ABU DHABI – Ismail Naurdiev was surprised when the UFC pink slip came through his email in 2020.

He went 2-2 with the promotion before he was released. But a little more than four years later, he’s back on the promotion’s roster – winning fights once again.

At UFC 308 on Saturday at Etihad Arena, Naurdiev (24-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) dominated seasoned veteran Bruno Silva (23-12 MMA, 4-6 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision victory.

“It feels amazing,” Naurdiev told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I feel so grateful to be back, especially a win against that kind of opponent. It’s for sure something big and will bring me up in the rankings.”

Naurdiev, 28, went 4-3 during his time between UFC stints, competing mainly for BRAVE CF in the Middle East. Over the course of that time, Naurdiev said he learned a lot and has a much different approach to the fight game.

“I’m much, much stronger,” Naurdiev said. “I’m much more mature (and) much, much better and faster right now. The first run in the UFC, I was too young and too excited. I didn’t really have a right team and right coaches who were telling me how to do, what to do. I was also too naive, doing all that crazy stuff and things. Now, I have a very good team, a great team. I trust them. There was a plan. They told me, ‘Please, man. You remember your last run in the UFC. This time, listen to us. Just follow the plan and you will see everything works out.”

If possible, Naurdiev wants to return Feb. 8 at UFC 312 in Sydney. But there’s a big decision he’ll need to make before accepting a fight. Saturday’s bout was at middleweight, but Naurdiev considers himself more of a welterweight.

“I saw an announcement for February in Sydney,” Naurdiev said. “That will be interesting for me. I wanted always to visit Sydney. … To be honest, no. Actually, I’m a welterweight. First of all, when we go back, I’ve got to discuss with my team. So what do we do next? Stay at middleweight or welterweight? Let’s see how my weight goes, if I’m heavy or not. We will see from there. But first I will enjoy my victory. ”

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

The NBA is back.

The Boston Celtics are months removed from becoming NBA champions for an 18th time, after knocking off the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals.

But the path to another championship won’t be a cakewalk, with a number of real contenders in both conferences. 

Here’s a look at the NBA title odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 28.

Boston Celtics: +270 (bet $10 to win $37 total)
Oklahoma City Thunder: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
New York Knicks: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total) 
Dallas Mavericks: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Minnesota Timberwolves: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Philadelphia 76ers: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Denver Nuggets: +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Milwaukee Bucks: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Los Angeles Lakers: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Phoenix Suns: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Memphis Grizzlies: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Golden State Warriors: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Cleveland Cavaliers: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Miami Heat: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Orlando Magic: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
New Orleans Pelicans: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Indiana Pacers: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Sacramento Kings: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
LA Clippers: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Houston Rockets: +12000 (bet $10 to win $1,210 total)
San Antonio Spurs: +25000 (bet $10 to win $2,510 total)
Atlanta Hawks: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Washington Wizards: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Utah Jazz: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Toronto Raptors: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Portland Trail Blazers: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Detroit Pistons: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Chicago Bulls: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Charlotte Hornets: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Brooklyn Nets: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
 
One of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference foes made a few huge moves this offseason, with the Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Nets and re-signing OG Anunoby.

They then traded for Wolves All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns in September.

Another East foe, the Philadelphia 76ers, made waves by signing nine-time All-Star Paul George to a four-year max contract. 

Along with George signing, the Sixers also inked franchise cornerstone Tyrese Maxey to a max extension, meaning the trio of George, Maxey and former NBA MVP Joel Embiid appear to be in it for the long haul.

Still, there will be questions about health when it comes to the Sixers, considering George has played 70-plus games just once in the past five seasons and Embiid has never played 70-plus games in a season.

In addition, Maxey missed 12 games last season and 22 in 2022-23.

As far as the West goes, the Thunder are second on the board, followed by a trio of contenders in Dallas, Minnesota and Denver. 

In the West, the move that created the biggest shift near the top of the oddsboard was Oklahoma City’s signing of center Isiah Hartenstein.

However, Hartenstein fractured his left hand during the preseason and will be re-evaluated in five to six weeks.

Follow along with FOX Sports for the latest news on the NBA and other sports.

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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Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world?

Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev defeated a pair of legendary opponents in unexpected ways at UFC 308, plus Bellator champion Cris Cyborg shined in her PFL debut, so let’s take a look at how the charts were shaken up at the end of October.

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

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Ilia Topuria just turned the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world debate into a three-horse race.

For much of the past year, Islam Makhachev has been the man to beat with the ever-active Alex Pereira breathing down his neck. Few expected Topuria to put on such a commanding performance against Max Holloway that he would have to be mentioned alongside those names. When Topuria blew the doors off at UFC 308, becoming the first fighter ever to score a knockout of Holloway, it’s now inconceivable to have the discussion without him.

Topuria leaps over Pereira to claim the No. 2 spot on the list, with one panelist going as far as to mark him down at No. 1. The case for Topuria? How about an undefeated record with finishes of two of the greatest fighters of all time? He was the first to defeat Alexander Volkanovski in a 145-pound bout and, as mentioned, the only fighter to put Holloway away with strikes.

Keep in mind, Holloway has been in there with Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Yair Rodriguez, Jose Aldo, Anthony Pettis, and Jeremy Stephens, a list of opponents who have authored some of the most devastating knockouts in MMA history. None of them could do what Topuria did.

Add in featherweight being an absurdly deep division and you can see how Topuria’s resounding title defense has him leading Fighter of the Year talk—and possibly the Pound-for-Pound list next year.

Also of note, you may have noticed the return of one Mr. Khamzat Chimaev to our rankings. Not only does Chimaev have a number next to his name again, he flies in at No. 13 ahead of former UFC champions Sean Strickland, Sean O’Malley, and Charles Oliveira. Chimaev is still yet to even book a title shot, but when you force a frantic tap from Robert Whittaker—who had only been submitted once before—you’re going to get people’s attention again.

And let’s not forget Francis Ngannou is also back, though his knockout of PFL heavyweight tournament champion Renan Ferreira didn’t convince everyone he deserves to be back on the pound-for-pound list. We were all over the place here, with one panelist having “The Predator” as high as No. 6 and two others leaving him off completely. It might not be fair, but if he can’t work with PFL to bring in at least a couple of big-name opponents to face him, we might not see Ngannou get close to the top of the charts again.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Ilia Topuria vs. No. 9 (tied) Max Holloway

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura (UFC 310, Dec. 7), No. 5 Belal Muhammad vs. No. 18 Shavkat Rakhmonov (UFC 310, Dec. 7), No. 17 Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler (UFC, 309, Nov. 16), No. 19 (tied) Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev (UFC 310, Dec. 7)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Israel Adesanya (4), Anatoly Malykhin (3), Kyoji Horiguchi (2), Patricio Pitbull (2), Robert Whittaker (2), Magomed Ankalaev (1), Johnny Eblen (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Kamaru Usman (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 19 Israel Adesanya, No. 20 Patricio Pitbull (20)

Cris Cyborg has nothing left to prove to anyone. That didn’t stop her from reminding everyone she’s still as good as any woman alive when it comes to cagefighting.

In her PFL debut, Cyborg went five hard rounds with league darling Larissa Pacheco and came out on top with a convincing decision win, putting to rest the notion it was time for her to pass the torch. There may come a day when Cyborg and Pacheco square off again with Pacheco getting the upper hand next time, but that day is yet to arrive.

Cyborg snapped Pacheco’s three-year, 10-fight win streak, and improved her own ridiculous record to 28-2 (1 NC). One of her losses was to Amanda Nunes, and even if Cyborg never surpasses Nunes on the all-time list, the fact she’s still racking up wins and claiming a top-5 Pound-for-Pound spot well after Nunes’ retirement is a unique accomplishment on its own.

When people talk about an athlete being one of one, they’re talking about Cyborg.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 7 Cris Cyborg def. No. 6 Larissa Pacheco

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 10 Rose Namajunas (UFC Edmonton, Nov. 2), No. 11 Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci (UFC Macau, Nov. 23), No. 15 (tied) Taila Santos vs. Dakota Ditcheva (PFL 2024 Championships, Nov. 29)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Maycee Barber (2), Irene Aldana (1), Macy Chiasson (1), Dakota Ditcheva (1), Norma Dumont (1), Amanda Lemos (1), Marina Rodriguez (1), Mayra Bueno Silva (1), Ketlen Vieira (1)

Lastly, a refresher on some ground rules:

• The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
• Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).

As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Sean Strickland should be ranked above someone like Charles Oliveira, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

ABU DHABI – Ibo Aslan beat Rafael Cerqueira with a first-round TKO Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC 308 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Take a look inside the fight with Aslan, who despite one of the fastest finishes in the UFC this year was denied recognition with a post-fight bonus award.

Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira

Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira, UFC 308 (via UFC)

Result: Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:51
Updated records: Aslan (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), Cerqueira (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Key stats: All 14 of Aslan’s wins have been by knockout.

Aslan on the fight’s key moment

Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira, UFC 308 (©Craig Kidwell, special to MMA Junkie)

“Like always, I go inside the cage, I knock my opponent out, and I come out. This is, for me, something normal – not special. ”

Aslan on his family being there to see him fight

“I was in the camp for three months. I didn’t see my family. As soon as my mother (got to the airport), she hugged me. She gave me the energy. She gave me the motivation. If there was an ox in front of me, I would take it down. It doesn’t matter to me. My mother came to watch me fight for the first time in 10 years. She was very motivated, so I was very confident.”

Aslan on what he wants next

Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira, UFC 308 (©Craig Kidwell, special to MMA Junkie)

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“The UFC knows already I am the future rising star. This is just the beginning. I don’t want to rush. Every opponent, everything has its time and step, step, step – then become champion. (Alex Pereira) is a great champion. I like him. I wish him all the best. I don’t know (if I hit harder than him). I don’t know. We must see this in the cage.

“I am ready (to fight often). I have no injuries, nothing. I don’t feel like I fought tonight. My warmup was longer than my fight. I’ll take tomorrow rest, and Monday I start again with training.”

To hear more from Aslan, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

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

Kade Ruotolo quite frankly doesn’t need MMA.

For someone raking in dough in the world of grappling, including a $1 million prize pocketed at 2024 ADCC World Championship, the drive clearly isn’t about the money.

Initially, Ruotolo (1-0) couldn’t answer the question of “Why get punched in the head when you don’t have to?”

It took him a little while to figure it out, but ahead of his second pro bout Nov. 8 at ONE Championship 169 in Bangkok, Ruotolo has an answer.

“At the beginning of the year, I was really, almost –not lost, but I didn’t exactly understand what I wanted to be known for as far as legacy goes,” Ruotolo told MMA Junkie. “I was sitting back thinking, and it’s actually when I found God and started going to church a bit. It really helped me as far as clarity goes. I realize I’m not just trying to become the best at jiu-jitsu. I really decided I wanted to become one of the best martial artists of all time.”

Ruotolo, 21, and his twin brother Tye are grappling prodigies who began training at three. At age 18, Ruotolo was awarded a black belt by Andre Galvao. In 2022 at age 19, he became the youngest person to ever win an ADCC championship.

MMA gives him the opportunity to learn and grow. He thinks that potential is much more limited in grappling.

“In order to be one of the best martial artists of all time, you’ve got to do it all: jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA, striking, wrestling, boxing, all these martial arts,” Ruotolo said. “That’s really my goal. My coach Erik Paulson, he’s a true martial artist. He knows everything, every kind of Jeet Kune Do, jiu-jitsu, boxing, wrestling. He knows it all. I want to be like him. He’s a big inspiration for me.

“That’s the goal: to become a full martial artist. I feel like in jiu-jitsu, I’ve gotten to the top of the mountain in the most humble way possible. My brother and I pretty much accomplished everything you can in jiu-jitsu. So with that being said, the next big mountain is MMA. It’s obviously a huge mountain to climb with a lot of scraps along the way, but that’s where I want to be.”

In June, Ruotolo made his MMA debut when he quickly disposed of Blake Cooper (2-2) with a rear-naked choke submission at the 3:20 mark of Round 1. Ruotolo was pleased with the performance, but wishes he could’ve shown off more of his other skills outside of grappling.

This time around, Ruotolo faces Ahmed Mujtaba (10-4) and hopes to display some striking, though will be seeking the win over all else, of course. From there, it’ll be time to heal some injuries, like the one that forced him out of a September grappling match vs. Mikey Musemeci.

“I’ve talked to two people about the same injury and they gave me two completely different types of advice – complete opposites,” Ruotolo said. “One person goes, ‘No, get the surgery now because if you don’t get it now, it’s going to tear all the way through.’ Then someone told me, ‘No, don’t do surgery. Do stem cells and just let it heal naturally. The surgery, you’re out for a year, right?’ I’m kind of torn, in between. I’ve got two torn labrums at the moment, in each hip. I’ve just got to figure that out. Right now, I’m more leaning toward (that) I don’t want to take a year off. That’s not really an option for me. I’m more so in the ‘just try to recover it.’”

If rest and recovery goes well, Ruotolo hopes to have a big 2025 with three MMA fights as well as the major grappling tournaments. With just one MMA bout under his belt, Ruotolo thinks it’s inevitable he makes a massive impact in the world of fighting.

“To be entirely honest with you, in the most humble way possible, I’m a very mentally strong person,” Ruotolo said. “If you were to take the champion in the division and tell me, ‘If you were to fight him tomorrow, how would you do?’ I feel like I’d get the ‘W.’ But it’s not really so much about skyrocketing straight to the top as much as it is gaining those experiences. For me and my coaches, that’s one thing they’re really big on. They really want me to have as many experiences as possible before I really do get the belt. I’m definitely obviously really green when it comes up to the MMA world.

“There’s a lot of variables and a lot of things to learn. Every day I’m learning so much. That’s why I love it so much. It’s been a long time since I’ve learned something every single day. It’s just refreshing. With that being said, our coaches are just really big on experience and that’s the goal. Really anyone aside from the champ, and we’ll get there eventually.”