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Mike Tyson appears ready to go for next month’s blockbuster return to the boxing ring against Jake Paul.

The former heavyweight champion faces Paul Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, headlining an event that streams on Netflix for subscribers. The bout was initially scheduled for July, but Tyson withdrew after suffering a medical emergency.

With a lot of questions about the 58-year-old Tyson’s age, and overall health, “Iron” made an attempt to thwart some of the negative press with a pad melting training session, which he posted on Instagram.

Tyson hasn’t competed in a pro boxing match in nearly 20 years, losing a technical knockout to Kevin McBride in June 2005 after not answering the bell in Round 7. Tyson returned for an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, and fought to a no-decision after going the full eight, two-minute rounds.

After suffering his first loss to Tommy Fury in February 2023, Paul bounced back with four straight knockout victories. In his most recent outing, Paul stopped BKFC star Mike Perry in the sixth round in July.

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“I just got surgery this morning and I’m on OxyContin and I just went live on Twitch,” O’Malley told Adin Ross.

Sean O’Malley had surgery earlier this week to repair damage suffered in the buildup to his Merab Dvalishvili title fight atop the UFC 306 fight card last month inside Sphere in Las Vegas, a five-round decision loss that cost “Suga” the bantamweight title.

Not even Suga State Athletic Commission could save his strap.

“First off I wanna say, I didn’t take any pain pills — I didn’t even go to sleep,” O’Malley said. “They did the surgery, I was wide awake. It hurt a little bit, I’m not gonna lie. Whoa dude I feel like I’m peaking. Alright Twitch fam … we’re here, we’re there, we’re everywhere.”

Watch the Twitch stream replay here.

Fans on social media are calling O’Malley’s Oxy-induced Twitch stream “the dumbest thing he could have done,” which tells me they missed this bizarre procedure. The good news is, O’Malley is still cleared for that immediate title shot upon his return.

Assuming Umar Nurmagomedov is champion in 2025.

No word yet on when O’Malley, 29, is expected to make his Octagon return, but he may have to blast his way past this resurgent ex-champion, who has plans for his own 135-pound title shot in 2025. In addition, the promotion has yet to determine when Dvalishvili will make his first division title defense.

Still some missing pieces to this bantamweight puzzle.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Chad Johnson and James Harrison have some unique Super Bowl plans.

According to their chatter on social media, the former NFL stars expect to meet in an exhibition fight under MMA rules sometime prior to the upcoming Super Bowl LIX, which takes place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

Johnson, the flashy wide receiver who built his reputation with the Cincinnati Bengals, was first to tease the bout via a tweet on Wednesday.

“I’m fighting James Harrison in a exhibition MMA format three-round bout in New Orleans before Super Bowl, I’m so excited,” Johnson wrote.

Rather than shoot down the rumor, Harrison appeared to confirm Johnson’s announcement, replaying in a quote tweet, “It’s five rounds, [Johnson.]”

That reply led to a back-and-forth between the retired football players, with Johnson saying the number of rounds won’t matter because he’s predicting a first-round finish, and Harrison saying that Johnson won’t be able to stand when the fight is over.

Johnson, 46, went on to tout his MMA skills, boasting that he will submit Harrison with a guillotine choke using “a collection of grappling techniques and strategies where his strength won’t matter.” A one-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Harrison (also 46) would likely enter any contest against Johnson with a considerable size advantage.

Should the bout come to fruition, it would mark Johnson’s second foray into combat sports. He competed in an exhibition boxing bout against Brian Maxwell on June 6, 2021, on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul undercard. Though Johnson fared well for the most part, he was knocked down in closing moments of the four-round exhibition bout. Due to the fight being an exhibition, no official winner was announced.

Harrison was a fearsome linebacker during his 15-year pro career and a key member of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl champion teams in 2006 and 2009. In 2023, Harrison was inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Honor.

No date has been announced for Johnson vs. Harrison and it sounds like the athletes themselves are still sorting out the details.

In related news, current Las Vegas Raiders star and diehard UFC fan Maxx Crosby, 27, also expressed an interest in mixing the martial arts in an interview with TMZ.

“All my guys, all my teammates are like, 100 percent, they already expect me to do it,” Crosby said. “I’m like, shit, I haven’t even thought about it that much. I love fighting. I box damn near every single day, so we’ll see.

“I love it. I truly love it, so we’ll see. If my heart desires it and I want to go in there, shit, I might. I’m not ever putting anything out the window. You live one life, so I’m going to do everything I put my heart to.”

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Alex Pereira and Raquel Pennington put their championships on the line Saturday in Salt Lake City.

The main and co-main event of UFC 307 are set to go with Pereira (205) and Pennington (135) both successfully making weight for their respective title defenses at Friday’s official weigh-ins. Pereira faces Khalil Rountree Jr., who also weighed in at 205 pounds, and Pennington takes on Julianna Peña in a long-awaited grudge match. Peña stepped to the scale at 134.5 pounds.

See weigh-in video for the top-2 fights below.

Possibly awaiting the winner of the bantamweight title fight is former PFL star Kayla Harrison, who weighed in at 136 pounds for her main card bout against Ketlen Vieira (136). After starting her career in the lightweight division, Harrison has now successfully hit the bantamweight mark twice, though both times she has used the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight.

Should Harrison defeat Vieira and earn a title shot, she will need to make 135 pounds or lower to be eligible for a championship opportunity.

All 24 fighters competing on Saturday’s card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City successfully made weight, including two-time strawweight champion Carla Esparza who has announced she will retire following her fight with Tecia Pennington.

Check out UFC 307 official weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Alex Pereira (205) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (205)

Raquel Pennington (135) vs. Julianna Peña (134.5)

Jose Aldo (136) vs. Mario Bautista (136)

Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Kayla Harrison (136)

Roman Dolidze (185.5) vs. Kevin Holland (185.5)

Preliminary Card (ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Stephen Thompson (171) vs. Joaquin Buckley (170.5)

Marina Rodriguez (115.5) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (116)

Cesar Almeida (185.5) vs. Ihor Potieria (185.5)

Austin Hubbard (156) vs. Alexander Hernandez (156)

Early Prelims (ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Ryan Spann (205.5) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (205.5)

Carla Esparza (115.5) vs. Tecia Pennington (115)

Court McGee (170) vs. Tim Means (171)

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