Alex Pereira is a scary human being – even if he’s wearing a bunny costume.

The UFC light heavyweight champion was a guest on a Podpah YouTube show recently and challenged to land a body punch on Brazilian comedian Diogo Defante.

Pereira landed a few short punches as a test, and settled to use “50 percent” of his power. Defante went down in pain.

“Poatan” is taking the rest of the year off after defending his UFC title three times in 2024, knocking out Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree between April and October, and is targeting a return to action in the first quarter of 2025.

The popular Brazilian fighter, a former two-division champion in kickboxing and former UFC middleweight titleholder, is expected to defend his belt next against Russian talent Magomed Ankalaev, who recently defeated Aleksandar Rakic via decision at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi to extend his unbeaten streak to 13 bouts.

A Football Association suspension meant Mendy, who was on a basic salary of £6m a year, was unable to fulfil his contractual obligations when not in custody.

Judge Dunlop said: “I found that Mr Mendy was ‘ready and willing’ to work during the non-custody periods, and was prevented from doing so by impediments (the FA suspension and bail conditions) which were unavoidable or involuntary on his part.”

She said the amount Mendy will receive will be calculated between the two parties or at a future hearing if they cannot agree.

City have declined to comment.

Mendy was remanded in custody for five months before being released on bail in January 2022. The case went to trial for the first time in August 2022.

In January 2023 Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

He was then cleared of raping a woman and attempting to rape another in July 2023 at a retrial.

Mendy, who left City when his contract expired, now plays for French side Lorient.

In the submissions detailed in the judgement, Mendy’s lawyer argued that City had “a binary choice – to follow the dismissal procedure (which would, if a dismissal resulted, have freed Mr Mendy to contract with another club) or to keep him under contract and continue paying him”.

The hearing was told how on 15 occasions Mendy held or attended parties in breach of Covid-19 regulations or bail conditions, or both.

City’s lawyers argued that the suspension, being in custody and his bail terms “clearly amounted to a full impediment to Mr Mendy being able to perform his contract” and that the impediments were a result of his “culpable behaviour”.

The judgement read: “Mr Mendy’s position is that he is an innocent man whose career has been ruined, and life blighted, by false sexual allegations and that the football club which brought him to this country effectively abandoned him in his hour of need.

“Manchester City’s position is that Mr Mendy largely brought his troubles upon himself and ignored sensible advice and warning after warning in his self-destructive pursuit of his chosen lifestyle.

“Both these narratives have validity, and there is no one cause of the chain of events which unfolded in this case.

“The question of whether Mr Mendy deserves to be paid, however, is one for the commentators and comments sections. The only question for me is whether Manchester City was legally entitled to withhold that pay.”

Mendy’s legal team said City’s then chief football operations officer Omar Berrada had said he would be paid his salary if found not guilty.

Berrada denied the claim and Judge Dunlop said any “assurances about backpay” were “irrelevant”.

Mendy, who joined City from Monaco in a £52m deal in 2017, won the Premier League in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

His final appearance for City was on 15 August 2021.

Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug will get the chance to fight each other on Friday, but they nearly had their heavyweight championship fight two days early.

Malykhin and Reug Reug headline Friday’s ONE 169 event at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

On Wednesday, the three-division ONE champion and the challenger got physical, and as things seemed to calm down, they engaged in a standing clinch and needed to be separated by a slew of security on stage. Check out the video below, courtesy of Nicolas Atkin.

Malykhin also is the promotion’s light heavyweight and middleweight champion, compiling a 14-0 overall record with a perfect 6-0 run in ONE. “Spartak” puts the heavyweight title on the line for the first time since stopping ex-UFC fighter Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Nights 22 in June 2023.

Reug Reug is 6-1 in the sport, and is set to compete in his first MMA bout since defeating Marcus Buchecha at ONE Fight Night 13 in August 2023.

At 40, and just over three years removed from one of the most devastating injuries in UFC history, Chris Weidman recognizes his own mortality when it comes to fighting.

The former middleweight champion already defied the odds when he returned from a gruesome broken leg suffered back in 2021 that resulted in numerous surgeries and more than two years on the sidelines as he recovered. He finally got his first win since the injury when he defeated Bruno Silva back in March, but as much as that was a night and day performance compared to his initial return to action, Weidman refuses to look too far down the road when it comes to his future in the sport.

“Honestly, I’m still taking it fight by fight to see how I feel, to see how I perform,” Weidman told MMA Fighting. “Right now in the gym my body, I feel good and I’m doing great in the gym but I’ve got to be able to perform under the lights.

“So that’s all just fight to fight at this point at my age and everything. We’ll see how I feel and we’ll just play it from there.”

In his initial return back in 2023, Weidman promised he was more than ready to go but then once he set foot in the cage, he just couldn’t pull the trigger on throwing kicks on the same leg that endured all that trauma. To make matters worse, Weidman’s opponent Brad Tavares attacked him with a vicious series of leg kicks that put him on the defensive and actually resulted in a small fracture on the opposite leg from the one that was previously injured.

When he returned seven months later, Weidman felt dramatically better and he was finally able to perform without constant concern about the leg injury.

He’s only built on that confidence as he prepares for his return against Eryk Anders at UFC 309, but Weidman understands that nothing is guaranteed once a fight gets started. That’s why he’s not making wild declarations about his future but rather thinking about every performance as a potential gauge on whether or not he decides to compete again.

“I’m pretty much taking it fight by fight,” Weidman said. “I’ll make my decision after the fight. I’m not planning on putting my gloves down or anything like that either win or lose. But I’m planning to just not make any rushed decisions.

“Right now, I still feel great. I’m excited. I love training. I love being in camps. I love just the whole discipline of it and how it keeps you on routine. It’s really addictive. I’m super competitive so it’s just like the ultimate best thing for me to be doing. But obviously you can’t do it forever. So that’s why I’ve got to take it fight by fight and kind of just weigh the pros and cons of everything and see where we’re at.”

As much as he tries not to think about it anymore, Weidman confesses that the broken leg he suffered back in 2021 is always going to play into his training camps and upcoming fights.

Add to that, Weidman turned 40 back in June and as the old adage goes, father time remains undefeated when it comes to sports.

He got a healthy dose of reality about the way his body has changed over the past few years when he participated in a baseball challenge with his son just recently.

“With MMA, I still feel great, I still feel fine on the mats,” Weidman explained. “I don’t feel 40 year years old, all these surgeries, I still feel great. I’m going with these younger guys and doing as good as usual. As good as I ever have. But when it comes to other sports, I feel like I slowed down. Sports specifically for MMA, my body has adjusted and I know I’ve got situations to stay away from that would hurt me. I’ve been able to be dominant in those positions that I’m going into. But I played baseball the other day with my son, both my kids are on these travel baseball teams.

“We had to see who could throw harder so they had the gun out so they could measure the speed, and I was never the fastest thrower, but my 12-year-old son is not going to beat me on the speedometer thing. He beat me bad. He threw a 62, I threw a 51 and my shoulder hurt and I felt terrible. Like two pitches, and I’m done. It was awful. Then we got to switch it around and your kid got to pitch to you to see if he could strike you out as if it was a real game, you’ve got the balls and everything going, an umpire. He struck me out and I’m telling you 10 years ago, I will say I really believe that would not have happened. I think I would throw harder, and I think I’m hitting the ball off of him. The age definitely, I felt old doing that. But when I’m in the MMA gym, I still feel good.”

Considering the sheer number of surgeries that Weidman has endured over the years, it’s not a surprise that his body feels it from time to time when he’s participating in sports that aren’t MMA.

Make no mistake, Weidman doesn’t believe he’s lost a step when it comes to fighting, but there’s no way to just ignore the kind of trauma he’s endured over the years, especially with the leg injury.

“It’s something I’ve got to make sure I warm up and I’m on top of and I’m strengthening and all that stuff forever,” Weidman said. “For the rest of my life.

“This leg had now 14 surgeries on it. I’ve had 14 surgeries just on this one leg and 30 surgeries overall throughout my body. So I’ve got lots of things I’ve got to think about.”

Ralph Vacchiano

NFL Reporter

Halfway through the NFL season and for many fans, it’s already over. Admit it: You’re already studying free agency or dreaming about the draft, waiting for another “next year.”

Again.

For some, that painful ritual is relatively new. For others, it’s lasted for decades. And for many, the constant disappointment is just a part of their fan experience. The suffering feels like the whole point.

If that describes you, you probably feel like nobody, anywhere, has it worse. But the truth is, a lot of fans around the NFL literally feel your pain. Some cheer for teams that haven’t made the playoffs in more than a decade. Some cheer for teams that have never been to a Super Bowl. Some root for teams that haven’t experienced glory since before the Super Bowl — and their own parents — were even born.

So which is worse? Rooting for a team that can’t get over the championship hump? Rooting for a team that’s often good, but keeps finding new ways to fail in the end? Are you better off heartbroken or snake-bit? Is it better to have won and then lost, or never to have won at all?

The suffering of a fan base is in the eye of the beholder. So it might be impossible to figure out which fan base is the most desperate to see their favorite team finally bring home a Super Bowl trophy. But as another lost season starts to sink in for many, FOX Sports will give it a try anyway, with a list of the most desperate fan bases in the NFL. It takes into account the length of their pain, their expectations, their passions, and the unusual circumstances some have experienced along the way.

The countdown to the most desperate fan base in America begins here:

32. Kansas City Chiefs 

Seriously, if you’re a fan of the two-time defending champion and currently undefeated Chiefs and you’re feeling any desperation at all, it’s probably just for news of an engagement between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

They probably were feeling desperate after 12 straight non-playoff seasons before Tom Brady dropped into their lap in 2020 and immediately led them to a Super Bowl championship. That bliss from a gift like that should last them a while. And just in case it doesn’t, Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield have revived their careers in Tampa. So even with Brady in the broadcast booth, the Bucs are still pretty good.

30. Los Angeles Rams 

The past three years have felt like a struggle in L.A., but they did win a Super Bowl in 2021, they do still have the best young coach in the game in Sean McVay, and possibly the best stadium in the league. McVay has had six winning seasons in seven years there, and they might be headed toward another one even though they’ve been crushed by injuries. Things are pretty good, and the last trophy doesn’t even have much dust on it yet.

29. Philadelphia Eagles 

They probably think they feel desperate in Philly, but that mostly comes from their feeling that the Eagles are better than everyone else and should win every year. They won a Super Bowl four years ago and lost one two years ago, so desperate fans really need some perspective. Of course, perspective is not something Philly fans do well, especially after the Eagles ruined a 10-1 record last year with a 1-6 finish.

28. New England Patriots 

Oh, boo hoo! If any Patriots fans are feeling desperate after 4 ½ bad, post-Tom Brady years, just get over yourselves. You had an unprecedented, 18-year run under Bill Belichick and Brady that included 13 AFC championship games, nine Super Bowls, and six championships. Yeah, they’ve bottomed out and are now rebuilding. Again: Boo hoo! Nobody’s buying your tears.

27. Baltimore Ravens 

They haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2012, and last year’s loss in the AFC championship was the closest they’ve gotten in the Lamar Jackson era. But they’ve been a threat to get there in almost every year John Harbaugh’s been their coach. They’ve been to the playoffs 11 times in the previous 16 years. So, feeling desperate? Try running that by the Orioles fans down the street and see what they say.

26. Seattle Seahawks 

It’s only been 10 years since they should have won back-to-back titles if it weren’t for the worst Super Bowl play call of all time. They only have the one title, but the recently ended Pete Carroll era was an incredible run of success. They made the playoffs 10 times in 13 years with eight seasons of double-digit wins. Things aren’t great now, which is why the desperation is building, but they’ve still had just one losing season in the last 12 years.

25. New Orleans Saints 

They were much higher on this list before Sean Payton and Drew Brees arrived and brought the city its first Super Bowl title just when it needed it the most. Yeah, that was way back in 2009, but they’ve had championship-caliber teams with double-digit wins to root for as recently as 2017-20. If their inability to win another title has the fan base feeling desperate, at least they can go drown their sorrows on Bourbon Street.

24. Green Bay Packers 

They haven’t gone three years without a playoff berth since 1992. They’ve had a steady flow of great quarterbacks from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to, presumably, Jordan Love. The desperation here comes from the ghosts and the fact that these aren’t the 1960s anymore. Their last title was 2010 and that was their only Super Bowl this century. As older Packers fans will tell you, the ghosts did better than that.

23. Denver Broncos 

They have enjoyed so much success (eight Super Bowls) and so much pain (five Super Bowl losses). They’ve had great coaches (Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, and now Sean Payton) and great players (John Elway, Peyton Manning). And it hasn’t even been 10 years since their last title. Then again, they haven’t been to the playoffs since then and have had losing records in each of the previous seven years. That’s quite a fall.

22. Pittsburgh Steelers 

They are probably feeling a little desperate because of their passion and the standards of their franchise. It has to hurt that they haven’t won a playoff game since 2017. But please, have a little perspective. They’re tied for the most Super Bowl rings ever (six, though the last was in 2008). They are a model of stability with just three coaches since 1969. And their last losing season was … 2003? A lot of fan bases would sign up for desperation like this.

21. Indianapolis Colts 

Any desperation they feel is really a direct correlation to just how spoiled they were during the Peyton Manning era, and the briefer era of Andrew Luck. Yeah, they’ve only been to the playoffs once since Luck retired and they’ve cycled through 10 starting quarterbacks in six years. And sure, they haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2006. But come on, you can’t expect to be gift-wrapped a franchise quarterback in every generation, can you?

20. Carolina Panthers 

Can you believe they were actually in the Super Bowl just nine years ago? It feels like centuries ago the way the last seven years have gone. They’ve become the epitome of mismanagement, and their desperation now comes from the fact that it’s hard to see how they’ll dig themselves out of their latest hole. That, and a 33-75 record since David Tepper bought the team.

19. Los Angeles Chargers 

This fan base is a tough one to place since Los Angeles also has the Rams, and the Chargers are the Jets-like other team in town. Honestly, even when they were in San Diego it was hard to tell just how passionate the fan base was. Their most loyal fans, though, are both stung by no trips to the Super Bowl since 1994 and probably a little numb to their penchant for mismanagement and losing in very unique ways.

18. Jacksonville Jaguars 

Their fan base was spoiled a little by the fact that Tom Coughlin turned them into the most successful expansion franchise in NFL history with four playoff berths and two trips to the NFC championship in their first five years. OK, it hasn’t been good since and they still have never made a Super Bowl (despite coming close as recently as 2017). I’m thinking they might be more worked up, though, over the fact that the Florida Gators have had three straight losing seasons and haven’t won a national title since 2008.

17. Tennessee Titans 

They’d be much higher on this list if they were still the Houston Oilers, the franchise they inherited. But they’re not. Plus, remember, they did actually get to a Super Bowl, and within a yard of a championship, just three years after the franchise moved. Of course, that was 25 years ago and the team has been to the playoffs just nine times since.

16. Houston Texans 

The old Houston Oilers fans have probably channeled their lingering desperation into the Texans, but a lot of apathy also set in when it took the Texans 10 years into their existence to make the playoffs for the first time. Also tempering the desperation is that right now is really the high point of their existence. The future is bright with coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud. It’s hard to feel down when, after 20 years, the franchise is finally on the way up. Maybe Houston’s first-ever Super Bowl with either franchise is finally in reach?

15. Arizona Cardinals 

They’ve been in the desert for 36 seasons now and they’ve gone to the playoffs six times. What makes them a little less desperate, though, is that the Bruce Arians and Ken Whisenhunt eras were pretty good, and they were recent. They made a Super Bowl and two NFC championships between 2008-15. But that’s really all the good out there. Well, that and the abundance of golf.

14. New York Giants 

Oh, they know they had it good for a while and they savor their four Super Bowl trophies and the fact that it’s only been 13 years since the last one. Their desperation comes from what’s happened since. They’re on their way to their 10th losing season in 13 years. That includes eight seasons of double-digit losses and a record of 78-125-1. They’ve even become a coven of chaos with five head coaches and four GMs in the last eight years. They were once a model franchise. Now the model is broken.

13. San Francisco 49ers 

Their last Super Bowl championship was 1994, which means a whole generation hasn’t experienced that yet, even though their six rings are tied for the most in NFL history. But their desperation may be tempered by being so close, so often. They made three straight NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl under Jim Harbaugh (2011-13). And in the last four years under Kyle Shanahan they’ve been to four NFC championships and the Super Bowl twice. Of course, that’s a big tease, too. Being so close can be agonizing.

12. Las Vegas Raiders They basically just got to Las Vegas, and any fans they left behind in Los Angeles or Oakland might feel more angry and abandoned than desperate. They do tend to have passionate diehards, though, and they’ve endured a lot. They’re about to make it 20 playoff misses in the last 22 years. They’d be higher on the list if they hadn’t already alienated so many of their fans.

11. Washington Commanders 

To be honest, they were probably most desperate to get rid of Dan Snyder and that wish has been fulfilled. Yeah, they’re still looking for their first playoff win since 2005, but everything’s great right now with a new owner, a new coach, the best young quarterback in the game and a shocking 7-2 start. They’re ready for a parade no matter how the rest of the season goes. Of course, good vibes can only last so long.

10. Minnesota Vikings 

It’s easy to forget how good this franchise was in the 1970s, which is in part because they lost all four of their Super Bowls. Since then, they’ve actually been blessed with a lot of good teams and a lot of playoff teams. They’ve even been to four NFC Championship Games between 1998 and 2017. But they lost them all, including two of them in overtime.

9. Chicago Bears 

Outside of a brief, but significant revival under Lovie Smith from 2005-12 (one trip to the Super Bowl and two trips to the NFC Championship Game), this is a fan base still living in the Super Bowl Shuffle 1980s. Those ’85 Bears are the glory years multiple generations still worship in the Windy City. That’s especially true lately when they’ve had two playoff games (both losses) in the last 13 years.

8. Cincinnati Bengals 

They were so close to winning it all in 2021 and 2022, and they do still have one of the best young quarterbacks in the game in Joe Burrow. But they also have a terrible history of knowing their franchise is so cheap, they may waste his career. Before their Super Bowl run in ’21 they had gone 29 years without winning a playoff game. They cheer with a nagging feeling that something is always about to go wrong.

7. Miami Dolphins 

It’s really not a good sign that the guy who is still their most famous player is now 63 years old. And Dan Marino never won a championship either, by the way. They haven’t seen their team win a playoff game since 2000, and they haven’t won two in the same season since Marino was in his second season — 1984. On the bright side, the weather is great and the beach is never too far away.

6. Atlanta Falcons 

They watched as their team blew a 28-3, third-quarter lead in the Super Bowl, which is more torture than any fan base should ever experience. But they also blew a 17-0 lead in the 2012 NFC Championship Ggame — a game they still led in the fourth quarter. They’ve never won a championship, and they’ve only made the playoffs 14 times in their 59-year history, but it’s the near misses that led to the most pain.

5. Dallas Cowboys 

The agony for them is in their own greatness. From 1970 through 1995, they appeared in 14 NFC Championship Games, eight Super Bowls and won five championships. Since then, despite being “America’s team” and the NFL’s most valuable franchise, they’ve yet to get back to a conference championship. It’s not all bad. They made the playoffs 13 times in 29 years. They’ve even won 12 games in each of the last three years. But that can’t keep pace with their Texas-sized expectations and memories.

4. Buffalo Bills 

Even kids who weren’t born yet in 1990 are taught the agony of Scott Norwood’s “Wide Right,” when the Bills came as close as a team can come to winning a Super Bowl without winning it. And that was just the first of four straight Super Bowl losses, just to add to the pain. They’ve also been tortured by the “Music City Miracle” and, most recently, the Kansas City Chiefs. They represent a region desperate for any kind of sports championship (other than indoor lacrosse, which doesn’t count). The Bills keep getting good, and then the rug gets pulled out from under them again.

3. Detroit Lions 

Their recent revival under Dan Campbell has all the feels and it coincides with the revival of their city. But they still have never been to a Super Bowl and haven’t won a championship since 1957 — a Browns-like drought. They also had losing seasons in 17 of 21 years from 2001-21 plus a humiliating 0-16 season in 2008. That sucked the life out of the fan base. But they’re back now, desperate for the parade they’ve never had.

2. New York Jets 

They must have sold their souls for the most important Super Bowl win in NFL history, which was a mere 55 years ago. They have had close calls (most recently back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 2009-10). Ownership has fanned expectations by bringing in big names like Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick (for a few hours), Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. They keep showing up and keep believing, but what do they get for their efforts? Oh, the pain.

1. Cleveland Browns 

It’s hard to beat a group that’s suffered through two different versions of their favorite franchise. They were heartbroken when the Browns left town in 1996, then thrilled when they returned in 1999, only to see them miss the playoffs in what will soon be 22 of the next 25 seasons. There’s also a whole generation of Browns fans still reeling from their three, soul-crushing losses in AFC title games in the 1980s. And you’ve got to be in your 80s to really remember their last championship in 1955. A picture of the Dawg Pound sits next to the word “desperation” in the dictionary.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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