Chael Sonnen thinks Ilia Topuria has the potential to become a bigger star than Conor McGregor.

After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title, Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in the UFC 308 main event.

Undefeated Topuria has already amassed millions of followers on social media, and had soccer superstar Sergio Ramos travel to Abu Dhabi to support him for his title fight against Holloway. His rise to stardom has the UFC eyeing a debut event in Spain in 2025.

If Topuria continues his dominance in the octagon, Sonnen says the sky is the limit for “El Matador.”

“He’s got the Prime Minister of Spain watching his fights and having people filming,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He’s got the biggest actresses, the most successful athletes – which are football (players) in Spain – coming and watching him live.

“The guy never misses. It turns out he’s as good as he said. I mean, it’s going to be a short period – he’s not here now, but it’s a short period of time. At this trajectory, believe this or not, he’s going to pass Conor McGregor.”

Topuria and McGregor have already taken numerous shots at each other. Topuria once longed for a fight with McGregor, but has recently changed his tune, saying that “The Notorious” wouldn’t be worthy to fight him.

As it stands, it will be difficult for any fighter to outdo McGregor’s popularity, as the former UFC dual-champion is responsible for eight out of the UFC’s 10 highest-selling pay-per-views.

Aston Villa boss Robert de Pauw said he knows clubs “cut off the head of the manager” if results do not meet expectations.

De Pauw, who was appointed in June after Carla Ward stepped down at the end of last season, is still searching for his first win in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Villa sit 10th in the table with two points after six games – their worst start to a WSL campaign.

“It’s also football and a performance-driven company. So yeah, they cut off the head of the manager,” De Pauw said.

The Dutchman has overseen just one competitive win – a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace the Women’s League Cup – during his seven games in charge at Villa.

However, his side have pushed reigning champions Chelsea and leaders Manchester City close in the league, losing both games by just one goal.

“If the performance drops and the results don’t come, then you know what happens,” De Pauw added.

“I try to stay unattached to that because I know I can look myself in the mirror and the staff can look themselves in the mirror, that we do everything about it.

“We know we work hard and we leave no stone unturned before every game.”

De Pauw, who is new to the league after leaving Bayer Leverkusen at the end of last season, said he has spoken to experienced players like Jordan Nobbs about the difficulties of the WSL.

“I speak a lot with them because they know this league better than than most.

“Jordan knows it better than everybody, and she says it will come. So I trust also that it will come, but it has to come soon.”

Villa will hope to end their winless run on Sunday when they travel to Manchester United, who are unbeaten in the league this season.

“That’s the next step we have got to take, to take something from the game and not only rattle the cage, but bring the cage home and bring the points home,” De Pauw said.

Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day.

Apologies, but I’m going to need all of you to put your UFC Vegas 100 party planning aside for a moment so you can check out this week’s latest randomness from the fighting world, namely Yatcha Club being at it again.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)

If you’re not familiar with Yatcha Club, its whole gimmick is putting on fights in the most off-beat places you can imagine. Children’s play areas, underground tunnels, parking garages, you name it, the club has probably thrown two dudes in it to punch and kick each other.

In their latest experiment, fighters Chung Soo Lee and Kris Kirsch made their way over to a wading pool to do battle and the results are just about what you’d expect.

Going for a takedown in this setting is incredibly smart. If you’re the one being taken down, doing anything besides immediately trying to get up off your back is incredibly not smart. Because of, you know, the whole being submerged in water thing.

Once Kirsch is down, Lee doesn’t even have to do much other than sloppily grapple as his opponent tries not to swallow a gallon of water. The only strategy to even consider in this fight is making sure you’re on top and then pushing the other guy down until they tap or drown. Like, bro, why are you even going for ground-and-pound there?

Let’s toss this concept in the “never again” pile.

Watch the whole fight below and more from Yatcha Club on their YouTube channel.

Damien Anderson vs. Gabriel Wanderley
Richard Mayol vs. Dallas Dodd
Artur Minev vs. Cristobal Ibanez

With whatever that was out of the way, let’s retreat to the comfy confines of UFC Fight Pass, where human beings were KO’ing and submitting each other the old-fashioned way.

At Fury FC 98 in Houston, Damien Anderson scored a heel hook submission that would make Ryan Hall proud, winning a tangle of limbs to force the tap from Gabriel Wanderley.

Not going to lie, this may have just been an excuse to mention Ryan Hall. Get well and fight again soon, sir.

Richard Mayol (not to be confused with British comedy legend and Drop Dead Fred star Rik Mayall, may he rest in peace) kicks off a cavalcade of right hand knockouts with this precision shot to the temple of Dallas Dodd.

You can pinpoint the exact moment where Dodd’s body shuts down and were it not for the cage wall stopping him, he would have fallen flat back into a nice nap instead of having to absorb that extra shot.

Earlier on the card, Artur Minev needed just 28 seconds to queue up his right hand to blister Cristobal Ibanez.

Stuffs the shot, immediately corners his opponent, and then ends him. Cold efficiency from the Ukrainian lightweight, who improves to 4-0 as a pro.

Stefano Paterno vs. Jorge Bueno
Konstantinos Ntelis vs. Simone Patrizi

Over at Cage Warriors 179 in Rome, the top 2 fights of the night delivered with-you guessed it-a pair of powerful right hand knockouts.

Stefano Paterno continued his recent hot streak, cracking Jorge Bueno for a stylish walk-off finish.

That’s six straight wins for Paterno, including three wins inside the distance since returning to Cage Warriors. At 29, the Italian’s best days are still ahead of him.

Greece’s Konstantinos Ntelis made sure it was a short night at the office as he caught an advancing Simone Patrizi with an absolute hammer that Patrizi stepped directly into.

There’s your “When Your Legs Don’t Work Like They Used To Before” KO of the Week.

Mauricio Partida vs. Brandon Uruchurtu

Zipping over to Lux Fight League 47 in Mexico City, we go from lower limb shutdown to total body shutdown.

Mauricio Partida refused to let Brandon Uruchurtu just chill against the fence, so when he saw an opening to strike, he took it and then some. That’s a monster knee up the middle and Uruchurtu doesn’t just go down in pain, he appears to freeze up completely. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he cracked a rib there.

Emily Ducote vs. Yulia Ostroverkhova
Victoria Leonardo vs. Amanda Torres
Shanna Young vs. Pamela Boveda
Magdalena Czaban vs. Jessica Hope Holmes

Hopefully you tuned in live on CBS, but in case you didn’t, Invicta FC has you covered with all the highlights from its latest show in Kansas City, Kan. It was a big night for recently released UFC vets, with Emily Ducote, Victoria Leonardo, and Shanna Young all picking up impressive finishes.

Of the three, I’m happiest for Leonardo, who was coming off of two rough knockout losses to Wang Cong and Natalia Silva. During her UFC run, Leonardo developed a reputation for being on the wrong end of spectacular highlights, so for her to get back in the win column and score her first finish since 2020, that’s got to be sweet.

Just two fights into her pro career, atomweight Magdalena Czaban has a submission win she can crow about after locking in this nasty guillotine.

If the UFC ever gets serious about implementing the 115-pound division, Czaban is one to keep an eye on.

Emin Huseynov vs. Olzhas Zhakypbekuly

Let’s end today’s globe-trotting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Olzhas Zhakypbekuly ended up with his face in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whatever Emin Huseynov had done prior to this, he had Zhakypbekuly biting hard on a fake before launching into his spin kick. Zhakypbekuly gets low, gets his hands up, and still ends up eating all of that one. That can’t feel good.

Full Alash Pride fights are available to watch for free on their YouTube channel.

If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones loves 12-6 elbows, despite the technique being the reason he has a loss on his professional record.

The 12-6 elbow will be fair game as New York has adopted the new MMA Unified Rules, which allows the previously barred strike. Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) puts his UFC heavyweight title on the line against former champ Stipe Miocic in the main event at Madison Square Garden, and will have another tool at his disposal.

Jones was infamously disqualified in the first round without warning by referee Steve Mazzagatti in December 2009 for using multiple 12-6 elbows against Matt Hamill. “Bones” was otherwise dominating the fight up to that point. The DQ loss is the lone blemish on Jones’ professional record.

At UFC 309, everything will change as Jones revealed he has been preparing to unleash the now-legal technique against Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC)

“It just makes me wish that that disqualification was overturned,” Jones told Kevin Iole. “That’s the biggest feeling that I have once I learned that the rule is no more. On the other hand, I accept the move more than ever now, and I’ve been training extensively on different 12-6 elbow attacks.

“It’s funny because it’s been such a big no-no move, and so you train yourself not to go there. Now, to be able to use that strike – I mean, it’s a very devastating strike. It just opens up so many more options, both on the feet and in the top position. I’m excited to hopefully be one of the first UFC athletes to legally display it at Madison Square Garden.”

The 12-6 elbow ban was lifted by the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports in July. UFC Fight Night 246 on Nov. 2 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was the first event to implement the new MMA Unified Rules, and a couple of fighters took advantage.

Jones intends to ensure he can land a straight up-and-down elbow or two at UFC 309.

“In this next fight, I feel like I will be putting myself in some really great positions to land the technique, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Jones said.

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are about to step into the squared circle for what could be the most-watched boxing match in combat sports history.

That’s right, with their fight airing live on Netflix with no extra charge to its over 280 million subscribers, it’s well within the realm of possibility that Paul vs. Tyson shatters modern viewership records. At the very least, when you head to the water cooler (do people still do this?) on Monday, there’s a strong chance your co-workers will have heard about “that crazy Tyson fight” that happened Friday night.

With all of that said… who exactly is this fight for?

Paul has made the most of his transition from social media huckster to influencer boxer, scoring high-profile fights with everyone from Nate Diaz to Tommy Fury to Anderson Silva to Mike Perry, and has now caught in his net one of the most popular boxers ever, “Iron” Mike Tyson.

Yes, Tyson is back and competing in a professionally sanctioned bout for the first time in over 19 years (it should be noted that he stepped into the ring with Roy Jones Jr. for an exhibition bout in 2020). He and Paul were first scheduled to fight on July 20, but health problems on Tyson’s side postponed the bout until Nov. 15, and in between those dates, Tyson actually celebrated his 58th birthday. That’s 31 years older than Paul.

Again… what are we doing here?

MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Jed Meshew, and Damon Martin scratched their noggins to figure out the best and healthiest way to approach Paul vs. Tyson if you’re one of the many planning to tune in even if you don’t know why.

1. Paint the best possible outcome for Friday.

Martin: A compelling fight that doesn’t look like a 27-year-old fighting a 58-year-old.

That’s setting a dramatically low bar but the reality is no one knows for certain what to expect in this fight. At his best, Jake Paul is a prospect with some good boxing skills and huge knockout power but at his worst, he’s still largely a novice without any real experience against top level opponents.

Then there’s Tyson, who in his prime was arguably the most feared fighter in the history of combat sports but that feels like a lifetime ago with his last win coming all the way back in 2003. Jake Paul was six years old at the time.

So what exactly defines compelling?

Let’s be honest the fear factor for this fight almost entirely surrounds Tyson because it’s just not realistic to expect somebody nearing 60 to still be fighting at a high level. Perhaps he’s really found the fountain of youth, and if he can manage to knock Paul down even once or just find a way to stick around for all eight rounds without taking too much damage, that’s a win in my book.

Meshew: Everyone has fun and no one gets seriously injured.

With over 20 years of combat sports fandom, I’ve seen a lot of stuff, and in general, I try not to clutch my pearls about most things. At the end of the day, this is two consenting adults and who am I to tell them how to live their lives? But this one is really on the boundary of acceptability for me, and truth be told, it’s beyond.

Sure, Jake Paul isn’t within three zip codes of where Mike Tyson was in his prime, but Tyson ain’t in his prime. In fact, he’s about three decades away from it. This is akin to Hall of Fame football players trying to put the pads back on to play in the XFL — absurd. Tyson had a freaking medical emergency this year! He is damn near a senior citizen and even the training footage they’re releasing to show “Mike’s still got it” is concerning. No doubt, Tyson looks like he’s in terrific shape for 58, but he very much looks like an old man.

There is no doubt about the outcome of this “fight.” The only doubt is in how bad it will be. The best case scenario is that both Tyson and Paul realize what this is and have a glorified sparring session for eight rounds where all the money is made, egos are stroked, and we can get out of there without feeling gross.

Lee: Speak for yourselves, fellas, if I’m going to dream up a best-case scenario for this one, I’m dreaming big:

Tyson knocks the absolute stuffing out of Paul.

Nothing personal against “The Problem Child” (though there are plenty of reasons to dislike Paul, so pick one), and Tyson is certainly no saint himself, but Tyson reaching down deep to land one last punch of doom on Paul’s chin would create unfathomable ripples in the timeline. This wouldn’t just be the biggest story in boxing of 2024, it would arguably be the biggest story in all of sports if Tyson put Paul down for the count.

I get it. Ideally, neither man ends up getting seriously injured for the sake of a freakshow fight that’s more a test of Netflix’s live streaming capabilities than an athletic contest that anyone should be taking seriously. But this is a pro bout. This is a fight. And, even at damn near 60, this is the always unpredictable Mike Tyson.

The heavyweight legend’s 2020 spar with Roy Jones was unexpectedly charming, and if we see something akin to that, I can’t imagine too many fans complaining. They’ll also forget about it by Saturday, once UFC 309 pre-show programming begins.

If Tyson somehow destroys Paul, though? Let’s just say Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will have a tough act to follow.

2. And what’s the worst possible outcome?

Lee: I’ll leave the more morbid predictions for my colleagues, but I think one of the worst things that could happen is that Friday’s event is such a big hit that we get a flood of Netflix combat sports specials in the same vein.

Look how saturated the streaming network has become with comedy specials. Even if you’re a fan of this kind of content, which is uploaded to Netflix on a regular basis, I imagine there are plenty of subscribers rolling their eyes at the slew of standups bombarding their screens whenever they log in.

Now instead of those, imagine execs trying to tap into the novelty bout market. More Jake Paul vs. [insert legend here] fights. More over-the-hill boxers being thrust into the ring with the promise of a massive payday. Complete nonsense fights featuring influencers with millions of followers named, like, “X44Reggie” or something. All at the touch of a button.

On the other hand, if this leads to a partnership between Netflix and Fight Circus, then I take it all back.

Meshew: Death. I do not say that lightly, but it’s a realistic possibility.

In combat sports, fighters court death constantly. They are always talking about “being willing to die in the ring” and in general there’s an understanding that the profession of fighting is trading in health for money. Usually that manifests in terrible, long-term consequences (which Tyson already shows signs of) but fairly regularly it also results directly in death. Literally hundreds of people have died in the ring, averaging 13 deaths per year in boxing. And in most instances, those are matchups between equally capable fighters in their relative youth. That is not at all what’s going on here.

Because high-profile deaths in combat sports are rare (and thankfully non-existent in the UFC) most fans do not really think of it. But the reason they are less frequent is because there was a concerted effort to make this incredibly dangerous sport as safe as possible. Putting a near 60-year-old guy in their with a man 30 years his junior who hits incredibly hard, that’s tempting fate. And the combat sports gods are bastards. You never want to tempt them.

There’s an old adage that “you don’t play boxing” and I cannot help but think that’s exactly what is happening on Friday. A bunch of people with absolutely no moral imperative other than making as much money as possible are playing a dangerous game. I sincerely hope it doesn’t come back in a terrible, tragic way.

Martin: Tyson being carried out of the ring.

Not to be overdramatic, but it’s impossible not to think about a scenario like that when a 58-year-old fighter is competing professionally for the first time in nearly two decades. Yes, Tyson is undergoing medical testing to get cleared to fight, but let’s not forget this is the same Texas commission that sanctioned Dada 5000 to face Kimbo Slice back in 2016 and then afterwards Dada 5000 suffered cardiac arrest and kidney failure before being rushed to the hospital following his collapse in the cage.

Yes, Tyson looks like he’s in phenomenal shape for his age and he still hits like a truck but this isn’t the same guy who went scorched earth on Michael Spinks in 1988 and, truth be told, he’s not even the same person who effectively spent eight rounds sparring with Roy Jones Jr. back in 2020.

No amount of testing can guarantee that Tyson won’t take an overhand right from Paul, end up face-down on the canvas, causing every single concern about this fight even happening in the first place to come bubbling up to the surface. Obviously, nobody wants to see Tyson get seriously hurt, but if you’re looking for the worst possible outcome, that’s it.

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3. Should Jake Paul win, what’s next for “The Problem Child?”

Martin: It’s so hard to figure out what exactly Paul really wants for his boxing career.

One minute he’s calling out Conor McGregor and Alex Pereira and the next he’s spouting off about becoming a world champion in the next couple of years. Here’s a hint: You’re not going to win a legitimate title beating MMA superstars in the boxing ring.

But for all his talk about legitimacy, Paul has shown us time and time again that he’s much more about spectacle than sport — and that’s totally OK, by the way. His couple of fights against journeymen boxers generated little interest, so Paul has to recognize that as much as he brings as an “A” side, people aren’t going to care to watch unless there’s at least a somewhat compelling “B” side.

So the answer here is Paul finally faces KSI.

Outside of fighting his brother Logan Paul, that’s pretty much the final boss when it comes to the influencer boxing scene. KSI has the name, he has the draw, and there’s so much disdain between him and Paul that it’s actually a fight worth watching.

Lee: It’s MMA time, baby!

PFL just delivered a couple of highly anticipated fights in the Francis Ngannou return and Cris Cyborg taking on Larissa Pacheco, plus they’re making this year’s championship event a free show with a subscription to ESPN+ as opposed to the usual pay-per-view price. While they’re in the habit of giving the people what they want, it’s time to throw Paul in the SmartCage.

Who he’ll fight, I don’t rightly know. And I’m not sure it matters. Paul, on his own, is not going to break attendance or viewership records, but he will bring a demographic to PFL that they’re sorely in need of. Not to get all “how do you do, fellow kids?” here, but I don’t know if the league has been much of an attraction for the younger generation of fight fans and that’s still a group Paul has some pull with.

Selfishly, I’m curious to see how Paul’s work ethic, youth, and resource advantages translate to MMA. This business loves a good heel, and if Paul is even half decent at grappling or throwing the occasional teep, he could be a legitimate feather in PFL’s cap.

It’s by no means a lock that he ever crosses over, but I’m excited at the possibility of Paul throwing caution to the wind and seeing how far he can go with six months of sprawl training.

Meshew: I think Damon is right, it’s probably KSI.

I do not care how often Paul says it, the man is not concerned with legacy. I’m not even sure he can define what that means, or what he means by it. Paul is interested almost exclusively in attention and money, and he probably only cares about the attention insofar as it leads to more money (and to be clear, that’s not a knock on him, it is an extremely pragmatic away to approach life).

Paul dabbled in the “real boxer” matchups, but it seems he’s realized that there was simply not much of a market for watching him beat scrubs no one has ever heard of before. Jake Paul fans do not care about him boxing (they care about being entertained and that’s not entertaining) and MMA fans (the other big base of viewership for these things) don’t care if he’s not fighting someone they know.

Which leads us back to KSI. These two are the godfathers of the influencer boxing scene and a fight between them has been talked about for years. At this point, it’s delayed so long it’s maybe past due already. Do the thing boys and then we can see what happens when the logical endpoint of everything finally arrives.

The New Orleans Saints may be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, but at least they can count on continued prayers from Pope Francis.

The pope – or at least someone in the Vatican communications office – has been inadvertently rooting for the Saints since Nov. 1 – All Saints Day – even as the team lost yet another game and fired their coach.

Thanks to an automatic function on X, formerly Twitter, the team’s fleur-de-lis emoji is automatically added to the hashtag #Saints. That has given the impression that the @Pontifex account on X, which has 18.4 million followers and happens to be tweeting a lot about saints lately, was talking about the team when in fact the pope was extolling how actual saints “are precious pearls and are always living and relevant.”

The comments sections on the handful of papal #Saint tweets in recent days have blown up, with more than twice as many comments as normal @Pontifex tweets.

“They need more than what you can do Pope Francis. They need to consult the big guy,” wrote @DaBears_26 on Nov. 2.

In the past week, Saints fans have lamented yet another loss at last-place Carolina, which extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — their longest since 1999 — and brought their record to 2-7. And they have welcomed the firing of Coach Dennis Allen on Monday.

“Even the Pope is excited we fired Dennis Allen,” wrote @JonoBarnes.

Some referred to the unwanted distinction earned last week by Derek Carr: He became the first NFL quarterback to lose to 31 teams. While others, non-Saints fans, asked the pope for some equal time.

“Any chance the @HoustonTexans can catch a blessing too?” asked @DustyLeeCook.

The Rev. Matthew Schneider, a prominent voice on Catholic Twitter, has been trying for five years to get the Vatican communications office to fix the #Saints fleur-de-lis emoji issue, apparently in vain.

Back in 2019, he posted a comment on another @Pontifex saintly tweet that automatically referenced the team, urging the Vatican communications office to check the hashtags before posting. He did so again this past week, this time directing his request to X.

“It was cute the first time but it’s becoming tiresome,” he wrote.

The @Pontifex account, which opened in 2012, is the official English-language Twitter handle of the pope. The pope tweets in other languages in variations of the handle.

The Vatican spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment late Thursday. For the record, Francis is a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club of his native Buenos Aires.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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