Sunday’s sole fixture pitched Kilmarnock up against Rangers at Rugby Park and it was the home fans who were celebrating…

Paul: First half, I thought we were the better team. We gave up more possession second half, but I think we were happy to let them have the ball and try to break us down. That is the worst Rangers team I’ve seen us play in years. We were confident we could take something from the game and it wasn’t a shock to take all three points. A well-deserved first home win.

Stephen: At last, a home win, clean sheet and a full 90-minute performance. The back four were composed, the midfield supported our defence and drove forward when winning possession and the front two didn’t give the opposition defence a minute’s peace. The right subs made at the right time too. Never mind Storm Ashley, Rangers couldn’t cope with Storm Marley. Great win.

Robert: Absolutely superb. We were the better side throughout the whole game and it was as comfortable a game against one of the Old Firm we’ve ever had. Rangers are a very poor side. We were much better than Rangers despite not being at our best.

Anon: A great team performance, but special mention to Robbie Deas. Whenever called upon, he more than steps up and has contributed massively to some of our best defensive performances under Derek McInnes. We are lucky to have him and he deserves to start more often.

Anna: A hard-fought but well-deserved win for the boys. A good solid defence with Deas and Stuart Findlay in the middle. The midfield caused no end of problems for Rangers. I feel David Watson should have started instead of coming on from the bench. As for Watkins, need I say any more?

Derek: As comfortable a win against either half of the Old Firm as I can remember. Absolutely brilliant to see Brad Lyons and Liam Donnelly winning the midfield battle with a man disadvantage and, with the exception of Jefte-Armstrong, it felt like Kilmarnock resoundingly won every individual battle. Phenomenal performance and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Rangers fans were far from impressed…

Matt: Lacklustre. Sloppy. No Fight, no spirit, but more worryingly, it’s not surprising. Club is in a right mess from top to bottom and the only ones who are hurting are us, the fans. Philippe Clement has a major problem. Fans starting to lose belief and we’ve been here far too many times.

Anon: Utterly gutless! Rotten from the first minute and no real game plan, empty jerseys – no fight, no passion and sadly no hope! We will be lucky to finish third with that squad.

Ian: Clement said earlier in the season to judge his team in October. This is now October and the team show no signs of improvement. The midfield three and front three are as poor a front six as I have seen for years. We also should have sold James Tavernier in the summer, if not sooner. Recruitment has been terrible for years and there is a long season ahead.

Margaret: Why oh why can we never take advantage when Celtic drop points? It seems as if our bottle goes. So disappointed – we don’t seem to have the fight to win.

Alexander: Totally inept and tactically incompetent. No direction from middle of the park, which allowed Kilmarnock to play their own game. Rangers players were easily knocked off the ball and deserved what they got. Nothing. Things need to change and fast.

Ronnie: Arguably our most important league game of the season after Saturday’s result at Parkhead. A golden opportunity totally squandered in what was the worst 90 minutes I’ve seen from a Rangers side against domestic opposition in a long time. No pass marks other than Jack Butland. We looked like a Championship side again. It’s beyond forgivable.

Chris: How many real Rangers men are in this team? All this lot are playing for is the money not the jersey. Unless we get a player base of young academy players in the team, we are not going anywhere. Buying injury-prone mercenaries is not a viable strategy.

Roy: First and foremost is the formation. Mr Clement sticks to his 4-2-3-1 and we are struggling to score goals. Up until about seven or eight years ago, Rangers regularly played two up front. Somehow, we need to get back to that, whether that means 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. Currently, we are just not good enough and will struggle to finish third!

Ilia Topuria has started so many beefs, you could be forgiven for forgetting what actually lies ahead of him.

In recent weeks, the UFC featherweight champion has traded public shots with Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, and Belal Muhammad, seemingly uninterested in focusing his attention on the man he defends his title against at UFC 308 this Saturday: Max Holloway.

“Blessed” brings his recently won “BMF” belt into the main event matchup, but famously held the 145-pound title from 2017-2019 before a series of losses to Alexander Volkanovski seemingly put his championship days behind him. However, Holloway continued to fend off featherweight contenders, and with a stunning last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje this past April, he was able to call his shot and what he wanted was a crack at Topuria and a chance to reign over his division again.

MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew dig deeper into the headlining narrative, plus the other drama that could unfold at Saturday’s event Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

1. Where would Max Holloway regaining the featherweight title rank among MMA’s best feel-good stories?

Lee: Holloway stepping right back into the title conversation with that virtuoso performance against Gaethje was already inspirational and the positive vibes have only intensified with the way Topuria has portrayed himself.

I get that we live in an era where every fighter feels like they need to be Conor McGregor—like, I don’t actually get it, but I get it—but seeing Topuria set his sights every which way before even authoring a single title defense just isn’t sitting right with me. To what end are some of these callouts? Is he really going to fight Belal Muhammad anytime soon? Just defend the belt, man!

Putting aside whatever animosity one might have for Topuria, it would be incredible to see Holloway claim the featherweight throne again. Sure, maybe Alexander Volkanovski has his number, but outside of that there’s no one better at 145 pounds—or at least there isn’t if Holloway wins on Saturday. All Holloway does is put on fan-friendly fights, take on anyone the UFC sends his way, and he does it all while showing nothing but respect to his opponents.

Holloway is already a champion for life in most fans’ eyes, and seeing him with a divisional title around his waist one more time, would surely bring a tear to those same eyes.

Martin: Every fighter has haters, but Holloway arguably has less than just about anybody else out there. I mean how can you not love this guy? He doesn’t say stupid stuff to get attention. He literally fights anyone the UFC throws at him. And he produced quite possibly the greatest finish in UFC history with his stunning last-second knockout over Gaethje at UFC 300.

That’s why Holloway reclaiming the belt at this stage of his career over an undefeated wrecking machine like Topuria would absolutely rank near the top of the list.

After dropping three fights to Volkanovski—I still hold on to Holloway deserving the win in the rematch—it looked like “Blessed” was stuck in limbo in his chosen division. Sure, he’s taken out just about every other contender who’s even sniffed a title shot but the losses to Volkanovski banished him to the sidelines when it came to the championship. Fortunately for him, the sheer unpredictability of this sport brought things around again with Holloway scoring that dramatic knockout over Gaethje, and Topuria sending Volkanovski to the shadow realm.

Holloway has already cemented himself as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all-time and he’s a guaranteed Hall of Famer. But watching him ascend to take the throne again at UFC 308? That might be the one time in 2024 when almost every fan finds a way to cheer for the winner.

Meshew: I would argue that Holloway reclaiming the title actually isn’t a massive feel-good story because Max already was champion. This is not like Miesha Tate unexpectedly winning the title from Holly Holm, or Glover Teixeira winning the title late in his career. Honestly, it’s not even Robbie Lawler retiring off an incredible KO win.

Which isn’t to say it’s not impressive. To the contrary, I think Holloway reclaiming the featherweight title five years after he lost it is one of the most impressive feats in UFC history.

Twenty fighters have won multiple titles in the same weight class in UFC history. Almost all of those title reclamations came within a year or two of losing the belt. The most obvious exception to this is Carla Esparza, who had almost eight years between her title reigns. That was an amazing achievement, but also the manner in which it occurred was a bit curious as Rose Namajunas fought one of the worst fights in modern MMA history. That won’t be the case with Holloway.

If Max reclaims the belt after twice failing to do so, and does it by beating a fighter everyone agrees is one of the best in the world, well, that’s incredible. It’s a nearly peerless accomplishment and one that I don’t think enough people will respect on those terms. But it would be another incredible achievement in an already Hall of Fame career.

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2. Is the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev guaranteed a title shot?

Meshew: No. And while I think they’d be the odds-on favorite to get the next one, middleweight is real wonky right now.

All signs point to Sean Strickland getting a rematch with Dricus du Plessis next. We can debate the merits of that (I think it’s silly but whatever), but that appears to be what’s happening. And while the winner of this weekend’s co-main event makes logical sense to fight the winner and would “deserve” it, deserve’s got nothing to do with it.

First, what if Strickland wins? Then he and DDP are 1-1, and a trilogy bout could make sense. Which would mean either Whittaker or Chimaev has to now sit out for nearly a year. Do they want to do that? Does the UFC? What about the rising crop of middleweight contenders behind them? No guarantee.

And if DDP wins, and so does Whittaker, are we in a rush to run that one back? Maybe it happens, but there’s also the possibility of DDP vs. Alex Pereira out there so I wouldn’t go counting my chickens.

And of course there’s the issue of Chimaev himself. Knock on wood, it looks like Chimaev is going to make it to the fight this week, but the man is simply not reliable. On top of that, it sure seems like he’s only fighting in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, which isn’t prohibitive, but it does limit options.

All things considered, I’d say it’s likely but none of this screams “guarantee” to me.

Lee: The word “guarantee,” and Chimaev should probably never be near each other.

I’m hesitant to even write about this given Chimaev’s track record of missing out on big fights, and while I don’t believe in jinxes, it feels wrong to poke this bear. But here we are. Assuming (gulp) Chimaev actually makes it to the cage, and scores a win over Whittaker, he’s next in line.

The timing seems to be perfect, too, as he can take his sweet time preparing for his title shot while du Plessis presumably rematches Strickland at some point in the first quarter of 2025. Then the UFC can nudge Chimaev out of hibernation for an opportunity that once seemed like a guarantee (whoops, did it again) and is now the shakiest of propositions.

So no, I can’t imagine Chimaev beating Whittaker and not being sent a contract to fight for a UFC championship. What happens after he signs that contract is anybody’s guess.

Martin: In the lexicon of MMA, the word “guaranteed” falls just behind “deserves” as a term you should absolutely strike from your vocabulary if you want to stay sane watching this sport. This particular situation gets even more tenuous when you look at the two fighters involved in this matchup.

There’s no denying Whittaker is a legend at middleweight, but with a pair of losses to former champion Israel Adesanya and a one-sided drubbing from du Plessis barely 15 months ago, it’s tough to see him jump right back into title contention.

Truthfully, Chimaev actually has a better chance at a title shot with a win, but even that seems a bit unclear. His long history of injuries and illness have prevented him from building any sort of momentum over the past couple of years. Add to that, Chimaev has reportedly struggled to get a visa to travel to the United States and that’s almost like a nail in his coffin when it comes to a title fight. As much as the UFC travels internationally, Chimaev not being able to fight in the U.S. dramatically changes the ability to promote him as champion.

So basically that means nothing is guaranteed for the winner in this fight except hearing Dana White say, “we don’t make fights on the night of an event.”

3. What is the fight to watch outside of the top-2 matchups?

Martin: The only correct answer here is the light heavyweight showdown between Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic.

By all accounts, Ankalaev should have faced Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title at UFC 307, but Khalil Rountree Jr. was granted that opportunity instead. Did it make sense? Not really, but we’ve all moved on largely thanks to Rountree’s gutsy performance before falling to the Brazilian hammer just a few weeks ago.

So now it’s up to Ankalaev to cement himself as the No. 1 contender. He must have shattered a mirror or crossed paths with a black cat because he sure seems to have the worst luck possible. He fought to a split draw with Jan Blachowicz in a title fight back in 2022 and then had a no-contest with Johnny Walker thanks to an illegal knee strike delivered in that fight that further delayed his championship aspirations.

Ankalaev can’t leave anything to chance this time. He needs to demolish or otherwise dismantle Rakic to state his case for a title shot and hope that Pereira sticks around at light heavyweight to face him.

Meshew: Low key, this card is trash but for the top fights. But when you have big fights like this event, you can get away with an undercard that underwhelms. And given that, Damon is correct: there’s only one answer and it’s Magomed Ankalaev.

I don’t know why the UFC hates Ankalaev, but they clearly do. Even Alex Pereira is talking about rejecting him. This man may well be the best light heavyweight in the world, has a rock solid case to fight for the title next, SHOULD be the consensus pick to do so, and everyone is collectively working to screw him out of it. It must be maddening for him.

So given all that, I expect Ankalaev is going to come out looking to make a statement, because he needs to. The UFC hates you? Become undeniable. Fans incorrectly think you’re boring? Become undeniable. Pereira wants to big league you? Become undeniable.

Ankalaev is going to go out on Saturday and put on the best performance he is physically capable of because he has to. And so for that, I’m tuning in.

Lee: Maybe I just have middleweight fever, but I feel like Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan will be one to watch if only because it seems ripe for weirdness.

We still don’t know what’s up with “Shara Bullet” never fighting in the U.S. That’s weird. We still don’t know if he’s actually that good, but he has that shiny undefeated record still. That’s weird. And then there’s Petrosyan, a striking specialist who seems incapable of actually knocking anyone out at the UFC level? Weird, weird, weird.

That’s been a recent trend for UFC events, the bizarre and inexplicable weighing in alongside the great and spectacular. I’m not saying Magomedov vs. Petrosyan will be the best fight of the night; in fact, there’s a strong chance it turns out to be the worst fight of the night, objectively speaking.

But I’m willing to bet at the end of the night, for better or worse, we’ll be talking about it.

In a week featuring marquee matchups, the Chiefs prevailed over the banged-up 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch. And in a pair of two-point thrillers, the Lions edged the Vikings and the Packers outlasted the Texans. 

That caused some shuffling in my rankings, with Detroit inching up and Green Bay making a sizable jump. But there’s no change at the top, with the Chiefs remaining unbeaten despite not yet looking like a three-peat juggernaut. Meanwhile, after a couple of consequential lineup changes, don’t sleep on the Steelers and Bills. 

Here’s my Top 10 for Week 7 of the 2024 season.

1. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 1

It is hard to move the back-to-back champs from the top spot when they pile up wins against quality opponents. The Chiefs can win by playing various styles to exploit their opponent or mask their own deficiencies. Though Patrick Mahomes has not found his rhythm consistently in 2024, the Chiefs remain unbeaten despite the former MVP’s turnover woes. 

Tom Brady on Chiefs’ dominance after defeating 49ers in Week 7

2. Detroit Lions
Last week: 3

After dispatching a division rival, the Lions inch closer to the top of the charts. This is a rare squad that wins with force or finesse, employing a punishing running game or electric aerial attack directed by a red-hot quarterback (Jared Goff) playing at an MVP level. The balance and diversity of the Lions’ offense forces opponents to abandon their preferred approach to chase points against an opportunistic defense that feasts on turnovers. 

Did Lions QB Jared Goff just show he’s the MVP favorite?

3. Minnesota Vikings
Last week: 2

Despite a tough loss, the Vikings look the part of a title contender. A nasty defense complemented by a dynamic offense will give Kevin O’Connell’s squad a chance to make a deep postseason run. If Sam Darnold continues to play efficiently from the pocket, the Vikings could emerge as the team no one wants to face in the NFC. 

4. Baltimore Ravens
Last week: 4

Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry make the Ravens the team no one in the league wants to face down the stretch. When executing option plays and stretch-bootleg combinations in the backfield, the two-time MVP and two-time NFL rushing champ make the Ravens’ smash-mouth offense nearly impossible to defend. With offensive coordinator Todd Monken mixing in complementary passing plays to keep defenders guessing, the Ravens are the offensive juggernaut with the most potential to run through the postseason tournament. 

5. Washington Commanders
Last week: 6

Jayden Daniels is already a superstar, but the Commanders are more than a one-man show. Dan Quinn has built a well-rounded team that can win by playing complementary football without its star player on the field, which we saw on Sunday when Daniels left early with a rib injury. Relying on a veteran-laden defense and an underrated running game, the Commanders are quietly climbing the charts as a playoff contender. 

6. Green Bay Packers
Last week: 9

The defense is starting to steal the show in Green Bay, with the hard-playing unit leading the league in takeaways. The turnover obsession has helped the Packers become a more balanced team that doesn’t need to rely on the heroics of Jordan Love or Josh Jacobs to get a win. With Xavier McKinney & Co. leading the way, the Packers have emerged as legitimate title contenders in the NFC. 

7. Houston Texans
Last week: 5

It has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for Houston so far this season. Despite their impressive 5-2 start, the Texans have not played at the level many expected when touting H-Town as a Super Bowl favorite. That said, C.J. Stroud & Co. can get hot at any moment, and the Will Anderson-led defense can suffocate opponents with its collective speed and quickness. With plenty of time remaining, the Texans will find their way back up the chart.   

8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 8

Todd Bowles has his squad humming heading into a Monday night matchup with a formidable opponent. If the Buccaneers can knock off the Ravens in a prime-time tilt, the NFC South leaders deserve to climb the ladder as a potential title contender.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 10

Perhaps Mike Tomlin knows best about building his team. His controversial decision to put Russell Wilson into the lineup might have given the offense the playmaking potential in the passing game to knock off an AFC heavyweight. If the defense continues to dismantle opponents with its blitz-heavy tactics and aggressive play, the Steelers will creep into the top five as a dangerous team to face in the playoffs.

10. Buffalo Bills
Last week: Not in Top 10

Amari Cooper‘s arrival addressed the Bills’ biggest offensive need for a dependable No. 1 receiver. The veteran will help Josh Allen settle down in the post-Stefon Diggs era by giving the MVP candidate an experienced pass-catcher to target on crucial downs. With Cooper establishing the pecking order in the passing game, Buffalo’s offense now has the balance and diversity to compete with the AFC’s heavyweights. 

Bucky Brooks is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He also breaks down the game for NFL Network and as a cohost of the “Moving the Sticks” podcast. Follow him on Twitter @BuckyBrooks.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen is not a fan of UFC Hall of Famer Donald Cerrone eyeing a comeback to MMA.

Cerrone (36-17 MMA, 23-14 UFC) retired after a submission loss to Jim Miller, and was quickly inducted as a part of the UFC’s 2023 Hall of Fame. Retirement from professional fighting can undoubtedly have its perks, and Cerrone discovered something he thoroughly enjoyed: PEDs.

“I mean, right now, all the good sh*t after the non-USADA approved sh*t, I feel like I’m f*cking 21 again,” Cerrone told reporters last year on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet. “You know what I’m saying? I’m telling you, guys – any of you fighters, when you’re done, go ahead and get on the TRT and put your wife in a bind because that’s when you’ll feel like an 18-year-old boy again.”

At the time, Cerrone said it would take “a crazy number” monetarily to bring him out of retirement. However, in recent days, Cerrone said he wants to return to the UFC for two more fights to reach 50 Zuffa fights across his WEC and UFC careers.

Considering his admitted use of steroids and other PEDs, Eblen is firmly against “Cowboy’s” return to action.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to like retire, take a bunch of steroids, and then come back and fight again,” Eblen told reporters at a post-fight news conference. “It’s not a good look, man.”

Eblen also believes Conor Mcgregor, who hasn’t competed since breaking his lower leg in a trilogy fight against his American Top Team teammate Dustin Poirier, has started a trend of getting on PEDs while out of the drug testing pool in order to get ready for a big return.

“I think Conor paved the way, and I think he’s influencing a lot of other people to do it,” Eblen said. “I think people are trying to fight past their prime and use all these substances, and it’s just not natural. It’s not good. Your brain doesn’t heal from steroids, so all that CTE just adds up.

“I’m very against steroids. I’ve very against people fighting past their prime.”

After Francis Ngannou stopped Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL Battle of the Giants, Ngannou’s head coach Eric Nicksick did something he’s never done before.

“It was heavy,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “I’ve never jumped a cage before, ever. My emotions were like, I just wanted to get to my guy. Dewey [Cooper] was like ‘Damn white boy, I’ve never see you jump a cage like that.’ I went. I was gone. I was like, ‘Oh shit, are we gonna get fined?’ Like I was so nervous but in the moment it’s like, dude, I just wanted to hug him. That was all I kept thinking. Now, I just want to get to my guy. I just want to hug him. I just want to tell him I love him.”

Ngannou returned to MMA after nearly three years away and knocked Ferreira out cold with ferocious ground-and-pound in the first round. “The Predator” entered the fight with an extremely heavy heart after tragically losing his son Kobe earlier in the year.

The former UFC heavyweight champion decided to push forward with his PFL debut, and carried the weight of his tragedy with him throughout the buildup to the fight. Nicksick revealed a memorable moment where Ngannou gathered up everyone close to him prior to heading to the arena.

“We met with the family, the extended family and we had this, kind of like a private little room area and everybody said a prayer, everybody said a moment of encouragement to Francis,” Nicksick said. “It was beautiful, bro. And then Francis spoke and he cried. He let out a lot of this emotion right before we left for the fight.

“And he said, ‘This is for Kobe,’ and dude, there wasn’t a dry eye in that room. We’re all emotionally attached to the situation and I couldn’t be happier for him in a time of still grieving. It was an honor to be by his side.”

Nicksick wanted to do his part to be there for Ngannou throughout fight week, letting his fighter prepare to face a dangerous knockout artist in however way he needed to. On Friday, Ngannou and Ferreira had their final staredown at the ceremonial weigh-ins, and Ferreira got in Ngannou’s face.

In Nicksick’s eyes, that’s when everything went to another level for Ngannou.

“That dude, after that ceremonial weigh-in, that woke him up,” Nicksick said. “He was like, ‘All right, motherf*cker,’ and he said that. We were there, and he’s like, ‘The king is back, I’m going to show this guy what’s up. I’m like, ‘Hell yeah.’

“It had an energy to it and we all were kind of happy that Renan did that. We’re all kind of happy that he got in his face, and whatever it did, it woke the giant up.”

After the victory, the emotions poured out of Ngannou, along with everybody that stood in the cage with him. In a sport with so much turmoil, it was a rare moment of clarity and a proverbial weight being lifted from a fighter and a father — and those close to him.

From there, nothing else mattered. It wasn’t about accolades, accomplishments, or championship belts. It was about a win meaning more than just a new spot on an already-impressive résumé.

“We didn’t really say much of anything,” Nicksick explained. “It was so weird because we won a world title [on Saturday] and it [felt] like the title didn’t matter at all. I didn’t even see the belt. Usually we’re taking a picture with the belt and that was an afterthought. This was a win for Kobe. That was all we cared about was to get this done for Kobe.

“And once it was done, bro, honestly, we grabbed our shit and left. It was very different because I don’t think the win can ever replace anything, if that makes sense. [Later on] we were like, ‘Oh we won a world title,’ it didn’t even cross our mind. This is for Kobe, this is for our boy Francis.

“I didn’t think he was ever going to fight again after Kobe’s passing. I didn’t think he was going to fight again. So for him to be able to turn around and then go out and perform the way that he did versus a high level opponent, I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Ngannou got the fight to the ground early, softening up Ferreira for the eventual finishing sequence. As he began unleashing his punches, you could feel a bit of weight being lifted off of his hefty shoulders with each punishing blow.

The shots continued, perhaps more than needed, as Ferreira was unconscious before referee Dan Miragliotta finally stepped in.

“Dan Miragliotta must’ve owed him money,” Nicksick said.

“It was right in front of me, like right to my left and I jumped up prematurely because I thought — because I saw his body just go limp — and I’m like, ‘All right, dude, he’s out, it’s over,’ and then Miragliotta is just standing there still. The fight’s over and I went up to Dan, I was like, ‘Damn early stoppage.’ He’s like, (I don’t know motion). It was like one of those things like, f*ck this, this guy’s dead.”