LAS VEGAS – Dana White doubts Conor McGregor turned down Justin Gaethje multiple times.

According to Gaethje’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, McGregor has said no to fighting Gaethje on five different occasions in past years. McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) have traded barbs in the past but never fought each other.

“He (McGregor) got offered this fight at least five times,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before, and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess.

“Even the UFC told me this. ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet. I promise you. He likes to be the one to start the talk and you retaliate.’ Why do you think (Michael) Chandler’s being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor.”

White was asked about those allegations, and based on his history with McGregor, the UFC CEO doesn’t think that’s something he would do. White recounted the time McGregor agreed to fight Chad Mendes on short notice after Jose Aldo pulled out of their UFC 189 fight due to a broken rib.

”I don’t know if that’s true,” White said Tuesday during the Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again: I mean, we actually have video footage of Lorenzo and I walking into his house that he (McGregor) was renting here. He just woke up, telling him that the fight fell out, and he’s literally leaving going, ‘Well, I’m going to train, let me know who I’m fighting when I get back.’ We’ve never had those kind of issues with Conor McGregor ever.”

McGregor is yet to return since breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. He was booked to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June but withdrew due to a broken pinky toe. Chandler has since moved on and is scheduled to rematch Charles Oliveira in the UFC 309 co-main event on Nov. 16 in New York.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 75.

Former Republic of Ireland striker Stephanie Zambra has announced her retirement from football.

The 35-year-old won 58 Republic of Ireland caps and scored 14 international goals.

Under her maiden name Roche, she went viral in 2013 after scoring a superb goal for Peamount United against Wexford Youths.

The goal, which saw her twice flick the ball before volleying it into the top corner, saw her finish second in the Puskas Award the following year behind Colombia’s James Rodriguez.

After featuring for a number of clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Zambra had stints with ASPTT Albi in France, Houston Dash in the USA, Sunderland and Fiorentina.

She returned home in 2020 with Peamount and signed for Shamrock Rovers in 2022.

Her final match will be Shamrock Rovers’ final league game of the season against Shelbourne on Saturday.

“From kicking a ball around the streets of Shanganagh Cliffs to scoring goals for my country, I can truly say that football has given me enough memories to last a lifetime,” Zambra posted on social media.

“I hope that I’ve been able to inspire girls and show that dreams can come true with a bit of luck, lot of persistence and the self belief that you are good enough to become the best version of yourself.”

Antonio Trocoli was arrested this past Friday on misdemeanor battery charges in Huntington Beach, Calif., following an incident allegedly involving Mackenzie Dern’s ex-husband, Wesley Santos.

Huntington Beach police confirmed the UFC fighter’s arrest in an email to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

“A subject by the name of Antonio Trocoli da Silveira Filho was arrested by the Huntington Beach Police Department on Oct. 4, 2024, at approximately 8:30 a.m. in the 8700 block of Dolphin Street, Huntington Beach,” Huntington Beach police said in a statement. “He was arrested for misdemeanor battery, and the case has been sent to the Orange County District Attorney’s Officer for review.”

At this time, the Orange County district attorney’s office has not officially brought a case against the fighter following his arrest. Messages for further details on the case were not returned at the time of publication.

While police weren’t able to provide any further details on Trocoli’s arrest, Santos—a professional surfer who was previously married to Dern and shares a daughter with her—claims he was the victim in the battery.

Santos sent a statement to MMA Fighting about the alleged incident while also claiming that a video exists that captured the altercation from this past Friday.

“Mackenzie Dern is my ex-wife and after our divorce she married Antonio ‘Malvado’ Jose Trocoli da Silveira Filho,” Santos said. “We divorced and have shared custody of our daughter Moa, but Antonio never stopped following me. We had a deal that he would not be part of the custody but he was always nearby, threatening and disturbing in every custody change. He sent messages through Moa, saying he would beat me up, and Moa told me clearly.

“I dropped my daughter at school this past Friday and was going back home on a skateboard when I saw a white car stop, and I started recording. It was Antonio. He got out of the car and punched me, and the car kept moving [along], and he ran back inside the car. Cops were called, there were several witnesses, and Antonio was arrested for battery.”

Trocoli is yet to address the incident or arrest publicly.

The Brazilian fighter was actually signed and then released from the UFC back in 2019 after his Contender Series win was overturned to a no-contest when he tested positive for a banned substance. Trocoli eventually came back to the UFC with his debut back in June when he fell to Shara Magomedov. He is currently scheduled to fight Tresean Gore at a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for Nov. 9.

Khalil Rountree expects a big fight after falling short in his valiant effort vs. Alex Pereira.

Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) was awarded the first two rounds of his light heavyweight title fight vs. champion Pereira in Saturday’s UFC 307 headliner before getting finished in Round 4. Rountree suffered a lot of damage in the fight, resulting in nose surgery, but his incredible heart won many fans over.

Prior to getting his title fight with Pereira, Rountree was booked to face former champion Jamahal Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC 303 in June but withdrew due to a failed drug test that was blamed on a tainted supplement. Rountree thinks rescheduling his fight against Hill makes sense.

“Absolutely, I think it’s almost inevitable,” Rountree told Kevin Iole of fighting Hill. “I think he’s ranked No. 3. Anyone up there in the top five is kind of inevitable. So, let’s see what happens. Pretty shortly here, I’ll be talking to the matchmakers and the bosses and see what they think.

“I’m here for it all, I’m not done. I’m going to continue, and I believe that I’ll have another chance at fighting for a belt. Whether it’s Alex or whoever else, if someone’s able to take it from him. I think that fight can definitely still happen.”

Rountree revealed that he signed a new contract with the UFC prior to facing Pereira and still has plenty of fights left in him. After undergoing septoplasty surgery for a “severely deviated septum,” Rountree hopes to return early next year.

“I’m very excited to come back and fight again, but it will probably be Q1 next year,” Rountree said. “I know that people got to see me fight, but this really showed me two things: It showed me that I’m prepared to fight at that level, but it also showed me that there’s a lot to learn and there’s a lot to grow. I want to come back and be very skillful and strategic and just make sure that I make the right decisions.”

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

Nate Diaz appears to like the idea of a “BMF” title tournament, but he doesn’t like all of the names.

In a recent interview with Sirius XM, Dustin Poirier expressed interest in a one-night tournament for the belt, which would also feature past opponents Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, and current titleholder Max Holloway.

Diaz agrees that Holloway and Hooker belong in the mix, but he doesn’t feel Poirier or Gaethje do, which he stated in an Instagram story.

“Dana White, Dan and Max are eligible for my belt but get the other two nerds out of there, they don’t fit the description,” Diaz wrote.

White was asked about the concept following Tuesday’s Dana White Contender Series Season 8, Week 9 event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and the UFC CEO thought it was intriguing.

“Sounds fun,” White said. “Never thought about it but yeah, I love it.”

Since fighting out his UFC contract, Diaz has competed twice in the boxing ring — losing a decision to Jake Paul in August 2023, and defeating Jorge Masvidal via majority decision in July. Diaz and Masvidal battled for the inaugural BMF title in November 2019 in the main event of UFC 244, where Masvidal earned the win via doctor’s stoppage TKO.

Doak was selected for the initial Euro 2024 squad and many felt his pace and creativity offered a point of difference in a group that ultimately proved to have a dearth of both at the finals in Germany.

Injury struck again at the worst possible moment and Doak was left to watch the action unfold back home.

“It was gutting, of course,” he said. “The injury wasn’t too serious, but I just came back a little bit too early.

“Watching the games just kind of drove me on more to try and get in the squad. I’d like to think I would have made a bit of a difference.”

Scotland captain Andy Robertson – a club-mate at Liverpool – warned before of the Euros of heaping too much pressure on Doak’s shoulders at such a young age.

The player himself says he tries to block out any hype that exists around him.

“It’s all well and good when everyone’s bigging you up, but it can be the same people smacking you down when you don’t play well,” said Doak, who could make his first start against Croatia on Saturday.

“I don’t take notice of the negatives or the positives. Early on, I fell into that and started putting pressure on myself because of what other people were saying.

“But that doesn’t help you, or your team. So it’s easier to just close your mind off to it and not look. Just relax, take it easy, and go and enjoy your football.”

Scotland’s long-standing problems in attack were laid bare in the Euros, with just one goal in three group matches.

Injuries to Tommy Conway and Lawrence Shankland have further dented Clarke’s attacking options for the games with Croatia in Zagreb and Portugal at Hampden.

And while Doak has been deployed mostly wide in recent times, he believes he provides a different option through the middle.

“I’d be comfortable doing it,” he said. “I played number nine in the youth teams so I think I’d be able to do a job that gives us something different to what we’ve got.”