Daniel Cormier doesn’t see much use in making Tom Aspinall the official backup for UFC 309.

It’s not that he thinks an injury or last-minute withdrawal from Jon Jones or Spite Miocic isn’t possible. Cormier just thinks if something were to happen to either guy, neither Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) nor Miocic (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will be willing to fight the UFC interim heavyweight champion on short notice.

“Aspinall is officially the backup fighter, but what happens if somebody gets hurt?” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Which one of those dudes is going to say, ‘OK, I’ll fight Tom Aspinall,’? Which one will actually stay in the fight?

“Pavlovich was the backup fighter in New York City when Jones and Stipe were scheduled to fight the first time. Jones got hurt, Stipe pulled out, and Aspinall fought against Pavlovich. There’s no guarantee that, because he’s the backup fighter, someone is going to fight him. I would almost guess that if someone gets hurt, Tom Aspinall stays on the card, and he fights neither one of those guys. … Neither one of those guys is fighting Tom Aspinall if they don’t have to.”

Cormier hopes he’s wrong. He wants to see Jones fight Aspinall eventually. After all, Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion and Aspinall the interim. He believes that’s the only fight Jones needs for his legacy and to claim being the No. 1 heavyweight today.

“Hearing Jones say, or hearing the rumor that Jones said ‘this is it for me,’ it sucks because I do believe that there’s some work to be done with Aspinall, mainly,” Cormier said. “I don’t think anyone else warrants him sticking around. I really don’t. We saw what he did to Ciryl Gane.”

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

Teddy Atlas welcomes Dana White to boxing.

The UFC CEO has never minced his words when it comes to his feelings about how corrupt he thinks the boxing model is. After dancing around the idea of “Zuffa Boxing” for years, White finally decided to commit to his involvement in the sport.

Atlas thinks White’s presence would only add value to what Turki Alalshikh has already built.

“I say come on in – come on in, we need you,” Atlas told Submission Radio. “Turki Alalshikh has helped boxing tremendously by making fights the promoters couldn’t make. They didn’t want to make (them) because they didn’t own both sides. They didn’t control both sides, so the fans suffered, didn’t get the fights they wanted. The sport suffered. This sport was getting less and less relevant. This sport is the longest sport in the history of sports. They find drawings of guys throwing punches on caves two thousand years ago. This sport shouldn’t be irrelevant, but it was becoming that because of the promoters with the networks, with their sugar daddies.

“They were just making the fights to keep their guys undefeated, to get to the next big fight – non-competitive fights, and every once in a while they threw you a bone. It wasn’t enough. The fans were starving. Then Turki Alalshikh came along from Saudi (Arabia) with the money, and in the last year he made fights that the sport needs. Dana White does that. He’s been doing that forever over at the UFC. Yeah, I know it’s one guy in charge and people call him a dictator. Listen, if a dictator ain’t chopping heads off and he’s getting things done, sometimes maybe we could learn a little something. We could use rules in this (boxing) world right now. We could use a direction in this world right now. He’d make the fights that you’d need to make.”

Atlas also defended fighter pay in the UFC, and the constant critique White has gotten from the likes of Jake Paul.

“Yeah people will say, ‘What are people going to get paid?’ UFC, he created a hell of a brand, and it wasn’t a complicated formula: Make the fights that people want to see, and the brand will grow because the fans will grow it,” Atlas said. “People say they don’t get paid. It is trickling down. The stars are being born, They’re making the bigger money. Same thing in boxing, but then it starts to trickle down. Yes, I want everyone paid, but when you build something, there is more to give then. Then it will trickle down, then it will go to all the other fighters on the totem pole.

“The bottom line is, the brand will be stronger. The brand of boxing has become stronger because of Turki Alalshikh making these fights. It will become stronger in a more spread out way if maybe the two of them join together. If Dana White brings his model into boxing, to have the infrastructure, to have enforcement of rules, to have the kind of fights that people want, that people have only been getting in the last year. If he brings that, and he would bring that, Teddy would say, ‘Hey Dana, come on in this way. Welcome. Welcome.’”

Mike Tyson has been in the boxing game a long time, and he’s happy to see Dana White jump in.

Ahead of his Nov. 15 fight with Jake Paul, Tyson appeared on the It Is What It Is podcast, where discussed a number of topics, including the White’s potential foray into the squared circle. White recently expressed renewed interest in his oft-discussed Zuffa Boxing promotion, and Tyson believes that the UFC CEO’s promotional style will translate perfectly to this new endeavor.

“That’s going to be the best thing to happen to boxing, just like UFC,” Tyson said. “If you’re in UFC, and if anybody’s booing the fight, you’re not going to see that guy. His next fight is going to be in South Dakota somewhere. Only good fights. If you don’t have a good fight, you ain’t never going to see that guy again.

“Not like boxing, ‘This guy’s going to fight next month again? We don’t want to see that.’ … if any fights stink, you’re not back in the UFC no more, you’re never going to see those guys again.”

Tyson specifically mentioned Shakur Stevenson as an example of a star boxer that continues to receive a lukewarm reception from the fans. Stevenson recently defended his WBC lightweight title with a lopsided decision win over Artem Harutyunyan in a bout that was lambasted by fans and media for a lack of action.

The 58-year-old Tyson expects to draw plenty of eyeballs for his return to the ring in November when he takes on Paul, though that matchup has also drawn its fair share of criticism. Tyson is 31 years older than Paul, who rose to fame as a YouTuber and social media influencer, and is competing professionally for the first time since 2005. He most recently squared off with fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout in November 2020 on a card that coincidentally featured Paul fighting basketball star Nate Robinson on the undercard.

Asked for his thoughts on Paul as a boxer, Tyson was brief.

“I don’t know,” Tyson said. “He’s improved since the first time he fought. I started him off, I started Jake off. I let him fight on my undercard four years ago, no one knew who the hell he was. So I started him and, most likely, it looks like I’m going to finish him.”

Much of the criticism surrounding Tyson vs. Paul are concerns over Tyson’s health. The two were actually supposed to fight this past July, but a pre-fight medical scare ahead of that date led to the bout being postponed.

Tyson didn’t speak directly about his own health situation, but he was asked to comment on whether he felt frequently concussed NFL quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should continue playing football and his answer may have reflected his thoughts on his own career and that of other combat sports lifers.

“Let me explain this to you, there’s some athletes you have to protect them from themselves, because they would rather die than quit,” Tyson said. “So that answers the question.”

The Friedkins are immensely wealthy, with their billions being made in the car industry, but the handbrake was pulled on a deal for them to take control of the Toffees only two months ago.

The group agreed a deal in principle to purchase Moshiri’s majority shareholding in June, but talks were called off a month later after the two parties failed to finalise an agreement.

But they had never really gone away, maintaining a relationship with stakeholders after providing a loan of £200m in June, which is expected to be turned into equity.

While US entrepreneur John Textor tried to jump in to do a deal, his involvement was complicated by owning a stake in Crystal Palace, and Moshiri had maintained dialogue in the background with the Friedkin Group.

The deal was reignited and a statement on Monday said that they were looking forward to “providing stability to the club and sharing our vision for its future.”

The group have provided Everton with a further cash injection and would have no trouble clearing further external debt of around £400m.

An agreement has been reached with Rights and Media Funding who are owed £225m by the club, while there is also agreement over a £200m loan from 777 with financial firm A-Cap, who have seized 777’s assets.

The club, meanwhile, posted losses of £89.1m for the accounts covering the 2022-23 season, with net debt rising to £330.6m.

Owner and chief executive, Dan Friedkin, is listed on Forbes, external as the 383rd richest person in the world with a net worth of £5.7bn.

Friedkin is an aeroplane enthusiast, his grandfather founded an airline in the US, while he himself piloted a Spitfire in the Hollywood blockbuster Dunkirk.

He also reportedly owns one of the largest collections of vintage military war planes in America.

After years in the doldrums, are Everton now on course to fly high again and be propelled to new horizons?

Sean O’Malley is known for his fighting and, at times, controversial comments. His latest take is sure to draw a lot of attention.

The former UFC bantamweight champion, who lost his title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, previously made no excuses and owned up to getting beat. But now that O’Malley has rewatched the fight more than a week later, he is convinced he should’ve been awarded the win – contrary to what many have expressed, including the judges scoring the bout.

“The narrative around this f*cking fight is that I got my ass whooped,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel last week. “I’m going to ask the UFC if they could please post that fight on YouTube. I won the first, third and fifth round. I challenge all you little dorks that think I got my ass kicked to rewatch that fight. I know it’s hard to be non-biased, but rewatch that fight, turn the commentary off and tell me I did not win that fight. I won the first, third, and fifth. Oh, I’m f*cking fired up right now. I’m the champ, I won, go rewatch that fight.”

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) rewatched the fight with coach Tim Welch and his friends, who all agreed in the way he scored the fight for himself. O’Malley was criticized for this, with many claiming he just had “yes men” around him.

In a subsequent video on Monday, O’Malley stayed firm on his stance.

“It’s funny. People are saying, ‘You just have a bunch of yes men around,’ but if you watch Rounds 1, 3, 5 closely, no commentating, I’m not going to talk about it too much, just go watch 1, 3, 5,” O’Malley said. “Rounds 2, 4 I lost, no debate. I 100 percent lost those two rounds but not 1, 3, 5.”

O’Malley is set to have hip surgery on Oct. 3 to address an injury he sustained during camp for his title defense against Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC). He expects to be out of action anywhere from six months to a year.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Aljamain Sterling wants Diego Lopes next.

Sterling was supposed to face Movsar Evloev in a pivotal featherweight matchup at UFC 307 on Oct. 5. However, earlier this month, Sterling suffered an injury in training that forced him out of the fight. According to Sterling, he suffered a low-grade tear in his elbow that won’t require surgery, leading him to hope for a December return, but in the meantime, he’s rehabbing and trying to stay ready for Evloev.

“Just a lot of PT right now, trying to get healthy, and training around the injury,” Sterling told The Schmo. “I’ve got to stay in shape in case Movsar does decide to take the fight for December. I don’t want to be starting camp with no cardio whatsoever. I want to make sure I’m building and keeping that momentum so that if we’re ready to go for December, whether it’s him or somebody else, I’ll be in shape and ready to get in there.”

But Evloev may not be an option anymore. In light of Sterling’s injury, both Evloev and the UFC are searching for a replacement opponent for UFC 307, though nothing has been made official at this time. Should Sterling get replaced, he already has his sights set on another possible opponent.

“Maybe Diego Lopes?” Sterling said. “Maybe that will be a battle for the [No.] 3 [ranking]. I think Diego rising to stardom, his rise in the sport in the UFC has been huge and nothing short of inspiring, to be honest. I’m happy for the guy…

“If we’re talking the next best fight, if Movsar declines, I just don’t know who else would he fight? But if you give me the option, I always wanted Brian Ortega so I could get the closest spot to the top, and now that next closest guy is Diego Lopes. That’s all it is. It has nothing to do with what this guy did, it’s the name value, what it gets me, risk vs. reward. If I’m going to risk it for the biscuit, that’s the guy I’d risk it for.”

Lopes recently picked up the biggest win of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Ortega at UFC 306 earlier this month. The win elevated Lopes to No. 5 at featherweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, and the 2023 Rookie of the Year already dismissed Evloev’s call for a rematch as he instead targets either a title fight or title eliminator.

Sterling most recently competed at UFC 300 where he won a unanimous decision over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut. The former UFC bantamweight champion is 24-4 overall in his MMA career.