PFL Chairman Donn Davis believes the recent bitterness with Kayla Harrison is just a misunderstanding.
Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka, began her MMA career in the PFL, fighting for the promotion for five years and winning two lightweight tournaments and becoming the face of the organization. But earlier this year, Harrison finally left her longtime promotion to jump over to the UFC.
“What I said had immense respect and immense context, but when it gets cut down in social media, was taken completely out of context,” Davis told MMA Fighting. “So I’ll try to re-put it in context again, but I’m sure it will re-get cut out of context.
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“To repeat, I only said three things. One, we’re immensely proud that we developed her from scratch. She was one of my favorite fighters and I think she’s one of the greatest fighters of all time in the women’s divisions. So first of all, Dana never says that.
“Number two, we made her an offer to be extremely high paid and to spend her whole career here, and to do anything she wanted. I have a huge amount of respect and basically offered her a blank check and a blank ticket, not just economically but post her career. Dana never says that. That’s because we wanted her.
“And number three, we offered her bigger fights here than she has at the UFC. Cyborg, bigger fight. Pacheco, bigger fight. They’re bigger than the two fights she just had. Nobody would disagree with that. So why is she at the UFC? That’s what I said.
“So those are the three things I said. Those are all respectful, factual, and pretty straightforward. So why did she go to the UFC? I don’t know. I don’t understand. I think it has to be there is a brand there that validates her and our brand isn’t that big yet. So that’s it. But nothing but very factual respect and very factual desire that I wish on fan’s behalf that we could have given the biggest fight in the world.”
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For her part, Harrison has been very clear about why she wanted to come to the UFC, stating that she wants to win the title and cement her legacy in MMA. But Davis clearly believes Harrison could have done so in the PFL.
“Now that Cyborg has clearly cemented her stature as the GOAT, everybody wants to see Kayla vs. Cyborg,” Davis said. “It’s a bigger fight than Kayla will ever have unless Nunes comes out of retirement, and the person who stopped that is Kayla.
“It doesn’t make me any money putting on that fight, but I wanted to put it on for fans. I’ve been trying for five years and I couldn’t get Cyborg here. Then I bought the whole company to get Cyborg here, and then Kayla leaves! So I don’t understand it and that’s all I’ve expressed.”
Ultimately though, Davis recognizes that however he intended his comments to come out, they were received very differently. And while Davis doesn’t believe he said anything untoward, he also admits that if he could go back, he probably wouldn’t have said anything at all.
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“How I talked about this is not even close to how Dana White talks about fighters. This is not remotely how he’s talked about Francis… And two, I probably should have said nothing, but I was trying to explain the situation. If I had to do it over again, my mistake. No good has come from it.
“I have no desire to do anything negative about Kayla. I have no desire to have a bunch of click bait that’s negative on the PFL. So my mistake saying anything, trying to put this in context. My sole goal was truly to give fans the biggest fight in female history, Cyborg vs. Kayla. I spent — like Ahab on the great white whale — so much energy chasing this fight, to have it go through my grasp, kills me. It kills me.”
Luton Town have condemned “abhorrent and unacceptable” racist abuse sent to forward Elijah Adebayo.
The Championship club said the 26-year-old was sent a racially abusive message on Instagram during their 2-1 defeat by Sunderland on Wednesday.
That message has been reported to the police and Instagram owner Meta for further investigation, Luton added.
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It is not the first time Luton have called out racist remarks sent to Adebayo on social media, with the striker saying last October he was “tired” of the abuse aimed at him.
“We’re angry, upset and frustrated to report that racist abuse has been directed towards Elijah Adebayo,” the club said on their website,, external in a statement titled ‘Is It Ever Going to Stop?’.
“Just like we said a year ago, and just like we will do WHENEVER a player or staff member is subjected to abuse, we will stand by and support Elijah unequivocally.
Petrosyan (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on Magomedov (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 308 main card opener at Etihad Arena (pay-per-view, ESPN+).
Petrosyan will look to capitalize on the hype that undefeated Magomedov brings and the coveted spot they’re on to open up the pay-per-view.
“Shara is very popular. He’s got a lot of hype behind him, and I think really for both of us, this is a great thing that there’s going to be so many people watching this specific fight,” Petrosyan told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 308 media day.
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Petrosyan recalls competing in the same kickboxing tournament as Magomedov. They even shared the mats before, and the 33-year-old has nothing but respect for his opponent.
“We know each other. At one point we even trained together way back when,” Petrosyan said. “The tournament you’re talking about, we fought together on the same tournament. It’s not like we fought each other. Yeah, we know each other.
“I wouldn’t say we’re best of friends, but we’re really good acquaintances. We know all of his weak parts, we know all of his good sides, so you’ll see it. For every opponent, we make sure to study him really well, so I think you’ll see everything in the fight. … It’s going to be very fiery, very exciting.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
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Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
UFC 308 is finally here, and with that comes the highly anticipated main event for the UFC featherweight title between Ilia Topuria and Max Hoilloway. Can Topuria, once again, back up his unbelievable confidence, or will Holloway regain the 145-pound title?
On an all-new edition of Between the Links, special guest Action Bronson joins the panel to discuss Topuria vs. Holloway, what the fight means for both men, and how it could all play out. Additionally, topics include the fascinating co-main event betweem former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker and the returning Khamzat Chimaev, what this fight means for both competitors, the rest of the slate, a look back at PFL Battle of the Giants and Francis Ngannou’s knockout win, takeaways from UFC Vegas 99, and much more.
Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between Bronson and #MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew.
Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.
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If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.
ABU DHABI – Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway brought some intense energy to their faceoff at the UFC 308 pre-fight press conference.
After exchanging words in front of fans and media at Etihad Arena, which also hosts Saturday’s event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN+), reigning featherweight champion Topuria and BMF titleholder Holloway got a chance to square up.
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The tension between Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) has grown as fight night approaches. During their first faceoff, Holloway simply stared while Topuria appeared to be the one doing all the talking.
Check out the video above to see Topuria and Holloway have their first official UFC 308 fight week faceoff.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
The New York Giants won’t be making a change at a pair of key leadership positions this offseason.
Head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will return in 2025, Giants president and co-owner John Mara told reporters while attending the premiere of “The Duke: Wellington Mara’s Giant Life.”
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“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now, but I’m going to say one thing: We are not making any changes this season and I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason either,” Mara said.
Mara’s commitment to Daboll and Schoen came as the team is in the midst of a second straight losing season. The Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-3, in Week 7 to drop to 2-5 on the season. Ex-Giants running back Saquon Barkley‘s performance punctuated the sting of the loss to a divisional rival as he rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown. As detailed in “Hard Knocks,” Schoen opted not to retain Barkley so they could commit salary to other positions on the roster.
Quarterback Daniel Jones also struggled in the game against the Eagles. He completed 14 of 21 passes for just 99 yards, adding 20 yards on the ground. Jones has completed 62.5% of his passes for 1,442 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions with an 80.6 passer rating.
Schoen opted to retain Jones over the offseason after he tore his ACL in 2023. However, he notably expressed interest in trading up from the sixth overall pick to select a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Giants weren’t able to find a trade partner, though, and they kept the sixth overall pick to select LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. New York added a quarterback in free agency, though, signing Drew Lock.
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Daboll and Schoen had a successful first season with Jones at quarterback in 2022. He completed 67.2% of his passes 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, with 708 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns that season to help the team make the playoffs. As a result, Jones received a four-year, $160 million extension with $92 million guaranteed. New York can release Jones this offseason while taking on a $22.21 dead cap hit as he has a $41.6 million cap hit in 2025 and a $58.6 million cap hit in 2026, per Spotrac.
Eagles vs. Giants: Mark Sanchez, Dave Helman, and Chris Myers on Eagles’ dominant win
Even though the Giants’ commitment to Jones has been one of the reasons why the team has been hamstrung over the last two seasons, Mara has confidence in Schoen and Daboll to right the ship.
“Just the process that they have, being in the meetings with them, talking about where they see us going forward, talking about the evaluation of our personnel,” Mara said. “I still have confidence in both of them.”
While Schoen and Daboll had success in Year 1, the 2022 season was an anomaly for what’s happened in New York in recent years. The Giants have made the postseason just twice since their last Super Bowl win in 2011.
Mara admitted that it’s “very difficult” to remain patient because “the last 10 or 12 years have not been very good for our fans.” But he said he wants to do “the right thing,” which he thinks is giving Schoen and Daboll a fourth season together.
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“I think I try to be more patient than maybe I’ve been in recent years,” Mara said when asked if there was anything he learned from his father on how to deal with losing seasons. “He was patient. He preached that all the time, and I’ve probably been guilty of not being patient enough in recent years, and that’s one of the reasons I’m committed to Joe and Brian and giving them a chance to turn this thing around.”
Ahead of their highly anticipated clash for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 308 this Saturday in Abu Dhabi, both headliners appeared at Thursday’s press conference. When Holloway was asked about Topuria’s prediction that he will use the challenger’s iconic point down to start the fight, Holloway didn’t seem sold.
“Just tune in, I don’t think he deserves that kind of moment,” Holloway said. “He had that moment with Josh Emmett and someone shot, someone took someone down, someone [held] someone down.”
Topuria would interrupt Holloway, and a heated exchange began, which you can see in the video below.
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Topuria puts his title on the line for the first time after brutally knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 298 in February. Topuria is undefeated as a pro as he headlines his second pay-per-view event of the year.
Holloway looks to become a two-time featherweight champion, and likely locked up the Knockout of the Year with his last second finish of Justin Gaethje to win the BMF title at UFC 300.
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