Sheeran spared McKenna’s blushes by leaving his guitar at home though. It was probably for the best because the Ipswich boss admits he’s “not very good” at karaoke.

“There were no sing-songs, but the players are delighted,” said McKenna. “They know this is a win to cherish, but they also know where we want to get to as a club – winning games in the Premier League – and we know this season that’s going to be a challenge.

“It’s been a big journey to get to this point.”

After failing to earn a swift return to the Premier League following relegation in 2002, Ipswich reached the Championship play-offs just once after 2005 and were relegated to League One in 2019.

“It’s a really significant moment and a day to cherish in the recent history of the club,” McKenna said.

“You look at the journey the club has been on in the past 22 years, the ups and downs, some heights but some depths as well.

“For the supporters to see their club win in the Premier League at a fantastic club like Tottenham, in a stadium like this against a team like that, it is a massive day for them.”

Ipswich failed to make the play-offs in their first two seasons in League One and were 12th in December 2021, when McKenna was named as Paul Cook’s successor.

In his first full season the Tractor Boys were promoted as runners-up and they repeated the feat in the Championship last season.

“For us who have been involved in the journey for the past couple of years, it’s a really significant day as well,” McKenna added.

“Everyone’s delighted but I know that pretty quickly we’ll all move on to the next thing.”

It’s been a minute since Nick Diaz had a fight, and fighters’ preparation methods always are evolving.

There’s no way to be sure that’s what’s going on here, but hell – it’s Nick Diaz. Can anyone ever be sure if there’s method to the proverbial madness?

A month out from his first fight in more than three years, and just his third in the past decade, a shirtless man who appears to be Diaz can be seen on a video on social media (H/T ParryPunch) attempting to light a piece of grass in some landscaping in front of a business.

A woman calls out to “Nick” on the video and asks if he’s OK, and he twice answers he is. We’ll let you make up your own mind if he’s right about that.

🚨NEW: A video of Nick Diaz, by himself, shirtless in public, trying to light a random piece of grass on fire has surfaced online ahead of his MMA return against Vicente Luque on Dec. 7. 👀

Thoughts on this video surfacing shortly after his fight with Luque got announced? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/lVZZuZoFb8

— Parry Punch (@ParryPunchNews) November 10, 2024

Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC) is scheduled to fight Vicente Luque (22-10-1 MMA, 15-6 UFC) at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. The two first were booked to fight in August, but the fight was shifted to next month.

Diaz has not won a fight since October 2011 against B.J. Penn at UFC 137. He lost three straight fights after that to Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre in a title fight and Anderson Silva, which later was flipped to a no contest when they both failed drug tests.

After an absence of 6.5 years, Diaz returned in 2021 and was stopped by Robbie Lawler in the third round.

It’s been about 15 years, longer than the average MMA career, since Diaz was rolling on an 11-fight winning streak against the likes of Penn, Paul Daley, KJ Noons and Scott Smith in Strikeforce. Along with his younger brother Nate, he remains a big draw in combat sports despite his inactivity.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Daniel Cormier can’t get on board with the idea that Jon Jones is ducking Tom Aspinall.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) has created waves in the MMA community ahead of his scheduled heavyweight championship defense against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) at UFC 309 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) by claiming he has no interest in a title unification bout with interim champ Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), should he get his hand raised.

According to Jones, the efforts of Aspinall inside the octagon have “done nothing” to generate appeal in that matchup, and if he doesn’t retire at UFC 309, the only intriguing fight to him at this point is with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Those comments have led to people claiming Jones is ducking a showdown with Aspinall. Despite his history with “Bones,” however, UFC Hall of Famer and analyst Cormier refuses to believe that notion, although he doesn’t like the line of logic his rival and former two-time opponent Jones is bringing to the table.

“‘Shogun’ (Rua) had to fight Jon Jones back in the day, ‘Rampage’ (Jackson) had to fight Jon Jones back in the day. Those guys were big names that fought him as the young guy that was the champion, and he made a name off of all those legends, so by the time I got to him, he was a legend,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He was a legend already in 2016, 2015. He was already a legend in five years, and that was only because he had beaten all those great guys before. It really is the tale of sport, the tale of entertainment. Before Michael Jordan could become Michael Jordan, he had to go through the Detroit Pistons who were winning in the 80s. He had to beat the Boston Celtics to get to the finals, who were going back-and-forth with the Lakers. The old guard has to get passed through for the new guard to happen. So for Jon to say he’s a nobody – but is he really?

“He’s a world champion. He’s the world champ, honestly. That’s who he is. He is the No. 2 heavyweight in the world. He’s the interim champ. He’s not a guy that’s just working his way through the division. It’s a guy that has smashed the division. I think my biggest issue with that is the final statement, though. Not giving him an opportunity to make a name off me. But you’re Jon Jones. Most people would still expect him to beat Tom Aspinall, or am I wrong? Are more people expecting Tom Aspinall to beat Jones? Maybe I’m off base. Maybe the idea is that Tom Aspinall is going to beat Jon Jones?”

Cormier can’t buy into the concept Jones has fear of Aspinall, or any man, given his body of work in the sport over nearly 15 years at the top of the game. He is far more sold on the idea of risk management, though, and thinks Jones is ultimately playing a game to lure more money out of the UFC.

“Look, Jon Jones isn’t afraid of Tom Aspinall,” Cormier said. “I wish people would stop saying that. He is not afraid of that guy. He is not afraid of anyone. He is not afraid to fight this guy. He’s not. I think he’s trying to be more strategic. He’s trying to make sure his legacy stands. I don’t know it could ever be faded. I know we have short memories, but could you ever forget what he did? I don’t think him fighting Tom Aspinall with the potential he would lose is a bad thing. But most would expect him to win the fight. But at the end of the day, the old guard has to get passed through for the new guard to go. Unless you don’t play the sport by the way that everyone else does it. Everyone else does it that way. Maybe Jones will be different.

“I would believe that he is negotiating publicly. Trying to get more money, and make the UFC go, ‘I need this fight because (the fans) want it so bad.’ Then they give him a number he can’t refuse.”

Cormier said he understands why Jones would be open to fighting Pereira given the stylistic advantages his holds over the 205-pound champ. But given the existence of Aspinall, he just doesn’t like the entire optics of what’s going on.

“Yeah, Jon Jones would prefer that matchup (with Alex Pereira) because it’s much less risky than fighting Tom Aspinall,” Cormier said. “Would a Pereira vs. Jones pay-per-view sell more than Tom Aspinall? Absolutely. So financially, he does have a point. That is the biggest money fight for him with the less risk. People now know Pereira. But at the end of the day you have the (interim) heavyweight champion who is nipping at the bud, and weighing in in New York.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

LAS VEGAS – Gaston Bolanos took a big weight off his shoulders with his latest victory inside the octagon.

The Peruvian fighter picked up a unanimous decision win over Cortavious Romious (9-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 247, bouncing back from his TKO defeat to Marcus McGhee earlier this year.

Entering Saturday’s event off a defeat and 1-1 in the octagon, Bolanos (8-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) thought he needed to prove fans his place is among the best fighters today.

“I think I showed that I belong,” Bolanos told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 247 post-fight press conference. “I think that I showed I’m a UFC fighter. I feel like so many people have been doubting me. I think that I was able to show that with a quality opponent. Not anybody just wins a contract from Dana White, so I knew it was a tough fight. I’m happy about that. I didn’t get the finish that I wanted. I think I was very close.”

As far as what’s next, Bolanos would like to amp up his activity level. He’s only fought twice since debuting for the UFC in April 2023, and would like that to change come next year.

“I hope early 2025, that’s something realistic,” Bolanos said regarding a return. “I’m definitely a fighter that likes to stay active. Hopefully the first three months of 2025, we’ll get something going. I would like to fight at least three times next year. I want to show that ‘Dream Killer’ is here to stay. I’m a quality fighter for this organization, and this division.”

Max Holloway has done it all at 145 pounds and he’s no less ambitious when it comes to his expectations in the lightweight division.

“Blessed” recently made it official that he plans to move up in weight and join the UFC’s 155-pound roster following a 12-year run that saw him compete primarily as a featherweight and reign as that division’s champion from 2017 to 2019. Holloway had a chance to regain the featherweight title this past October at UFC 308, but lost to Ilia Topuria, who handed Holloway his first-ever knockout loss.

Moving from one deep division to another, Holloway hopes to follow in the footsteps of light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who claimed the UFC middleweight title from rival Israel Adesanya in just his fourth fight for the promotion. He dropped the belt back to Adesanya in an immediate rematch, but two fights later he won a vacant light heavyweight title by defeating Jiri Prochazka.

Holloway called Pereira an inspiration during a recent Kick stream (h/t Championship Rounds):

“155, cannot wait,” Holloway said. “All I know is, we saw Alex Pereira get finished [by Adesanya], right? Next fight he fought for a No. 1 contender spot. Fought for the title and he’s on a title run right now, a spectacular title run. Let’s mimic it. Let’s do it.”

Since winning the light heavyweight title, Pereira has successfully defended it three times in 2024, making him one of the UFC’s most valuable players. A former kickboxing champion, the 37-year-old Pereira still has plenty of big fights ahead with No. 1 contender Magomed Ankalaev breathing down his neck and all-time great Jon Jones stating his preference would be to fight Pereira should he continue competing after his bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

Suffice to say, if the lightweight chapter of Holloway’s career is anything close to how Pereira reinvented himself, he’ll be more than pleased.

“I get inspiration in that,” Holloway said. “He’s a beast.”