKee thinks him vs. Nurmagomedov (18-0) is the fight to make.

“I think it’s been the fight that everybody’s wanted to see for quite some time now,” McKee told MMA Junkie Radio. “Obviously, myself catching staph through the tournament, something happened with him during the tournament  testing wise or whatever, so he went on a little suspension. But we just continue to fight, perfect our craft.

“I can’t really look past Paul Hughes, because styles make fights and every fight is a different fight. So for me, it’s staying focused on Paul Hughes. But after that Usman fight (vs. Alexandr Shabliy), Khabib (Nurmagomedov) did walk by and he goes, ‘See you in Dubai, brother,’ and I started laughing. It was just funny, because he knows I’m watching, why I’m there.”

Prior to retaining his title against Alexandr Shabliy in September, Nurmagomedov said he sees McKee as the top contender. McKee isn’t sure why he was booked against Hughes instead of being the next title challenger, but says a fight with Nurmagomedov is inevitable.

“I have no idea – he might need a little break,” McKee said. “I think that’s the next fight regardless, though. Khabib kind of said it to me, I’ve been veering for it for a minute, and I think everybody knows that’s the fight to make.

“I think that’s the fight they’re going to make. It’s the fight that kind of makes sense to make. But obviously, I’ve got to go do my job. It’s one more man in front of me. When you look at the stats, we all know who deserves that title shot, but I’ve just got one more step to prove.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.

LAS VEGAS – It appears the UFC is facing some hurdles in its attempt to break into Africa.

Dana White was hoping South African UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis’ next title defense would be at home, but he doesn’t think it’s currently feasible. White did, however, confirm that a rematch with Sean Strickland is next – even though Du Plessis’ head coach, Morne Visser, dismissed Strickland.

White broke down the obstacles the UFC is currently facing in trying to bring an event to Africa for the first time.

“Yeah, so you know how bad I want this,” White said Tuesday during the Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “I’ve been trying to get this thing done. The arena situation there is tough. It’s tough to pull off. That’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole, so we’re trying to figure it out. The place we would have to do it at is outdoors, and you know how I feel about that.

“I’ve been trying to figure out the weather and one of the big things that I’ve been hearing out there is wind is a big problem. We’ve done it a couple times, but anything that can affect the outcome of the fight makes me not even want to try. So, you know, and it’s anything from wind, rain, bugs. I mean, too much humidity. A lot of things can interfere with the fight.”

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) dethroned Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) by split decision to become middleweight champion at UFC 297 in January. Since then, Strickland rebounded with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302, and Du Plessis retained his title with a submission of Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

Visser said the plan is for Du Plessis’ next title defense to take place February in Sydney.

Jake Paul has lived in the public since he was a teenager but with all that fame also came a lot of hate and it led him to a very dark period in his life.

Following stints acting on the Disney channel and building an online brand through social media, Paul actually found himself as public enemy No. 2 after his brother Logan Paul invited a storm of controversy when he posted a video to his YouTube channel of a suicide victim while visiting Japan’s “suicide forest” back in 2018.

The decision to film and post the video was Logan’s choice but Jake was unable to avoid the fallout.

“I got lumped into all my brother’s hate,” Paul told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was like, ‘F*ck the Pauls. F*ck both of those people.’ It was bad. The suicide forest thing basically ruined my career and income. I lost probably $30 million in deals.

“There was one $15 million deal for retail products that fell apart. They were able to get out of it because of a morality clause.”

The downward spiral from that incident left Paul in a very poor mental head space and he began partying in Los Angeles as a way to cope with his struggles.

“Basically, life hit me in the face, and it was like, ‘Who are you? What have you been doing the past couple of years?’” Paul recounted. “It led to drinking and drugs and Los Angeles and going to parties and just that whole entire world. I got sucked up into it really quickly.

“And so there I am: No money, kind of hating myself, the whole world hates me. I’m drinking. I’m depressed and not having a good relationship with either of my parents or Logan. And I was just like, ‘F*ck this shit.’ I just felt wrong in life and by all the cards I had been dealt. It was f*cked up. I just tried to do good my whole life and here I am with what felt like nothing.”

After initially finding notoriety from viral videos posted online, Paul decided take that fame and use it for an elaborate stunt that would actually conclude in his own death.

“I had a plan,” Paul revealed. “I mean, it’s f*cking crazy. I was going to put a bunch of gas cans in my Lamborghini and get really drunk and drive off the top of this cliff in Calabasas. It’s called Stunt Road.”

In the end, Paul obviously didn’t follow through with those plans but it was from that terrifying time in his life that he actually decided to become a professional fighter.

“I was not going to let them win,” Paul said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to fight. This is what every social media hater wants is to wake up and see Jake Paul killed himself.’”

It was boxing that finally gave Paul the structure and discipline he needed to course correct from all the bad decisions he was making.

He credits the sport for saving his life.

“It’s purpose, routine, health, community — all the things I needed,” Paul said. “Since 2020, it’s been boxing’s No. 1 and everything else comes after that. I never really liked YouTube. I was just good at it.”

Paul has parlayed his passion for boxing into a very successful career where he’s put together a 10-1 professional record with a massive fight booked against heavyweight legend Mike Tyson on Nov. 15 with an event that airs live on Netflix.

The European Leagues and world players’ union Fifpro will next week submit their legal complaint about Fifa’s expansion of the Club World Cup to the European Commission in Brussels.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin used his speech to also criticise high profile players for using their platform to make an argument that he says only applies to a small minority of professional players globally.

“We must recognise the match calendar has reached full capacity,” said Ceferin. “Limits have been reached.

“At the same time the impact is very different among clubs and players. Some are over-burdened. The others have spare capacity.

“In fairness to those who are stretched, I stand by what I said two months ago, there is no room for additional matches. But I have to add this, who is complaining? The ones who have the highest salaries and the ones [clubs] with 25 top players. The ones with lower salaries and hardly 11 players are not complaining. They love to play.”

Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi combines his club role with being chairman of the ECA.

PSG will play at the Club World Cup and Al-Khelaifi said he had taken calls from some clubs disappointed at the two per country limit put on the event by Fifa.

“The players and clubs who are complaining – don’t play,” he said. “I receive complaints about the fact only two clubs are participating from each country. Some want more than two. On the other side they are complaining. You cannot win.

“The calendar has always been an issue. It needs to be solved with all the stakeholders sitting together in an open and transparent way, to see what the best thing is for everybody, not just one set.

“Clubs are financing the ecosystem and salaries are going higher and higher. If we have the same competitions and the same revenues, that is an issue.”