The former UFC heavyweight champion finally returns to MMA after almost over two and a half years away from the sport. Ngannou takes on PFL champion Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL: Battle of the Giants this Saturday in Saudi Arabia, and plenty has happened (and not happened) in the heavyweight landscape.
Is Ngannou still considered the best heavyweight in MMA today? What can we expect from his return? Does Ferreira have a solid chance at pulling off the upset?
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MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Matthew Wells, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George discuss Ngannou’s return at PFL: Battle of the Giants, along with other key bouts on the card, including Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Check out these photos from the PFL: Battle of the Giants ceremonial weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs ahead of the pay-per-view event (ESPN+, DAZN) taking place at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Photos courtesy of PFL)
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Ronnie Gibbons, pictured here in 2001, says she was assaulted by Al Fayed when she was 20
Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was “groped” on two occasions by the football club’s late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
The former Harrods boss tried to “forcefully” kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.
“Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years,” she said.
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Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said they were representing four former players of the club.
Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to establish whether anyone at the club “had been impacted” by Al Fayed.
“The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons,” Fulham said.
“She has our deepest empathy and support.”
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Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.
In 2000, Fulham’s women’s team – known at the time as Fulham Ladies – became the first female football team in Europe to turn professional.
Gibbons, who was captain at the time, said she was driven to Harrods by club staff. Once at the luxury department store, she said she was left alone with Al Fayed, who was then in his 70s.
“He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth,” she said of their first meeting.
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“He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.
“I was just like, ‘What do I do here?’ I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because we’d just turned professional.”
Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: “He even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there.”
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Allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed stretch back to 1977
Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.
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In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: “This time he groped me. As he was saying goodbye, he was sort of grabbing me, trying to sort of hold on to me and kiss me. He was like, ‘You’re not scared are you? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not going to do anything like that, you’re very precious, you’re a very special girl’.”
Fulham FC told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the Club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”
The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.
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Since the documentary first aired in September, a further 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977.
‘Extra precautions’
Last month, the former manager of Fulham’s women’s team Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that extra precautions had been put in place to protect female players from Al Fayed.
Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, said members of staff became aware that the late billionaire “liked young, blonde girls”.
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Gibbons was reported to be angered by these comments.
Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said he could completely understand her frustration.
“All I can say is I am really sorry for saying something that could have put more wood on the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players,” he said.
“I knew that he liked Ronnie because all the girls, they joked about it. But I thought he was an old man, she was a young woman. I was 30 at the time, I didn’t think people his age were thinking about sex.
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“I might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didn’t pick up details in their joking.”
He added that he had not been aware she had been told to go to Harrods.
Asked whether club staff could have done more, he said it was difficult to know what could have been done differently.
“But you should have had a system that picked up things like that,” he said. “It was before I was a manager that she went there.”
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He added: “It is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.”
The CEO of Women in Football (WIF) told the BBC there are “significant challenges” in the female football environment.
“It brings to the fore the prevalence of power in balances and the risk towards women in the industry working both on and off the pitch,” Yvonne Harrison said.
“For players it is really important that they are protected, they are safeguarded and that their voices are first and foremost listened to – and that is the same off the pitch as well.”
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The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was “yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned”.
They added: “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”
A spokesperson for Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.
It said: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
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“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”
The former UFC heavyweight champion makes his MMA return in the main event of the PFL’s Battle of the Giants pay-per-view card this Saturday, facing the fellow knockout artist Ferreira.
After both made weight early Friday morning, Ngannou and Ferreira took part in the ceremonial weigh-ins, where things heated up quickly with an intense forehead-to-forehead staredown that needed to be separated. Check out the video below.
The intensity continued on as Dan Hardy spoke to both competitors. Ngannou looked Ferreira in the eyes and planned out his prediction.
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“I’ll let him know who is the king,” Ngannou said.
Ngannou then asked Ferreira who the king was as he continued to stare down his opponent. Ferreira responded with “Problema,”
It will be the first mixed martial arts bout in nearly three years for Ngannou, who made the choice to leave the UFC and vacate the heavyweight title after becoming a free agent following his UFC 270 title defense against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
The sentencing for former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been delayed until 2025.
At a sentencing hearing Friday at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif., a court official announced the matter is continued until early next year. A new date was not announced.
No further details were revealed, though a public information officer told MMA Junkie that Friday’s hearing was solely the submission of a report written by Velasquez’s probation officer.
Velasquez, 42, has been out on bail since November 2022 as he faces charges of attempted murder (one count), shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft (one count), assault with a firearm (three counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle (one count) and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony (one count).
Goularte faces a felony charge of lewd acts with a minor and has a trial setting and motion hearing scheduled for Nov. 13. There is also a coinciding civil lawsuit by the Velasquez family against Goularte, his family, and their businesses.
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!
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