ABU DHABI – The UFC 308 pre-fight press conference takes place Thursday, and you can watch a live stream of the event in the video above.
The press conference takes place at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, which also hosts Saturday’s fight card, which airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+.
UFC 308 is built around a highly anticipated featherweight championship contest. Ilia Topuria puts gold on the line for the first time vs. former titleholder Max Holloway in the main event. And in the co-headliner, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker clashes with undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC).
Here’s what you need to know about the UFC 308 press conference.
Advertisement
What time does the UFC 308 press conference start?
The UFC 307 press conference starts at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT, which is 4:30 p.m. local time in Abu Dhabi.
Who’s taking part in the UFC 308 press conference?
The 10 fighters scheduled for the main card bouts are slated to participate in the UFC 307 press conference: Topuria, Holloway, Whittaker, Chimaev, Lerone Murphy, Dan Ige, Magomed Ankalaev, Aleksandar Rakic, Shara Magomedov and Armen Petrosyan.
It’s unclear if UFC CEO Dana White will oversee the UFC 308 pre-fight press conference.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Advertisement
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
PFL Chairman Donn Davis believes the recent bitterness with Kayla Harrison is just a misunderstanding.
Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka, began her MMA career in the PFL, fighting for the promotion for five years and winning two lightweight tournaments and becoming the face of the organization. But earlier this year, Harrison finally left her longtime promotion to jump over to the UFC.
“What I said had immense respect and immense context, but when it gets cut down in social media, was taken completely out of context,” Davis told MMA Fighting. “So I’ll try to re-put it in context again, but I’m sure it will re-get cut out of context.
Advertisement
“To repeat, I only said three things. One, we’re immensely proud that we developed her from scratch. She was one of my favorite fighters and I think she’s one of the greatest fighters of all time in the women’s divisions. So first of all, Dana never says that.
“Number two, we made her an offer to be extremely high paid and to spend her whole career here, and to do anything she wanted. I have a huge amount of respect and basically offered her a blank check and a blank ticket, not just economically but post her career. Dana never says that. That’s because we wanted her.
“And number three, we offered her bigger fights here than she has at the UFC. Cyborg, bigger fight. Pacheco, bigger fight. They’re bigger than the two fights she just had. Nobody would disagree with that. So why is she at the UFC? That’s what I said.
“So those are the three things I said. Those are all respectful, factual, and pretty straightforward. So why did she go to the UFC? I don’t know. I don’t understand. I think it has to be there is a brand there that validates her and our brand isn’t that big yet. So that’s it. But nothing but very factual respect and very factual desire that I wish on fan’s behalf that we could have given the biggest fight in the world.”
Advertisement
For her part, Harrison has been very clear about why she wanted to come to the UFC, stating that she wants to win the title and cement her legacy in MMA. But Davis clearly believes Harrison could have done so in the PFL.
“Now that Cyborg has clearly cemented her stature as the GOAT, everybody wants to see Kayla vs. Cyborg,” Davis said. “It’s a bigger fight than Kayla will ever have unless Nunes comes out of retirement, and the person who stopped that is Kayla.
“It doesn’t make me any money putting on that fight, but I wanted to put it on for fans. I’ve been trying for five years and I couldn’t get Cyborg here. Then I bought the whole company to get Cyborg here, and then Kayla leaves! So I don’t understand it and that’s all I’ve expressed.”
Ultimately though, Davis recognizes that however he intended his comments to come out, they were received very differently. And while Davis doesn’t believe he said anything untoward, he also admits that if he could go back, he probably wouldn’t have said anything at all.
Advertisement
“How I talked about this is not even close to how Dana White talks about fighters. This is not remotely how he’s talked about Francis… And two, I probably should have said nothing, but I was trying to explain the situation. If I had to do it over again, my mistake. No good has come from it.
“I have no desire to do anything negative about Kayla. I have no desire to have a bunch of click bait that’s negative on the PFL. So my mistake saying anything, trying to put this in context. My sole goal was truly to give fans the biggest fight in female history, Cyborg vs. Kayla. I spent — like Ahab on the great white whale — so much energy chasing this fight, to have it go through my grasp, kills me. It kills me.”
Can Topuria be the first ever to knockout Holloway, or will Holloway reclaim his title? Should the winner of Whittaker vs. Chimaev get the next title shot at 185 pounds?
MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George preview the upcoming UFC pay-per-view this Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Advertisement
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel at noon ET. You can also find each episode on your favorite podcast platforms – including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more – on Tuesday mornings.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Francis Ngannou, as has been the case since he left the UFC, has options.
“The Predator” made a successful return to MMA and a successful PFL debut with a first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira this past Saturday at the Battle of the Giants event in Saudi Arabia. That performance came in the wake of two massive boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, making Ngannou one of the most intriguing names in all of combat sports.
What’s next for Ngannou is anyone’s guess, but one name throwing his hat into the ring is Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
“I’ve been thinking about a crossover for quite some time now, so I love the idea,” Verhoeven said when Ngannou was suggested to him on The Ariel Helwani Show. “It’s a new challenge. Not that I’m done with challenges within Glory, but I’ve got an amazing win streak and title defense streak and earlier this year we won an amazing tournament but I’m open to new challenges. When we’re talking about the baddest on the planet, let’s find out who it is.”
Advertisement
Verhoeven has been one of the most dominant kickboxers of the past decade, having won 20 straight fights dating back to 2015, including 11 defenses of his Glory title. The 35-year-old Dutchman is currently scheduled for a championship rematch against Levi Rigters on Dec. 7.
Should Verhoeven be successful, he’ll be on the hunt for another marquee matchup and Ngannou more than fits the bill. They could meet under kickboxing or MMA rules, but Verhoeven has another suggestion in mind.
“There’s so many different flavors,” Verhoeven said. “It could be a home and away fight, a kickboxing and an MMA fight, which most likely ends up maybe 1-1. But a boxing match, that’s interesting, because that’s a way for both of us even though he’s been doing two boxing fights in the last year, but still it’s different and I’ve been boxing for quite some years as well. Not on a professional level, not in a ring, but been training with [Tyson Fury’s uncle] Peter Fury for years and years and he says, ‘You’re ready for it. Let any top-level boxer challenge you and let’s show what we got.’”
Verhoeven and Ngannou are familiar with each other, having spent time training together in the U.S., but both appear to be open to the potential matchup. In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Ngannou smiled when the fight was suggested and said, “Send me the deal.”
Advertisement
A crossover fight built around mutual respect might not seem like box office gold at first glance, but Verhoeven thinks it’s a fight fans need to see.
“What I would like to say to [PFL] is just, hey, when we’re talking about baddest on the planet and we’re talking about crossover fights: This thing must happen,” Verhoeven said. “This must happen. It has to happen because we’ve been seeing throughout the last few years the most crazy fights and I think this is one of them that needs to be added to the list. So let’s make it happen.”
UFC 308 media day brought to you by MMA Fighting’s José Youngs.
PFL boss Donn Davis addresses the people.
All love.
Advertisement
Catch up on the latest and greatest Invicta FC prospects.
Usyk vs. Fury 2 press conference.
Advertisement
No Bets Barred. Jed Meshew brings you the best bets for UFC 308.
Francis Ngannou.
Advertisement
BMF at work.
Fingers crossed.
Why, indeed.
BKFC video game?
Advertisement
These two are pretty good in fairness. I am currently working on a @bareknucklefc video game! Fast pace action with nasty cuts and blood splatter and the sound of bare knuckles on skull impact never heard nor seen before in a video game. Stay tuned! https://t.co/t1wPWA7Inb
Read this Tweet, go to https://t.co/8NiIjeULkX and ensure you are on the path to getting paid
Advertisement
I have nothing to do with the lawyers or the MMAFA and stand to make LESS MONEY the more fighters claim. I simply love MMA and dedicated a large portion… https://t.co/5pPYXlzQJe
I wasn’t cut my contract came to an end took 2 big risks my last 2 fights being a company man and it bit me on the arse. Took block head on a weeks notice but missed the weight which was obviously held against me then took cam on 3 days notice after originally training for a….
Wrestling based opponent I understand cam didn’t do a camp but everyone’s ready always for 3x5s cmon I proven that vs block head took the fight on baby’s due date because fight was offered and didn’t wanna say no to the ufc and be a company man but ohh well if I choose to work my
While I think we’d all agree that seeing Ngannou stick with MMA would be great, especially if Donn Davis is able to work out deals with other promoters to set up something like, Ngannou vs. Malykhin or Ngannou vs. Reug Reug or (let me dream) Ngannou vs. Pudzianowski, we can also get a little more creative. Ngannou adding a kickboxing champion to his résumé. I’m down for it.
What’s better than watching baseball? Watching baseball and winning money!
You can partake in the best of both worlds while watching the MLB World Series this weekend with our free-to-play FOX Super 6 game.
Advertisement
How do you play? Enter the MLB Playoff Super 6 contest by predicting the correct answers to six questions before the games start for your chance at weekly cash prizes.
All you have to do is finish in the top six to win a prize.
It really is that simple, and again, it’s free.
And if you need a little help before heading to the app to make your picks, we have you covered this week.
No player has hit more home runs in the postseason than Stanton with five. What’s even more impressive is that he’s hit those five in just nine games, compared to Betts who hit four and Ohtani who hit three— both playing 11 games each. Judge led all players in the regular season with 58, but has managed just two in the playoffs. This could be the series where he gets it going, but for now we like Stanton to continue his stellar play.
Prediction: Giancarlo Stanton
2. Which pitcher will have the MOST STRIKEOUTS in the World Series?
Rondon leads the postseason with 22 strikeouts, but he’s yet to face a lineup that has the offensive firepower of the Dodgers. Los Angeles is batting .251 as a team in the playoffs and launched 20 homers— the latter being seven more than the team with the next-most. For that reason, Flaherty seems like the appropriate pick here. He only has eight strikeouts this postseason, but averaged 6.93 strikeouts per game in the regular season— the ninth most of all pitchers with at least 20 games pitched this year.
Prediction: Jack Flaherty
3. Order these players by TOTAL BASES in GAME 4 of the World Series (highest to lowest):
Betts is second in the postseason in total bases at 29, and can get it done in so many different ways. He’s batting .295 in the playoffs and is one of five players with four home runs, and is also tied for the most doubles hit with four. Game 4 will take place in New York, so Stanton or Soto are smart picks here too, but it’s tough to pick against the 2018 AL MVP and two-time World Series champion.
Prediction: Mookie Betts
4. Which trio of players includes the 2024 World Series MVP?
One of the three stars for the Yankees will surely win MVP, so long as the Yankees win it all. It’s going to be a close series, but New York has the offensive firepower to match Los Angeles along with a slightly better pitching staff.
Prediction: Judge/Soto/Stanton
5. Which player will have the MOST RBI in the World Series?
Ohtani has 10 RBI this postseason and recorded over 100 RBI in the regular season for the first time since 2021. He also leads the playoffs with six hits with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers will need him to continue this pace throughout the series.
This is the first time in a full season since 2013 that the two teams with the best records in each league will meet in the World Series. Additionally, there will be five former MVPs playing in this series (Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Judge, Stanton) with another on the IL (Kershaw) for the first time in World Series history. This is truly anyone’s matchup to win, but with the first two games taking place in Los Angeles— the Yankees will have to take advantage of playing in New York in Games 3 and 4.
Prediction: Yankees
Tiebreaker: What will be the final score?
Prediction: Yankees 3, Dodgers 2
Advertisement
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Get more from Major League BaseballFollow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Threave manager Danny Dunglinson cannot hide his admiration for his player.
“It’s horrific what him and his family are going through,” Dunglinson said of the midfielder. “He’s only 19, so trying to get your head round what he’s going through is very hard.
“Seeing him on the pitch, you can’t quite believe he is experiencing what he’s experiencing. I don’t think he’s missed a training session.
Advertisement
“During games, he’s never once looked out of place or looked like he’s struggling. If anything, he looks like he’s getting better, which is staggering.”
Watson considers himself “lucky” to have scored in the first-round win, having promised Dunglinson that he would.
“The reaction when he scored was brilliant,” Dunglinson said. “The cheer was that extra bit louder, even though it was the last goal in a 6-1 win in the last minute.
“I think it meant a lot to his team-mates as well.”
Advertisement
Watson’s mother Amanda Woods said “there’s just no words” for the ordeal her son and their family are enduring.
“He’s an amazing human being and he copes with it all very well,” she said. “Which means I’ll cope with it well too.
“He is still playing his football. He’s a very driven and strong-minded young man and always has been.
“I would swap places in a heartbeat. There’s no question about it. We’ve got to keep each other going.
Advertisement
“Charlie’s never failed to make us proud of him. We’re so proud of him for everything and Friday’s just yet another.”
If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, visit BBC Action Line
You must be logged in to post a comment Login