Title on the line or not, Israel Adesanya wants to set the record straight with Sean Strickland.

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) lost his middleweight belt in shocking fashion to Strickland back in 2023, and hasn’t been able to rematch him since. When the former champ got the opportunity to win his title back in August, it came against Dricus Du Plessis, as he had taken the belt from Strickland months prior.

Well, looking to continue fighting after his failed attempt to recapture the title, Adesanya wants to get his hands on Strickland before it’s all said and done.

“Strickland, definitely. That fight was not me,” Adesanya said on the JRE MMA Show. “Again, I don’t make excuses … (Dave Chappelle) said something like, ‘When it’s your time, you have to know and be humble enough when it’s someone else’s.’ That was just his week, and his, and everything. So it’s his time, let him have it, but I definitely know what I can do.

“I took his best shots, and I just know I can take this guy. I know what I can do. Not similar to the Pereira one where I was winning, but this one, I definitely know what I can do with this guy.”

Adesanya is convinced that his best version beats Strickland’s best version. He just didn’t show up when they met in 2023.

As of now, Strickland has yet to be officially booked for a fight, but it’s expected that he rematches Du Plessis next. Depending on the result, the potential rematch with Strickland could be very close or far away for Adesanya.

“We’ll see what happens with him and DDP,” Adesanya said. “He could win, beat him, it was close (the first time). That was a rough fight. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens in that fight. Look, I kind of like the feeling of not knowing because sometimes people ask, ‘Who are you going to fight next? When are you going to fight next?’ I don’t know. I’m just chilling. I’m just going to keep training.”

Kayla Harrison isn’t the main event at UFC 307, but she definitely took center stage during a couple of heated exchanges during the pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

It was almost expected that the two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo would get drawn into a war of words with Julianna Pena after they’ve gone back-and-forth through interviews for the better part of the past year. While Harrison is facing Ketlen Vieira on Saturday, and Pena goes for gold against Raquel Pennington, both fighters rarely escape an interview without being asked about a potential fight between them.

Still, Harrison attempted to maintain her declaration that it doesn’t matter who has the belt after UFC 307 because she’s coming for them.

“Fill in the blank,” Harrison said about her choice of opponents. “It doesn’t matter. It’s only a matter of time. I’m the uncrowned queen. First Saturday night, I smash Ketlen and then I come for my title. Enjoy it while you can ladies.”

Of course, Harrison admitted that she would gladly drive an elbow through Pena’s head for free, which prompted a response from the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

“I know violence,” Pena said. “Kayla just got here to the scene. As far as I’m concerned, the last time she faced a Brazilian, she came running into the UFC.”

While Pena wanted to bring up Harrison’s only career loss in a decision to Larissa Pacheco in the PFL, the 34-year-old bantamweight quickly reminded her counterpart that she’s been far more active with a lot less time in the sport.

“I have more finishes than Julianna has wins,” Harrison said. “I don’t know what she’s talking about. She better slow down.

“[I] just got here? I won two Olympic gold medals. You started your career in 2009 and you’re 10-5. I started in 2018 and I’m 17-1.”

That number didn’t seem to impress Pena.

“It’s easy to be 17-1 when you’re fighting freaking tomato cans,” Pena said.

Perhaps the more awkward war of words came from Harrison’s interaction with Vieira, who comes into the fight as one of the biggest underdogs on the entire card.

Usually soft spoken, particularly because she’s typically talking through a translator, Vieira got rather animated on Thursday while taking personal shots and low blows at Harrison.

“Listen, it’s going to be really hard looking at your ugly face for me,” Vieira said. “It’s going to be OK when you look in the mirror.”

The comment on her appearance was obviously unexpected but Harrison reminded Vieira “my mom thinks I’m pretty … my kids think I’m pretty, too,” before capping that off by calling her opponent an “asshole.”

Vieira’s frustration towards Harrison stems from the attention the former two-time PFL champion has received since signing with the UFC as a high-profile free agent. In her first appearance with the promotion, Harrison got a spot on the coveted UFC 300 card where she dismantled former champion Holly Holm for a submission win inside two rounds.

Now Harrison is competing in a de facto No. 1 contenders bout while awaiting the chance to face either Pennington or Pena next.

That just didn’t seem right to Vieira, who has been grinding her way through the women’s bantamweight division in the UFC for the past eight years.

“I know you have a great history in judo and I respect that but for you to skip the line, I feel that’s a little too much,” Vieira said. “We work so hard for this. Think about myself, since 2018, first I beat Sara McMann and I thought I have a shot at the title. Then I go out there and beat Cat Zingano, the girl that actually beat Amanda Nunes, I thought I had a shot at the title. Then I beat two former champions and I thought I’m going to have a shot at the title.

“All of a sudden you come out here and you skip the line. Actually I had a loss then and I had a loss to Raquel Pennington, somebody active, the current champion, somebody I admire a lot and someone I mirror myself and my game and the way I behave myself [after]. Because I think coming here and actually being a champion is more than just coming here and saying a lot of bologna.”

For all the talk about her skipping the line or getting something she doesn’t deserve, Harrison reminded everybody on stage that she’s ready for all challenges and invites them to try and shut her up.

“This is the difference between me and all of these girls,” Harrison said. “I come here and they complain ‘she skipped the line, she’s on steroids, it’s not fair, she shouldn’t do this, she shouldn’t do that.’ If this was my division, and I was the champion, I would say come the f*ck over and I’ll show you who’s champion.”

“We said, ‘why was he bringing on Maguire and Evans?’ That’s why.”

Those were the words of Robinson moments after England defender Maguire met Christian Eriksen’s 91st-minute corner to send a thumping header beyond Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

It was 3-3. Relief for Ten Hag and United’s supporters.

David: Has Harry Maguire just saved Erik ten (man’s) Hag’s job?

Scott: Ten Hag saved by the man he stripped the captaincy from and has tried to sell for two years!

Seb: I think Maguire has just kept Ten Hag in a job. Another questionable performance from Manchester United.

Maguire himself admitted that, despite his late rescue act, there were parts of United’s display that were indeed questionable.

“When you get 2-0 away from home you have to be a little bit more solid and there were far too many gaps,” the England international told TNT Sport.

“Too many crosses were coming into the box for sure and they ultimately punished us for it.

“It’s something we need to improve. If we want to be successful this season we can’t keep conceding two goals.”

SALT LAKE CITY – Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree had their first official faceoff of UFC 307 fight week following Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, and both men appeared locked in.

Light heavyweight champion Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will attempt to make the third defense of his reign – all since April – when he clashes with powerful striker Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in a matchup that’s seemingly destined to end in a knockout.

After a cordial exchange of words at the press conference in front of fans and media, Pereira and Rountree got face-to-face and showed some of the intensity expected when they get into the octagon for Saturday’s headliner at Delta Center (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Watch the video above to see the Pereira vs. Rountree staredown.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Even having avoided defeat in Portugal, Ten Hag remains under intense scrutiny before Sunday’s return to league action at Aston Villa.

He stayed on in the summer, after the disappointment of an eighth-place finish was offset somewhat by winning the FA Cup.

But while a poor start to this campaign has seen the pressure on the 54-year-old ramped up again, Mark Ogden, senior writer for ESPN, does not expect Ten Hag to be sacked even if United lose at Villa Park.

“I’ll be surprised if he lost his job,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “On the basis that the money is an issue.

“Manchester United are hoping he turns it round. He is obviously walking a tightrope.”

But how long he remains if results do not significantly improve is another matter.

“The demeanour from the players is it’s like they’ve just had a maths lesson with a teacher they don’t like and they’re all coming out confused,” Ogden added.

“There’s not really any kind of warmth from Erik ten Hag to the players. Ten Hag doesn’t have the charisma to manage at a top club.”

To overcome a Villa side buoyed by a famous win over Bayern Munich, Ten Hag will have to find a way to inspire his players or face succumbing to a fourth league defeat in seven games.

“Erik’s resilient, he’s shown that but Villa Park is going to be so tough,” former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves told TNT Sports.

“It’s a big test and he needs to find a way to bounce back.

“Before the game, we’re highlighting they’ve got goalscoring issues. Today they had defensive issues. At times it looks like they get something sorted and then something else goes.

“There are a lot of issues, he’s [Erik ten Hag] been there for quite a while. There’ll be a lot of questions.”