Brandon Royval just won an incredible five-round fight against Tatsuro Taira, handing the Japanese blue-chipper his first loss. Is that enough to vault him to another title fight and possibly a third matchup with Alexandre Pantoja, who defends his title at UFC 310 in December? Or does “Raw Dawg” need to prove his No. 1 contender credentials one more time?

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what’s next for Royval after coming out on top of one of the best fights of 2024. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for cult hero “The Iron Turtle” Jun Yong Park, welterweight winners Chidi Njokuani and Daniel Rodriguez, and intriguing lightweight contender and wife appreciator Grant Dawson. We also try to figure out what lies ahead for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s favorite fighter Themba Gorimbo after he recorded his fourth consecutive victory.

Audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Conor McGregor’s war of words with Ilia Topuria continues.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was in Marbella, Spain this past week to promote his BKFC event on Saturday. He did not run into Topuria, who’s less than two weeks’ out from his first title defense against Max Holloway in the UFC 308 headliner (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) in Abu Dhabi.

Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) threatened to put his hands on McGregor if they were to cross paths, which naturally didn’t sit well with “The Notorious.” McGregor went off on Topuria, and showed support to his ex-rival Holloway.

“F*ck him. F*ck him. This isn’t (Topuria’s) home country,” McGregor said in an interview with Jamal Niaz. “This is my home country, baby. Marbella, Spain, where is he at? This ain’t his home country. He knows where his home country is, and it’s not España. So good luck, Max Holloway. F*ck him up!”

McGregor is yet to return since breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. He was booked to return against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June, but withdrew after breaking his pinky toe.

With Chandler moving on to a rematch with Charles Oliveira Nov. 16 in the UFC 309 co-main event, McGregor has shifted his attention to Dan Hooker, who was cornering Oscar Willis at the BKFC event in Marbella. The pair verbally agreed to fight in February, but Hooker says it’s a matter of getting the UFC on board for the idea.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Francis Ngannou comes home this Saturday.

OK, technically he’s actually entering new stomping grounds as he makes his long-awaited league debut at PFL: Ngannou vs. Ferreira a.k.a. “Battle of the Giants” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But he is returning to the ruleset under which he built his reputation as he competes in MMA for the first time since January 2022, and the first time since parting ways with the UFC the following year.

Ngannou is still the lineal heavyweight champion having never lost his belt inside the octagon, so the stakes are high as he takes on 2023 PFL tournament champion Renan Ferreira. A vintage performance by “The Predator” could inject new life into the league, while the slightest slip-up could invite a fresh wave of criticism for MMA’s self-proclaimed co-leader.

MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew, Damon Martin, and Alexander K. Lee got together to discuss the ramifications of the main event, plus Cris Cyborg making a return of her own against Larissa Pacheco, and else to watch for this Saturday.

1. What does it mean for Francis Ngannou (and the PFL) if he loses?

Meshew: I’m honestly not sure. For either.

On the one hand, Francis losing in his first fight with the promotion is catastrophic for PFL. It mortgaged the farm to land Ngannou and thus far he’s spent all of his time boxing. If his first foray into the SmartCage is a loss? Well, that’s obviously less than ideal for Donn Davis and company. And for Ngannou, it would be his third loss in a row and probably the end of his days as a major draw, to the extent that is a thing.

On the other hand, does it really matter for either of them? Ngannou is playing with house money given how much he’s made already from his boxing endeavors. And as for the PFL, it certainly isn’t promoting this like Ngannou losing would be a big deal.

For Ngannou’s debut, I anticipated a lot of the promotion would center around the best thing the company has going for it: this is the legitimate lineal heavyweight champion of the world, the baddest man on the planet. Not since the days of PRIDE has a non-UFC promotion been able to make that claim and instead PFL is going with a generic rebrand of Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua and “Knockout Chaos.” An Ngannou loss is less seismic for it promotionally, and maybe that’s the idea. Perhaps PFL doesn’t trust a 38-year-old fighter who hasn’t competed in the sport in nearly three years and is coming off a brutal knockout loss.

And honestly, I don’t blame them.

Martin: Potentially the end?

Not to seem overdramatic but that’s at least a somewhat realistic possibility for Ngannou if he gets nuked by Renan Ferreira, who is a solid prospect but nowhere near the caliber of opponent “The Predator” has faced and defeated in the past. At 38, Ngannou still has plenty of tread left on the tires for a heavyweight because fighters in that division don’t seem to peak until their mid-30s, but it’s impossible to ignore that he just scored back-to-back paydays in boxing and a devastating loss would effectively put him in limbo without a lot of great options awaiting him in the future. For all the fighters the PFL has helped make millionaires over the past few years, not many have become household names and even fewer have broken through the stranglehold that the UFC maintains over the top 15 rankings.

Sure, Ngannou could lose and then bounce back against the Valentin Moldavskys and Tim Johnsons of the world—both of whom fight in the PFL—but is that going to justify the massive investment the PFL made to sign him away from the UFC? A better question might be are people going to be willing to put down $50 to watch any of those fights?

Does the PFL just crash and burn if Ngannou loses? Of course not. But Ngannou falling in his debut would definitely hurt. It’s tough enough that PFL signed him all the way back in May 2023 and he’s just now making his debut a year and a half later, but watching him lose in his first fight with the promotion would be a brutal blow after stealing him away from the UFC while he was still holding the heavyweight title.

Lee: Ngannou has to win.

I’ll say it again: Ngannou has to win.

A Ferreira win won’t be the death knell for PFL as they’re solid on the business side of things, but in the court of public opinion, they’re cooked for at least a couple of years if Ngannou doesn’t deliver. So much had been made about acquiring Ngannou when he was the hottest free agent in MMA history, the true heavyweight champion, and a potential crossover boxing star, that a failure to deliver on all of that promise will be disastrous. After such a long layoff from cagefighting, this is a star waiting to be reignited, and to PFL’s credit, they’re giving him the platform to shine.

It’s a nice fantasy to think that Ferreira would get enough of a rub from beating Ngannou that he could become one of the faces of the league, but let’s be serious, this is MMA where fans think everyone sucks. The trolling of Ngannou will be a hundred times the praise for Ferreira. It’s not fair, but it is combat sports.

The PFL needs this, not because I believe Ngannou alone can take them to another level of notoriety, but because without him validating a historic signing, it could drop down several levels in terms of credibility.

Ngannou. Has. To. Win.

2. Who wins Cyborg vs. Pacheco and where does the winner go from there?

Lee: Cyborg rides again.

Call me a sucker or maybe I’m making up for a long stretch of fandom where I wasn’t the all-time great’s biggest supporter, but I’m not convinced that Cyborg is done just yet. Respectfully, she’s never fought the best competition, so nitpicking her recent results is in act of futility as, with rare exception, she’s done what she’s always done: Beat the brakes off of whoever they put in front of her.

I’m a huge advocate for Pacheco, especially given that she’s overcome a ton of adversity as a fighter, first being thrown to the wolves in the UFC when she was nowhere near ready and then twice being denied seven-figure paydays by the existence of Kayla Harrison. Guess what? Pacheco overcame that and she’s now clearly one of the best women fighters in the world, regardless of division. She’s not done yet either.

When it comes to this head-to-head meeting though, give me the legend still near the peak of her powers, who I actually expect to benefit from her boxing sojourns. Like with Harrison, I could see Pacheco winning a rematch down the road should she get the opportunity, but on Saturday it will be a triumphant return for Cyborg as she sets herself up to retire on her own terms sometime in the next couple of years.

Meshew: I’m going with Larissa Pacheco because she’s extremely good at fighting and also not old as dirt.

Cyborg is 39 and has been fighting for nearly 20 years. That’s a lot of miles on the odometer and it’s clearly caught up with her. The only reason Cyborg hasn’t looked worse as of late is because women’s featherweight is a disaster of a division and she’s fought a motley crew of undersized and overmatched opposition. Bellator had so few people to feed to Cyborg they ran back an Arlene Blencowe rematch 18 months later! I’m honestly shocked Cyborg didn’t retire years ago, but now Pacheco might beat it into her.

As for where she goes, honest to Optimus Prime I have no idea. Women’s featherweight is simply not a real weight class. There are only a handful of fighters that even compete in it and she’s beaten most of them already! I guess Pacheco can just do the Cyborg thing and hang around and dominate for years on end against whatever opposition PFL can drag up, because aside from that, I truly have no clue what you do with her after she beats Cyborg.

Martin: I’ll stick with the hot hand here and pick Larissa Pacheco to win as well.

Considering the amount of experience that Pacheco has racked up since debuting in the UFC back in 2014, she’s still only 30 years old and seemingly in her prime right now. Cutting down to bantamweight never worked out well for her, but Pacheco really hit her stride when she found out what she could do competing at both 145 and 155 pounds. She hasn’t lost in nearly five years and yes, as the PFL will gladly remind you, she holds the only win over Kayla Harrison (Pacheco also lost to her twice in the past as well, but went to a decision booth times).

Meanwhile, Cyborg is 39 and you could argue her last truly meaningful win came back in 2019 when she beat Felicia Spencer in the UFC. Yes, Cyborg beat a veteran in Cat Zingano in her most recent MMA fight in October 2023, but Zingano isn’t a featherweight and at 42, she’s not exactly young in the game either. Add to that, Cyborg has spent a lot of time lately training to win lopsided boxing matches and it feels like she’s ready sing her swan song sooner than later.

So what happens to Pacheco? Well, she becomes the new Cris Cyborg — an imposing brute of a fighter competing in a weight class that doesn’t really exist and the PFL can only hope that Harrison goes onto win UFC gold so that serves as more promotional fodder for them.

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3. What fight outside of the top 2 has you most intrigued?

Martin: Well of course it’s Husein Kadimagomaev vs. Zafar Mohsen! No, I’m only kidding.

Yes, it’s A.J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes for any number of reasons, but perhaps at the top of the list is these are two fighters PFL can really push for the future. At his peak, McKee was viewed as one of the top two or three featherweights on the planet and he’s making a pretty good name for himself at lightweight now. Hughes is a top prospect from Ireland who passed on a UFC offer to instead sign with the PFL.

An argument could be made that this might be too much, too soon for Hughes in only his second fight for the promotion but he’s promised he’s ready for the step up in competition. Also at this point, we should all know that McKee is the real deal.

And the reward for the winner? A showdown against Usman Nurmagomedov — an undefeated Russian mauler who might actually be the second best lightweight in the world behind his teammate and friend, Islam Makhachev.

Lee: I won’t stand for this Johnny Eblen disrespect.

It wasn’t long ago that Bellator’s middleweight king was considered by our rankings panel to be close to a spot on the pound-for-pound list, which is no small feat when you’re competing outside of UFC. One less-than-flattering split nod over Impa Kasanganay and now everyone is abandoning ship? For shame.

Eblen certainly isn’t known for being an all-action brawler, but the man just knows how to win and he’ll probably do so again in his rematch with Fabian Edwards. He finished Edwards in the third round last time and if he can top that performance, it could remind fans why his name is frequently mentioned among the best of the best.

And maybe it even greases the wheels towards an eventual UFC move, which would really get folks talking.

Meshew: Is this a trick question? It’s obviously A.J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes. Anyone who says anything different is a liar.

McKee was an elite featherweight, but might actually be one of the very best lightweights in the world. The kid is all gas, no brakes. Honestly, I want him in the UFC already to start mixing it up with all the great fighters there.

On the other side of things, Paul Hughes is an elite prospect. I was a bit surprised when he didn’t sign with the UFC, but I don’t blame him for that. He’s going to build his brand massively over in PFL and then come to the UFC in a few years time like Justin Gaethje or Michael Chandler did.

This fight is the best fight of the entire weekend and I couldn’t be more excited for it.

Conor McGregor could be one step closer to booking his next opponent.

At Saturday’s BKFC event in Marbella, Spain, the bare-knuckle promotion’s part owner was caught on camera briefly mentioning that his next fight would be against Dan Hooker on Feb. 1. The UFC is expected to hold an event in Saudi Arabia on that date and it sounds like McGregor has plans to fight there.

See a clip of McGregor’s comments below.

Hooker, who was also in Marbella to corner The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis, was asked about the supposed callout in an interview with Submission Radio and he confirmed there was mutual interest.

“Lock it in,” Hooker said. “Yeah, I jumped in the ring, [McGregor and I] had a few words inside the ring, but yeah, Feb. 1 works for me in Saudi. We’ll get that thing straight away.”

No bouts have been booked for the Saudi Arabia event, which is yet to be announced by the UFC (though an event page has been created on the country’s official tourism website).

Should that card need a headliner, Hooker is down to make some magic happen with McGregor, especially after spending time with “The Notorious” in Spain.

“We’re kindred spirits, as you could say,” Hooker said. “We get along quite well. I think we’re both very similar, there’s a lot of similarities there. We just spoke in the ring. I’m on board, he’s on board, we just need to get the UFC on board and we’ll get this thing across the line.”

McGregor has proven to be a valuable partner top BKFC, with frequent mentions of the organization on social media and by showing up personally to several events. Though he is currently under UFC contract and thus ineligible to actually step into the BKFC ring, he has become one of its most prominent faces from a promotional standpoint.

Hooker can vouch for the electricity currently buzzing around BKFC and hopes to compete in bare-knuckle boxing himself someday—after he’s done chasing UFC lightweight gold.

“I don’t think anyone on the face of the Earth doesn’t want to see me fight in bare-knuckle besides my missus,” Hooker said. “I’d do it for fun, you know what I mean? For the most part now, my eyes are set on the world titles and getting that strap around my waist.”

FOTY? Brandon Royval handed Tatsuro Taira his first loss in a thrilling five-rounder and kept his spot in line for another UFC flyweight title shot.

Raw Dawg. Following his big win, Royval vowed to hold nothing back should he get another championship opportunity.

Bewilderment. Raquel Pennington still doesn’t understand how she lost a decision—and her bantamweight title—to Julianna Peña at UFC 307.

Robbery? Artuer Beterbiev is boxing’s undisputed light heavyweight champion, but not everyone agrees he deserves that status after a narrow win over Dmitry Bivol.

Warriors. Media members Oscar Willis and Ben Davis threw down in the BKFC ring, with Willis putting on a show in a dominant win.

The Next Highlight? Justin Gaethje’s manager looks ahead to what’s next for the all-action star.

Perfection. Ariane Grande tears down the house on SNL with amazing UFC-Celine Dion spoof.

UFC Vegas 98 post-fight show.

Post-fight speech of the year?

The best rounds ever.

Media on media.

Pure destruction.

On to the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee make the matches for Brandon Royval and the rest of UFC Vegas 98’s big winners.

Who’s next for “The Diamond?”

So much respect.

Better luck next time.

Jacked.

Belal Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0); UFC 310, Dec. 7

Alexandre Pantoja (28-5) vs. Kai Asakura (21-4); UFC 310, Dec. 7

Nick Diaz (26-10, 2 NC) vs. Vicente Luque (22-10-1); UFC 310, Dec. 7

Ciryl Gane (12-2) vs. Alexander Volkov (38-10); UFC 310, Dec. 7

Chris Barnett (23-8) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-5); UFC 308, Oct. 26

Oban Elliott (11-2) vs. Bassil Hafez (9-4-1); UFC 309, Nov. 16

David Onama (12-2) vs. Lucas Almeida (15-3); UFC 309, Nov. 16

Hope everyone enjoyed the Saturday scraps and can now take a holiday to rest and recover. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.