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Chris Barnett gets new opponent for long-awaited return

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Chris Barnett gets new opponent for long-awaited return

Chris Barnett has a new opponent for his long-awaited return to the UFC cage.

Junior Tafa has stepped into UFC Fight Night 244 in place of Waldo Cortes-Acosta, the promotion recently announced. The three-round heavyweight bout will take place Oct. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Cortes-Acosta’s manager Javier Torres, of Skillset Management, told MMA Junkie on Sunday an injury was cause for his client’s withdrawal. Cortes-Acosta is expected to return in six to eight weeks.

Tafa (5-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) most recently competed at UFC 305 in August when he lost to Valter Walker by verbal submission. Tempers flared after the stoppage. Tafa slapped Walker and the two were separated in the cage by security after the fight. The loss was his second straight.

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Barnett (23-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) hasn’t competed since September 2022. He was booked for two other dates since, but withdrew from each. Barnett’s most recent outing was a TKO against Jake Collier at UFC 279.

With the change, the UFC Fight Night 244 lineup includes:

  • Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
  • Jun Yong Park vs. Brad Tavares
  • Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia
  • Cory McKenna vs. Julia Polastri
  • Alex Morono vs. Daniel Rodriguez
  • Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd
  • Jared Gooden vs. Chidi Njokuani
  • Ramazonbek Temirov vs. CJ Vergara
  • Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini
  • Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price
  • Chris Barnett vs. Junior Tafa
  • Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon
  • Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Football

Cole Palmer: Is the Chelsea forward England’s most important player?

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38 mins ago

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October 9, 2024

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Cole Palmer: Is the Chelsea forward England's most important player?


When interim boss Lee Carsley oversaw the wins against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, he did so without arguably some of his most important players.

As well as Palmer, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham were also absent.

While Palmer has made a blistering start to the season, Foden and Bellingham are yet to really get going.

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Manchester City forward Foden scored 27 goals in all competitions last season and won the PFA Player of the Year award, but he has started just two Premier League games so far for Pep Guardiola’s side this time around.

Meanwhile, Bellingham began this season with a leg injury and has just one assist and no goals in the five La Liga games he has played for Real Madrid so far.

Then, of course, there is Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. He featured in all of England’s games at Euro 2024, scoring one goal and providing one assist.

He has once again been a key player for the Gunners so far this season and was brilliant in the Champions League win against Paris St-Germain last week, and again in the weekend win against Southampton.

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To make life even more difficult for Carsley, Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon has also been impressing and is another strong option to start for the Three Lions.

Carsley has suggested it is important to find a way to get all his best players in, and he selected Palmer as a central midfielder at England Under-21 level.

“Carsley has got to find a way of getting him into the team, but it doesn’t have to be as the number 10 ahead of Foden or Bellingham because he can play off the right as well,” former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said.

“With the talent Palmer has, and his goals and his numbers, this season his form has been better than Bukayo Saka’s, and in fact it has been better than anyone’s.

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“I have always believed that if someone’s form is good, get them in. So, whether it is the right or in the middle, Carsley has to fit him in. He must start for England against Greece.”



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Football

Arsenal’s Mead and Williamson take on Honesty Cards

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2 hours ago

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October 9, 2024

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Arsenal's Mead and Williamson take on Honesty Cards


England and Arsenal duo Beth Mead and Leah Williamson take on the ultimate friendship test, reveal each other’s red flags and discuss hidden talents in Honesty Cards.

Watch Arsenal v Chelsea in the Women’s Super League on Saturday, 12 October at 13:15 BST on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app.



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MMA

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 8: Julianna Peña back on top

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4 hours ago

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October 9, 2024

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 8: Julianna Peña back on top

The latest pay-per-view event for the UFC hosted a pair of title fights, producing a new two-time champion.

In the main event of UFC 307, Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title by stopping Khalil Rountree in a Fight of the Night battle. Pereira is already No. 1 in his division and in the P4P rankings, so he has nowhere to move. However, Rountree, even in a loss, moves up a few spots due to his stellar performance, moving from No. 12 to No. 10.

In the co-feature, Julianna Pena emerged victorious in a controversial split decision win over Raquel Pennington to win back the women’s bantamweight title. Peña entered the week at No. 2 and Pennington at No. 1, swapping places after Saturday’s result.

In another women’s bantamweight swap, No. 3 Ketlen Viera lost to No. 4 Kayla Harrison. They swap rankings in this week’s update.

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Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

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MMA

Amanda Nunes UFC return? Dana White weighs in

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5 hours ago

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October 9, 2024

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Amanda Nunes UFC return? Dana White weighs in

LAS VEGAS – Amanda Nunes’ crypticness has been firing on all cylinders recently, but Dana White thinks it’s easy to decode.

During and after Saturday’s UFC 307, a card that featured two important women’s bantamweight title fights, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) said both a little and a lot. First, it was some emojis on X. Then, a video of herself dancing with White’s handle tagged.

“She looks good,” White laughed at a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “She looks great. It looks like she’s still in shape. You know where her head is at and I love that about her. There are a lot of things I love about her – and I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes, 36, retired in June 2023 after a title win over Irene Aldana. She cited the desire to spend more time with her wife, former UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and their young daughter.

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Since Nunes’ departure, there have been two title fights. The first was for the vacant strap at UFC 297 in January, during which Raquel Pennington claimed gold through a decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva.

Then, at Saturday’s UFC 307, Pennington lost the belt in a highly controversial split decision to Julianna Peña, a fighter who is 1-1 lifetime vs. Nunes.

Olympic gold medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison also won a unanimous decision Saturday vs. Ketlen Vieira, establishing herself as potentially the next challenger for Peña.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Monday Night Club: Are Liverpool ‘serious’ title contenders?

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5 hours ago

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October 9, 2024

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Monday Night Club: Are Liverpool 'serious' title contenders?


Monday Night Club’s Chris Sutton talks about Liverpool’s impressive start to the season and whether the squad has enough depth to make the Reds “serious” Premier League title contenders.

WATCH the full episode of Monday Night Club here

READ MORE: Quansah signs long-term Liverpool deal

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Dana White responds to Amanda Nunes teasing return: ‘I would absolutely love to see her come back’

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5 hours ago

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October 9, 2024

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Dana White responds to Amanda Nunes teasing return: ‘I would absolutely love to see her come back’

Dana White is all for Amanda Nunes returning to the UFC.

This past weekend, Julianna Peña reclaimed the women’s bantamweight title with a split decision victory over Raquel Pennington at UFC 307. Following her win, instead of calling out her most likely next opponent, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison, Peña instead called for Nunes to return from retirement for a trilogy fight.

Peña and Nunes have a longstanding rivalry, with Peña scoring one of the biggest upsets in MMA history by beating Nunes at UFC 269, before promptly losing the title to her in their rematch seven months later. And given their history, on Monday, Nunes appeared to respond to Peña’s callout with a social media post telling Dana White to call her.

And for White, that’s good news.

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“She looks good,” White told reporters following Tuesday’s episode of Contender Series. “She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So you know where her head is at, and I love that about here. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Whether or not Nunes is actually interested in returning remains to be seen. “The Lioness” retired from MMA last year after avenging her loss to Peña and then defeating Irene Aldana at UFC 289.

Of course, Nunes may not be teasing a return for Peña. Prior to her shocking upset defeat to Peña at UFC 269, there were rumors that Peña and Harrison — teammates at American Top Team — were circling a fight with each other. This was back when Harrison was negotiating with PFL, and Harrison was actually in attendance for the bout.

But whoever she might be coming back for, if she actually is at all, Dana White is here for it.

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“I love Amanda Nunes,” White said. “I have an incredible relationship with her. I would absolutely love to see her come back.”

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