“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.

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.

“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.”

James Llontop will step in and face Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 309 on Nov. 16, MMA Fighting has confirmed following a report by Te La Canté MMA. The pay-per-view show will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Llontop replaces Charlie Campbell, who withdrew from the card six days ago due to undisclosed reasons.

Ruffy (10-1) made waves in the lightweight division by knocking out Jamie Mullarkey in spectacular fashion in his octagon debut back in May, pocketing a performance bonus for his effort at UFC 301. The Brazilian talent joined the UFC after stopping Raimond Magomedaliev at Dana White’s Contender Series.

Llontop (14-4), a fellow DWCS alumni, has yet to win under the UFC banner. “Goku” came in a half pound overweight for his debut, tapping to a rear-naked choke versus Chris Padilla in April, before dropping a split decision to Viacheslav Borshchev four months later.

UFC 309 will feature Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight crown in the headlining attraction, with Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler serving as the co-main event.

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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.

“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.

Miles Johns is here to fight the who’s who.

With a chip on his shoulder and an eagerness to further prove himself, Johns (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) enters the highest-profile fight of his life Nov. 9 at UFC Fight Night 247 when he takes on former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt.

Johns is dead set on getting better and bigger-named opponents each and every time from here on out. It begins with Garbrandt (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC), but other names are on the tip of his tongue, as well.

“For me, I take it one fight at a time,” Johns recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “So I’m super focused on Cody right now. It also made me realize I want to fight the who’s who. I want to fight the Pedro Munhozes, the Dominick Cruzes, the Rob Fonts. It seems like none of these prospects can take care of Font. I was thinking in my head, ‘Maybe I’ll be the one that can.’ Two have failed so far, two of these rising prospects. But I think I can be the one to do it.

“Who knows what will come next? Sean Shelby is very good at his job. I trust him. He seems like he keeps giving me the perfect test at the perfect time. We’ll see what happens. But hopefully this will set me up to fight the who’s who of the division. I’m not even so concerned about rankings. I want to be in the rankings. I feel like soon I’ll deserve to be in the rankings. But give me the names. Give me fights that have people getting excited for.”

Johns, 30, is 3-1 with one no contest in most recent four. The no contest was initially a win for Johns, but it was overturned after a failed drug test. However, the Nevada Athletic Commission adjusted allowable thresholds for DHMCT, the substance found in his system, between the time of his positive test and subsequent disciplinary action.

Garbrandt, 33, is 2-1 in his most recent three but is coming off a submission loss to Deiveson Figueiredo in April. The court of public opinion is not unanimous as to where Garbrandt is skill wise in his career, but Johns has some insider intel that’s boosted his confidence he’ll get the best “No Love” on fight night.

“I’m expecting Cody Garbrandt with something to prove,” Johns said. “He has a little bit of a legacy to leave. I hear he’s on the last fight of his UFC contract. I know that he’s had his ups and downs and stuff. He’s dealt with a lot of critique from fans in the MMA world. I don’t really listen to too much of that. People always say he has no chin. I’ve seen fights that he’s been in after he’s gotten knocked out where he did take a lot of punches and his chin did last. I just feel like he’s knowing this is his last fight on his UFC contract. He’s going to come with everything he has. That’s what I hope. I want to beat the best Cody Garbrandt. … I’m expecting the best Cody, and I plan to put the best Cody to sleep.”

Johns said emotional baiting could be in his repertoire during their bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He’s seen Garbrandt get sucked into fire fights before and might attempt to charge him up into doing the same.

“I know he’s going to crack back,” Johns said. “I’m expecting for him to crack back. But I think if I get him up against the wall and I start putting some heat on him, he’s not going to like that. I want to make it an exciting fight. I want to make it a fight that the fans have fun watching and that they enjoy. We’ll see what happens. I know he’s also a little bit emotional. If he’s waiting a little bit and I tell him, ‘Come on, man. What are we waiting on? Let’s get this thing popping,’ I think he’ll oblige. But we’ll see.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 247.