There was a surreal moment on social media on Sunday night when a video, external showed Ronaldo throwing himself down a waterslide at the hotel Portugal were based at.

The only thing missing was the noise of the Al Nassr striker’s trademark ‘siu’ celebration echoing round the plastic flume as he flew down it.

Then there was the sight of the former Real Madrid and Manchester United legend training at St Mirren’s stadium as an adoring crowd waited outside for a glimpse of the superstar.

Ronaldo-mania had swept over Scotland at the same pace as the Portugal captain’s stroppy march down the Hampden tunnel at the full-time whistle.

Fans from China, Nepal, Ukraine and Kurdistan were in attendance – and they were not there to see Grant Hanley.

Away from the countless homemade signs in the crowd requesting Ronaldo’s shirt, there was a game to be played.

There have been suggestions that it is perhaps the time for the forward to take a supporting role, but he was front and centre of the show in Glasgow.

At one point, Sportsound pundit Steven Thompson said the striker was even “refereeing the game”.

His first sight of goal, an early left-foot strike, felt ominous for the hosts, but that was the first of four shots – all from inside the box – that Ronaldo, on his 200th Portugal start, failed to score with.

There were jeers from the home crowd for each of his 34 touches, plus ironic cheers for every missed effort, including an acrobatic overhead attempt that had shades of his famous bicycle kick goal against Juventus for Real in 2018.

Frustration then boiled over as animated hand waving was aimed the way of team-mate Rafael Leao late in the game.

And there was time for some sarcastic clapping and berating when the referee blew the final whistle, before he stormed off.

Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos, a longtime MMA veteran with appearances under the UFC and Bellator banners across 16 MMA fights, has passed away at the age of 38.

Reports about his passing were first posted by friends on social media, including longtime jiu-jitsu coaches Cristiano Lazzarini and Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes. Additional sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The cause of death has not been revealed at this time.

“Bomba” started his MMA career in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a second-round rear-naked choke win over veteran Wendell Oliveira, and joined the TUF Brazil 3 cast in 2014 following a win over Elizeu Zaleski, both fighters that eventually made it to the UFC as well.

The Minas Gerais-native went 1-1 on the reality TV show and lost his sole UFC bout via decision to Luke Zachrich in July 2014, going on to win four of his next five bouts to sign a deal with Bellator.

Vasconcelos, also known outside the MMA bubble for dating Demi Lovato in 2017, ended his MMA career in 2019, winning three of six bouts inside the Bellator cage.

“Of all the students I had, you were the bravest,” Lazzarini posted on social media. “Fearless, unbeatable. In moments of chaos, a machine. In trivial moments, a sweet boy. We had a machine that had a bit of everything. Your MMA debut, with a win against a man that had won 10 in a row and had 19 fights, was of the happiest moments of my life in the sport. Unbreakable. So many trips together, so many battles. From blue to black belt, from first to last MMA fights. Man, how much I love you. Unbelievable. Rest in peace, brother.”

Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen was less than two weeks away from a title defense against Fabian Edwards when he got word that his fight was being moved.

Just 11 days before the Bellator London card took place, Eblen’s fight with Edwards was suddenly removed from the event and eventually rescheduled for the PFL pay-per-view show on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia. No explanation was given and even Eblen admits he was never told why the change was made.

“They just moved the fight,” Eblen told MMA Fighting. “Not sure exactly what happened. I was prepared to fight in London and I was actually pretty excited for it. But you know they moved it, I’m a company man so I did what they wanted me to do. They took care of me though, so there’s no issue and now I’m ready to go fight in Saudi Arabia.”

When it comes to PFL taking care of him, Eblen didn’t disclose if that meant a payout for the disruption to his training camp but whatever happened, he was satisfied enough to roll with the punches.

While he was focused on peaking for the event on Sept. 14, Eblen ultimately shut down his training to rest his body and then pick back up again to prepare for Oct. 19 instead.

“It changed a lot,” Eblen said about his training camp. “Like I said, they took care of me. I’m not having any issues with it. I took a couple of weeks off, did some light training and then I’m going to peak again [Oct. 19] and I leave in two and a half [weeks].

“I’m in shape. Just took some time off sparring, got back into sparring this week. Just going to do a small little camp before I go back out.”

The change also affected plans that Eblen had with friends and family traveling to see him fight.

He revealed that a large group of supporters were set to attend the Bellator London card but that’s no longer the case with his title defense now taking place in Saudi Arabia.

That inconvenience may have actually served as a bigger annoyance than the interruption to his training camp but Eblen knows the crowd, his friends and family in attendance or the amount of travel involved going to the event don’t matter as much as going out and winning when it actually comes time to fight.

“I’ve already been to Saudi Arabia,” Eblen explained. “There’s just not as much to do afterwards. Less people are likely to go just because it’s so much further. London, I had a big group going. It would have been fun to hang out with them after. Saudi’s a little bit different story. Less people are going to show up to that one but it is what it is. No big deal.

“I’ve been to Saudi before, I really enjoy it. They have great hospitality. I liked fighting there last time. I don’t care [if I’m not the main event]. I get paid the same. No big deal to me.”

When it comes to his opposition, Eblen is actually facing Edwards in a rematch after they just fought back in September 2023. On that night, Eblen scored a third round knockout with both fighters picking up a single win since that encounter.

A second fight coming together so quickly probably seems odd but Eblen wasn’t totally shocked when Edwards was presented as his next opponent.

“I mean there’s nobody else really,” Eblen said. “It’s kind of the problem of Bellator at the moment and even PFL, they don’t really recruit middleweights because they don’t have a middleweight division. It is what it is.”

As far as running it back with someone he just knocked out a year ago, Eblen doesn’t look at the rematch as a potential stumbling block just because he already has a win over Edwards.

Instead, Eblen prefers to keep the focus on himself and the person standing across from him when the fight starts doesn’t really matter much in the end.

“I already beat him,” Eblen said. “I don’t really think about that. I just think about getting better. I’m not really worried about the people I fight.

“They’re just going to put somebody in front of me and that’s the person that I’ve got to fight, regardless of who it is, whether it’s a person I’ve already fought or somebody I’ve never fought. I just do my job. As long as the check clears, I’m good.”

Video Details

There’s a special guest introducing the Mahomes Mountain this week! Nick Wright reveals who’s climbing his QB Tiers. Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams is on the move after a big win, Pittsburgh Steelers Justin Fields moves up and Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson stays put high on the mountain.

33 MINS AGO・National Football League・5:50

National Football League Nick Wright