LAS VEGAS – Bernardo Sopaj has designs on one day being a UFC champion, so Saturday’s matchup with Ricky Turcios at UFC Fight Night 247 has a high degree of importance.

Sopaj (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a 24-year-old bantamweight out of Albania, stumbled in his octagon debut in March when he was on the receiving end of an all-time highlight reel flying knee knockout against Vinicius Oliveira after starting the fight strong.

It was an ugly way to be introduced to the UFC, but an important lesson and setback for Sopaj. It didn’t deter his goal of being champion, but starting 0-2 in the octagon would make his title trajectory that much longer, although it’s been done before.

“(A victory is) just one step closer to what I want, one step closer to the belt because I’m here to take the belt and nothing else,” Sopaj told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 247 media day. “I didn’t come here to celebrate a victory. I didn’t come here to say that I’m a UFC fighter. If I would come here for this it would be the wrong decision. When I started with MMA I said, ‘OK, if I want to do this, I have to be the best.’

“To be in the UFC, for me, is just the beginning. My goal is to be the best, my goal is to get the belt and be the greatest fighter.”

Sopaj will look to secure his first octagon triumph when he takes on Turcios (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex (ESPN+). His opponent brings an unorthodox style to the cage, but it’s not an approach that breeds any concern from Sopaj.

“He’s a very good all-around fighter,” Sopaj said. “He has a little bit of a weird style. He’s like a street fighter. But I believe I’m better than him everywhere. I’m a more complete fighter than him, stronger than him and more technical.”

Originally, the matchup between Sopaj and Turcios was merely a piece of the six-fight main card on Saturday. Then former champion Cody Garbrandt withdrew from the co-main event against Miles Johns, and the lineup was shifted with Sopaj vs. Turcios now in the co-headliner.

That’s a bigger spotlight for Sopaj, but he said it’s only enhancing his motivation to deliver a spectacular performance.

“No pressure,” Sopaj said. “I feel very good, very confident. This gives me extra excitement. I feel very good. I learned about this (on Tuesday) and I feel very good about it. I’m happy. … I feel very good. I’m very grateful.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 247.

Chelsea did get the Conference League record score but they fell some way short of their own club record in Europe, a 13-0 Cup Winners’ Cup victory over Luxembourg side Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971.

This 8-0 ranks as their joint second highest win, alongside three other games.

With Chelsea leading 6-0 against Noah at half-time, and the Armenians looking like they could concede every time there was an attack, the only surprise was that they only scored twice more.

Maresca was asked afterwards if he was disappointed not to break their record.

“You have to be serious,” he said. “It is never easy. It is most important we are serious and professional. We needed to show that.”

Noah’s Portuguese boss Rui Mota said: “It’s hard to take, 8-0. We know that Chelsea are on another level as a team, but still, we wanted to do better.

“If we didn’t concede so early in the game or maybe after two minutes when we had a very good chance, if we had scored a goal, things would be different.

“Congratulations to Chelsea, they were very strong.”

Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo, who opened the scoring with his first goal for the club, said: “We’re in the competition to win it.

“Any competition we’re in, we strive for the best and this competition we definitely want to win.”

British men’s number two Cameron Norrie continued his positive end to an injury-hit season by reaching the Moselle Open semi-finals.

The 29-year-old moved into the last four with a 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 win over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.

The former world number eight is playing in only his third ATP event since July because of a forearm injury which ruled him out of the US Open.

After being unable to take two match points in the second set tie-break, Norrie recovered to dominate the deciding set against 61st-ranked Bergs.

“I should have had the tie-breaker in the second set but he played quicker than me and took a bit more risk,” said Norrie, who has dropped to 57th in the rankings.

“I was not happy but I managed to reset.

“He’s a good player and had a really good year so it’s a really great win for me.”

Norrie will play France’s Corentin Moutet in the semi-finals at about 14:30 GMT on Friday.

Moutet, ranked 66th, advanced when Russian top seed Andrey Rublev withdrew after securing his place at the end-of-season ATP Finals next week.

Daniel Cormier values Khabib Nurmagomedov’s loyalty.

Former UFC champions Cormier and Nurmagomedov spent years training together at American Kickboxing Academy. Throughout their careers, both partook in two of the biggest rivalries in UFC history.

Cormier and Jon Jones’ bad blood was well documented, and “DC” still doesn’t see a world where they can completely bury the hatchet. Jones heaped praise on Nurmagomedov, and included him in his top five greatest fighters list.

Nurmagomedov respects Jones’ achievements, but said he can’t be friends with him because of his conflict with Cormier (h/t Bloody Elbow). Upon hearing that, Cormier understood just why Nurmagomedov wasn’t happy with him once having a friendly encounter with his arch rival Conor McGregor.

“We as Americans, we as a culture, we don’t abide by those same rules all the time,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “If you are in such a great conflict with someone, as my friend, we as Americans may not see the need to kind of fall in line and feel or operate in the same way. Conor McGregor, who I met back in the day – he was at a couple of fights, and we’ve always been cordial with each other. I don’t really know Conor very well. Khabib and Conor were cordial in the beginning, also, but it became so nasty now that there was that massive build to the fight, the way the fight ended, everything.

“I saw Conor McGregor in Abu Dhabi. I don’t know who he was fighting – maybe it was Dustin Poirier. We were shaking hands, and we were talking a little bit, and were very kind of chummy. And Khabib was like, ‘Brother, I don’t understand this.’ He said, ‘If I see Conor with his wife, I’ll shake his hand because that’s what you’re supposed to do, but brother …’ And I initially kind of fought it, but people close to me said, “He’s right. Look at the stance he’s taken in regards to everyone you deal with. Why in the world would you not take that same stance?’”

Since then, Cormier says he’s taken Nurmagomedov’s words into regard and has changed his attitude toward McGregor.

“I don’t try to request McGregor for interviews,” Cormier continued. “I don’t think that I would get him, but I’m just saying it’s not a request I make every time I’m there. But it’s like par for the course for these dudes because honestly, Khabib’s not just a teammate, he’s family, and they’re like that with everyone.

“And they feel like if someone’s in conflict, especially at the level that Jones and I were in conflict, they’re very stern in the side they pick, and it’s kind of refreshing because most people aren’t like that, guys. They’re just not – especially us as Americans. So watching that wasn’t crazy for me. Dude, he really is the man. Khabib is the man. He’s got to be one of the most genuine humans I’ve ever met, and I don’t know if there’s anything I wouldn’t do for this dude.”

STIPE MIOCIC will have the biggest of axes to grind when he faces Jon Jones next weekend.

The former king of the heavyweights will bid to end Jones’ reign atop of the division a week on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.

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Miocic enters the clash of legends with a huge cloud of doubt hanging over him due to his three-and-a-half-year layoff following a vicious KO loss to Francis Ngannou.

The Cleveland clubber’s time off – coupled with him now being a weathered 42-year-old – has led a large portion of MMA fans and pundits to dismiss his chances of handing Jones his first legitimate loss.

Former middleweight champ Michael Bisping knows a thing or two about being counted out as he wasn’t given a hope in hell ahead of his short-notice title fight with Luke Rockhold in June 2016, which he won via first-round KO.

And ‘The Count’ believes Miocic will have a serious bee on his bonnet come fight night.

TNT Sports pundit Michael Bisping told SunSport: “I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder and I think he’s annoyed that he’s being so overlooked.

“I saw an interview he did yesterday and he was a man of few words.

“He usually is anyway, but he looked very irritated. And I think that is going to be his mindset, that he’s been overlooked and he’s been forgotten.

“That he’s angry. He’s going to come into this one wanting to prove a point and that’s a scary proposition.”

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How to Watch UFC 309

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The UFC makes it’s annual visit to New York City on November 16 for another blockbuster pay-per-view card.

UFC 309 will take place at the iconic Madison Square Garden, which provided some unforgettable moments since mixed martial arts was legalised in New York state in 2016.

Topping the bill at the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena’ is the eagerly-anticipated heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and former titleholder Stipe Miocic.

And in the co-main event of the evening, Michael Chandler will throw down with former lightweight champion and fellow fan favourite Charles Oliveira.

UFC 309 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated cards of what has been another massive year for MMA’s top promotion.

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And fans in the UK and Ireland can watch all the action from what promises to be an incredible night at MSG live on TNT Sports Box Office.

The penultimate pay-per-view card of the year will be available to purchase for a mere £19.99.

UFC 309 will also be available to buy on Discovery+, EE TV, Prime Video, Virgin Media TV and Sky Sports.

And fight fans don’t need to subscribe to TNT Sports to buy the star-studded event.

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Watch UFC 309: Jones v Miocic exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office from 1am on Saturday 16 November.

For more info visit: tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice

Bisping reckons a disrespected and motivated Miocic could end up being the toughest test of Jones’ Hall-of-Fame career.

He continued: “Stipe Miocic is naturally the bigger guy, he’s the stronger guy and he hits harder.

“If anyone is going to get knocked out by one punch, it’s going to be Jon Jones.

“He also has the wrestling to stop Jon Jones.

“Look at those fights with ‘DC’ [Daniel Cormier], he was able to give ‘DC’ as good as he got when it came to the wrestling department.

“For Stipe, he’s going to come in angry and very motivated.”

Former long-reigning 205lbs champion Jones has only been a fully-fledged heavyweight for the best part of 18 months and is still getting used to his new frame.

He is, however, by no means undersized in the weight class, which faces an uncertain future after his MSG melee with Miocic.

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Although Bisping believes the more “natural” heavyweight in Miocic could cause him trouble if he adopts an aggressive game plan from the get-go.

“I think he’s going to walk Jon Jones down,” Bisping predicted. “Or he should anyway.

“He should put him on the back foot.

“Take it to him, use his physicality, use his natural strength and put it Jon Jones right from the opening bell.

“And I’m telling you, I think Stipe is gonna go out there and potentially surprise a lot of people.”

Watch UFC 309: Jones v Miocic exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office from 1am on Saturday 16 November. For more info visit: tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice.