If Francis Ngannou were to face Jon Jones, Eric Nicksick would advise him to bring the fight to him.

PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou (17-3) and UFC heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) were on a collision course in the UFC until Ngannou opted to sign with PFL.

UFC CEO Dana White is not a fan of cross promotion, but if a deal was ever reached where a superfight between Ngannou and Jones happened, Nicksick broke down what their game plan would look like.

“I definitely think you had to put Jon on his backfoot,” Nicksick told Kevin Iole. “You had to put pressure on him, you had to put him up against the corner post, and you couldn’t get in a technical fight with Jon. And you couldn’t allow him to dictate the hand play, right – where he starts to occupy your hands and that’s a slow-paced type of fight where Jon is very technical there, and he starts to pick you apart with elbows, and the clinch, and the knees and the things that he does so well.

“For me, I thought we’ve got to get this guy on his backfoot, and we’ve got to apply pressure right away and make it an ugly fight. Don’t make it a technical fight. You’re going to have to make this grimy and try to get him out of there in the first two, three rounds. I think the longer a fight would have gone between him and Francis, it would have favored more Jon, and that was where I felt like if we put a game plan on him, we were going to have to put the pace on him.”

Jones makes his first heavyweight title defense when he takes on Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 309 headliner Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden.

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

Interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy thinks an extended stint on the bench acted as motivation for Manchester United’s two-goal Europa League hero Amad Diallo.

Amad had been named as substitute in six successive games before being given a start against Greek side PAOK at Old Trafford.

In Van Nistelrooy’s words, the 22-year-old responded by being “our best player in the first half”, before “winning us the game in the second”.

Asked if being a substitute so often had been a motivating factor, Van Nistelrooy said: “Apparently so.”

The Ivory Coast international was by far United’s biggest threat against limited opposition – he was prepared to run at the PAOK defence and carried on doing so, even when he did not get immediate reward.

Van Nistelrooy accepted a first half in which United made “many technical mistakes” and had one shot on goal “wasn’t good”, but Amad made the difference after the interval.

“The second goal had everything in it that is Diallo,” said Van Nistelrooy. “He fought to win the ball off the defender, then pushed through to take the shot and had the quality to bend it around the goalkeeper.

“He is a great character and a hard worker. He shows that attitude in every training session. Every day in he comes to me and wants to do extra finishing, crossing, one v ones. He is asking how can I improve his shot, and his heading.

“He is constantly focused on learning and getting better. He is motivated to get the most from his career.”

Amad’s present contract expires next June, although United do have the option to extend it by an additional year.

Next week, he will have a new boss to impress as Ruben Amorim takes charge.

Van Nistelrooy said he would have to “check his phone” to see if he had received a message from the Portuguese although, for now, he seems happy both parties are concentrating on their current clubs.

“I think that Ruben focuses on [Sporting at] Braga and I focus on Leicester [in the Premier League on Sunday],” he said.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones knows Tom Aspinall holds a piece of the division’s title, but isn’t interested in a unification bout.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) returns to action Nov. 16 to face Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York. It could be the last fight for “Bones” as he has teased a potential retirement.

At 37, with a bonafide Hall of Fame legacy Jones has created as a two-division UFC champion, stepping away from the sport if he defeats Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC), who many view as the best heavyweight champion of all time, would be understandable.

If Jones continues to fight, a title unification bout against current interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) appears to be the public’s popular wish. However, Jones doesn’t share the same desire to make that fight happen.

“More than likely not,” Jones told Kevin Iole when asked if he would fight Aspinall after UFC 309. “I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything. I understand he won his belt against Sergei, and Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else, so it’s like, I’m not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me.”

Aspinall became the interim heavyweight champion by beating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, the original date for Jones to face Miocic before his pectoral injury. The UFC created an interim title in Jones’ absence, which Aspinall claimed with a first-round knockout.

Aspinall only has one loss in the UFC, which came due to injury 15 seconds into his first meeting with Curtis Blaydes. In a rematch at UFC 304, Aspinall recorded a rare interim title defense by stopping Blaydes with punches in the opening round.

He’s finished every opponent in the UFC, only reaching the second round once. Despite Aspinall’s feats in the heavyweight division, Jones remains unimpressed.

“I’m here to compete against the guys where when we look back, you know, 10 years from now, you’ll be like, ‘Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy, this legend, and that champion and this champion,’” Jones said.

If Jones continues his career after UFC 309, only one fighter on the roster piques his interest.

“If there were to be a fight of a guy that’s still on our UFC roster that would be not only financially worth it, but legacy worth it, it would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said. “We’re both 37 years old. Right now, I weigh about 235. I’m an incredibly light heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240. I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today, and may be gone tomorrow.

“I remember a time when the whole world thought Johnny Walker was going to be the guy to beat me. No disrespect to Johnny Walker, but we all seen how his career has played out. I’ve just been here too long to get all excited about someone who is hot today. I’m here for legacy. I’ve been gambling way too long just to take random fights.”

Marcus Buchecha finally re-enters the ONE Championship ring on Friday to face Amir Aliakbari in Bangkok in what could be his last walk to the ring in Asia

Speaking with MMA Fighting ahead of ONE 169, the jiu-jitsu legend said the winner of his clash with Aliakbari could determine who’s next in line for the heavyweight belt—on the line later that night between Anatoly Malykhin and “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. However, as it is the final bout of Buchecha’s contract with the organization, he might not stick around to find out.

“This fight will give me leverage,” Buchecha said, “So I’ll focus 100 percent on this fight and then discuss better terms. This is the goal.”

Buchecha publicly complained about a lack of fights in early September, saying “I’ve been out waiting for a fight for almost one year.” The Brazilian heavyweight has been inactive since August of 2023, when he suffered his first loss in the sport against “Reug Reug.” ONE booked him versus Aliakbari shortly after his post.

Asked if his long layoff will be taken into consideration when he has to decide whether or not re-sign with ONE, Buchecha said “you can’t cry over spilled milk,” noting he is fully focused on the task ahead of him.

“I hope to talk to you again on Saturday and definitely talk about the future, but my goal right now is Friday,” Buchecha said. “It obviously wasn’t my decision [to stay out for over a year] but I was in the gym, training and evolving in every aspect as an athlete on the feet, in wrestling, in jiu-jitsu. I feel a much better fighter now than I was last time I entered the ring.

“The actual fight [with Kane] was a great experience. I won’t be a hypocrite and say it was the result I wanted, of course not, but it turned out to be great experience. After that fight, plus the 15 months [of training], it added a lot to my career as a MMA athlete. I learned a lot about a Buchecha I didn’t know. It was good to learn to control my emotions in bad and good situations.”

For now, all Buchecha wants is to stop Aliakbari’s four-fight winning streak and enter free agency on a high note.

“He has a good background in Greco-Roman wrestling and he’s one of the two heavyweights I haven’t fought yet, him and Anatoly,” Buchecha said. “I think it’s going to be a very interesting fight to watch, a clash of grapplers.

“He has heavy hands, but his background is in wrestling. If the fight goes to the ground, I’m ready. If it stays on the feet, I’m ready. I don’t care what he wants to do, I’m focused on my goal and my plan.”

(This story first was published at USA TODAY Sports.)

Tyson, who suffered an ulcer flareup that led to the fight being postponed for three months, offered details about the medical emergency.

It began during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26, according to Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion.

“I went to the bathroom and I threw up blood,” Tyson says on “Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson.” “The next thing I know I’m on the floor. I was defecating tar.’’

The source of the trauma was a 2 1/2-inch bleeding ulcer, according to Tyson.

He was not taken by complete surprise, based on the three-part documentary. Episodes 1 and 2 premiere Thursday.

Reflecting on a week and a half before the incident, Tyson said, “I was doing great and then all of a sudden I started feeling tired and I was explaining to my trainer, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Tyson, who was taken to a hospital after landing at Los Angeles International Airport, said he lost 26 pounds after the ulcer.

“Can you imagine that?” he said.

The weight loss wasn’t the only thing he said he found unsettling.

“I asked the doctor, ‘Am I going to die?’ ” Tyson recalls. “And she didn’t say no. She said we have options, though. That’s when I got nervous.”

By the end of July, Tyson was training at full throttle, his agent Andrew Ruf told USA TODAY Sports. Tyson repeatedly has said he’s in good health.

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Thursday that rookie guard Bronny James has been assigned to the team’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

James will remain with the Lakers through Friday when they host the Philadelphia 76ers and then debut for South Bay on Saturday. He’s also slated to only play in South Bay home games, with the Lakers expected to move James between their NBA and G League squads throughout the NBA season, according to ESPN.

James has appeared in four of the Lakers’ eight games and played roughly 13 minutes total this season. He scored his first points in the team’s Oct. 30 road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where his father, now-teammate LeBron James, played a combined 11 seasons and won the 2016 NBA Finals.

Los Angeles selected Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of USC. The Lakers are 4-4, good for the 10th seed in the Western Conference. LeBron and Bronny are the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA, let alone on the same NBA team, in league history.

As for the four-time NBA MVP, the 39-year-old James is averaging 24.0 points, 7.5 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.1/46.8/78.0.

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