Conor McGregor—in no uncertain terms—is not a fan of Johnny Eblen.

During this past Saturday’s PFL Battle of the Giants event, McGregor spent much of his time on social media roasting the action on the main card. With the exception of the main event, which saw Francis Ngannou score an impressive knockout in his MMA return, four of the top five fights on the lineup went to the scorecards and one fight in particular drew McGregor’s ire.

Eblen successfully defended his middleweight title in a rematch with Fabian Edwards, but the five-round decision victory had McGregor mocking the champion’s workmanlike effort. On Tuesday, Eblen tweeted a critique of McGregor, which the UFC star has since responded to.

“Conor went from ‘The face of the fight game’ to ‘The disgrace of the fight game,’ Eblen wrote on social media. “He embodies literally everything I don’t want to be as a man or as a human. What an embarrassment. It’s giving Icarus.”

To that, McGregor responded, “Bro the fight was absolute poo, that’s it.”

Eblen currently sports a 16-0 record and has made a name for himself as the best middleweight in the world outside of the UFC. He entered Battle of the Giants holding the No. 5 spot at 185 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

His criticism of McGregor stems from the former two-division champion’s lack of success and inactivity in recent years. “Notorious” has just one win in the past eight years, with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier, and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. all handing him defeats.

McGregor has had plenty of time to engage in public feuds as he awaits his first fight since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a fight against Poirier at UFC 264. The 36-year-old was to make his comeback against rival Michael Chandler at UFC this past June, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

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Mike Perry is ready to make amends.

The BKFC superstar and former UFC fighter addressed his recent DUI arrest publicly for the first time on his podcast after he was taken into custody on Oct. 12 after being stopped by police in Florida. Perry was detained and later released on $ 1,500 bail but body cam footage showed the 33-year-old bare-knuckle veteran berating the officers and calling them homophobic slurs as he was being arrested.

“I want to say I’m sorry for talking to those guys like that,” Perry said. “I was a little pissed off at the moment. They were hurting my wrists and my shoulders. I’m not going to fight no cops. I’m definitely not. Go ahead and take me away.

“I’m not doing your sobriety test because I can’t stand on one foot anyway. I have no balance. I’m not going to play your games. I cussed them out but I apologize for that. I guess I was just driving a little too fast.”

After he was stopped by police for allegedly driving “approximately” 20 miles-per-hour over the speed limit, Perry denied that he was drinking alcohol and then declined to take the sobriety test offered by the arresting officers.

The original police report stated that Perry also refused to take the breath test and he wouldn’t sign the DUI citation, which earned him a second misdemeanor charge in addition to driving under the influence.

Perry was eventually released on bail and his next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Florida.

While he’s dealt with legal issues in the past, Perry had largely avoided any trouble in recent years but his arrest landed him back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

“I do want to do better,” Perry said. “I do want to be an influence to the younger generation. Someone my children can look up to but I also want to be fun. That doesn’t mean you have to break the law. I wasn’t trying to do that. I just want to be a good yin and yang.”

Despite his recent arrest, Perry is still targeted to return to action later this year with BKFC expecting the “King of Violence” to compete on the promotion’s first ever card in Philadelphia in December.

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Khamzat Chimaev might not have the experience of Robert Whittaker, but in this case, he thinks a lack of knowledge could be power.

In 13 pro bouts, including his seven UFC appearances, Chimaev is yet to lose. He faces arguably the biggest test of his career this Saturday when he fights former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the five-round co-main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

While Chimaev hasn’t faced the level of opponents Whittaker has, there’s a reason he feels he has the edge in their matchup.

“He knows how to lose, we don’t know, so I’m ready for victory,” Chimaev said at UFC 308 media day on Wednesday.

Whittaker won an interim title in 2017 that was later elevated to undisputed status, eventually losing it to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. He is 6-2 since that defeat with losses to Adesanya in their rematch at UFC 271 and then a one-sided TKO loss to future champion Dricus du Plessis. Outside of those setbacks, “The Reaper” has continued to prove he’s a step above the contenders at 185 pounds.

Whatever Whittaker brings to the table on Saturday, Chimaev is confident that he’ll impose his will on the fight and that fans shouldn’t expect Whittaker to force him into a standup fight.

“Who did stop my takedowns?” Chimaev said. “Nobody. I don’t think this guy will be different. If Kamaru Usman, he’s a great champion, and he took down everyone, but I took him down, I dominated him in the rounds, easy. What’s going to be different with Taekwondo or karate guy?”

Chimaev fielded several questions about his conditioning, having never gone 25 minutes in a fight, something Whittaker has done on multiple occasions. He answered that he and his team have tweaked his preparation, but there was no need for a complete overhaul of their training strategy.

Should Chimaev win a decision over Whittaker or become the first UFC fighter to submit him, it would undoubtedly answer a lot of questions. Questions that Chimaev himself has little interest in.

“Just win, that’s it,” Chimaev said. “I don’t think about five rounds, I don’t think about submission. Just go to the cage, win the fight, smash that guy, and take my money. That’s it. Never when I go to the cage, thinking about how, just win the fight. How doesn’t matter.”

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Dana White knows just how special Conor McGregor is, but believes another could be coming soon.

McGregor is the biggest star in the history of MMA, crossing over into the mainstream and broader public consciousness in a way that few other athletes have. But over the past several years — even before his catastrophic leg injury that’s kept him sidelined since 2021 — McGregor has increasingly moved away from fighting, pursuing his other business ventures and being very selective about his forays into the cage. As such, there are frequent conversations about who will be “the next Conor McGregor” to breakthrough to superstardom. But for Dana White, that’s easier said than done.

“The great thing about Conor, everybody thinks they’re Irish,” White told Outta Pocket with RGIII. “When you think about St. Paddy’s Day, all over the world, everybody thinks they’re Irish. The Irish thing is actually really powerful. And obviously his personality, his charisma, and he beat the guys he needed to beat to become successful.

“He’s like a unicorn. You’ll find a Conor McGregor every 10 or 15 years.”

There have been a number of big stars in the history of MMA, but none really compare to McGregor, who was part of seven of the 10 top grossing UFC Pay-Per-View events of all time, including the No. 1 — his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which sold an estimated 2.4 million PPVs. McGregor also was one half of the second most lucrative PPV event of all time, his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather JR. in 2017 which sold an estimated 5.3 million buys.

But while McGregor set the stardom for MMA quite high, there’s also someone new to come along and challenge that. And White believes that person could be coming along in the near future as the UFC continues to build its base in Mexico.

“Mexico,” White said when asked where the next McGregor will come from. “I opened a Performance Institute down in Mexico and we’re already starting to crank talent out of there. Some of the baddest humans who have ever walked the face of the Earth have been Mexican. Very big fighting culture down there. So I think our next big star is going to come out of Mexico, like that level of star.”

The UFC has heavily invested in Mexico the past few years, both in building the Performance Institute and in repeated events in the country or celebrating it. Most notable of these events was UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dubbed Noche UFC, the event was “a love letter to Mexico” and showed the history of the nation and its role in fight sport over the years.

As for McGregor, it’s still an open question whether he will ever return to the UFC. “Notorious” was scheduled to make his long-awaited return at UFC 303 this summer but withdrew due to injury. He’s now targeting a return in 2025 but nothing official has been announced.

TOP STORIES

Settlement. Judge approves $ 375 million settlement in UFC antitrust lawsuit.

Champ-champ-champ. Ilia Topuria hopes to become first UFC triple champion.

BMF. Jorge Masvidal wants an eventual ‘BMF vs. BMF’ fight with Max Holloway.

Beef. Brendan Schaub and Nate Diaz ratchet up their unexpected feud.

Prospects. Ranking the top prospects from the most recent season of Contender Series.

VIDEO STEW

UFC Embedded, episode 2.

Campfire chats with Max Holloway.

Chael Sonnen being a pundit.

Alexander Volkanovski breaks down Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Settlement.

Respect.

Book it.

He’s sees it slipping away.

But Sal D’Amato isn’t a referee.

Fight poster.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Rogerio Bontarin (grappling match); ADXC 6, Oct. 25.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m not some big McGregor fan but there will never be another Conor McGregor in MMA. He was a perfect storm of events that simply cannot happen again in the same way. He’s once in a lifetime.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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The UFC 308 media day will feature the entire main card from Saturday’s UFC event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will put his belt on the line against former UFC champion Max Holloway. Khamzat Chimaev will make his long-awaited return against Robert Whittaker in the co-main event.

Check out the tentative schedule below for UFC 308 media day:

4:15 a.m. ET: Armen Petrosyan

4:30 a.m.: Khamzat Chimaev

4:45 a.m.: Max Holloway

5:30 a.m.: Magomed Ankalaev

5:45 a.m.: Aleksandar Rakic

6 a.m.: Dan Ige

6:15 a.m.: Robert Whittaker

6:30 a.m.: Ilia Topuria

7 a.m.: Lerone Murphy

7:30 a.m.: Shara Magomedov

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Ilia Topuria has big goals after UFC 308.

This Saturday, Topuria defends his UFC featherweight title against Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi. It’s one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year, and it’s Topuria’s first title defense, but for “El Matador” it’s more than that: it’s the next step on a road to immortality.

Speaking with UFC on TNT Sports ahead of this weekend’s big event, Topuria revealed that in the next three years — by the time he’s 30 years old — he plans on being a three-division world champion.

“Probably a three-weight world champion, this is my goal,” Topuria said. “You’re not going to see me in the welterweight division like this, skinny. You’re going to see me different. That’s the goal. Move up to the lightweight division, get that belt, then move up to the welterweight division.”

Thus far, nine different fights have titles in two UFC weight classes, with only five doing so simultaneously. Thus far no fighter has ever even challenged for a title in three UFC weight classes, though recently, former UFC middleweight champion and current UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira teased the possibility of moving up to heavyweight to do so.

But first thing is first, Topuria has to settle his business with Holloway. The current “BMF” Champion has only lost to Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight over the past decade and presents a serious challenge to the young champion. But Topuria has his own challenge for Holloway come Saturday: to meet him in the middle, like Holloway has repeatedly done at the end of previous fights.

“If he stays in the middle the first 10 seconds of the fight, they’re going to see the most exciting 10 seconds in the UFC in MMA history,” Topuria promised. “It’s going to be fireworks. For sure I’m going to do that, and it’s going to be all up to him if he wants to stay with me or not.”

UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this Saturday.

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Thanks to a fight against Nate Diaz back in 2019, Jorge Masvidal ushered in the “BMF” era after he became the first ever “baddest motherf*cker” champion in UFC history.

At the time, UFC CEO Dana White said the symbolic title that was wrapped around Masvidal’s waist by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was just something fun to heighten the stakes in the fight but he had no plans for the belt to stick around long term. That changed in 2023 when the UFC re-introduced the “BMF” title with Justin Gaethje claiming the belt following a stunning second-round knockout over Dustin Poirier.

Less than a year later, Max Holloway took that belt from Gaethje with arguably one of the greatest finishes in UFC history after he pointed to the canvas and invited the human wrecking machine to stand and trade with him. The final punch from Holloway that landed sent Gaethje crashing face first to the canvas and a new “BMF” champion was crowned.

“I’m the biggest Max fan also,” Masvidal said about Holloway when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I love this guy. I love how he fights. I love his style. I love how he carries himself outside of the ring. One of my favorite all-time fighters.”

While he’s still holding the “BMF” title, Holloway’s next assignment comes in October when he faces reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in the UFC 308 main event.

Immediately after flattening Gaethje at UFC 300, Holloway called for the chance to reclaim the belt he previously held until coming up short in a trilogy of fights against Alexander Volkanovski.

The “BMF” title isn’t going up for grabs but no matter what happens in that matchup, Masvidal loves the idea of putting himself against Holloway in a fight for the ages.

“It would be an honor to get in there with Max,” Masvidal said. “It would be an honor and we could throw down. We’d put on a f*cking epic show. One of those fights for all the generations, all lifetime. I wouldn’t mind that.”

The promotional possibilities for a fight like that are nearly endless, especially considering Masvidal’s standing as the first ever “BMF” champion and Holloway now holding onto that same “BMF” title.

Masvidal isn’t necessarily calling for that fight but he has so much admiration for Holloway that he couldn’t at least entertain that idea if the UFC came calling.

“Me and Max could do some serious shit out there,” Masvidal said. “One of the greatest fights ever. One ‘BMF’ has the quickest knockout ever, the other ‘BMF’ has the latest knockout ever in a fight. It was at 4:59 in round five. So many interesting [parts] to me and Max fighting.

“We’re not going to grapple obviously, We’re just going to stand there and bite down on the mouthpiece and f*cking let the leather go. A f*cking dream match.”

Now if there was one major obstacle preventing that fight from happening it would be the weight class.

Holloway has spent most of his career fighting at 145 pounds but he has traveled up to lightweight a few times in his career including the fight against Gaethje in April.

Meanwhile, Masvidal started his career at 155 pounds but in recent years he’s been competing only at welterweight and he admits there’s very little chance he could ever go back down to his old division again.

That said, Masvidal understands the entire concept behind the “BMF” title is a willingness to throw down against anybody, at any time and doing it anywhere — and he has a feeling Holloway lives by that same code.

“It’s also a lot to ask of Max to come up to 155 or 170,” Masvidal said. “I can’t really fight at 155 anymore. I wouldn’t mind it one bit. Max is a legend and I’d love to get in there and mix it up with him.”

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A settlement agreement in the first UFC antitrust lawsuit was approved in Nevada, which brings to an end litigation that’s been ongoing for the past decade.

On Tuesday, Judge Richard Boulware issued a preliminary approval of the new terms of settlement after the UFC reached an agreement with the plaintiffs to pay $ 375 million to settle the antitrust lawsuit. The actual payout to fighters won’t be figured until after fees for the case are collected.

The lawsuit in question was first filed by fighters such as Cung Le, Nate Quarry and others back in 2014, which argued that the UFC engaged “in a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services.” The fighters claimed UFC achieved that goal through three key elements: Exclusive contracts, coercion, and acquisitions that eliminated potential competitors.

That initial lawsuit covered fighters from 2010 to 2017.

An original settlement agreement was reached back in March for $ 335 million. That figure was supposed to settle both this antitrust lawsuits and a second suit that covered fighters from 2017 to present day; however, the judge denied that settlement agreement after previously stating in court that the agreed upon payout seemed low and that the fighters represented in the second lawsuit could object to arbitration and class-action waiver clauses in existing contracts.

A trial date for this lawsuit was set but both the plaintiffs and defendants in the case continued to work towards a potential settlement before reaching an agreement on the $ 375 million payout to settle the original case.

Attorneys for the fighters submitted a brief with a financial breakdown detailing how much the athletes would be receiving from the settlement.

“The $ 375 million all cash recovery provides a swift and significant payment to the Class against the delay, costs, and risks of a trial and appeals. As discussed above, Plaintiffs had initially proposed to allocate 75% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (75% of $ 335 million is $ 251.25 million), and thus this Settlement would increase the amount going to the Le Class by $ 123.75 million. Plaintiffs subsequently proposed to allocate 90% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (90% of $ 335 million is $ 301.5 million), and in that light, this Settlement involves $ 73.5 million more for the Le Class.

“Under the Settlement, Le Class members would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $ 250,000. Thirty-five Class members would net over $ 1 million; nearly 100 fighters would net over $ 500,000; more than 200 fighters would recover over $ 250,000; over 500 fighters would net in excess of $ 100,000; and nearly 800 would recover over $ 50,000. By any reasonable measure, the Settlement, if approved, would put “life changing” cash into the hands of the families of several hundred fighters now.”

A total of more than 150 statements provided by fighters who competed in the UFC also submitted letters of support for approval of the settlement with hopes of receiving financial relief sooner rather than later. Numerous athletes including some former UFC champions detailed severe physical ailments and financial hardships in statements provided to the court.

Now with the judge handing down his decision, the next phase turns to the UFC making payment and then the attorneys setting up disbursement to the fighters after all fees have been settled.

Eric Cramer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, issued a statement to MMA Fighting regarding the decision.

“We are extremely pleased that Judge Boulware granted preliminary approval of the $ 375 million settlement of the Le v. Zuffa case. It is a monumental achievement that will get significant relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters. We honor our brave representative plaintiffs who fought for this result for ten years. And we look forward to pursuing significant business changes and more damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC.”

Similarly, a UFC spokesperson also issued a statement to MMA Fighting about Judge Boulware’s decision.

“Today’s decision is welcome news for both parties. We are pleased to be another step closer to bringing the Le case to a close.”

As for the second antitrust lawsuit for fighters from 2017 to the present, that is still playing out in court but it’s possible that a separate settlement agreement is reached before a trial would begin. Most recently, attorneys representing the UFC filed a motion to dismiss the case on Oct. 7 but the judge hasn’t ruled on that yet.

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The UFC 308 fight card, start time is for the UFC pay-per-view Saturday afternoon from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the main event, Ilia Topuria will put his UFC featherweight title on the line against former UFC champion Max Holloway. Topuria has won all seven of his UFC fights en route to a 15-0 career record, while Holloway (26-7) has won four of his past five fights.

Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker will square off against Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event.

Check out the UFC 308 fight card below.

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 2 p.m. ET)

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

Prelims (ESPN+ at 10 a.m. ET)

Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Chris Barnett

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Carlos Leal

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

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There aren’t many things that Dana White has defended in the UFC more vehemently lately than his passionate declaration that Jon Jones is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

While it’s tough to deny Jones’ status among the greatest of all-time, his inactivity over the past few years has pushed him further down those rankings while other athletes like Islam Makhachev have continued to take out contender after contender. Right now it’s Makhachev sitting atop the mythical pound-for-pound list both in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and the UFC’s official rankings, surely to White’s dismay.

For all the ways White has continued to pound the desk when it comes to his belief that Jones should be No. 1, Makhachev’s manager believes he knows why the UFC boss is taking such a strong stance on the subject.

“Listen, it’s the reason why Dana White is the pound-for-pound greatest promoter on this planet,” Ali Abdelaziz explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Jon Jones is fighting next month. He’s fighting a guy [in Stipe Miocic], he’s probably going to be -800 against. [This is] the best way to promote this fight, to promote Jon Jones.

“Dana never promoted Jon Jones for some reason. But now he’s on Jon Jones’ wagon. Guess what? This promotes Jon Jones, too. He can say he’s the greatest of all time. Islam Makhachev right now currently is the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world by far. It’s not even second place. But Dana’s Dana. People think he’s talking gospel.”

Abdelaziz might have a point based on the odds surrounding Jones’ upcoming fight booked against Miocic on Nov. 16 in the main event at UFC 309 in New York.

While it’s impossible to negate Miocic as one of the greatest heavyweights in MMA history, he hasn’t fought since 2021 and his last appearance was a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou. Add to that, Miocic just recently turned 42 and most oddsmakers have him around a 6-to-1 underdog going into the fight with Jones.

There’s also been a lot of blowback that Jones should be fighting interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall next rather than Miocic coming back from a three-plus year long layoff.

That’s why Abdelaziz can’t fault White for pumping up Jones any way he can, especially with a pay-per-vieiw to sell in November.

“In reality, it is what it is,” Abdelaziz said. “Dana is going to be Dana, Islam has just got to keep going and prove to everyone he’s the pound-for-pound king. I’m not worried about it. Islam is not worried about it. But Dana’s supposed to promote Jon Jones and he’s doing it and he’s doing a great job at it.”

As far as what comes next for Makhachev, the reigning UFC lightweight champion is expected to return in early 2025 after dealing with a thumb injury following his submission win over Dustin Poirier in June.

Makhachev’s coach and longtime friend Khabib Nurmagomedov recently stated that a fight was offered and accepted for January, although no further details were revealed.

Abdelaziz says that timeline is definitely possible now that Makhachev has been cleared to compete again.

“I think January, February,” Abdelaziz said. “He’s ready. I gave the UFC the green light and they’re going to book him against someone, it doesn’t matter who. It can be anybody. Islam is going to fight whoever they give [to him], it doesn’t really matter who.

“Good to go. Firing on all cylinders. Anybody, any time, anywhere.”

Makhachev’s opponent is almost certainly going to be Arman Tsarukyan, who is riding a four-fight win streak in the division and he’s been viewed as the No. 1 contender for the title.

That’s the matchup that makes the most sense but Abdelaziz says ultimately it doesn’t matter who they throw at Makhachev, which is why he doesn’t really call out opponents as the champion.

“I think Arman, he deserves it more than anyone,” Abdelaziz said. “It can be Arman, it can be [Renato] Moicano. It can be [Dan] Hooker … no, Hooker doesn’t deserve nothing.”

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