A pair of title contenders are going to be very happy to hear Dana White’s comments after UFC 308.

Starting with undefeated bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov, who has been anxiously awaiting word on his title shot against Merab Dvalishvili amid calls from the champion for an immediate rematch with Sean O’Malley. While Dvalishvili made claims that Nurmagomedov was “scared” and didn’t deserve a title shot, the UFC CEO seems to disagree.

When asked about Dvalishvili’s comments, White cemented Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 contender while stating “absolutely” that’s the fight the UFC wants next.

As far as Dvalishvili hinting at other options, most notably his constant calls for a second fight against O’Malley, White also shut that down by answering “Umar” when addressing immediate plans for the bantamweight title.

White also dealt with the recent rumors that Nurmagomedov was actually working towards a fight against Song Yadong after learning that Dvalishvili wouldn’t be ready to compete again until March. That month represents the start of Ramadan and Nurmagomedov has stated that he doesn’t want to compete during the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset every day.

“Did we announce it?” White said about Nurmagomedov vs. Song. “Then no [it’s not official].”

A few weight classes higher, White also responded to inquiries about Magomed Ankalaev finally earning his long awaited title shot against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

On Saturday, Ankalaev extended his unbeaten streak to 13 straight with a unanimous decision win over Aleksandar Rakic. Ankalaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz previously told MMA Fighting that as long as the Russian handled his business at UFC 308, then he expected a title shot would be next.

Now White is backing up those plans after watching Ankalaev’s performance on Saturday.

“He looked good,” White said about Ankalaev. “He absolutely looked great. I would have to say yes [he gets his title shot].”

With Ankalaev and Nurmagomedov in place as challengers, Pereira and Dvalishvili can respectively start planning for the future once the UFC schedule starts coming together for 2025.

ABU DHABI – Farid Basharat has big plans for 2025 following his UFC 308 win.

After Basharat (13-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) defeated a heavy Victor Hugo on Saturday at Etihad Arena, he called for a fight against one of the consensus greatest fighters of all time.

“Beginning of 2025, I want ‘The King of Rio,’ Jose Aldo,” Basharat told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conferencfe. “We could do it in Brazil, America, London, Saudi, wherever. It doesn’t matter. He wins, he proves he belongs with this new generation. I win, he passes me the torch. Let’s see. Generations collide. I’ve been watching him since I was 11 or 12. I think it’s the perfect fight that makes sense.”

Aldo (32-9 MMA, 14-8 UFC) most recently competed Oct. 5 at UFC 307 and lost a controversial split decision against Mario Bautista. After the fight, Bautista found himself under fire from many viewers that criticized his wall-and-stall-heavy approach.

Basharat recognizes the possibility a grindy attack might be the easiest route to victory. But if Basharat ever fights Aldo, he said he doesn’t want that to be the path he takes.

“If I’m being completely honest, I think he won,” Basharat said. “I thought Jose won. But at the same time, how many times has Jose lost like that now where he kind of rests along the cage? Because it’s Jose, everybody loves him so much and they give him the benefit of the doubt. But you can’t just rest on the cage like that and expect to get the benefit of the doubt just because you’re a legend. I think he won. Yeah, he needs to do a little bit more sometimes.

“… I’ definitely try to approach it differently. You never really want to win like that essentially. But at the same time, he has proven to have sure holes there. But that’s not really my style to just lay and pray, lean on somebody along the cage. I’ll take you down and I’ll keep you down, but I’m not just going to lay and pray on you along the cage and keep on you. I’m going to get you down. I’m going to stick and move. I’m going to kick you. Ultimately, I feel like at this stage of my career and this stage of Jose’s career, I have the advantages in most places. Besides experience and maybe power, I think I’m better than him everywhere.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

The South Carolina Gamecocks won the 2024 NCAA women’s March Madness tournament, and will now begin their quest to win three out of four.

The Gamecocks won the national title in 2022, lost in the Final Four in 2023, and then won the title again this past season.

With head coach Dawn Staley at the helm, the Gamecocks, once again, are atop the oddsboard to make it two in a row.

Let’s take a full look at the early NCAA tournament betting board at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 28.

NCAA Women’s Tournament Winner 2025 odds: 

South Carolina: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
USC: +450 (bet $110 to win $55 total)
UConn: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Texas: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Notre Dame: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
UCLA: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
LSU: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
NC State: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Iowa State: +4000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Duke: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Stanford: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Baylor: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)

Second to South Carolina on the oddsboard is another No. 1 seed from last year’s tourney, the USC Trojans.

With Caitlin Clark now in the WNBA, USC has arguably the most famous college baller in Juju Watkins, who is entering her sophomore season in Socal. 

As a freshman, Watkins averaged 27.1 points, second in the nation to Clark. Her Trojans were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Women’s Tournament after winning the Pac-12 title. 

Joining Watkins at USC is graduate transfer Kiki Iriafen, an all All Pac-12 performer at Stanford last season who averaged 19.4 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinal.

Who are you backing to win next year’s NCAA women’s title? Follow FOX Sports for the latest!

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UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis kept a watchful eye over his division on Saturday when he witnessed Khamzat Chimaev potentially become the new No. 1 contender at 185 pounds.

Chimaev’s ascension ran parallel to Robert Whittaker’s demise after he saw his championship window potentially close for good when his jaw and teeth were shattered following a nasty submission that ended his night at UFC 308. Both had an impact on du Plessis with Whittaker serving as the person he beat to earn his own title shot while it’s entirely possible that Chimaev now becomes the next challenger at 185 pounds.

“Feel really sorry for Rob,” du Plessis wrote on Twitter. “He looked super ready but this is the fight game. Well done on a good performance, Khamzat. That being said I can’t wait to take your ‘O.’”

Considering the results on Saturday, du Plessis may have found his next opponent, although he’s been expected to clash with Sean Strickland in a rematch sometime in early 2025.

Strickland earned his spot as the No. 1 contender with a decision win over Paulo Costa but it’s tough to deny that Chimaev may have just jumped the line with his performance.

Even UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t ready to commit to Strickland on Saturday after watching what Chimaev did to Whittaker inside the first round.

“That’s a good question,” White said when asked about who’s next for du Plessis. “Call me on Tuesday.”

Given the attention that Chimaev’s win received and the potential for a blockbuster fight that could sell a whole lot of pay-per-views, the UFC might just sit Strickland down and begin hyping up “Stillknocks” vs. “Borz” right away.

To make matters worse for Strickland, the reigning UFC middleweight champion also retweeted a message hyping up a potential fight between him at Chimaev with the caption saying “this is the fight.”

Conor McGregor continues to play games with the fans in regards to comeback talk.

Replying to a comment on social media suggesting that his wealth and success have made it unnecessary for him to fight again, the former two-division UFC champion replied, “Ya know what, you’re right, good bye.”

The brief response shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone that has followed McGregor’s career as he has teased retirement in the past on multiple occasions, only to walk back his statement (and sometimes delete the comment). As it stands, the 36-year-old has not fought since UFC 264 in July 2021, when he broke his leg in a loss to longtime rival Dustin Poirier.

After taking time off to deal with the injury, McGregor coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Michael Chandler and was supposed to fight Chandler at UFC 303 this past June. However, McGregor withdrew from the bout due to injury and Chandler has since moved on to a rematch with Charles Oliveira set for UFC 309.

McGregor has also expressed an interest in competing for BKFC, the bare-knuckle boxing organization of which he is currently a part owner.

No firm timetable has been given for McGregor’s next fight, with UFC CEO Dana White most recently stating he expects “The Notorious” to return sometime in 2025.