Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov have shared a gym, but that doesn’t mean they can’t share the octagon on fight night.

UFC 310 is still in flux with welterweight champion Belal Muhammad having withdrawn from the scheduled main event after suffering a foot infection. Muhammad was to defend his title against Rakhmonov and it is not yet known if their fight will be rescheduled or if a new opponent will be found for Rakhmonov to stay on the Dec. 7 card.

Should the matchmakers need an elite name to step into Muhammad’s spot, Usman is ready for the call, even if it means squaring off with a fighter he’s often seen in the same training space.

“First of all, let me clarify something: We’re not teammates,” Usman said on his Pound-4-Pound podcast. “He comes in and trains in my gym where I was for most of my career until the last four or five years, which I’m still in that gym. That’s [Henry Hooft’s] gym, Kill Cliff now is the name, but he’s not my teammate per se.

“But if the UFC’s going to call who they think is going to be legit tough enough and man enough to step in there, is crazy enough to step in there on short notice and go out there and possibly shock the world, definitely the UFC know who to call when that situation happens. And if they do give me a call, I’m going to answer the call, we’ll get a couple of things straight and if we’ve got to do it, we’ve got to do it. I don’t shy away from any of that. I’ve done it on six days’ notice. I’ve done it on eight days’ notice and hey, this is only a couple of weeks’ notice.”

Usman is currently on a three-fight skid and has been patient with searching out his next opponent. Most recently, he lost a majority decision to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in a middleweight bout that he accepted on short notice. Prior to that, he lost back-to-back title fights against rival Leon Edwards and is now winless since November 2021.

There has been no love lost between Usman and Muhammad and while that’s a matchup he’s also targeted, he hopes Muhammad is given proper time to recover and suffers no longterm negative effects from his toe infection.

“That’s my personal belief, I do sometimes think he does act like a dork, but Belal, he’s a man,” Usman said. “He’s a man at the same time. He’s a competitor, he’s a fighter, and I would never want to see that happen to anyone. I’ve dealt with series of series of injuries and it’s never fun, especially when this is our livelihood. This is how he feeds his family, so I would never, ever want something like that to happen. So hope for a speedy recovery for Mr. Belal Muhammad.”

LAS VEGAS – Yes, Neil Magny keeps getting matched up with the hottest rising prospects the UFC welterweight division has to offer – and yes, he loves it.

Ahead of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 247, Magny (29-12 MMA, 22-11 UFC) embraces the role he’s assumed, as the guy attempting to bump a hype train off the tracks.

At 37 years of age with 33 UFC fights under his belt, why does Magny do it?

“Notoriety. At this point, it’s all about letting it be known that you still stand to be a force in the division, so to speak,” Magny told MMA Junkie and other reporters Wednesday. “I don’t do that by fighting guys I know I can beat. I get it by going out there and challenging myself against whomever the UFC throws at me. This is yet again another example of that.

“I can easily be like, ‘Hey, do you guys have any 30-year-olds or 40-year-olds I can fight? I don’t want to fight another up-and-coming killer.’ But I know that’s not what’s going to make me happy at the end of the day. I want to challenge myself. Right now, being at the place I’m at physically, mentally, emotionally, I know I can still compete with the best guys in the world. I would honestly feel bad for myself if I were to sandbag and sell myself short by taking an opponent I know I’d beat easily.”

This time around, the challenge is Carlos Prates, a lanky sniper of a striker with massive knockout power built training with The Fighting Nerds. Prates (20-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has won his first three UFC fights by knockout. Saturday’s fight at the UFC Apex will be his fourth in 10 months.

“I’ve been impressed thus far,” Magny said. “He has some pretty good kickboxing matches that I’ve been able to see. He did pretty well in his MMA career. Though he’s a young guy in the UFC, the guy has 26 professional MMA fights under his belt. So he’s definitely a veteran in this sport in particular, as far as the skill sets he brings to the table. Knowing the camp that he trains at and his background, I know he’s know slouch. Though I know he’s predominantly a striker, I know he’s going to have pretty good wrestling defense, ground game, and things like that, as well. I know I have a tough test ahead of me and I can’t wait to go out there and deliver.”

In order to get the job done, Magny aims to remain level-headed. It’s as much of a mental game as it is physical.

“The biggest thing is being present,” Magny said. “I know these guys are very dangerous everywhere else. I can’t afford to be complacent at any moment in this fight. I know I’m going to be able to out there, out-strike, out-wrestle, out-grapple. I can do whatever it takes to get the job done. For me, it’s all about being present and executing at this point.”

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

The broadcast team calling the fights for the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card has finally been revealed ahead of the event airing on Netflix on Nov. 15 from AT&T Stadium just outside Dallas.

Leading the commentary and handling play-by-play duties is veteran broadcaster Mauro Ranallo, who has called dozens of championship fights during his career dating back to his days working with PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Ranallo is joined in the broadcast booth by former multi-division boxing champion and former Tyson opponent Roy Jones Jr. The third person in the broadcast booth is actually actress Rosie Perez, who has often talked about her passion for boxing and now she’ll get to call one of the most talked about fights of the year.

Kate Scott, a veteran broadcaster from CBS, is set to host the event during the broadcast with retired boxing champion Andre Ward providing analysis from the booth before and after fights.

Sean Wheelock joins the broadcast as the rules and scoring expert with Sibley Scoles and Ariel Helwani reporting from inside the arena. Tyson’s son Amir Tyson is actually serving as the in-arena reporter alongside Scoles during the preliminary fights on the card.

Kody Mommaerts, who currently serves as the announcer for BOXXER and BYB Extreme Fighting, is handling the in-ring announcer duties for the card.

The broadcast team lineup was first revealed by Variety.

The main card airs exclusively on Netflix for no additional cost to subscribers with the broadcast starting at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 15. The preliminary card kicks off at 5:30 p.m. ET

Here’s the full card for Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

MAIN CARD

MAIN EVENT: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor

Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos

Neeraj Goyat vs. Whindersson Nunes

PRELIMS

Shadasia Green vs. Melinda Watpool

Lucas Bahdi vs. Armando Casamonica

Bruce Carrington Jr. vs. Dana Coolwell

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson hopes experienced defender Shane Duffy will bring “steel and leadership” after being recalled to the squad for the forthcoming Nations League matches against Finland and England.

The 32-year-old central defender has been included in a 23-man group for the Group B2 fixtures against the Finns at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 14 November and the trip to Wembley three days later.

The Norwich City player’s only appearance for the Republic in the past 12 months came in a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary in June under then interim head coach John O’Shea.

His impressive club form in the Championship has seen him regain a place in the squad and his international boss believes the 61-times capped defender can bring some qualities that the Irish side was missing in their win over Finland and defeat in Greece in the last international window in October.

“I wanted to see the upcoming exciting younger centre-backs so in the beginning we went for younger players but I felt – especially last camp and before – there were some areas we can improve,” said Hallgrimsson.

“For example, we lost a lot of duels, especially against Greece in the first half, and his leadership, his character will probably help us in that area.

“It’s good to see what he brings in and I hope they will be the attributes he will come in with, with leadership, a little bit more steel and winning duels, especially set-pieces, etc.

Daniel Cormier doesn’t rule out the possibility of Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou happening.

If you ask UFC CEO Dana White, he’ll tell you there’s zero chance of that becoming a reality. White recently went off Ngannou, and their relationship appears to be as soured as ever.

Heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes his first title defense against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 headliner Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden. Both him and his coaches have hinted at retirement after the fight.

But Jones’ coach Greg Jackson said a big paycheck could make Jones stick around. A matchup with PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou (17-3) could definitely deliver that, and if there’s one man that could make it happen, Cormier says it’s Turki Alalshikh.

“If Turki and Francis and Jon can make these dollars make sense, why wouldn’t they do it?” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I’m not sitting up here saying it’s going to happen because Dana does not like Francis. That is a massive problem – massive problem.

“But hell, when in the world do you put that above business? I don’t know that he will. He’s one of the smartest, sharpest businessman you’ve ever met. If the dollars make sense, the fight could potentially happen.”

Ngannou and his team seem to think a fight with Jones could happen. Despite the UFC being heavily against cross promotion, Cormier says sharing the same broadcast partner definitely makes things easier.

“If Francis is to be believed, and Francis has had these conversations, we’re now entering a world where multiple partnerships already are established in this realm,” Cormier continued. “ESPN UFC, ESPN PFL, Riyadh Season UFC – ladies and gentleman, maybe, just maybe, we get that fight.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.