Former Norway boss Per-Mathias Hogmo has been identified by Heart of Midlothian as the preferred candidate to be their new head coach.

The 64-year-old Norwegian, who led Rosenborg and Sweden’s Hacken to league titles, is out of work after leaving J-League club Uruwa Red Diamonds in August.

Hogmo is not in Scotland but could arrive over the weekend if a deal can be agreed with the Scottish Premiership club.

B-team coach Liam Fox has been in interim charge of Hearts since former striker Steven Naismith was sacked last month following a run of eight successive defeats.

Chief executive Andrew McKinlay told BBC Scotland last week they had received close to 100 notes of interest in the job and that he expected to hold talks with “seven or eight” candidates before narrowing down the list.

Now they have targeted the only person in world football to have managed both the men’s and women’s squads of a single country at international level, and who led the latter to Olympic gold in 2000.

Former Tromso midfielder Hogmo, who left Urawa Reds in August after only 28 games in charge, first turned to coaching as Gratangen player-boss in 1989 and has been in almost constant employment since.

He has had three spells in charge of Tromso, has also managed Tromsdalen, Fossum, Moss, Rosenborg and Fredrikstad in his homeland, as well as Djurgardens in Sweden, and has coached at all age levels with his national association.

Mike Tyson is ready to throw down with Jake Paul.

Next month, Tyson and Paul face off in an eight-round boxing match on Nov. 13 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight was originally supposed to take place on July 20 until the 58-year-old Tyson had a medical episode that necessitated postponing the bout. Now with everything seemingly under control healthwise, the former heavyweight champion is itching to get back into the ring.

“It hasn’t changed much,” Tyson said at a recent promotional event when asked what’s changed for him. “It’s a fight I’ve been training for. I’ve been training a lot harder. I’m just ready. It’s hard to explain the training methods. I’m just ready to fight.”

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005. He then returned for an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020, but has not competed since. Paul, meanwhile, has made a name for himself as the face of the burgeoning Influencer Boxing scene, most recently stopping Mike Perry back in July. But despite Paul’s youth and success in the sport, and his own gap in activity, Tyson predicts a tough night for Paul come November.

“A lot of pain,” Tyson said when asked what he plans to bring to the fight. “… If I don’t have to catch him, you can expect a first-round knockout,” Tyson added later. “I anticipate running after this guy for a round or two.”

Heat. Things got heated between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway during a digital faceoff.

Back? Glover Teixeira opens up the door to a possible return at the behest of Alex Pereira.

Bad take. Nate Diaz doesn’t want Justin Gaethje or Dustin Poirier in a “BMF” title tournament.

Blockbuster. Conor McGregor has his eyes on Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz, or Dustin Poirier matchups for his return.

BKFC. Dave Feldman brags a bit about the success of BKFC compared to other combat sports promotions.

Between the Links.

Brandon Royval interview.

The Ilia and Max interview.

Khalil Rountree with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.

Jamahal Hill reacting to UFC 307.

Michael Chandler.

And yet, they might.

Hurricane Milton.

Arnold Allen, man of the people.

Now THIS is how you promote.

If you go and watch that Tyson video, it’s really apparent that this fight should not be happening. Mike is damn-near 60 years old, and he sounds like it. But hey, the man is getting paid. Can’t begrudge him that, I suppose.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

JAMES WADE believes that Luke Humphries is one of the top three World Champions ever.

The 11-time major winner followed Gary Anderson in claiming that ‘Cool Hand’ is overlooked by the media.

3

3

Advertisement

Both Wade and Anderson have alluded to Luke Littler grabbing more headlines than Humphries during an incredible year for both players.

Humphries has won five majors but Littler has taken nine title victories in his debut darts season at the age of 17.

Wade, 41, said: “Me and Gary Anderson don’t get on very well at times.

“But what I will say, you are all missing the biggest trick in the world.

“I would believe that Luke Humphries is probably the second or third best World Champion we’ve ever had.

“We’ve had World Champions, Gary is one of them, Adrian Lewis, we’ve had lots of them.

“Luke Humphries has won almost everything after the World Championship and before it.

“I believe that you are failing a little bit. We’ve never had a World Champion like it.

“The last World Champion we had as good as him, maybe Michael (Van Gerwen) but before that was Phil Taylor.

“I actually think he’s a better world champion than Michael. I think he’s probably doing better things than Michael, in a short space of time as well.

3

“Michael is different gravy, but what Luke’s doing at the moment is magical, and we are not grabbing it.

“I feel really sorry for Luke. I don’t need to do this. I could have finished the conversation 30 seconds ago and walked out the door.

“Luke Humphries is probably the second or third best World Champion we’ve ever had and you’re not embracing it.

“You’re not going to get someone who is as great as him for a long time.

“I think you need to grab hold of him and celebrate it. Things he’s doing are magnificent.

“I’m not going to rant on like Gary did, or not quite as much.

“But honestly I swear like the things he’s done and things he’s won, you tell me another World Champion who’s won as much as he has done afterwards? Tell me.

“You are not embracing it. And it’s quite sad for darts. If it was Olympian gold medalists, Luke has won more than any Olympian gold medalist in the last three or four years.

“And you’re still talking about, and it’s not a personal vendetta towards Littler, because he’s going to do his bloody own thing. If he wins everything 20 times, he’s going to do that.

“But you’ve got someone who is so special and winning so much and he’s so talented and it’s so sad that you’re not celebrating him.

“I don’t want to jump on the Gary Anderson moany thing. I think you should celebrate him a lot more.

“Not for him, not for the press but for darts. He is something special. Make sure you promote him.”

Wade also believes that no one will ever get near matching the feats of 16-times World Champ Taylor – but believes he can beat Humphries on his day.

He added: “I believe every time I play him I’m going to beat him. He hasn’t got the Phil Taylor effect. But he’s bloody special and he’s great at what he does.

“No one will ever be as dedicated and prominent as Phil was.

“Phil sacrificed everything and none of us are willing to do that. Phil will always be the greatest dart player that ever walked. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know.”

Inside Littler’s massive rise

Advertisement

LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC Fight Night 244 (ESPN+) fighter weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which kick off at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Among those weighing in are recent flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) and Tatsuro Taira (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who meet in the main event, and JunYong Park (17-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Brad Tavares (20-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC), who fight in the middleweight co-feature.

The full UFC Fight Night 244 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Brandon Royval () vs. Tatsuro Taira ()
• JunYong Park () vs. Brad Tavares ()
• Jared Gooden () vs. Chidi Njokuani ()
• Grant Dawson () vs. Rafa Garcia ()
• Alex Morono () vs. Daniel Rodriguez ()
• Abdul Razak Alhassan () vs. Josh Fremd ()

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Ramazonbek Temirov () vs. CJ Vergara ()
• Jonathan Pearce () vs. Pat Sabatini ()
• Themba Gorimbo () vs. Niko Price ()
• Sean Sharaf () vs. Junior Tafa ()
• Cory McKenna () vs. Julia Polastri ()
• Dan Argueta () vs. Cody Haddon ()
• Clayton Carpenter () vs. Lucas Rocha ()

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.

A derby in League Two with revenge the order of the day – is there a better way to start your EFL weekend?

Chesterfield and Notts County are just 28 miles apart but in 2023 both teams and 38,000 fans headed down the M1 motorway to Wembley for the National League Play-off final.

The Spireites twice took the lead only for the Magpies to peg them back and take the game to extra time.

County’s substitute goalkeeper Archie Mair, brought on to replace Sam Slocombe in the 120th minute, then saved spot-kicks from Darren Oldaker and Jeff King before Cedwyn Scott sealed a dramatic 4-3 shootout triumph.

Chesterfield did end their six-year exile in non-league 12 months later, however, cruising to the National League title.

The Spireites have made a steady start to this campaign, losing only two of their opening 10 games and know a win would take them within a point of County, who have also lost only twice.

They are unbeaten at home, drawing four of their five matches, while the Magpies are unbeaten on the road, with 11 points from their five away games making this their best start to a campaign on their travels in a decade.

The referee for this one is Matt Corlett, who also officiated on that sultry day last May, dishing out six bookings, three to either side.

Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Werner Kok, Stewart Moore, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Tom O’Toole; Iain Henderson (capt), Kieran Treadwell; David McCann, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.

Replacements: James McCormick, Callum Reid, Corrie Barrett, Alan O’Connor, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson, Mike Lowry.

Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Mack Hansen, Piers O’Conor, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton, Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Joe Joyce, Josh Murphy, Cian Prendergast (capt) Sean O’Brien, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Temi Lasisi, Oisin Dowling, David O’Connor, Caolin Blade, Cathal Forde, Conor Oliver (88).