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Ilia Topuria can’t hang with Islam Makhachev on ground

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Ilia Topuria can’t hang with Islam Makhachev on ground

Javier Mendez sees Ilia Topuria having a tough time with Islam Makhachev on the ground.

After becoming the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway at UFC 308, featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) continued to express interest in a fight with lightweight champion Makhachev.

Topuria is confident that he can submit Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC), but American Kickboxing Academy head coach Mendez thinks it wouldn’t be wise for Topuria to tangle with Makhachev on the ground.

“That would be an area I’d be foolish to want to try to go up against, boxing for boxing,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “That’s not a smart move, you know? And it just would be like, if Ilia decided to go submission for submission with Islam, that’s not a smart move on his part either. So it’s all strategy and how you approach it, how your fighter approaches it and, what mistakes you can correct while the fight is going on.

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“That’s what I think is more important than anything. When the fight does get matched, it’s just your game plan, your strategy, executing it. Whether he can hang with Islam or not on the ground, I would have to say no. Based on what I see with everybody and Islam. The only person that really did the most with him was Khabib, and at the end of the day, the longer you grapple with Islam, the worse it’s going to get.”

Mendez dubbed Topuria as the best boxer in all of MMA, and even though Makhachev has proven he can stand with the best, he wouldn’t advise him to do so against Topuria.

“I mean, when he took Max down with ease in the first round, I said, ‘That’s the way you fight MMA,’ and he has a very strong stand-up game,” Mendez said of Topuria. “I would think that he’s probably the best boxer in the whole entire division. He’s really crisp and very on point with his boxing, and therefore you see how he uses it really, really well. He’s a complete fighter, but his boxing, I think, is his best attribute out of everything he does. He’s impressive, very impressive.”

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

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MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for October 2024: Khamzat Chimaev

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October 30, 2024

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Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker at UFC 308: Best photos from Abu Dhabi


With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from October 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for October.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

* * * *

Nominees

Nominee: Court McGee def. Tim Means at UFC 307

Court McGee (22-13 MMA, 11-12 UFC) the job done at home when he arguably needed to most against Tim Means (33-17-1 MMA, 15-14 UFC) for his first octagon finish since October 2010.

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McGee’s game plan appeared to be executed to a tee. He dragged Means from the clinch to the ground, largely avoiding damage, and worked for the back of Means, which he eventually found for the rear-naked choke and tap.

Nominee: Ryan Spann def Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 307

Ryan Spann (22-10 MMA, 8-5 UFC) once again showed what he’s capable of when he’s on top of his game with a vicious finish of Ovince Saint Preux (27-18 MMA, 15-13 UFC).

With his back against the wall on a three-fight losing skid, Spann came out of the gate and hurt Saint Preux early in the light heavyweight bout. As his opponent tried to recover, Spann snatched the neck and forced his way on top with a guillotine choke that forced Saint Preux to frantically tap out in just 95 seconds.

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Nominee: Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail at PFL: Battle of the Giants

Taha Bendaoud (4-0) pulled off a remarkable comeback against Tariq Ismail (8-1), rallying from a tough pair of rounds to pull off a miraculous submission late in the second of the featherweight contest.

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Nominee: Jonathan Micallef def. Mohamed Ado at Dana White’s Contender Series 76

In a transition-filled grapple-fest, Jonathan Micallef put Mohamed Ado to sleep to earn a UFC contract in their welterweight clash.

Micallef (7-1) locked in a slick triangle choke at the midway point of the opening round and in a matter of seconds Ado (5-1) was taking a nap on the canvas while the winner celebrated his big moment.

The winner

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The winner: Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker at UFC 308

Khamzat Chimaev returned in emphatic fashion.

Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) ran through former champion Robert Whittaker (27-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) to secure a face crank submission at the 3:34 mark of Round 1. The middleweight bout was the UFC 308 co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Less than 20 seconds into the fight, Chimaev stormed in with a takedown. He was able to get one hook in as he worked for the rear-naked choke. Whittaker defended well, as Chimaev continously tried to drag him down. Chimaev finally took his back, but Whittaker exploded out. However, Chimaev was able to jump on his back again. His pressure proved to be too much as he was finally able to get across Whittaker’s face, forcing him to tap quickly.

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Still undefeated, Chimaev matched his energy on the mic, urging the UFC to give him a title shot.

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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Mistakes remain but England friendlies valuable – Sarina Wiegman

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October 30, 2024

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Mistakes remain but England friendlies valuable - Sarina Wiegman


There was plenty of change against South Africa, as promised by Wiegman this week, and she said it led to some of the sloppiness on show.

England were caught out on numerous occasions at the back, with not just Williamson making errors.

“We swapped players in different positions so that’s not easy to adapt to and to get the right connections,” said Wiegman.

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“Maya le Tissier moved from the right side to the left side and Ella Toone came into a different position [in midfield]. That needs some time.

“I saw some struggles so we have to get through that and try to take the sloppiness out.

“We want to keep playing forward and getting better connected with players in different positions. I ask a lot from them.”

Earlier this week, Wiegman said England needed to deal with criticism as expectations have grown around her side.

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As well as claiming the Euro 2022 crown on home soil, they reached the Women’s World Cup final in 2023.

While these two friendly performances did not assure supporters they will be up to scratch when Euro 2025 kicks off next July, there is certainly no need to panic.

England have two more friendlies this year against Olympic gold medallists the United States – managed by former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes – and Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland on 30 November and 3 December respectively.

Wiegman insists she wants to use these matches to “gain information” that will help them at Euro 2025, and has been pleased with what she has gathered so far.

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“I think we still have more questions, but that was what we said to each other before this camp. We don’t need to have all the answers now,” said Wiegman.

“We have two more games [this year] and we’re just trying to get as much information as possible. We want to see more players.

“Some players have to be a little more patient than others but we are moving forward and we need these games to try out different things to be better later on.

“We put players in other positions that we wanted to see [against South Africa]. This is the moment to do that.

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“Some things I was really happy with, and in other moments, of course, we can improve.”



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Will Smith hits a solo home run to help Dodgers shrink Yankees' lead to two runs

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1 hour ago

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October 30, 2024

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Will Smith hits a solo home run to help Dodgers shrink Yankees




Will Smith hit a solo homer that shrunk the New York Yankees’ lead to 5-3 over the Los Angeles Dodgers.



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MMA

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 29: Ilia Topuria's UFC 308 KO leads to P4P shuffle

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2 hours ago

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October 30, 2024

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 29: Ilia Topuria's UFC 308 KO leads to P4P shuffle

Ilia Topuria’s seismic knockout of Max Holloway in the UFC 308 main event this past Saturday will have plenty of aftershock ripples. One of them comes in the form of the pound-for-pound rankings.

Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), the UFC’s first champion from Spain, defended his featherweight title with a third-round finish of ex-champ Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Holloway never had been knocked out in his lengthy career and was coming off the monumental “BMF” title moment against Justin Gaethje.

It makes sense that Topuria takes a short climb up the ladder of the pound-for-pound rankings, and in this case, he will jump from No. 6 past Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou into third. Take a look at the fallout from that, as well as movement in other divisions after key UFC 308 results, as well, in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

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Aberdeen’s Jimmy Thelin reveals Sir Alex Ferguson chat about leadership

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October 30, 2024

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Aberdeen's Jimmy Thelin reveals Sir Alex Ferguson chat about leadership


“We talked a little bit about the game we played there and about living in Aberdeen and how his time was here.”

Ferguson won a raft of major trophies – including the 1983 European Cup-Winners’ Cup – during a glittering eight years in charge at Aberdeen.

He left Pittodrie in 1986, going on to amass plenty more silverware at home and abroad with Manchester United, whom he managed for 27 years.

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However, the 82-year-old recently lost his ambassador role at Old Trafford.

“We only talked about football generally,” Thelin said as he prepared for Wednesday’s high-profile visit by third-top Rangers, for whom Ferguson was a striker.

Describing the Scot as “the top man” for what he did for Aberdeen, Thelin said they chatted about “how he can reinvent himself so many times” as a manager over the years.

“We talked about how it was to live here and he wished me luck,” he added. “I was really young when he was here and he went to United.

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“It was more not about the tactical things, more about leadership, how you can for such a long time at two clubs be inspirational to new players and try to keep going.

“That is the thing you try to do yourself when you are a coach is to be consistent.”



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MMA

UFC CEO Dana White beefs with Francis Ngannou, PFL

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2 hours ago

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October 30, 2024

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UFC CEO Dana White beefs with Francis Ngannou, PFL


There was some big cross-promotional trash talk this past week.

PFL’s Donn Davis had some bold claims following their pay-er-view event PFL: Battle of the Giants, and those comments rubbed UFC CEO Dana White the wrong way. And as expected, White fired back at Davis while also taking a shot at former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who left the promotion after fighting out his UFC contract in 2022 to fight under the PFL banner.

Were Davis’ comments uncalled-for? Should he continue to agitate and fire shots at White and the UFC? Will White come to terms with Ngannou and his departure from the promotion?

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MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George discuss the latest headlines in the White vs. Ngannou and PFL beef.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

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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