UFC

Cris Cyborg cemented her mixed martial arts (MMA) legacy as the best female fighter in sport, winning her fifth title in as many promotions this past weekend (Oct. 19, 2024), defeating Larissa Pacheco after five grueling rounds at Professional Fighters Leagues (PFL) “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (highlights here).

It was a fight the Brazilian striker had been longing for since she hadn’t competed in a whole year following PFL’s acquisition of Bellator MMA in late 2023.

“It took a long time to fight,” Cyborg said during the post-fight press conference (via MMA Junkie). “My last time, I fought one year ago. I wanted to fight more times, for me to defend my title, because I want to complete 20 years in my career.”

While Cyborg hasn’t had the chance to earn her sixth defense of Bellator’s women’s Featherweight title, adding another championship to her resume is a nice consolation prize. Still, she does have plans to defend that belt before she walks away from the fight game to focus on motherhood.

“This year is 19 and I want to go to my next chapter of my life and have a kid,” she added. “Next plan, I’d like to defend my title as soon as possible.”

After making her professional debut in May 2005 with a loss, Cyborg went on to amass a highly-impressive 28-2-1 record, winning multiple titles along the way during the near two-decade span. And while she admits she’s been in tough battles throughout her storied combat career, her latest blood-soaked brawl was special given her age and significance of the bout.

“Every one is really hard for me, but this one was nice because I’m 39 years old – 39 and fighting for the title,” Cyborg concluded. “For me, it means a lot. I think this is special for me to be PFL champion with a PFL belt.”

Cyborg is currently riding an eight-fight win streak and since she’s won a belt in every major professional organization, there really isn’t much else for her to prove to herself … or anyone else for that matter.

As far as what could realistically be next for the feared striker now that she’s taken out PFL’s 145-pound queenpin, a showdown against Sara Collins could be in order, though it’s safe to say that fight won’t go down until sometime 2025 if at all.

For PFL: “Battle of the Giants” results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ilia Topuria has started so many beefs, you could be forgiven for forgetting what actually lies ahead of him.

In recent weeks, the UFC featherweight champion has traded public shots with Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, and Belal Muhammad, seemingly uninterested in focusing his attention on the man he defends his title against at UFC 308 this Saturday: Max Holloway.

“Blessed” brings his recently won “BMF” belt into the main event matchup, but famously held the 145-pound title from 2017-2019 before a series of losses to Alexander Volkanovski seemingly put his championship days behind him. However, Holloway continued to fend off featherweight contenders, and with a stunning last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje this past April, he was able to call his shot and what he wanted was a crack at Topuria and a chance to reign over his division again.

MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew dig deeper into the headlining narrative, plus the other drama that could unfold at Saturday’s event Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

1. Where would Max Holloway regaining the featherweight title rank among MMA’s best feel-good stories?

Lee: Holloway stepping right back into the title conversation with that virtuoso performance against Gaethje was already inspirational and the positive vibes have only intensified with the way Topuria has portrayed himself.

I get that we live in an era where every fighter feels like they need to be Conor McGregor—like, I don’t actually get it, but I get it—but seeing Topuria set his sights every which way before even authoring a single title defense just isn’t sitting right with me. To what end are some of these callouts? Is he really going to fight Belal Muhammad anytime soon? Just defend the belt, man!

Putting aside whatever animosity one might have for Topuria, it would be incredible to see Holloway claim the featherweight throne again. Sure, maybe Alexander Volkanovski has his number, but outside of that there’s no one better at 145 pounds—or at least there isn’t if Holloway wins on Saturday. All Holloway does is put on fan-friendly fights, take on anyone the UFC sends his way, and he does it all while showing nothing but respect to his opponents.

Holloway is already a champion for life in most fans’ eyes, and seeing him with a divisional title around his waist one more time, would surely bring a tear to those same eyes.

Martin: Every fighter has haters, but Holloway arguably has less than just about anybody else out there. I mean how can you not love this guy? He doesn’t say stupid stuff to get attention. He literally fights anyone the UFC throws at him. And he produced quite possibly the greatest finish in UFC history with his stunning last-second knockout over Gaethje at UFC 300.

That’s why Holloway reclaiming the belt at this stage of his career over an undefeated wrecking machine like Topuria would absolutely rank near the top of the list.

After dropping three fights to Volkanovski—I still hold on to Holloway deserving the win in the rematch—it looked like “Blessed” was stuck in limbo in his chosen division. Sure, he’s taken out just about every other contender who’s even sniffed a title shot but the losses to Volkanovski banished him to the sidelines when it came to the championship. Fortunately for him, the sheer unpredictability of this sport brought things around again with Holloway scoring that dramatic knockout over Gaethje, and Topuria sending Volkanovski to the shadow realm.

Holloway has already cemented himself as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all-time and he’s a guaranteed Hall of Famer. But watching him ascend to take the throne again at UFC 308? That might be the one time in 2024 when almost every fan finds a way to cheer for the winner.

Meshew: I would argue that Holloway reclaiming the title actually isn’t a massive feel-good story because Max already was champion. This is not like Miesha Tate unexpectedly winning the title from Holly Holm, or Glover Teixeira winning the title late in his career. Honestly, it’s not even Robbie Lawler retiring off an incredible KO win.

Which isn’t to say it’s not impressive. To the contrary, I think Holloway reclaiming the featherweight title five years after he lost it is one of the most impressive feats in UFC history.

Twenty fighters have won multiple titles in the same weight class in UFC history. Almost all of those title reclamations came within a year or two of losing the belt. The most obvious exception to this is Carla Esparza, who had almost eight years between her title reigns. That was an amazing achievement, but also the manner in which it occurred was a bit curious as Rose Namajunas fought one of the worst fights in modern MMA history. That won’t be the case with Holloway.

If Max reclaims the belt after twice failing to do so, and does it by beating a fighter everyone agrees is one of the best in the world, well, that’s incredible. It’s a nearly peerless accomplishment and one that I don’t think enough people will respect on those terms. But it would be another incredible achievement in an already Hall of Fame career.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

2. Is the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev guaranteed a title shot?

Meshew: No. And while I think they’d be the odds-on favorite to get the next one, middleweight is real wonky right now.

All signs point to Sean Strickland getting a rematch with Dricus du Plessis next. We can debate the merits of that (I think it’s silly but whatever), but that appears to be what’s happening. And while the winner of this weekend’s co-main event makes logical sense to fight the winner and would “deserve” it, deserve’s got nothing to do with it.

First, what if Strickland wins? Then he and DDP are 1-1, and a trilogy bout could make sense. Which would mean either Whittaker or Chimaev has to now sit out for nearly a year. Do they want to do that? Does the UFC? What about the rising crop of middleweight contenders behind them? No guarantee.

And if DDP wins, and so does Whittaker, are we in a rush to run that one back? Maybe it happens, but there’s also the possibility of DDP vs. Alex Pereira out there so I wouldn’t go counting my chickens.

And of course there’s the issue of Chimaev himself. Knock on wood, it looks like Chimaev is going to make it to the fight this week, but the man is simply not reliable. On top of that, it sure seems like he’s only fighting in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, which isn’t prohibitive, but it does limit options.

All things considered, I’d say it’s likely but none of this screams “guarantee” to me.

Lee: The word “guarantee,” and Chimaev should probably never be near each other.

I’m hesitant to even write about this given Chimaev’s track record of missing out on big fights, and while I don’t believe in jinxes, it feels wrong to poke this bear. But here we are. Assuming (gulp) Chimaev actually makes it to the cage, and scores a win over Whittaker, he’s next in line.

The timing seems to be perfect, too, as he can take his sweet time preparing for his title shot while du Plessis presumably rematches Strickland at some point in the first quarter of 2025. Then the UFC can nudge Chimaev out of hibernation for an opportunity that once seemed like a guarantee (whoops, did it again) and is now the shakiest of propositions.

So no, I can’t imagine Chimaev beating Whittaker and not being sent a contract to fight for a UFC championship. What happens after he signs that contract is anybody’s guess.

Martin: In the lexicon of MMA, the word “guaranteed” falls just behind “deserves” as a term you should absolutely strike from your vocabulary if you want to stay sane watching this sport. This particular situation gets even more tenuous when you look at the two fighters involved in this matchup.

There’s no denying Whittaker is a legend at middleweight, but with a pair of losses to former champion Israel Adesanya and a one-sided drubbing from du Plessis barely 15 months ago, it’s tough to see him jump right back into title contention.

Truthfully, Chimaev actually has a better chance at a title shot with a win, but even that seems a bit unclear. His long history of injuries and illness have prevented him from building any sort of momentum over the past couple of years. Add to that, Chimaev has reportedly struggled to get a visa to travel to the United States and that’s almost like a nail in his coffin when it comes to a title fight. As much as the UFC travels internationally, Chimaev not being able to fight in the U.S. dramatically changes the ability to promote him as champion.

So basically that means nothing is guaranteed for the winner in this fight except hearing Dana White say, “we don’t make fights on the night of an event.”

3. What is the fight to watch outside of the top-2 matchups?

Martin: The only correct answer here is the light heavyweight showdown between Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic.

By all accounts, Ankalaev should have faced Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title at UFC 307, but Khalil Rountree Jr. was granted that opportunity instead. Did it make sense? Not really, but we’ve all moved on largely thanks to Rountree’s gutsy performance before falling to the Brazilian hammer just a few weeks ago.

So now it’s up to Ankalaev to cement himself as the No. 1 contender. He must have shattered a mirror or crossed paths with a black cat because he sure seems to have the worst luck possible. He fought to a split draw with Jan Blachowicz in a title fight back in 2022 and then had a no-contest with Johnny Walker thanks to an illegal knee strike delivered in that fight that further delayed his championship aspirations.

Ankalaev can’t leave anything to chance this time. He needs to demolish or otherwise dismantle Rakic to state his case for a title shot and hope that Pereira sticks around at light heavyweight to face him.

Meshew: Low key, this card is trash but for the top fights. But when you have big fights like this event, you can get away with an undercard that underwhelms. And given that, Damon is correct: there’s only one answer and it’s Magomed Ankalaev.

I don’t know why the UFC hates Ankalaev, but they clearly do. Even Alex Pereira is talking about rejecting him. This man may well be the best light heavyweight in the world, has a rock solid case to fight for the title next, SHOULD be the consensus pick to do so, and everyone is collectively working to screw him out of it. It must be maddening for him.

So given all that, I expect Ankalaev is going to come out looking to make a statement, because he needs to. The UFC hates you? Become undeniable. Fans incorrectly think you’re boring? Become undeniable. Pereira wants to big league you? Become undeniable.

Ankalaev is going to go out on Saturday and put on the best performance he is physically capable of because he has to. And so for that, I’m tuning in.

Lee: Maybe I just have middleweight fever, but I feel like Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan will be one to watch if only because it seems ripe for weirdness.

We still don’t know what’s up with “Shara Bullet” never fighting in the U.S. That’s weird. We still don’t know if he’s actually that good, but he has that shiny undefeated record still. That’s weird. And then there’s Petrosyan, a striking specialist who seems incapable of actually knocking anyone out at the UFC level? Weird, weird, weird.

That’s been a recent trend for UFC events, the bizarre and inexplicable weighing in alongside the great and spectacular. I’m not saying Magomedov vs. Petrosyan will be the best fight of the night; in fact, there’s a strong chance it turns out to be the worst fight of the night, objectively speaking.

But I’m willing to bet at the end of the night, for better or worse, we’ll be talking about it.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Israel Adesanya has seen enough to assure him that Francis Ngannou is still the true king of the heavyweight division.

Ngannou made a spectacular PFL debut at Saturday’s Battle of the Giants event, needing less than a round to ground Renan Ferreira and knock him out with a series of devastating punches. It was the first MMA fight for Ngannou since he defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022.

Though UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is scheduled to take on former titleholder Stipe Miocic in a long-awaited fight at UFC 309 on Nov. 16, Adesanya doesn’t agree that the winner of that bout should automatically be granted GOAT status.

“Hell no [the debate isn’t done],” Adesanya said in a Battle of the Giants reaction video. “Stipe is the last one I can remember people saying. Well, it was Cain [Velasquez] first and then Stipe, and then right now people still hold Stipe as the greatest of all time in the heavyweight division. But I think he’s one of the greatest and he has beaten Francis, but Francis beat him in the worst way. Again, it’s all subjective, it’s all art, it’s all who you like.

“I think Francis is the greatest heavyweight of all time, but again, now Jon is in there, he’s the heavyweight champion. He’s only fought once at heavyweight, but he’s also one of, if not the greatest fighter of all time. Tom Aspinall’s even in the f*cking mix and he’s only just kind of getting his ball rolling. It’s exciting as a fan, but right now in this moment I am just so happy for [Ngannou] and what he has accomplished and to see him go through it with the adversity he had to go through with the death of Kobe.”

Ngannou entered Saturday’s main event with the heaviest of hearts, having lost his infant son Kobe this past April. He dedicated the fight to Kobe in a tearful post-fight interview, stating that he was only fighting again to honor him.

Following his departure from the UFC in 2023—having never lost the heavyweight title in the octagon—Ngannou signed with PFL and then booked a pair of high-profile boxing bouts. He narrowly lost a thrilling split decision against Tyson Fury and then suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in his next fight.

When it came time to compete under MMA rules, however, Ngannou went right back to his winning ways.

“Flawless,” Adesanya said of Ngannou’s win. “That was a beautiful performance. He took one leg and dodged a flurry and eventually timed his right hand, shot for a double, kept him there and knocked him out. Proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing because he’s gone through so much in his career even still. After the whole boxing thing, people were doubting him and then he lost to A.J., people went, ‘Oh, we knew it.’ It’s like people are prisoners of the moment.

“They forget. They forget who this man is or who people are, they’re just prisoners of the moment right now. So I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou.”

TOP STORIES

Prayers. Bellator fighter Daiane Silva remains hospitalized after a weight cut gone wrong.

For Kobe. Francis Ngannou had a lot to prove not just to the world, but to himself.

DMF. Max Holloway questions whether Ilia Topuria understands what it means to be a “BMF.”

Troll. Conor McGregor wasn’t impressed with what he saw at PFL Battle of the Giants.

Props. Jon Jones only had praise for Ngannou’s MMA comeback.

Statement. Anthony Hernandez proved he was on another level with a drubbing of Michel Pereira in the UFC Vegas 99 main event.

VIDEO STEW

Battle of the Giants post-show.

Relive Saturday’s PFL event with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew.

Max Holloway.

PFL fighters break down one of the biggest events in league history.

Big Tom breaks down the UFC 308 main event.

Countdown.

UFC marathon.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

On to the Next One. The Best Friends Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee guess what’s next for PFL star Francis Ngannou and the big winners from UFC Vegas 99.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Love.

Respect, always.

Roasted.

Didn’t have Nicksick rubbing shoulders with Ronaldo on my 2024 bingo card.

Wild.

Yes, this is still happening.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rinat Fakhretdinov (22-1-1) vs. Carlos Leal (21-5); UFC 308, Oct. 26

FINAL THOUGHTS

Francis Ngannou back in MMA? Just feels right, man.

No one would have blamed Ngannou for taking 2024 off given the awful tragedy he and his family are going through, so seeing him come back and look like his old self, even if for just one night, it was emotional. As excited as we all are to see what’s next for him, let’s not forget to appreciate the moment for what it is.

Take care of yourselves and each other out there.

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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Professional Fighters League (PFL) staged the massive “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) event yesterday (Sat., Oct. 19, 2024) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on ESPN+, which saw Francis Ngannou make a successful return to mixed martial arts (MMA) with a first-round destruction of Renan Ferreira (see it again here). In the co-main event, Cris Cyborg picked up another world title by defeating a durable Larissa Pacheco for the women’s Super Fight Featherweight title (highlights here).

PFL

Winner: Francis Ngannou

Who He Should Face Next: Denis Goltsov vs. Oleg Popov winner

PFL will return to Riyadh on Nov. 29 for its annual world championships where the promotion will crown six champions and dish out six separate $ 1 million checks. One of those title fights will crown a new heavyweight champion as Denis Goltsov will face Oleg Popov in the finals. The winner will more than likely be “The Predator’s” next challenge sometime in 2025, assuming Ngannou doesn’t pursue another boxing match. Of course, we’d all like to see an eventual showdown between he and Jon Jones, but that will likely never happen.

PFL

Winner: Cris Cyborg

Who She Should Face Next: Sara Collins

Now that Cyborg has entered an exclusive club by winning her fifth world title for a fifth different promotion, she has options. She has already defeated PFL’s 145-pound champion in Pacheco, so she could very well turn her attention to defending her Bellator strap in 2025. And that opponent will likely come against Collins, who pulled off a huge win by defeating Leah McCourt — who was in line for a title fight — at Bellator London last month. Collins — who is 6-0, 3-0 Bellator — admitted that she was a “little scared” of Cyborg, which isn’t a good sign. Still, Collins can learn a lot from Pacheco’s performance because if you punch the bully in the mouth, she will back down. And, let’s be honest, Cyborg isn’t exactly in the prime of her career so this is going to be the best time for Collins to even have the slightest chance of an upset.

PFL

Winner: Johnny Eblen

Who He Should Face Next: Wait and see…

Eblen kept his undefeated record intact, improving to 16-0 by defeating Fabian Edwards for the second time. While it was for the Bellator belt, it was under the PFL banner. As far as what could realistically be next for “Pressure,” that is a bit tough to lock down because no one is really standing out at the moment. A showdown against Jordan Newman seems to be in inevitable since is undefeated at 7-0 with all of his wins coming inside the Bellator cage. But he has yet to face a true, ranked foe or long-term member of the Bellator roster. Aaron Jeffery, Dalton Rosta and Costello van Steenis are out there, but neither is on a consecutive win streak at the moment. Newman has been with the promotion for five years, so now might seem as good a time as any to give him his shot, and he would more than give Eblen a run for his money in the wrestling department as a former NCAA division III champion. All Eblen can do now is sit back to see what’s what.

PFL

Winner: Paul Hughes

Who He Should Face Next: Usman Nurmagomedov

After pulling off a huge upset win over former Bellator MMA Featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, Hughes got on the mic and shot his shot, calling for a title fight against Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov. And at this point, there really is no point in denying him the bout. Had McKee won the fight, he would have likely gotten the title shot next, so “Big News” should be afforded the same opportunity. Nurmagomedov recently defended his strap against Alexandr Shabliy, so he would be primed for a return sometime in early 2025 since there are no more Bellator event scheduled for the year.

To checkout the latest and greatest news and notes for “Ngannou vs. Ferreira” be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized “Battle of the Giants” fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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