Max Holloway doesn’t mind trading verbal jabs with his opponents, but he doesn’t operate under the “when they go low, you go lower” mantra.

In the leadup to UFC 308, Holloway sat down for a face-to-face interview with opponent Ilia Topuria where they went back and forth for nearly 20 minutes in a heated exchange. At one point, Holloway told him to “speak” as Topuria was seemingly stumbling over his words and the former featherweight champion later revealed that he received criticism as if he was mocking the Georgian fighter for struggling with his English, which is obviously not his first language.

“I need to clear this up,” Holloway told MMA Fighting when addressing the situation. “A lot of people was giving me heat for teasing him how he spoke English. I wasn’t teasing that he was speaking English. I know he speaks like five languages. I speak one language and I have a hard time speaking English. I have a hard time saying names. I understand how hard speaking one language is. I wasn’t teasing his language.

“What I was teasing was that he sounded so scripted and then every time he went off of his scripted words, he started mumbling or he would say ‘shut the f*ck up, motherf*cker.’ I’m like brother, you’re so scripted right now. That’s why I teased him. I’m like speak. Stop using your scripted lines.”

It turns out that was Holloway’s biggest annoyance because he believes Topuria was effectively reading from a script during many of the verbal exchanges.

While Holloway doesn’t spent much time trash talking his opponents, he’s not going to knock a guy for the way he speaks English but he’s not opposed to getting frustrated when he feels like he’s hearing rehearsed lines meant to insult him.

“It wasn’t that deep,” Holloway said. “I was calling him out. You could tell. Watch the interview. Everything he was saying was scripted. As soon as it wasn’t scripted, or he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t have an answer for it, he’d either say ‘shut the eff up, mother effer’ or he would start stumbling. That’s why I was teasing him.

“I don’t talk very good English and this is my only language. Stop attacking me about that.”

Truth be told, Holloway can’t wait to put the talking behind him and just get into the octagon to battle with Topuria as he attempts to reclaim the UFC featherweight title.

He hasn’t sat on top of the 145-pound division for nearly five years after falling to Alexander Volkanovski back in 2019 and then losing a pair of rematches to the Australian.

Meanwhile, Topuria vanquished Volkanovski in impressive fashion back in February, ultimately scoring a second round knockout to win the title. That fight came just under four months removed from Volkanovski suffering a brutal head kick knockout loss to Islam Makhachev and an argument could be made that he rushed back too soon for the showdown against Topuria.

For his part, Holloway doesn’t want to live in a world filled with what ifs because Volkanovski made the decision to fight and Topuria beat him. End of story.

“At the end of the day, we can be like ‘if he did this, if he did that,’ at the end of the day his team, Alex has a great team around him, they thought that he was ready and they went out there and fought,” Holloway said. “Even if he was compromised, Ilia went out there and did his thing. He landed the shot that ended the fight. That’s a hard thing to do. He’s still got to do that part.

“We can say he said, she said and all this kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, Ilia did what he did. He showed up to the fight, Alex showed up to the fight, and he was just on the winning side. You can’t take nothing away from the guy. I’m not going to. He’s a dangerous man and I can’t wait to go out there and share the octagon with him and prove a lot of these naysayers wrong.”

When it comes to his hopes to reclaim the title on Saturday, Holloway admits it would be a remarkably important moment for his career, especially considering what he endured through those three losses to Volkanovski.

Becoming a two-time UFC featherweight champion might not end up as the biggest accomplishment of his career, but Holloway knows it would be pretty special.

“It would mean a lot, especially with the way my career went,” Holloway said. “After that third fight with [Alexander] Volkanovski, a lot of people were saying I should change weight classes or all together, I should just retire because it’s never, ever going to happen.

“I guess a couple of years later we’re here and we’re days away and we get to find out who has the last laugh Oct. 26. I can’t wait for the opportunity.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will meet up in the World Series, starting with Game 1 on Friday (8:08 p.m. ET on FOX).

This will be the 12th time these iconic franchises will battle for a championship, but the first time since 1981.

Here is the lowdown on Game 1, including how to watch, potential lineups and more.

How can I watch the World Series?

Every game will be broadcast on FOX, and each contest is slated to start at 8:08 p.m. ET. Here is the schedule:

Who is favored?

The Dodgers are currently favored to win Game 1, and also favored (-125) to win the series.

Who will start Game 1?

The Yankees will start reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. The Dodgers have not yet announced a starter. Walker Buehler was expected to start Game 7 of the NLCS if that had occurred. But the long break gives them more options, including potentially Jack Flaherty or Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Dodgers vs. Yankees preview: Who will win the World Series?

[Related: A look back at past Dodgers-Yankees World Series matchups]

Who will be in the lineup for Game 1?

Neither team has announced its starting lineup, so these are projections based on how Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts have filled out their cards in recent games. Also, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman has been in and out of the lineup with an ankle injury, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that. This will be updated when things become official.

Yankees

1. Gleyber Torres, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Aaron Judge, CF
4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. Jazz Chisholm, 3B
6. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
7. Anthony Volpe, SS
8. Austin Wells, C
9. Alex Verdugo, LF

Dodgers

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Mookie Betts, RF
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Max Muncy, 3B
5. Teoscar Hernández, LF
6. Gavin Lux, 2B
7. Will Smith, C
8. Tommy Edman, SS
9. Kiké Hernández, CF

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ADXC 6 was forced to make another change to its main event in Abu Dhabi, and this time it’s a grappling battle between UFC veterans Muhammad Mokaev and Rogerio Bontorin set for Friday. Bontorin’s manager announced the news on Monday.

The card went from Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Eduardo Dantas as the headlining attraction to Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Muhammad Mokaev, and now Bontorin steps in as a short-notice replacement “due to unforeseen circumstances”. Rosas Jr. posted on social media that “UFC wants me to focus on MMA for now”.

Mokaev remains unbeaten after 36 MMA contests in a row, going 23-0 as an amateur before turning pro in 2020. The Russian was victorious in all seven UFC appearances, beating the likes of Manel Kape and Alex Perez, but was not re-signed to the promotion.

Bontorin fought six times under the UFC banner between 2019 and 2022 after competing at Dana White’s Contender Series, scoring wins over Magomed Bibulatov and Raulian Paiva before a four-fight skid with defeats to Ray Borg, Kai Kara-France and Brandon Royval. Bontorin, who last fought in MMA inside the RIZIN cage back in 2023, scored 11 of his 17 MMA wins via submission.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Francis Ngannou had a sport’s icon in his locker room ahead of his MMA return.

Ngannou (18-3) claimed the inaugural superfight heavyweight title by knocking out Renan Ferreira (13-4) in the first round of Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants main event.

Prior to making the walk, Ngannou had Cristiano Ronaldo in his locker room. Eric Nicksick says the soccer icon provided Ngannou some comfort and support after going through a similar traumatic experience.

“He’s super down to earth, super cool guy, and he’s actually a huge fight fan,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “He had a bunch of questions. He was talking to me about Strickland, he was talking to me about this and whatever fight it was. At one point Francis got up to wrap his hands and Ronaldo was talking about that he could feel Francis’ energy and he’s like, ‘I’m going to give him words of encouragement.’

“He was talking about the loss of one of his children and how he related to things like that. It was pretty cool. I know how big of a star he is, but him sitting next to me and having this very personal conversation – he felt like he was a part of the team right then and there. His son was in there with us and hanging out. It was very much a welcomed energy to have in the room, especially with someone of that stature that understands the highest of pressure. It was cool. He was a great guy. Very down to earth. Very cool.”

Ronaldo, widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time and most well-known celebrities in the world, has been a longtime MMA fan, previously hanging out with the likes of UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.

Brendan Schaub fired back at Nate Diaz with a fiery promo.

Last week on his podcast, Schaub emotionally opened up about his friend Shane Carwin, a former UFC interim champion, and his financial and physical struggles following an open letter written by Carwin as part of the UFC antitrust lawsuit. Schaub was in tears as he was giving more insight to the situation. Hours later, Diaz reacted by taking a personal shot at Schaub.

This week on The Schaub Show, the former UFC heavyweight, turned comedian and podcaster, delivered his response.

“This is just internet gossip,” Schaub said. “This is getting him trending, he doesn’t have a lot going on, didn’t get paid for the Masvidal fight, probably doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. Conor, he’s probably waiting on that. Conor’s tied up with the TV [rights] deal, so he’s probably banking on that. He fought Masvidal, lost to Jake Paul — that’s a big blow to his ego. So I guess he needs to do this to stay current.

“I retired 15 years ago, man. That being said, that’s social media. This isn’t real, because here’s what’s real: I will f*ck you up. That’s real. I’m not asking for this. I don’t want to f*ck him up, I’m not trying to f*ck him up. End of the day, if he walked in here right now, … only one of us is going to walk out unscathed, and it’s me. Every f*cking day of the week, 365 days a year, I will snap his f*cking neck.”

Diaz is looking for his next fight after defeating Jorge Masvidal in a boxing match earlier this year. Diaz filed a lawsuit against Fanmio, the promoter of the event, saying he’s allegedly owed $9 million.

As far as Schaub goes, he respects what Diaz has done as a fighter, but in his eyes, that wouldn’t matter in this situation.

“He’s had some great fights, tough dude, I don’t give a f*ck,” Schaub explained. “I’m 245 pounds, trained black belt, top-10 UFC heavyweight in the world at one point, I’m not out of shape. I’m a f*cking beast when it comes down to it. I know, I tell jokes, I do crazy shit, I made some mistakes, ‘Oh, he got knocked out by Nogueira, … silly dude, I get all that. At the end of the day, the way this works, I’m not a civilian like the rest of his goons around him. I’m not this fake gangster, I don’t go looking for fights. I know I’m tough.

“I don’t have to get on Twitter and blast it out, and prove it every day because I’m insecure, because of whatever shit he has going on with his childhood trauma. I don’t have to do that. At the end of the day, I will twist your f*cking neck off. …

“The difference between you and I is if your brother — Shane’s a brother to me — but if your actual f*cking brother came out and started getting emotional, or if you started getting emotional about your brother’s issues with CTE and fighting and all this shit — because we know he has his issues — I would support you,” Schaub continues. “Even though you’ve been a dick to me the entire time.

“That’s what I do. That’s what men do, bud. I wouldn’t bash you, and this whole narrative, this entire narrative, ‘Oh, f*ck the man,’ bud, you’ve been paid more than 99 percent of the fighters. Cut the bullshit. You’re no different than Colby Covington with his MAGA shit. It’s all fake, bud. You’re not fooling anybody. I’ve seen how the sausage is made. You’re not tough to me. I know tough guys. Tough guys don’t get on the internet and tweet at another grown f*cking man, who’d beat the shit out of him when they’re crying, or getting emotional because their friend of 20 f*cking years is having major issues, suicidal thoughts. That’s p*ssy.”

Schaub ended up retiring from the sport in 2014 following a first-round TKO loss to Travis Browne at UFC 181, a moment that led to friend and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan having a real moment where he urged Schaub to retire.

The fighter is still inside of Schaub, as he says, and while he’s not seeking a fight, if Diaz wants one, Schaub will be happy to oblige.

“What are you going to do Nate? What are you going to do? You going to volume punch me, motherf*cker?” Schaub said. “That’s what you’re going to do? What are you going to do, out grapple me? In what f*cking sense? What world are you living in? This is the real world.

“Now, if you’re doing this because you fancy yourself [some] fisticuffs, if you fancy yourself [and] you want to actually grapple me, I’m not hard to get a hold of. Pull the f*ck up. And you can show up with all your boys, do all that stuff, but what a real man will do is pull up one-on-one. I don’t have a posse, I don’t need one, bud. I’ll drop my kid off at f*cking practice, roll over, twist your f*cking neck off, and then pick him up just in time unscathed with a Diet Coke. And that’s how this goes for the rest of your f*cking life, bud.”

Of course, Diaz was made aware of Schaub’s comments, and reacted to them on Twitter — using one of Schaub’s infamous quotes in the process.

“I think you’d be surprised,” Diaz wrote.

Tottenham, West Ham United and Hammers midfielder Mohammed Kudus have been charged by the Football Association following Saturday’s Premier League match.

Ghana winger Kudus was sent off during his side’s 4-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for kicking Spurs defender Micky van de Ven and pushing both the Dutchman and midfielder Pape Matar Sarr in the face.

But the FA have charged the former Ajax player with violent conduct and acting in an improper manner for an incident “after the offence he was sent off for”.

Additionally, both clubs have been charged with failing to ensure their players “didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way” at the time of Kudus’ sending off.

Kudus, 24, was initially shown a yellow card for his push on Van de Ven but it was upgraded to a red following a VAR review, which showed referee Andrew Madley the pushes on Van de Ven and Sarr.

Both sets of players gathered around Kudus, who had put West Ham ahead in the game, following the incident.

If found guilty, he could serve an extra punishment on top of the three-game ban he will serve for his violent conduct dismissal.

The three parties have until Thursday to provide their responses.