The form of mixed martial arts (MMA) making its debut at the Asian Games looks almost completely distinct from the visceral brawls of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which have come to define combat sports in recent years.

In order to get a version of the sport into the Games, currently taking place in Nagoya in Japan, adaptations had to be made. The fights take place without the familiar cage, on an open mat and with small boxing-style gloves. While MMA’s presence in the Asian Games is significant in itself, it’s also a clear effort to get close to Olympic recognition.

“We think without the cage we will have a better alignment with the Olympic values and hopefully recognition from the IOC,” Galastein Tan, the director general of  Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA), told press agency AP. “It takes time to change a perception. We hope to be able to share that there is a new form of MMA, and this form is more aligned with the Olympics.”

FIMMA is not the only body purporting to represent the sport, with the International Mixed Martial Arts (IMMAF) also staking a claim. But Tan, a Chinese billionaire property mogul, is a vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia. This could potentially open doors in a movement which has so far kept MMA at arm’s length, with violence levels among its concerns. DW contacted both FIMMA and the IMMAF for comment but received no response.

UFC has outstripped MMA

In the past the UFC, a lucrative MMA-based competition, has also pushed for Olympic recognition. But the growth of that arm of the sport, highlighted by it staging an event on the South Lawn of the White House at the 250th anniversary celebrations of US independence earlier this year, has meant that the aims of a sport that was marginal two decades ago have shifted according to Karim Zidan.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s that important to MMA. The sport has already found its success on a professional level, which is what the fan base demanded of it,” said Zidan, who has written an upcoming book ‘The Ultimate Strongmen: MMA and the Rise of the New Authoritarian Right’ on the subject. 

“The UFC is bigger than it’s ever been in terms of the amount of money it’s making” added Zidan. “The UFC’s growth mainstreamed MMA as a sport, but it also cannibalized it. So there’s really not much remaining. Olympic recognition might seem like a badge of honor, but it doesn’t amount to much else.”

With events for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles already set, the earliest MMA could make its bow would be 2032 in Brisbane. But the IOC told AP that “mixed martial arts does not meet … eligibility criteria” at this point. DW has sought clarification from the IOC on this.

Does MMA have enough appeal for Olympics?

Tan appears to be trying to find a way to change that, citing the sport’s popularity. “MMA is popular globally, able to engage fans at a gut level and attract fans at a youth level,” he said.

But Zidan argues that its popularity is through the UFC, rather than any grassroots popularity.

“There isn’t much of an MMA ecosystem outside of the UFC for me to say there’s an entirely different worldview existing in the sport that’s demanding this. There are pockets within the sport that enjoy amateur MMA and are operating within it, but I don’t think it’s a significant part of the fan base at all,” Zidan said.

“I’m not particularly convinced that this is a turning point or a significant moment for mixed martial arts, honestly. I think the sport has suffered tremendously under the burden and the weight of the UFC over the past decade.”

UFC’s links with the Trump administration are deep and clear, with UFC president Dana White also speaking at the Republican convention in 2024.

But Zidan also pointed to the IMMAF’s link up with Brave Combat Federation, a Bahraini organization headed by Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. A 2025 Amnesty International Report said Bahrain continued to “to suppress the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including through arbitrary detention and prosecutions.”

Authoritarian links remain for MMA

Such links with authoritarian governments have become, Zidan added, fairly commonplace in the sport.

“They’ve already had associations with authoritarian regimes in the past and it’s very likely that relationship will build. If this [the Asian Games and potential Olympic acceptance] means that we will now have more amateur MMA events being hosted around the world in youth championships, it’s very likely that authoritarian regimes will jump on that.”

The challenge for FIMMA, who appear to want to take MMA in the Olympic direction and away from UFC and its associations, is to make the sport more “normal” and less about spectacle, FIMMA’s vice president Alex Engelhardt told AP.

“It’s very challenging in the sense that the whole mindset in the sport is so focused on promotions,” he said.

Even if that can change, and sport’s debut at the Asian Games adds some legitimacy, the Olympics still seem some way off.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding

ICC chairman Jay Shah and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia congratulated the Indian women’s cricket team after it successfully defended its Asian Games gold medal with a commanding 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final in Nisshin on Tuesday. India produced a dominant all-round performance to claim its first gold medal of the ongoing Asian Games. Smriti Mandhana’s 79 off 45 balls powered India to a record 216/3 before the bowlers dismissed Sri Lanka for just 69. “Congratulations to India women’s team for winning the Asian Games gold! And well played Sri Lanka on clinching silver in Japan after a strong campaign. As we look ahead to cricket’s return to the Olympics at #LA28, spectacles like this prove that the women’s game is ready to command the biggest multi-sport stages,” Jay Shah wrote on X on Monday.

Congratulations to India women’s team for winning the Asian Games gold! And well played Sri Lanka on clinching silver in Japan after a strong campaign.

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As we look ahead to cricket’s return to the Olympics at #LA28, spectacles like this prove that the women’s game is ready to… pic.twitter.com/SRIWb1MxEf

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 22, 2026

Mandhana’s innings included seven sixes and five fours, while Shafali Verma contributed 48 off 29 balls. Richa Ghosh then provided the late impetus with an unbeaten 49 off 22 deliveries as India posted the highest total in the history of the women’s Asian Games cricket competition.

Saikia hailed the team for securing back-to-back Asian Games gold medals, while also highlighting the side’s recent success at the Asia Cup.

“Heartiest congratulations to our Women’s Team @BCCIWomen on winning Gold at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya! Back-to-back Asian Games Gold medals — a remarkable achievement and a truly proud moment for Indian cricket. After a dominant Asia Cup campaign in Dubai , the team carried that winning momentum into Nagoya, playing with confidence, flair and determination throughout. Congratulations to each member of Women’s Team , both players and support staff. You have made the nation proud once again!”

India’s bowlers then completed a comprehensive victory. Deepti Sharma was the standout performer with figures of 3-6, while Shafali Verma and Sree Charani claimed two wickets each. Shreyanka Patil also took two wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69.

Chamari Athapaththu top-scored for Sri Lanka with 29 off 21 balls, but the chase never gained momentum as India kept striking at regular intervals.

The victory saw India retain the gold medal it won at the previous edition of the Asian Games, where it also defeated Sri Lanka in the final.

India’s 216/3 also broke the previous Asian Games record of 202/4, set by Hong Kong against Mongolia in the 2023 Hangzhou Games. The total was also the highest in a women’s T20 final, surpassing the previous mark of 210 set by Brazil against Spain earlier this year.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Football fans and pundits frequently reach back to say or post, “Welcome to the NFL,” this time of year.

It’s a four-word phrase – if not a four-letter word – that illustrates how quickly things can change, namely when a team’s Week 1 highs get pancaked by Week 2 lows.

But it also works both ways.

The Los Angeles Rams proved that on “Monday Night Football,” thumping the visiting New York Giants 28-6 in a remarkable rebound from a season-opening dud against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 10.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “And sometimes you have a dumbass coach that makes travel plans that put you in a bad spot.”

On Monday, the Rams relied on another conditional they hope remains constant. Sometimes, Aaron Donald plays nearly 60 percent of your defensive snaps after coming out of retirement.

Throughout the Los Angeles locker room, players cited the return of No. 99 to the defensive line as a leading reason they prevailed.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford admitted Donald’s jubilation while running out of the tunnel made Stafford “so juiced” that “I couldn’t control myself.”

He was speaking figuratively, of course, because Stafford completed 71 percent of his passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns, including two scores to Davante Adams.

The performance of Stafford’s counterpart, Jameis Winston, impacted the game significantly, too. Thrust into action after Giants franchise QB Jaxson Dart exited with a left-knee injury after just seven snaps – “in the neighborhood” of an MCL sprain, coach John Harbaugh said – Winston sputtered.

And that may be putting it mildly.

Winston completed just 11-of-27 passes for 111 yards and interception while leading the Giants only to a pair of Dominic Zvada field goals.

“We have to execute better,” Winston said. “We are focusing on being in better down-and-distance. We were in third-and-long a lot, so we have to execute better; I have to execute better on first and second down.”

Easier said than done with Donald looming on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Still ramping up after ending a retirement of two-plus years about 10 days earlier, Donald didn’t travel to Australia.

With eventual partner in crime Myles Garrett watching from a suite after being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury, Donald notched three tackles, one for loss. While he didn’t generate a quarterback pressure, Donald helped the Rams nearly double their pass rush win rate from the previous week simply by lining up, as his coach saw it.

“He elicits attention,” McVay said. “He brings everybody up around him. And I didn’t think it was by coincidence that the energy that we played with [tonight]. I thought really the defensive coaches did a great job with their game plan, but ultimately just elevating situations he’s in and people that he’s around and that’s what the greats do and that’s what he does.”

With Garrett likely to miss at least the next three games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, Donald must continue to adapt around LA’s other talented pass rushers.

Working through more double-teams than he would with Garrett around doesn’t quite scream “Welcome to the NFL” for a veteran of Donald’s accomplishments.

If Donald still is up to it, though, imagine how the Rams might look in another month.

Control Resonant has one default difficulty setting, but you can adjust it to your preference through Assist Mode. You can make the gameplay harder or easier by tweaking several options. That said, there’s no penalty for turning on Assist Mode, and you can still unlock all achievements for 100% completion.

Here are all the details regarding Control Resonant’s difficulty settings and how you can customize them using Assist Mode.

How to use Assist Mode and adjust difficulty in Control Resonant

To adjust your difficulty in Control Resonant, start a playthrough or load an existing one. Afterward, go to Options → Gameplay → Assist Mode. Afterward, enable the mode to customize the difficulty settings.

This option is only available during a playthrough, as the difficulty settings affect only the current save slot. This lets you customize different playthroughs to suit your preferences using Assist Mode.

Here are the Assist Mode preset options:

• Field Agent: Lowest combat difficulty, perfect if you only want to enjoy the story.
• Strategist: Approach fights methodically. You need to dodge enemy attacks perfectly and strike at appropriate times, all while managing your health bar.
• Ranger: Both incoming and outgoing damage are low, so you’ll spend more time dealing with enemy waves.

Here are all of the Assist Mode options that you can customize, along with their details:

• Power Recovery Speed: Adjust how fast or slow your Power recovers.
• Incoming Damage: Adjust how much damage you take.
• Outgoing Damage: Adjust how much damage you deal.
• Outgoing Falter: Adjust how much Falter you deal (the bar below the enemy health bar).
• Perfect Dodge Window: Increase it to have more time to execute a perfect dodge.
• Enemy Projectile Speed: Lower it to make enemy projectiles slower.
• Enhanced Melee Magnetizing: Enable it to lock on to enemy targets from a bigger distance.
• Immortality: You will take damage but will not die.
• One-Hit Kills: Kill enemies in a single hit.
• One-Hit Falters: Deal max Falter to enemies in a single hit. You can immediately follow up with an Execution.
• Enemy Aggression: Adjust how many enemies attack you simultaneously.

Check out: Strike, Glaive, or Cleave: Which primary weapon should you choose?

Best difficulty settings in Control Resonant

If you want to have a balanced difficulty to enjoy fast-paced combat and explore the locations to complete quests efficiently, you can opt for these settings:

• Power Recovery Speed: 500
• Incoming Damage: 50
• Outgoing Damage: 250
• Outgoing Falter: 300
• Perfect Dodge Window: 300
• Enemy Projectile Speed: 60
• Enhanced Melee Magnetizing: Yes
• Immortality: No
• One-Hit Kills: No
• One-Hit Falters: No
• Enemy Aggression: Medium

Since you need to do a lot of exploration and solve complicated puzzles in Control Resonant, I opted for these settings so I can enjoy both the combat and finishing quests. The combat feels like a hack-and-slash and lets you finish objectives faster.

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