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Kody Steele impresses UFC boss Dana White with liver shot

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Kody Steele impresses UFC boss Dana White with liver shot

Kody Steele finally got his opportunity to fight in front of the UFC brass and he made the most of it.

At Dana White’s Contender Series 75, Steele (7-0) finished Chasen Blair (6-3) with a body shot to end the fight at 4:07 of Round 2. The lightweight bout took place Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The fight was somewhat competitive while it lasted. Blair landed some strikes, but Steele’s seemed to go a lot further in the damage department. That proved to be the case when a short left punch caused a delayed shutdown on Blair, who crumpled to the canvas. Steele then landed a big bomb of a punch that Dan Henderson would be proud of, and pummeled away until the referee dove in.

Steele, 29, was supposed to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 24. However, opponent Quemuel Ottoni decided he no longer wanted to fight Steele, and during much confusion, withdrew from the bout (twice). Steele was then rebooked for Tuesday’s bout.

Steele is a decorated grappler, but has four knockouts in his pro MMA career.

A Cage Warriors staple, Blair stepped into the opening after a Sept. 20 win over Florin Pirtea.

Up-to-the-minute DWCS 75 results include:

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 8: Julianna Peña back on top

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October 9, 2024

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 8: Julianna Peña back on top

The latest pay-per-view event for the UFC hosted a pair of title fights, producing a new two-time champion.

In the main event of UFC 307, Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title by stopping Khalil Rountree in a Fight of the Night battle. Pereira is already No. 1 in his division and in the P4P rankings, so he has nowhere to move. However, Rountree, even in a loss, moves up a few spots due to his stellar performance, moving from No. 12 to No. 10.

In the co-feature, Julianna Pena emerged victorious in a controversial split decision win over Raquel Pennington to win back the women’s bantamweight title. Peña entered the week at No. 2 and Pennington at No. 1, swapping places after Saturday’s result.

In another women’s bantamweight swap, No. 3 Ketlen Viera lost to No. 4 Kayla Harrison. They swap rankings in this week’s update.

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Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

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Amanda Nunes UFC return? Dana White weighs in

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October 9, 2024

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Amanda Nunes UFC return? Dana White weighs in

LAS VEGAS – Amanda Nunes’ crypticness has been firing on all cylinders recently, but Dana White thinks it’s easy to decode.

During and after Saturday’s UFC 307, a card that featured two important women’s bantamweight title fights, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) said both a little and a lot. First, it was some emojis on X. Then, a video of herself dancing with White’s handle tagged.

“She looks good,” White laughed at a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “She looks great. It looks like she’s still in shape. You know where her head is at and I love that about her. There are a lot of things I love about her – and I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes, 36, retired in June 2023 after a title win over Irene Aldana. She cited the desire to spend more time with her wife, former UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and their young daughter.

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Since Nunes’ departure, there have been two title fights. The first was for the vacant strap at UFC 297 in January, during which Raquel Pennington claimed gold through a decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva.

Then, at Saturday’s UFC 307, Pennington lost the belt in a highly controversial split decision to Julianna Peña, a fighter who is 1-1 lifetime vs. Nunes.

Olympic gold medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison also won a unanimous decision Saturday vs. Ketlen Vieira, establishing herself as potentially the next challenger for Peña.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Monday Night Club: Are Liverpool ‘serious’ title contenders?

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October 9, 2024

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Monday Night Club: Are Liverpool 'serious' title contenders?


Monday Night Club’s Chris Sutton talks about Liverpool’s impressive start to the season and whether the squad has enough depth to make the Reds “serious” Premier League title contenders.

WATCH the full episode of Monday Night Club here

READ MORE: Quansah signs long-term Liverpool deal

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Dana White responds to Amanda Nunes teasing return: ‘I would absolutely love to see her come back’

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October 9, 2024

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Dana White responds to Amanda Nunes teasing return: ‘I would absolutely love to see her come back’

Dana White is all for Amanda Nunes returning to the UFC.

This past weekend, Julianna Peña reclaimed the women’s bantamweight title with a split decision victory over Raquel Pennington at UFC 307. Following her win, instead of calling out her most likely next opponent, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison, Peña instead called for Nunes to return from retirement for a trilogy fight.

Peña and Nunes have a longstanding rivalry, with Peña scoring one of the biggest upsets in MMA history by beating Nunes at UFC 269, before promptly losing the title to her in their rematch seven months later. And given their history, on Monday, Nunes appeared to respond to Peña’s callout with a social media post telling Dana White to call her.

And for White, that’s good news.

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“She looks good,” White told reporters following Tuesday’s episode of Contender Series. “She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So you know where her head is at, and I love that about here. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Whether or not Nunes is actually interested in returning remains to be seen. “The Lioness” retired from MMA last year after avenging her loss to Peña and then defeating Irene Aldana at UFC 289.

Of course, Nunes may not be teasing a return for Peña. Prior to her shocking upset defeat to Peña at UFC 269, there were rumors that Peña and Harrison — teammates at American Top Team — were circling a fight with each other. This was back when Harrison was negotiating with PFL, and Harrison was actually in attendance for the bout.

But whoever she might be coming back for, if she actually is at all, Dana White is here for it.

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“I love Amanda Nunes,” White said. “I have an incredible relationship with her. I would absolutely love to see her come back.”

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Alex Pereira convinces Dana White to sign Artem Vakhitov

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October 9, 2024

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Alex Pereira convinces Dana White to sign Artem Vakhitov

Artem Vakhitov hasn’t even had a UFC fight yet, and the promotional wheels are already turning for an Alex Pereira showdown.

Two days after his UFC 307 title defense, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) boarded a plane from Connecticut to Las Vegas to witness in person Vakhitov (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) earn a UFC deal at Dana White’s Contender Series 75.

Vakhitov was patient as he waited for his moment to significantly attack French heavyweight Islem Masraf (3-1) with a flurry for a TKO stoppage at 4:23 of Round 1.

After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White said he debated what he should do with Vakhitov but consulted Pereira, who gave a resounding “absolutely, positively.”

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Vakhitov, 33, is a two-time Glory light heavyweight champion, who defended the title five times. He is the last man to defeat Pereira in kickboxing.

The two fighters are tied 1-1 in their lifetime series. Pereira won the first fight by split decision and Vakhitov won the second by majority decision.

Vakhitov told MMA Junkie prior to the bout that while he really wants to fight Pereira again, the two are friendly and respectful without bad blood.

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He transitioned to MMA in June 2023 and suffered an injury in the bout. After back-to-back finishes, he earned his DWCS shot and maintained his 100 percent finishing rate.

Up-to-the-minute DWCS 75 results include:

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Football

Sunderland hero Kevin Phillips appointed AFC Fylde head coach

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October 9, 2024

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Sunderland hero Kevin Phillips appointed AFC Fylde head coach


Phillips represented nine clubs during his 20-year playing career, including Watford, Sunderland, Southampton, West Brom, Aston Villa and Birmingham.

He scored a total of 287 goals, won eight caps for England and in 2000 became the first English player to win Europe’s Golden Shoe award. Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane became the second English winner last season.

Since retiring in 2014, he has held coaching roles with Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City before a 15-month stint at South Shields, who he led to promotion into the National League North in his second season in charge in 2022-23.

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Phillips had expected to remain at Hartlepool this season but claimed the club had withdrawn a contract offer in order to appoint former Woking boss Darren Sarll instead.

Phillips will be assisted by Wess Brown, who he worked with at South Shields.



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