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Tommy McMillen offers to be backup for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev title fight, ‘dust any of those boys’ at UFC 333

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Tommy McMillen offers to be backup for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev title fight, ‘dust any of those boys’ at UFC 333

Tommy McMillen is so confident he'll take care of business on Saturday that he's offering his services to be the backup fighter in the upcoming featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev.

McMillen is set to face fellow undefeated prospect Marwan Rahiki in the highly-anticipated featured bout of Noche UFC this weekend in Glendale, Ariz.

A month ago, McMillen made headlines for a clip that surfaced during an interview with Full Send's Steiny, saying he would defeat Volkanovski. “Gun†clarified what happened in that moment, but is still quite confident he'd defeat the current champion.

“Yeah, first of all, that was a clip taken a little bit out of context,†McMillen told MMA Fighting. “Don't get me wrong. The first question I got asked that day was – this kid Steiny, he wanted to do some questions like that, like who would I match up with – and he wanted to know, he asked who is of the GOATs right now at 145. I said the GOAT at 145 does have to be Volk. He's earned his spot as a GOAT.

“But Steinie then asked after that, after I mentioned Volk, if the money was right because he just wanted to see where my mentality is at, he's like, ‘Would you fight Volk?' And I'm like, of course, bro. You don't get to the UFC and do the things I'm doing and not just be down to fight anybody for the right amount of money. So, 100 percent. But then the question on top of that was like, do I think I could win? And yes, 100 percent.â€

Volkanovski is set to face Evloev in his next title defense at UFC 333 — which takes place Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. “The Great†successfully defended his belt earlier this year with a lopsided decision win against Diego Lopes in their rematch. Evloev earned his shot with a decision win over Lerone Murphy at UFC London in March.

McMillen, who is 2-0 with two bonus-earning finishes this year, believes his size and style would be a handful for anybody — including Volkanovski and Evloev.

“I don't think there's a guy in this world at 145 pounds I can't beat,†McMillen explains. “And that's where my confidence comes from. I truly believe I can beat anybody at 145 pounds. I know I have the tools to. I'm 6'6, 220 pounds. Like 6'6, 220. I'm a f*cking big 45er. So I have that in my arsenal, and then you add the fact that I've been wrestling my whole life.I can stop people's wrestling if I need to. And then just my love for fighting and be able to fight with anybody.

“Hell yeah, bro. I think I have the tools to fight anybody in this world at 145 pounds.â€

McMillen faces Rahiki, who is also 2-0 with a pair of stoppage wins in his octagon tenure. The 9-0 fighter enters as a slight underdog against McMillen in a fight that has garnered extra interest over the past few weeks.

The 28-year-old McMillen believes his performance will be so impressive that he's offering to step in for either Volkanovski or Evloev — who McMillen is not overly impressed with.

“If the UFC hit me up and they need a backup for that fight, Volk and whatever the other f*ck, dude – the other dude's so boring, let's be real,†McMillen said. “Nobody wants to see him win. F*ck wrestlers, dude. You got to want to go out there and lay on people. I could do that, too. I could have done that in all my last fights.

“I could go out there and lay on these guys and f*cking be a Khamzat and just do all that. That shit's boring, bro. No one wants to do that. So let's hope Volk wins. But like,100 percent, UFC wants to pay me and be like, ‘Yo, Tommy, come be the backup for this fight.' F*cking send me, bro. I'll pull up there like a bag of f*cking Cheez-Its and dust any one of them boys, bro.â€

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MMA

Morning Report: Dana White shoots down $10M Misfits Boxing rumor, tells Eddie Hearn to meet in gym ‘and we can f*cking do it’

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Morning Report: Dana White shoots down $10M Misfits Boxing rumor, tells Eddie Hearn to meet in gym ‘and we can f*cking do it’

UFC 334 goes down this Saturday with two pretty damn intriguing title fights.

In the main event, undisputed* heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane goes for his first defense against, yes, one of the most talked-about fighters of 2026, the undefeated Josh Hokit. Folks, there’s a well-above zero chance that Hokit closes out the year as the UFC’s heavyweight king. Wowza.

Then you have the bantamweight matchup of destiny between champion Kayla Harrison and the GOAT herself Amanda Nunes. Where these two legends and the division go after UFC 334 is anybody’s guess, but this fight had to happen and it’s finally going down in Madison Square Garden.

So what’s your level of excitement as we kick off fight week?

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MMA

Andre Galvao says rules changed after he accepted Rousimar Palhares rematch

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Andre Galvao says rules changed after he accepted Rousimar Palhares rematch
Andre
Galvao is embracing a daunting challenge as he prepares to face
Rousimar
“Toquinho†Palhares at ACBJJ 23 on Nov. 13 in Rio de
Janeiro.

The Brazilian grappler will face Palhares in a rematch of their
2011 ADCC final, this time under rules that permit strikes to the
body.

Andre Galvao prepares for Rousimar Palhares at ACBJJ 23 under
rules allowing body strikes

Galvao, 44, told Sherdog that a renewed desire to compete and an
attractive offer from the promotion prompted his return. He
initially expected the rematch to follow the rules of their
previous encounter, but the format changed as plans developed.

“First they got my yes, then came the surprises,†Galvao said.
“Later on they told me it would be up to 100kg (220 pounds); then
that it would be nine minutes of fighting instead of seven; and
finally they informed me that punches and kicks would be
allowed.â€

The prospect of facing Palhares under those conditions concerned
some of Galvao's friends and students. However, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu
leader believes his MMA experience has prepared him for the
challenge.

“Several friends came to me and said, ‘You're crazy, coming back
right away against Toquinho and with strikes allowed?'†Galvao
recalled. “The fact is that since I built my career more in
Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling, the youngsters forget that I've already
had seven MMA fights, and during that period I was training with
champions like Anderson, Rafael Feijão and Ronaldo Jacare, so
taking punches isn't exactly something that scares me that
much.â€

Galvao nevertheless recognizes the threat Palhares poses.

“Toquinho is a monster, he's incredibly strong. I joke that I'm
prepared to face a monster on Friday the 13th,†Galvao said. “That
fight of ours in the ADCC final in London in 2011 is still
considered one of the best in history. I'm sure we're going to put
on another great fight and make history again.â€

Galvao won their first meeting 9-4 in the under-88-kilogram ADCC
final in Nottingham, England. Their rematch will headline ACBJJ 23
at Farmasi Arena.

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MMA

Johnny Walker wanted to take it slow at heavyweight, then UFC called

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Johnny Walker wanted to take it slow at heavyweight, then UFC called
Johnny
Walker's heavyweight run is going faster than he planned.

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweights Sean Brady
and Gabriel
Bonfim were originally scheduled to headline
UFC Vegas 124 on Nov. 7 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. However,
Brady pulled out because of a severe staph infection and the
promotion didn't book a replacement to keep Bonfim on the card.
Walker then accepted the headlining matchup against Waldo
Cortes-Acosta on nine days' notice.

What a victory over Waldo Cortes-Acosta could mean for Johnny
Walker

Walker (23-10, 1 NC) made his heavyweight debut against Mick Parkin
in October, scoring a bonus-winning first-round knockout. The
former light heavyweight recently revealed he originally wanted to
take things slow in his new weight class.

“I was thinking to take small steps and go slow in the division,â€
Walker said at media day ahead of UFC Vegas 124. “See how I feel at
heavyweight. That was my plan. God had different plans than me. God
has better plans for me.â€

Cortes-Acosta (17-4) was riding a three-fight win streak before
losing to Alexander
Volkov and Curtis
Blaydes this year. A win over “Salsa Boy†will launch Walker
into the heavyweight Top 10 in just his second appearance in the
division.

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