ABU DHABI – Aleksandar Rakic sees his UFC 308 matchup with Magomed Ankalaev as a prime opportunity to shake up the light heavyweight title picture.

Given his 12-fight unbeaten streak in the division, many expected Ankalaev’s (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) next fight be a shot at reigning 205-pound champ Alex Pereira. It didn’t happen, though, and the promotion instead booked him against Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on Saturday’s card at Etihad Arena on Yas Island (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN+).

UFC CEO Dana White has said that Ankalaev will get his title shot if he wins in solid fashion. But Rakic has other plans.

“I was happy,” Rakic told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “UFC gives me the opportunity to fight against the No. 2-ranked guy, against Ankalaev, and he was supposed to fight. There were rumors,he was supposed to fight Pereira. But when I got the name, I immediately said yes. You know why? Because I think I put a good show at UFC 300 against Jiri Prochazka, and that’s the reason they chose me to fight Ankalaev.

“I take this chance really serious. I’ve been working hard for this one. On social media, I was seeing everything going back and forth with Ankalaev and Pereira. I didn’t want to say anything. My main focus was to train hard, to get ready for Ankalaev, to be 100 percent focused for him, and just to do a show on Saturday and crash the party.”

Ankalaev has spent most of the build to UFC 308 taking shots at Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) online and in interviews. Rakic said he hopes his opponent “underestimates” him going into the octagon this weekend but doesn’t think that’s going to be the case.

Rakic, 32, is expecting the best version of Ankalaev, 32, when they step in the cage. That would only elevate the value of a victory.

“He’s the most well rounded guy in the division besides me,” Rakic said. “I’m expecting an MMA fight. I think he will try to strike, he will try to grapple and wrestle. But I did my homework. I have been through hell the last weeks, and I did everything to have an answer to everything Ankalaev can bring.”

Rakic said he’s not looking past UFC 308 but is no doubt keen on the idea of getting his shot at Pereira. “Poatan” has run through most of the division’s top contenders already despite being champion for less than a year, and Rakic would represent a fresh face to fight for gold.

“He did great things in the light heavyweight division,” Rakic said. “He’s the most active champion we have right now in the UFC. He beat some really good names. I think the most important thing with Alex is to mix it up. Of course, everyone says, ‘Go wrestle him. Go grapple him.’ But, of course, he trains wrestling and grappling, as well, and he knows some defense and how to defend a takedown. It would not be so easy like the people would be thinking it would be.

“He has great kickboxing, but it’s all about the details. We are in the top five. He is the champion. We are all very good fighters, and there is no better league than UFC and no better fighters than the UFC has. So with Alex, you need to be conditioned and very ready and you need to mix things up.”

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

NICLAS FULLKRUG has travelled to Germany in a bid to end his injury troubles as West Ham face losing Mohammed Kudus to an extended ban.

German striker Fullkrug is yet to start a Premier League game or score for West Ham following his £27.5million move from Borussia Dortmund.

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The 31-year-old has been sidelined since the September international break with a calf injury – which was initially expected to see him out for just three weeks.

But complications have continued and this week the Germany international has returned to his home country for injections to try and speed up his return.

While Sunday’s visit of Manchester United is expected to come too soon, Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui will want his summer signing back quickly following Kudus‘ suspension.

The Ghana winger was sent off late in West Ham’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday and is now facing an extended ban on top of his initial three-match suspension.

Kudus, along with both West Ham and Spurs, has been charged by the FA following the melee he sparked which left three opponents on the floor.

All three parties have until Thursday to respond.

After kicking out at and hitting Micky van de Ven in the face, Kudus knocked Richarlison down and shoved midfielder Pape Matar Sarr.

In a statement, The FA said: “Tottenham Hotspur allegedly failed to ensure that their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 82nd minute.

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“West Ham United allegedly failed to ensure that their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way at the same time.

“Mohammed Kudus allegedly acted in an improper manner and/or used violent conduct after the offence that he was sent off for.”

Speaking after the game, boss Lopetegui said: “It’s not good for him, it’s not good for the club, for the team.”

West Ham will already be without the winger, who had two goals in two games before his red card, for matches against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Everton.

Denny Hamlin is fairly amused with the thought of winning the 2024 NASCAR Cup championship in the midst of his team’s — 23XI Racing — legal battle against the series and the most powerful family in all of NASCAR. 

“Yeah, I would like to have that problem, truthfully (laughter),” said Hamlin last weekend. “I always say if you have an issue, you cross that bridge when you get there, but it is a problem that I would love to have, but I would understand the responsibilities of a champion and certainly, knowing what I’m representing, I think I would be able to do a good job of separating the two.”

The hearing to decide whether 23XI Racing will be able to keep their charters while the lawsuit is ongoing takes place on November 4 — just days before the title-decider in Phoenix. NASCAR has made it clear that they don’t want that to happen.

It’s not been easy for Hamlin on or off the track lately, and his dream of winning his first Cup title in his 19th year of trying while facing off against NASCAR is beginning to look like a very difficult task. The most impressive part of his 2024 playoff run is the fact that he’s still in it.

After losing nearly half his bonus points due to an engine penalty just before the postseason arrived, Hamlin was already in a position where there was no room for error. And yet, there have been many errors. Conservative strategies backfiring, multiple incidents, and a myriad of mistakes on pit road have plagued his 2024 playoff run.

Las Vegas was no different and the fact that he used a fuel mileage gamble to finish eighth after such a sloppy race was actually quite an accomplishment. The No. 11 pit crew struggled throughout the day and the car itself was not very fast. But ‘okay’ finish like that won’t be good enough in this round. Hamlin is already 27 points below the cut-line.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Yahoo! Toyota Camry

Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

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“Not a clean day,” admitted Hamlin afterwards. “That certainly sums it up. You’ll have that. We did the best we could to get the best finish. I thought Chris [Gabehart, crew chief] did a great job to get some sort of finish. Once we lost the track position early, he was doing the best he could to try to get it back through strategy, and then it goes long there, and we fall to the back. Just part of it.”

Hamlin continued: “We are not running quite as strong as we were earlier in the year, and we are definitely not as clean, execution wise, as we were. We will just have to clean it up and go to Homestead and try to win it.”

Hamlin advanced into this semi-final round of the playoffs in both 2022 and 2023, but missed the final four by single-digit margins on both occasions. The idea of him winning the title with this lawsuit ongoing in the background would be quite the dream outcome for Hamlin but for the time being, it is only that — a dream.

Russo becomes the fourth Arsenal player to win the award in the past decade, while Ellen White and Lucy Bronze have both won it twice in that time.

Winners (since 2014):

2023-24 – Alessia Russo (Arsenal)

2022-23 – Mary Earps (Manchester United)

2021-22 – Beth Mead (Arsenal)

2020-21 – Ellen White (Manchester City)

2019 – Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

2018 – Ellen White (Birmingham City)

2017 – Jodie Taylor (Arsenal)

2016 – Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal)

2015 – Lucy Bronze (Manchester City)

2014 – Toni Duggan (Manchester City)