After getting knocked out for the first time in his career in the main event of UFC 308 by Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway’s featherweight career appears to be over for good, as he recently confirmed he’ll be making the move to the UFC lightweight division. Is it the right move for the current “BMF” champion?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel reacts to Holloway’s full-time lightweight jump, discuss who he could face next at 155, and if a third meeting with Dustin Poirier is the fight to make. Additionally, topics include Brandon Moreno’s sensational performance at UFC Edmonton and what’s next for the former two-time champ, other standout moments from this past Saturday’s card, Rakhmonov wanting a fight with Kamaru Usman for the interim welterweight title at UFC 310, if the UFC should just wait for Belal Muhammad to heal up, UFC Vegas 100 this Saturday headlined by Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates, and much more.

Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee and Eurosport’s Marcel Dorff.

Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

Will Hill

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

As the calendar flips to November, we come down the stretch for the back nine of the NFL season. 

Last week, we only saw one underdog win outright, as the Panthers beat the Saints. The chalk prevailed, after an early-season flurry of upsets. 

The signature performance of Week 9 was the Lions’ statement win in Green Bay. Detroit led the Packers 24-3 late in the game before a couple of late scores made it a 24-14 final — a score that did not reflect just how in control the Lions were from start to finish. 

With only one loss — a fluky, early-season defeat at home to the Bucs — the Lions not only look like the best team in the NFC but perhaps the best team in all the NFL. 

In the AFC, the Chiefs remained unbeaten, while the Ravens steamrolled a solid Broncos defense, as a rematch of last year’s AFC title game seems more and more possible every week. 

Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff all entered last week with single-digit odds to win the MVP. All four players led their teams to wins, leaving the odds fairly static, aside from a small tick up for Jackson (+250) and Goff (+600). 

While I don’t see a great bet in that market, there is another award bet that got my attention.

Joe Burrow To Win Offensive Player of the Year 100-1 (FanDuel)

Joe Burrow is quietly having an outstanding season, perhaps flying under the radar because of the team’s lackluster start to the year. 

But the team has played better as of late and is still around even money to make the playoffs. 

The MVP is typically reserved for quarterbacks who lead their team to 12 wins or more and capture a top-two seed. Burrow won’t fit that criteria in all likelihood, but is it possible he gets Offensive Player Of the Year? 

Does Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson need a win more in Week 10?

This award has not gone to a quarterback in several years but did get handed out to a QB three times in a four-year stretch from 2105 to 2018. Burrow is heading into Thursday night’s game against the Ravens having already thrown 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions, giving him a realistic chance to throw for 40 touchdowns or more. 

To put that in perspective, Jackson won MVP last year with 24 TDs the entire season, Mahomes won it the year prior with 41, while Rodgers threw 37 TDs in his 2021 MVP season. 

Burrow might not have enough team success to win the MVP, but at 100-1, with his gaudy statistics, a long shot bet on him to win Offensive Player of the Year is an interesting and perhaps lucrative bet to make. 

Will Hill, a contributor on the Bears Bets Podcast, has been betting on sports for over a decade. He is a betting analyst who has been a host on VSiN, as well as the Goldboys Network.

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Colby Covington says he threw his name in the hat to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was scheduled to challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in the Dec. 7 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but Muhammad withdrew due to a bone infection in his foot.

Former multiple-time title challenger Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) revealed that he offered to step in vs. Rakhmonov, but the UFC was working on something else.

“I offered. I told the UFC that I was willing to step up to the plate,” Covington told Submission Radio. “I would love to save the show and put on a good show for the fans. They pay their hard-earned money for big, megafights. They need a megafight. That’s not a mega fight. They need someone who is going to put asses in seats and entertain people, so I was excited. I wanted the fight, and I asked for it but I think they have other plans.”

Covington is confident he’d be a bad matchup for unbeaten Rakhmonov, who boasts a 100 percent finish rate.

“I can walk him down and pressure him, and he’s not going to like my pressure,” Covington said. “He doesn’t do very well with southpaws. We saw how he did with the busboy, Geoff Neal. That was a very competitive fight. He hasn’t fought a top, top contender yet. He’s fought some gatekeepers of the division, some guys on the cusp of the top 10, but he’s never fought a champion like me – a guy who’s going to come at him for five straight rounds and just walk him down.

“I match up well. He stands very tall. I don’t see anything special with him. He has some good submissions. He’s slick, but that’s when he can control the wrestling. He’s not going to control the wrestling on me, so I think I can beat him pretty easily, and I think it’s a favorable fight, and it’s a fight that I want in the future whether he wins or loses in December.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

It’s been a week since welterweight champion Belal Muhammad revealed news of a foot infection forced him out of UFC 310, and there’s been a lot of talk about what will happen with his opponent, Shavkhat Rakhmonov, but still nothing has been set.

One possibility being talked about is for Rakhmonov to meet former 170-pound champ Kamaru Usman for an interim belt at the Dec. 7 pay-per-view event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Rakhmonov has lobbied for that matchup to take place, things are still up in the air.

On Thursday’s episode of his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo, Usman expressed a willingness to step in on short notice but wasn’t clear about being contacted by UFC matchmakers as he commented on the situation for the first time.

“The UFC is gonna call who they think is gonna 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,” Usman said. “Definitely the UFC knows who to call when that situation happens. And if they do give me a call, I’m gonna answer the call, get a couple 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.”

Usman has been called upon for two major short-notice fights in recent years. While he was champion, he accepted a fight with Jorge Masvidal on six days’ notice in July 2020 at UFC 251. Usman last year stepped in on less than two weeks’ notice to fight Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout at UFC 294. Usman beat Masvidal by unanimous decision but lost a majority decision to Chimaev.

Usman, 37, is on a three-fight losing, having not competed since the loss to Chimaev in October 2023. Prior to that, Usman dropped back-to-back title fights against Leon Edwards – first losing his title by fifth-round knockout at UFC 278 then coming up short in the rematch (trilogy) by majority decision at UFC 286.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ appeal against a five-game stadium ban was dismissed to “send a clear message” after he “undermined respect for the game of football,” says the Football Association (FA).

The 57-year-old was found guilty of improper conduct for spitting on the floor as the match officials walked past following Forest’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Fulham at the City Ground on 28 September.

Marinakis denied the charge and appealed against the Regulatory Commission’s outcome, before it was later dismissed by an Appeal Board.

In a statement adding clarity to the appeal rejection, the FA said: “Showing such contempt for match officials in a place where that can be seen by other individuals, significantly undermines respect for the game of football.

“Such behaviour is only more serious when it comes from an individual who himself has a position of both power and responsibility within the game.

“It is therefore vital that a clear message is sent that this behaviour will not be tolerated in any part of football.”

Colby Covington sees plenty of big fights ahead when he returns to action.

December will mark a year since Covington’s most recent fight, a loss to then-welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 296. Since then, Covington has been relatively quiet, though he has spent much of 2024 campaigning for President Donald Trump. With Trump once again having been elected to office, Covington is free to focus on his own career.

And he already has a few names in mind, including top welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena.

“We’ve been talking about this fight with Jack Della Maddalena,” Covington told Submission Radio (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “I think it makes a lot of sense. He got a big win in my hometown in Miami last time he was out here so he has a little bit of a name out here. He’s undefeated. He’s hungry. He’s fearless. He’s an exciting fighter.

“I think that’s a fight that the fans would be intrigued with. I think it’s a high-level fight. It’s a top contender fight that establishes who’s the next contender for the belt.”

Della Maddalena is one of the hottest names at 170 pounds, with seven straight wins to kick off his UFC career. Overall, he has won 17 straight fights after beginning his pro career 0-2. This past March, the Australian slugger defeated one-time UFC title challenger defeated one-time UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns by third-round knockout and he currently stands at No. 4 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

While Covington is eager to climb back up the charts, he’s also entertaining grudge matches. One fighter who Covington has gone back and forth with in the media is lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett. If Pimblett wants to jump up in weight, Covington is eager to slap him back down.

“He’d never fight again,” Covington said. “It’d be the last fight that he’d ever have in the Octagon. I would beat him silly from pillar to post. I’d beat him so bad it’d be one of the worst beatings in UFC history. I don’t think the athletic commission would be able to sanction a fight for him ever again after the damage I would do to Paddy f*cking Pimblett. The guy’s an absolute joke and it’s just hilarious because last time I saw him on Fight Week, he’s walking down, literally walked by me, like, three times. Every time he puts his head straight down, doesn’t make any eye contact, but now he wants to talk a big game. So Paddy, if you’re really about that life, come see me. Come see the ‘King of Miami.’

“Call [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell]. You know what? You probably don’t even have the boss’s number. You probably have to go through, like, the matchmakers or something. Don’t worry, I’ll put in a call to the boss. We can get this fight going if you’re really about that. And you know what? More importantly, you don’t got to cut weight. I know you’re a big guy. You’re bigger than me anyways. So come up to welterweight, eat as much food as you want, and bring your A-game and pack a lunch because it’s going to be the last time you ever fight again.”

Long term, Covington still believes he can fight for UFC gold. Though Covington’s performance against Edwards was forgettable, he was previously part of two entertaining title fights with Kamaru Usman, and the urge to prove himself against the best remains.

He’s eager to fight undefeated welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov, who is looking for a dance partner now after UFC champion Belal Muhammad was forced to withdraw from their UFC 310 main event meeting due to a toe infection. If Rakhmonov finds a new opponent for the Dec. 7 card, regardless of the result, Covington wants a piece of him.

“I think I can walk him down and pressure him and he’s not going to like my pressure,” Covington said of the Rakhmonov matchup. “He doesn’t do very well with southpaws. We saw how he did with the busboy, Geoff Neal, that was a very competitive fight. He hasn’t really fought a top, top contender yet. He’s fought some gatekeepers in the division, some some guys right on the cusp of the top 10, but he’s never fought a champion like me and a guy who’s just going to come at him for for five straight rounds and just walk him down.

“So I think I match up well with him. He stands very tall. I don’t know, I don’t see anything special with him. You know, he has some good submissions, he’s slick, but that’s when he can control the wrestling. He’s not going to control the wrestling on me. I think I can beat him pretty easily and I think it’s a favorable fight. It’s a fight that I want in the future whether he wins or loses in December.”

Watch Covington’s interview with Submission Radio below.