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Ryan Hall has struggled to get healthy, but things are finally looking up.

It’s been almost three years since Hall (9-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) last competed when he defeated Darrick Minner in December 2021. Since then, it’s been surgery after surgery after surgery for the jiu-jitsu ace.

“Basically, the most serious string of unfortunate health stuff that I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Hall told BJPenn.com. “I’ve had 21 general anesthesia surgeries since that fight. Sorry, 19, there were two prior. It’s just been kind of a bit of a journey. I got fallen on, tore my ACL, had to fix a plantar plate that was torn. Got fallen on again, and had to have a tightrope surgery, the one that Pat Mahomes and a couple of other people have had.

“The ACL got infected and had to have a couple of emergency septic arthritis. The tight rope, I was actually allergic to the hardware that they put in me somehow, so had to have that redone. It’s been interesting, but finally on the back end of it.”

Despite the health struggles, Hall never gave up on competing again. He’s targeting a return in the first half of 2025.

“Right before I fought Ilia Topuria in 2021, I got fallen on then I went 15 years completely bulletproof,” Hall said. “I ended up getting fallen on and tore my hip right prior to that fight pretty badly, and I didn’t really appreciate how badly it affected my ability to move and there was a lot of follow-on body issues from that. At that point, it was 17 years of combat sports. You spend all that time competing and training. … The big one recently was I had a torn shoulder. I had a 270 re-tear in my labrum. I tore my rotator cuff, big-old cyst in my shoulder that was causing weird nerve stuff, too.

“Getting that all fixed, as well, has been huge. It’s been interesting because more than half of the surgeries I’ve had were actually, ‘Oops, we screwed that one up, sorry, let’s run it back.’ I had six elbow surgeries and five knee surgeries. As a patient, you don’t have the ability to vet doctors and medical staff. … There was a period of time when I was in pretty substantial daily pain for a while, but being on the back side of that, I never lost hope that I’d have the opportunity to be back.”

Hall’s lone octagon loss came to current UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Being forced on the sidelines has been especially frustrating for the 39-year-old, since he used to struggle to get fights when he was active.

“I had long stretches of time where no one would fight me,” Hall said. “This is my third separate, two-plus year period during my time in the UFC with no fights. This one was on me so to speak because of injuries, but the other two, nobody would fight. Fight after fight, I’d get declined or fight after fight would fall through. Turns out, that your only loss is under really difficult circumstances.

“I had a bunch of injuries going into that fight, and he’s a great fighter anyway. The only fight you lost is to the current champ. Coming off of that, being able to get back in and beat a tough guy in Darrick Minner. I had actually just signed on to fight Pat Sabatini and that’s when I tore my ACL. …That was the beginning of this saga. It is frustrating because you sit and go what could be or what could have been.”

The UFC experienced a rare decrease in revenue for the third quarter in 2024 but TKO Group Holdings as a whole still earned a profit with a massive year ahead in 2025.

New financial disclosures were released on Wednesday with the UFC revenue dropping 11 percent — $42.6 million to $354.9 million — primarily due to one less pay-per-view and two less Fight Night events compared to the same time period in 2023. The revenue loss from media rights was $50.4 million but that was partially offset by an increase in sponsorship revenue, which was up $10.2 million.

Despite holding three fewer events during the third quarter in 2024 compared to 2024, the UFC still stayed almost dead even when it came to live event revenue due to an increase in overall ticket sales year over year.

While the UFC reported a loss in revenue for the quarter, TKO Group Holdings — the parent company for UFC and WWE — still increased overall revenue by 52 percent — $232.1 million to $681.2 million. That increase was thanks to WWE with $242.7 million in revenue.

“TKO’s solid third quarter results reflect continued strength across UFC and WWE, particularly in live events and brand partnerships,” TKO CEO Ari Emanuel said in a press release along with the financial results. “In light of this continued momentum, we now expect to deliver at the upper end of our full-year 2024 guidance range for both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.

“Additionally, two weeks ago we announced the authorization of a robust capital return program and an agreement to acquire industry-leading sports assets that will power our profile, give us greater scale, strengthen our position in the sports marketplace, and accelerate returns for shareholders. Just over a year since UFC and WWE came together to form TKO, our conviction in this business is as strong as ever.”

The latest financial disclosure also noted the conclusion of one of two UFC antitrust lawsuits after a settlement was reached and preliminary approval was handed down by the courts. Under terms of the agreement, TKO is set to pay out $375 million to settle the first of the lawsuits with a $125 million payment already put into escrow in October with the remaining $250 million expected to be paid in 2025.

A second antitrust lawsuit against the UFC is still pending.

The next year is expected to be huge for TKO with WWE kicking off a massive 10 year, $5 billion deal to move its flagship series Monday Night Raw to Netflix while Smackdown goes to USA Network. WWE’s other program titled NXT already began airing on the CW in a separate deal that was previously closed.

Meanwhile, the UFC is expected to begin negotiations on a new TV deal in early 2025 as the current contract with ESPN comes to a close at the end of next year. Most experts believe the UFC is in for a huge increase in overall media rights, especially with the MMA promotion as the only major sports property up for grabs for potential TV or streaming partners for the next three years.

It’s possible that the UFC potentially triples its broadcast rights deal from the one struck with ESPN that was initially worth $1.5 billion over five years (an additional two years was eventually added along with ESPN taking over pay-per-view broadcasts for the UFC).

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery did not blame the referee for the decision, despite being involved in a lengthy discussion with officials during the match.

He said: “We played a good first half. The second half the mistake changed everything. The key was the mistake we made.

“His mistake is completely strange. It’s only happened one time in all my life.”

Villa defender Ezri Konsa, added: “It is part of football. Our first loss in the Champions League and we have to move on, we cant be too down about it.

“I didn’t see it, I just saw the players running to the referee saying handball.

“It kills the game. If it is a handball, a deliberate one, why not give give him a second yellow? It is a mistake but we have to learn from it.”

Former Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock said on BBC Sport: “Arsenal got away with doing the same thing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season – maybe this time the referee has seen that the Brugge players are closing Mings down?

“I don’t think Tyrone Mings has looked at Emi Martinez at all when he took the goal-kick, which is why he thinks he can pick it up because he does not know it has been taken.”

Sutton, speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, said: “That’s ridiculous. It is crazy from Mings, absolutely crazy.

“What is he thinking? It’s a brain freeze from Mings. Tyrone Mings might have done it when he was three.”

Crouch added on TNT: “It was very, very bizarre.

“Even if you don’t think it is live, you don’t put your hand on it. It is a moment of madness. The moment he did it we all shouted that was a penalty.”

Just a couple of months ago, former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo expressed interest in a potential return to flyweight, but the division’s current champion isn’t buying it as Alexandre Pantoja doesn’t think Cejudo is seriously considering a drop from bantamweight.

Pantoja doesn’t have the confidence in Cejudo’s ability to get back down to 125 pounds at age 37 – unless maybe there’s medical intervention.

“When you go to the surgery doctor, yeah, he needs (liposuction) to make the weight,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie jokingly. “I don’t think he can make the weight again. He’s too big.”

Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC), who returns to defend his belt against Japan’s Kai Asakura at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, likes the fight with Cejudo and sees it as a dream matchup. He just doesn’t think it can happen at 125 pounds.

“I’d love the opportunity,” Pnatoja said. “If Cejudo can do that, I’ll give him five pounds to fight. It will be a dream to fight with Cejudo, of course. He’s a legend.”

Pantoja and Cejudo share history. Cejudo was Pantoja’s coach during Pantoja’s stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2016. Yet, despite both competing at flyweight for several years, the two have never crossed paths.

Pantoja is now on a six-fight winning streak with two title defenses, while Cejudo is coming off two consecutive defeats, with one against then-champion Aljamain Sterling for the UFC bantamweight title.

Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul is nearly here and Tyson looks ready.

Next Friday, Tyson and Paul face off in an eight-round boxing match broadcast live on Netflix. The fight figures to be one of the biggest combat sports events of the year and while some have concerns about the 58-year-old Tyson returning to the ring, his coaches are not among them.

On Wednesday, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions released training footage of Tyson training and though the former heavyweight champion is clearly not his best, he still packs one heck of a punch. That trademark Tyson power was on display during sparring where Tyson dropped his sparring partner with a powerful left hook.

The footage also shows Tyson going through his workout routine outside of sparring as he prepares to fight a man 30 years his junior.

Tyson was last in the ring for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones J. in 2020, and has not fought professionally since a 2005 loss to Kevin McBride. Paul last fought Mike Perry in July, scoring a sixth-round TKO.

Tyson vs. Paul takes place on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.