O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) dropped his bantamweight title to Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in the UFC 306 main event in September. O’Malley was out-grappled for the most part but was able to hurt Dvalishvili with a body kick at the end of the fight.
Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) thinks O’Malley didn’t give it his all – especially with his title on the line.
“He’s a bum, brother. He’s a bum,” Nurmagomedov told Submission Radio. “He didn’t do what he has to. He was running. I don’t know, like, if you’re champion, you can’t come inside the cage and fight like that. He got out this fight; he even didn’t tire. He left cage like fresh. What are you doing, man? You have to go ahead, do everything you can do to defend your title, but you were running, you were scared, and this guy played with you.
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“He kissed you. He played. You remember when he didn’t wait until the round finished and he went out. You know, it means like, hey, I want to do whatever I want with you. Merab played with him, and I don’t know how he can talk after.”
With O’Malley angling for a rematch against Dvalishvili and Dvalishvili seemingly being open to it, Nurmagomedov won’t be fazed if that’s the direction the UFC opts to go. He’s willing to fight someone else to remain active.
“I won’t be surprised. I don’t care,” Nurmagomedov said. “They can do whatever they want, and I just have my goal. I can’t fight in March. If you see (them) booking this fight in March, OK. What we’re going to do, we’re going to be active, we’re going to be active. We’re going to take out other opponent, smash him and go ahead.”
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
For the third time in her UFC career, Edwards came in over the bantamweight limit, registering at 139 pounds for her fight with Tamires Vidal (135.5) on Saturday at UFC Vegas 99. That’s a miss of three pounds for Edwards (including the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight), who weighed in again after hitting 139.5 pounds on her first attempt.
Watch footage of Edwards’ attempts below from Friday’s official weigh-ins, courtesy of Amy Kaplan.
It is not yet known if the bout will proceed as a catchweight and, if so, how much of Edwards’ purse will be forfeited as penalty.
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Edwards previously missed weight for bouts against Lucie Pudilova and Ji Yeon Kim, though never by more than 1.5 pounds. In both of those instances, Edwards went on to win a split decision. She enters Saturday’s preliminary bout coming off of consecutive losses to Ailin Perez and Nora Cornolle.
The main event weigh-ins brought better news as middleweight contenders Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira both successfully made weight at 185.5 pounds, making use of the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight.
Check out UFC Vegas 99 official weigh-in results below.
Is there anything more enjoyable than bonding over football with loved ones while winning some cash?
People get to do exactly that every week with our free-to-play FOX Super 6 contest.
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With opportunities to win thousands of dollars, the Super 6 game gives fans a new reason to get excited about sports.
The contest — which has been live since the beginning of the 2023 NFL season — has already given away a ton of cash.
This season alone, more than $79,000 in cash and prizes have been awarded.
Let’s take a look at a few of our recent winners.
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Cheesehead takes the Week 1 Wheel
Megan from Indiana kicked off the 2024 football season with some cash in her pocket, winning in NFL Week 1.
And using her winnings for travel is the name of her game.
“I’m not sure where we’re going yet, but we have a lot to check off from our bucket list,” the Green Bay Packers fan told us.
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She also explained that her husband’s love for football helped her get into winners’ circle.
“My husband is a huge NFL fan, so I’ve been watching all day Sundays, Monday and Thursday nights for the last four years, and I’ve become a fan, too.
“Then, I pick based off what I’ve watched in the most recent games.”
Megan, whose favorite player is Jordan Love, looking forward to her squad having a successful 2024.
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“I’m optimistic that this is going to be a great year for the Pack. And Love is just getting started.”
NFL Week 1 winner Megan (pictured with husband) said she’s ‘optimistic’ about the Packers’ season
The Saint goes Cashing In
“I was surprised. I thought they had made a mistake.” That’s what Ba from Mississippi said after finding out she won the FOX Super 6 NFL Week 2 contest.
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As a matter of fact, her family was also in disbelief.
“They didn’t believe me; they told me it was a lie,” she laughed.
When it comes to strategy, the New Orleans Saints fan said she doesn’t have one.
“I just read the questions and watch the previous games of each team and players [listed in the contest].
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Saints fan Ba won the Super 6 NFL Week 2 contest
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including college football. So it was only fitting that the college football Week 3 winner hailed from the Lone Star State.
Jeff from Weatherford revealed that he just “picks the best players and teams, with a little luck” when he makes his Super 6 selections.
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And although the retiree makes his home in Texas, the team that has his heart is several hundred miles away.
“My favorite team is Colorado. Favorite players are [Sheduer and Shilo] Sanders.”
Jeffrey from Texas all smiles after winning the college football Week 3 contest
Welcome, Rookie
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Paul from Maryland is somewhat of a Super 6 newbie. When he hit the college football Week 5 jackpot, he’d only been playing the game for three weeks.
“I just follow my gut,” Paul said about how he made his picks. “And sometimes my son gives me some tips.”
Speaking of his son, he plans to spend his prize on buying his son’s first car.
“I was super shocked. I couldn’t believe I actually won. And my family and friends had a similar reaction. Just lots of excitement.”
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Here’s a summary of question analytics across the NFL & College Football Super 6 contests over the first five weeks.
Paul wants to use his prize toward a new car for his son
Perfect, Hardest, Easiest
Every week, the contest challenges its participants with fun, knowledge-oriented questions. We dug into the data to highlight a few nuggets from the first few weeks of the college football and NFL seasons.
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Number of perfect entries Across both the NFL and college football contests, there have been a total of two perfect entries. Both came in the NFL contest — one during Week 1 and one during Week 5.
Overall hardest (most incorrect) question through the first five weeks College football Week 6, Question No. 2: “Order the teams by who will score the MOST POINTS (highest to lowest):” with only 0.16% of entries correctly ordering them correctly as: Texas Tech Red Raiders > Arizona Wildcats > Arkansas Razorbacks > Tennessee Volunteers, driven by the Arkansas upset of Tennessee
Overall hardest (most incorrect) non-ranker question through the first five weeks College football Week 3, Question No. 3: “Who will have the most RUSHING YARDS?,” with only 8.88% of entries correctly selecting RJ Harvey
Overall hardest (most incorrect) non-ranker NFL question through the first five weeks NFL Week 3, Question No. 5: “Which team will have the MOST TOTAL YARDS from scrimmage?,” with only 13.39% of entries correctly selecting the Eagles.
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Overall easiest (most correct) question through the first five weeks College football Week 5, Question No. 6: “What will be the outcome of this game? Colorado Buffaloes: Win, or lose by 15 points or fewer or UCF Knights: Win by 16 points or more,” with 82.96% of entries correctly picking Colorado.
Biggest upset on Question No. 6 to pick the outcome of the Featured Game of the Week NFL Week 5, Question No. 6: “What will be the outcome of this game? Arizona Cardinals (15 pts): Win, Tie, or Lose by 7 points or fewer or San Francisco 49ers (15 pts): Win by 8 or more points,” with only 25.21% of entries correctly picking the Cardinals.
So, how can you join in on the fun?
It’s simple.
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Just look out for our next FOX Super 6 contest, and when it goes live, try your hand to see if you can win.
The best part? Yes, it gets better.
It’s free!
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – PFL: Battle of the Giants ceremonial weigh-ins took place Friday, and the fighters came face to face one final time before Saturday’s event.
Cain Velasquez won’t find out his fate until “early next year” after his sentencing hearing was pushed back to 2025.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was scheduled to appear in court on Friday for his sentencing after he plead no-contest to a variety of charges, including attempted murder and various gun charges related to his arrest back in 2022.
He faces the potential for life in prison with the possibility of parole, although it’s highly unlikely he receives the stiffest penalty for those charges after pleading no-contest and avoiding a jury trial.
Velasquez was initially arrested after he went on an 11-mile high speed car chase going after a vehicle that contained Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting the fighter’s son at a daycare owned by his mother.
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Velasquez fired several rounds from a .40-caliber handgun at the vehicle but ultimately struck Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender in the arm. He sustained non-life threatening injuries as a result.
When the car chase ended, Velasquez was arrested without incident by the Morgan Hill Police Department and he was hit with a multitude of charges that kept him behind bars for the next eight months before he was eventually granted bail.
The district attorney also stated that “a search of the suspect’s phone found searches for ‘sexual assault case where victims family fights back’ and ‘sexual assault cases where victims family retaliates.’”
Goularte faces charges of his own related to the case with his next hearing scheduled on Nov. 13 for a trial setting.
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Velasquez ultimately spent eight months behind bars after his initial arrest until he was finally granted his release on $1 million bail. Since then, Velasquez returned to coaching and cornering fighters out of American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose and even made appearances as a professional wrestler while his case continued to play out in court.
Velasquez remains out of custody until his sentencing hearing, which now takes place some time in 2025.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – There are few matchups in MMA that can provide a more stunning visual than Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira, and that was on display for the final time Friday ahead of the pair battling in the PFL: Battle of the Giants main event.
Ngannou (17-3) and Ferreira (13-3) got a final look at each other at ceremonial weigh-ins with an intense staredown in which they literally went head to head. The scene sets the stage for their inaugural PFL heavyweight super fight title clash at The Mayadeen (ESPN+ pay-per-view, DAZN).
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It will be former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou’s first MMA fight since January 2022 as he returns in a new promotion against 2023 season champion Ferreira, who is fresh off a 21-second knockout of Ryan Bader in February.
Check out the video above to see Ngannou and Ferreira have their final faceoff at ceremonial weigh-ins.
Gianni Infantino says player welfare “remains a priority” for Fifa despite the top European leagues and players’ union Fifpro filing a legal complaint to the European Commission.
World football’s governing body has been accused of abusing a dominant position under EU competition law by failing to properly consult over the international fixture calendar, which included the introduction of a new 32-team Club World Cup next summer.
Unions and clubs said Fifa has harmed the economic interests of leagues and jeopardised player welfare through its “unilateral” approach.
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Fifa chief Infantino posted a photo of himself on Instagram, external meeting David Aganzo, the president of the Spanish union AFE, in Miami.
Underneath it he wrote “Fifa continues to work with player bodies to ensure player welfare remains a priority. I look forward to continue working with David and everyone at AFE to achieve this goal”.
World players’ union Fifpro declined to comment, but sources told the PA news agency that Aganzo’s meeting with Infantino was a personal one.
In September, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri joined a growing chorus of voices in the game who suggested players were “close” to going on strike if their concerns on the congested calendar were not heard.
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Fifpro lodged the complaint to the European Commission on Monday alongside European Leagues, which represents 39 leagues – including the English Premier League – and 1,130 clubs across 33 countries.
A separate legal challenge has also been submitted the Belgian courts. In that case, the unions want the European Court of Justice to rule whether Fifa’s actions breach the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The scheduling of the Club World Cup in the United States is regarded as the tipping point in sparking the call for action as it will not finish until 13 July, leaving little time for an off-season break before preparations for domestic campaigns begin.
Fifa insisted the calendar agreement was the result of extensive consultation, and has accused leagues of hypocrisy because many of them, including the Premier League, have scheduled pre-season events of their own.
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