Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has cleared the NFL‘s concussion protocol and will play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. It’s his first start since being concussed in Week 2.

The Dolphins designated Tagovailoa to return to practice on Monday after he spent about a month on injured reserve after suffering his third concussion of his NFL career on Sept. 12.

Tagovailoa has since met with numerous medical experts who deemed it safe for him to play football again, according to the team. He needed to clear the NFL’s five-step return-to-play process, which came after he participated in practices and took contact without exhibiting concussion symptoms.

Tagovailoa was examined after Thursday’s practice by an independent neurological consultant, who cleared him to play Sunday, coach Mike McDaniel said.

“Words can’t describe how excited I get for all players that have opportunities that I know they don’t take for granted,’ McDaniel said Friday. “It’s very exciting from a human perspective as a coach for this team.”

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa on return from IR: ‘Willing to play the odds’

Tagovailoa was concussed when he collided with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and initiated contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding. Tagovailoa said Monday that he has been symptom-free since a day after being diagnosed with the concussion.

“We’ve been talking to him ever since his injury,” Dolphoins running back Raheem Mostert said. “I’ve been telling him, ‘Hey, you need to work on sliding.’ And we all joke around and laugh, but on a serious note, he knows that he has to protect himself a little bit better.”

He has a history of head injuries since entering the NFL. He was diagnosed with two concussions in 2022 and also suffered another scary hit to the head, which led to changes in the NFL’s concussion rules.

Tagovailoa has traveled across the country in the past month meeting with numerous medical experts who spoke with him about his concussion history, the Dolphins said. No doctor recommended he retire, and the decision to return to the game was made with his doctors and family, the team said.

Tagovailoa said he wouldn’t wear a Guardian Cap — an optional protective soft-shell helmet cover — because of a “personal choice.” Tagovailoa already wears a quarterback-specific helmet designed to help reduce head injuries.

Can Tua’s return rescue the Dolphins’ season?

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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If there’s one thing to know about Dan Ige, he’s always ready to fight.

Considering he accepted a fight against Diego Lopes on about three hours’ notice at UFC 303, it’s tough to imagine Ige would every shy away from any opponent or offer the promotion made to him. Just after nearly pulling off the upset over Lopes back in June, Ige made a request to get a slot on the UFC 306 card in September, which was scheduled to take place at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Despite his best efforts to secure an opponent for that date, Ige says a fight never materialized.

“The night of the fight [UFC matchmakers] told me they were going to work on something,” Ige told MMA Fighting. “I saw fights starting to get announced. I was just kind of sitting and waiting and then I saw [Dana White] was going to announce the Noche card. I was at strength and conditioning, it was a Friday, and he said he was going to announce it. So I was like maybe I’m on it. Maybe I just don’t know. Let’s see what happens.

“They end up announcing the card. Just things didn’t work out for me to go out there and fight a Mexican fighter. There wasn’t a fighter available. We were asking for Yair [Rodriguez] because he’s one guy in the top 15 outside of [Brian] Ortega and Lopes, who were already going to fight. He was on the list but he wasn’t ready until like November or December. So we just moved on.”

Ige eventually received an offer to face Lerone Murphy at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi and he wasted no time accepting the matchup.

Of course there was a moment as he was flying halfway across the globe to get to the event where Ige thought he had another opponent change when an erroneous report started circulating that Murphy was out and he was being replaced by Brazilian prospect Jean Silva.

“I was literally on the plane. I was out flying over the Atlantic ocean at that point and I saw the tweet and I’m like what is this?” Ige said. “Then I started getting hit by reporters. I went and tweeted ‘fake news’ because I didn’t hear nothing. I’m actually going and looking, checking my emails. There’s no emails. I texted Sean Shelby, I’m like I’m trying to take a nap right now. I’m like bro, is this real? I’m getting hit up by reporters and he said fake. It is what it is.

“I would have been ready. Because I didn’t come all this way to not fight. Whatever, it is what is. We’re fighting Saturday, whoever it is. I’ll be ready.”

While he gladly would have accepted anybody as an opponent, Ige is obviously happy that didn’t happen because facing an undefeated contender like Murphy gives him a chance to take a bigger step forward in his career.

“We got the Lerone Murphy [fight]. It’s a big fight on an outstanding pay-per-view,” Ige said. “In my opinion, this PPV, this card, this lineup is stacked. It’s an exciting fight card. It’s a big fight card right in the middle of a PPV so I really have no complaints and I get to fight up in rankings.”

Ige was previously scheduled to face Murphy earlier this year but an injury knocked the British featherweight out of the fight.

Now Ige is excited to finally face him, especially after Murphy scored an impressive win over Edson Barboza back in May.

“Lerone was a guy we were looking at because we were previously booked and then him being ranked ahead of me,” Ige said. “So I knew he was an option. Even guys ranked behind me, it doesn’t matter. I fought the who’s who. I fought guys coming up. I’ve given a lot of guys chances right to fight into the rankings.

“For me to go out there and fight a No. 11 guy and give myself that opportunity to climb the ladder again, I can’t complain about it.”

Said Nurmagomedov’s UFC 308 fight was yanked out from under him, but he’s already been rebooked.

A UFC on ESPN 63 scheduled for Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., Nurmagomedov (18-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will battle Daniel Marcos (16-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight bout.

Nurmagomedov initially was slated to fight Daniel Santos at Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi, but was removed by the promotion after Santos withdrew. He has not competed since October 2023, when he bounced back into the win column with a 73-second submission victory over Muin Gafurov.

Marcos has yet to lose as a professional. In the UFC, he holds wins over Saimon Oliveira, Davey Grant and John Castaneda. Additionally, he fought Aori Qileng in a bout that ended in a no contest due to inadvertent groin strikes.

With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 63 lineup includes:

• Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
• Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino
• Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick
• Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva
• Billy Quarantillo vs. Cub Swanson
• Josefine Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
• Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
• Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras
• Daniel Marcos vs. Said Nurmagomedov

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.

Can Ilia Topuria retain his title, how can Max Holloway become the new champion again, and what are we most intrigued by in this matchup? Let’s dive in.

Paths to Victory for Ilia Topuria at UFC 308

Max Holloway is a cheater.

MMA is supposed to be an honorable combat sport, where two men step into a cage to find out who is the better, more skilled fighter. This is why fighters get so bent out of shape about Performance Enhancing Drugs because when one fighter takes them and the other doesn’t, it constitutes an unfair advantage. Well, Max Holloway also has an unfair advantage in every fight he’s in: he’s impossible to hurt.

Holloway’s chin is made of some alloy of adamantium and mithril. Through 29 UFC bouts and nearly eight hours of octagon time, Holloway has never officially been knocked down (I say officially because Justin Gaethje 100 percent did drop him, and the stat keepers are idiots) much less out. He’s fought some of the heaviest hitters across two weight classes and they can’t dent him. That’s astonishing, to put it mildly. It’s also cheating because if you cannot be killed, then what chance does your opponent have?!

Well, that chance is in out-working Holloway tactically over 25 minutes, as Alexander Volkanovski did three times. That’s the task ahead for Topuria in his first title defense.

In broad terms, over their first two fights, Volkanovski was able to edge out Holloway with feints, footwork, a sturdy jab, and a bevy of low kicks, both inside and outside. Then in their third encounters, Volkanovski simply whipped his ass with those same tools, plus a renewed willingness to throw in combination, with power. And fortunately for Topuria, he can do all of those things.

Topuria does not generally throw a lot of leg kicks, but I expect that to change for this fight. The champion is certainly capable of throwing them, and they’re a huge weapon both to score and to stifle Holloway’s movement as Topuria tries to back him to the fence. More importantly though, I think the best thing Topuria can do in this fight is commit to body work early and often.

Holloway’s game is built off of his jab and so to beat him, that needs to be priority one. Volkanovski solved that with low kicks and while Topuria should do those as well, he also has the opportunity to change his level under the jab and hit to the body with his own jab or right hand. It’s an excellent weapon to both move Holloway back, square him up, and create openings for going up high in combination. That is the sort of offense that will really get to Holloway and put him behind the eight ball early.

As mentioned, Holloway’s chin is nigh uncrackable, and while that doesn’t mean Topuria should abandon attacking it entirely, it’s ambitious to think all he needs to do to beat Holloway is get him along the fence and lower the boom. Instead, Topuria needs to be prepared for a drawn-out contest where he simply out-scoring Holloway by attacking all levels available.

Paths to victory for Max Holloway at UFC 308

For years, Max Holloway has claimed to have the best boxing in the UFC. Well, that’s about to be put to the test once again.

Though he is only 27 years old, Ilia Topuria already has some of the best boxing in MMA. He has excellent pressure footwork, cuts angles, throws in combination, works all levels of the body and head, and packs ludicrous power. It’s a game designed to walk down opponents, seize the initiative, and level them with efficiency. But it’s not without its weaknesses.

At this point the book is out on kicking Topuria on the open side. Volkanovski, Josh Emmett, and even Jai Herbert all made a point of popping left kicks into the body and up to the head. Topuria employs a high and tight boxing guard, and wants to walk opponents down and these kicks make that more difficult by setting a longer range, outside of his punching threat, or by simply keeping his guard locked in to defend.

In a similar vein, Holloway should also look to kick the legs. Though Topuria ultimately clubbed him with a combination, Volkanovski had decent success against Topuria early by moving around on angles and chopping the lead leg. Given his heavy boxing stance and the frequency with which Topuria uses feints and level changes, it’s a good scoring tool for Holloway.

Lastly, and this would be a relatively new one for Holloway, would be for Max to look for clinches. Holloway does solid work when he’s forced into the clinch but never seeks it out, and so against Topuria that could be a good wrinkle, especially as Topuria himself isn’t a focused clinch fighter. Volkanovski landed good knees in the clinch and Holloway could have similar success.

One Big Thing

The outcome of most high level fights depends on dozens of different things, but frankly, it’s a lot to list all of those out. Instead, let’s simplify things by determining the One Big Thing that will determine Saturday’s winner.

Who seizes the initiative?

Both Topuria and Holloway prefer to fight on the front foot, taking the initiative and leading the dance. For Topuria, it’s imposing pressure and physicality to maneuver opponents back to the fence, cut off their escape routes, and level them. For Holloway, it’s simply to force opponents to the back foot where he has more freedom to work in long combinations against retreating forces. But in both cases, both men want to be leading the dance and whoever wins this battle of wills should win the fight.

One Small Thing

Now we know the single most important factor of Saturday’s main event, but what about something else entirely that almost certainly won’t happen but if it does could change everything.

Stand your ground.

May fighters have signature moves but Holloway has perhaps the coolest one in MMA history: pointing to the ground and beckoning a brawl in the last 10 seconds of a fight. Earlier this year it lead to one of the greatest knockouts of all-time, and as a result, Topuria even challenged Holloway to start their fight off like that. Holloway already vetoed this idea, but what if he doesn’t? Honestly, this might be a very good strategy for Holloway as his unbreakable chin gives him a decided advantage in any wild firefight like that.

Prediction

I fear this may be a difficult fight for Max Holloway. “Blessed” has had a remarkable career and his win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 will live forever, but upon closer inspection that victory has some of the trappings of an all-time great fighter proving his bonafides despite declining. Meanwhile, Topuria is not yet in his best or final form and was able to Volkanovski — a man who beat Holloway three times — with relative ease. And given that Holloway isn’t nearly as good on the back foot as Volkanovski is, the most likely scenario to mean seems to be Topuria bullying Holloway around the cage for 25 minutes.

Holloway is an exceptional fighter and if he can defy the odds on Saturday, it will be an all-time great performance, but I think we’re living in the Topuria era now.

Ilia Topuria def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).

Watch highlights of the Euro 2025 play-off semi-final first leg between Slovakia and Wales.

Goals from Martina Surnovska and Maria Mikolajova give Slovakia the advantage heading into the second leg in Cardiff on Tuesday, 29 October.

Wales did not leave empty handed though as Ffion Morgan’s late goal reduced the aggregate deficit to one goal.