MMA
Joanderson Brito believes UFC is helping Diego Lopes with favorable matchups
Joanderson Brito was the first man to defeat Diego Lopes inside the octagon, when both clashed for a UFC contract at Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2021. Since then, Brito watched Lopes skyrocket to the top of the featherweight division with what he sees as the benefit of a promotional push.
Brito defeated Lopes via technical decision – 29-28 on all scorecards – after an unintentional eye poke left Lopes unable to continue in the final round. Brito was awarded a UFC deal and later lost his debut against Bill Algeo, but he has rebounded with five straight UFC finishes, including wins over Andre Fili and Jack Shore. Lopes went 2-1 on the regional circuit to finally earn a shot in the UFC, stepping in on less than a week’s notice to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 288.
Although Brito thinks Lopes “is very tough,” he doesn’t see his fellow Brazilian beating 145-pound champion Ilia Topuria.
“The way the UFC is booking him, it’s possible that he fights for the title,” Brito said in an interview with MMA Fighting, “But if you really put him against [Max] Holloway, Arnold Allen or even Movsar Evloev, it will make his run difficult. But the UFC doesn’t want that for him. It’s all about wanting or not, right?”
Lopes has won five in a row since losing to Evloev, going 3-0 alone this year against Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige, and Brian Ortega. Brito reenters the cage Saturday to face William Gomis on the main card portion of UFC Paris.
“Even if I win, and I will win before the end of the second round, I honestly don’t think they’ll do this [Lopes rematch],” Brito said. “Everybody knows what will happen [at UFC Paris]. I know, you know. Even Gomis knows. When it happens, [Gomis] will realize he wasn’t ready for this. But even then, even after I win another one, UFC won’t give me Diego. I’ve seen that happen many times before in the UFC, but sooner or later, this fight will happen if he stays on top. If he continues winning, this fight will happen, because I know I’ll get there. It’s a matter of time.”
Brito said he would beat the undefeated Topuria “at any moment,” but doesn’t feel Lopes can do the same. “Tubarão,” however, doesn’t expect Topuria to be holding UFC gold after he faces Holloway next month at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
“I think Holloway is the toughest featherweight today because of his chin,” Brito said. “He can get hit. Other than him, I see Movsar Evloev as a tough guy because he doesn’t fight, he just hangs in there to win by points. Other than him, I see no one else.”
Brito called out Dan Ige multiple times in the past and was finally paired up against him earlier this year before withdrawing from the match with a leg injury. He also targeted Brian Ortega following his UFC 301 victory over Shore in May. With Lopes defeating both featherweights in June and September, Brito has moved on from those callouts.
“If you lose to Lopes, it makes no sense to me anymore,” Brito said. “I plan on asking for Yair Rodriguez. I don’t know how the UFC sees this fight, but that’s one I’d like to do. He’s been in the top 5 for a long time and this fight makes a lot of sense right now. It would be very good for me.”
“Many people say I should fight someone ranked [instead of Gomis], that I should have done this or that, but in the end, the most important of all is money in the bank,” he continued. “It’s not my fault. I’m calling out ranked fighters for a long time. I let my fights do the talking. I’ve won five in a row, all by finish, but the UFC isn’t giving me the opportunity. I don’t know what else I’ve got to do, but I don’t lose sleep over this. I just need to fight, and I hope I can fight one more before the end of the year. It’s all about timing. Some guys just got here and have all the hype, but honestly, I don’t care about any of that. I just need to fight.”
Football
Premiership picks: Hearts aim to end Aberdeen run, Hale in form and Simo Valakari watches on
Simo Valakari is a familiar name to Scottish football fans of a certain generation following his playing spell with Motherwell in the late 1990s.
On Sunday evening, he will watch on as his St Johnstone side face Rangers at Ibrox, with Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland continuing in the dugout. Valakari will take proper charge after the international break, but any changes he makes after Sunday could be telling.
Saints sustained a heavy 6-0 loss at home to Celtic last weekend and are bidding to end a run of six defeats in a row to Rangers in all competitions.
However, the player who scored the winner in their most recent victory in the fixture, Nicky Clark, is still going strong in Perth and the former Rangers forward’s experience could be crucial as Saints seek to capitalise on any post-Europa League hangover at Ibrox.
Rangers were humbled 4-1 at home by Lyon on Thursday and could be eight points off the pace in the Premiership by the time Sunday’s game kicks off at 20:00.
“I don’t know how they got in,” laughs Keinan Davis.
The striker had scored the most important goal of his career and returned to his apartment to find ‘thank you’ posters and stickers from Udinese fans across his front door.
Davis’ first goal in Italy was also the one that kept Udinese in Serie A on the final day of last season, the substitute netting a 76th-minute winner at Frosinone that relegated the hosts and lifted his own club to 15th and safety.
“That was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in football,” adds the Englishman, who missed most of his debut season in Italy because of a calf injury.
“In football, you get your respect on the field with your team-mates and not being able to do it was a bit difficult. But it was all worth it to score that goal – 100%.”
From almost dropping out of the division in May, Udinese are now eighth, just three points off top spot, a position they occupied before defeats by Roma and Inter Milan.
Davis, largely from the bench, has already made more appearances this term than in his injury-hit first season, and has benefitted from the arrival of English-speaking head coach Kosta Runjaic.
The striker’s route to Udine, in north east Italy, has been unconventional.
Davis grew up in Stevenage but was let go by the League One club and was playing under-18s football at seventh-tier Biggleswade Town when he was scouted and signed by Aston Villa, going on to make more than 70 appearances in the Championship and Premier League before loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Watford.
In September 2023 Davis joined Udinese for an undisclosed fee.
“I was a bit scared to leave England because that’s obviously all I knew,” explains the 26-year-old. “When you get older different situations arise, like this one. It opened my mind to playing in a different country, learning a different language.”
He watched former Villa team-mate Tammy Abraham succeed at Roma, and now AC Milan, and brings a physicality to Serie A which can be rare.
“The tactical side of it is slower than English football,” says Davis. “I am physical and there are not really too many of those types of player.
“You see [Romelu] Lukaku and people with physical attributes do well. In England everybody is physical and everybody is fast.”
Joining Udinese has also presented Davis with the opportunity to link up and learn from one of his heroes.
Iona Ballantyne, Kevin Thomson and Ryan McGowan discuss the big Scottish football news
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Liverpool stars Teagan Micah, Taylor Hinds, Fuka Nagano and Mia Enderby share the unfiltered truth with BBC Sport’s Ryhanna Parara as they take on the Honesty Cards.
Watch Tottenham v Liverpool in the Women’s Super League on Sunday 6 October at 14.00 BST on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app.
The trophy is Messi’s 46th piece of silverware in his glittering career for club and country.
By finishing top of the standings, Miami have secured home advantage during the post-season play-offs.
“The first objective has been achieved and now we have to think about what’s next,” said Messi.
“The first round is three games but then it’s one game and anything can happen. But we have the great advantage of playing all the games at home, which is what we were looking for. We are very strong at home.”
Miami need two wins from their final two league matches to beat the MLS record for most points in a regular season, which currently stands as the 73 amassed by the New England Revolution in 2021.
Football
FPL tips & team of the week: Brennan Johnson, Evanilson and Bryan Mbeumo are great value for Gameweek 7
David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.6m – home to Southampton
This is the second of Arsenal’s plum home games in a row and, despite last week’s disappointment, they are the team most likely to keep a clean sheet in gameweek seven.
Taking Raya is a hefty investment, but he has been worth it this season with three clean sheets and also six bonus points.
Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal, defender, £5.8m – home to Southampton
Doubling up on Arsenal’s defence feels like a safe bet.
It’s a small sample size, but in Calafiori’s two starts for Arsenal, he has a higher expected goals number (xG) than goal machine Gabriel (0.26 to 0.21).
The Italian scored a cracker at Manchester City and is averaging a couple of shots per game he starts. He’s also had more touches in the box than any other Gunners defender in the past two games.
Rico Lewis, Manchester City, defender, £4.7m – home to Fulham
Speaking of touches in the box, Lewis leads that statistic for City and for just £4.7m he feels like an FPL cheat code, with a decent chance of an attacking return.
The flip side is you never know who Pep Guardiola is going to play on any given week in defence, but Rodri’s absence makes Lewis’ involvement against Fulham feel a bit more likely.
At the price, Lewis owners can make sure they have a decent fourth defender in case he stays on the bench.
Max Kilman, West Ham, defender, £4.5m – home to Ipswich
A budget defender at home to the team with the lowest xG so far this season – makes sense, right?
Kilman is a threat from corners – he scored twice last season for Wolves and has had two headers on target so far this term.
Team-mate Konstantinos Mavropanos has been more threatening from set-pieces this season, but he didn’t start the last game.
New signing Jean-Clair Todibo should eventually become Kilman’s defensive partner and he will make West Ham’s defence better.
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