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The fog of speculation surrounding UFC’s historic event on June 14 at the White House may have cleared after a big update from former champion Charles Oliveira. While rumors recently swirled about an interim heavyweight title match between Alex Pereira and Cyril Gane, Oliveira has dismissed those reports.

Speaking via RMC Sport Combat, the Brazilian legend claimed Pereira is not looking to make gains but is instead lining up a “very big fight” on the South Lawn. This revelation has immediately rekindled the MMA world’s collective hope for a superfight between Pereira and Jon Jones.

The momentum for this potential clash reached a fever pitch last week when Dana White officially announced that Alex Pereira has vacated his Light Heavyweight Championship. The move – a “gentleman’s release” to allow Jiri Prochazka and Carlos Ulberg to fight for the vacant belt at UFC 327 – signals that Pereira’s focus has shifted solely to the heavyweight division.

As a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, Pereira is now on the verge of making history as the first fighter to win UFC titles in three different weight classes. While an interim belt against Gane would technically satisfy that requirement, it lacks a bout with Jones, the man many consider the greatest of all-time.

The Denver Nuggets made a move on forward Spencer Jones just before NBA action resumed following the All-Star break.

The Nuggets needed enough players to meet the minimum player requirement on the roster, so the decision was made to convert Jones’ two-way deal into a standard contract for the remainder of the 2025–26 NBA season, as ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel reports.

“The Nuggets are converting two-way forward Spencer Jones to a standard contract,” Siegel, formerly of the Ax, wrote in a social media post on Twitter.

It’s also worth noting that the 24-year-old Jones had already exceeded his limit of 50 games for a two-way player in the league.

Now that he is already guaranteed a roster spot for the remainder of the campaign, he simply needs to recover from his injury to return to active status. The former Stanford Cardinal player missed the Nuggets’ final three games before the break, although Denver managed to win two of those contests, including a 122–116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on February 11.

Signed by the Nuggets to a two-way deal as an undrafted contract through 2024, Jones has averaged 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds through 46 games this season. He has been quite dangerous from behind the 3-point line, where he is hitting downshots at a 41.1 percent success rate on 2.5 attempts from deep outings.

The Nuggets begin a three-game road trip after the break this Thursday when they face the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, with Jones expected to be in the lineup.

As the Miami Heat focused on restarting the season after the All-Star break, some business was done with the team, giving an undrafted standout a standard contract. Although the Heat are dealing with an inconsistent season, some standout things have happened, one of which is a two-way player in Myron Gardner who has been rewarded for his efforts.

According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Gardner and Miami have agreed to a standard three-year contract because he has played well as a two-way player. This contract now fills Miami’s 15th roster spot, which could be the maximum spot for a team, although a two-way opening has been cleared.

The other two-way player spots have been filled by Vladislav Goldin and Jahmir Young, as Gardner has recently seen expanded minutes under head coach Erik Spoelstra, especially due to some injuries the team has suffered. Gardner has started four times for the team, averaging 11.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three-point range.

In addition to his ability on the court, Gardner is known for the physicality, personality and energy he brings to the Heat, with Norman Powell explaining how beneficial this has been to him.

“Myron is a character. I love Myron. He’s always high energy, high octane,” Powell told ClutchPoints on January 18. “He’s always hitting and hitting you; it’s always a positive energy, positive light that comes from him. I’m encouraging everybody. Everybody around him is laughing and joking. But when he steps out there, he’s 125%, 150% every time. And we need that.”

Asked Norman Powell about the influence of Myron Gardner:

“Myron is a character, I love Myron. He’s always high energy, high octane… He’s encouraging everybody, everybody around him is laughing and joking, but when he steps out there, he’s 125%, 150% every time…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/2Ufy8RSgU1

– Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) 18 January 2026

Heat’s Bam Adebayo needs teammates like Myron Gardner

As Gardner continues to anchor the Heat throughout the remainder of the season, he is doing the same with the team’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Active on the glass and making his presence felt, the 24-year-old has already earned respect from Miami, with captain Bam Adebayo emphasizing his important role.

“You need teammates like him, like throw him in the game, and he’ll play as hard as he can. But when Myron checks into the game, you feel a difference right away,” Adebayo said on Jan. 21.

Bam Adebayo on the “kid energy” that Myron Gardner has after a standout performance:

“I can’t describe Myron, but you need teammates like him. Throw him in the game and he’ll play as hard as possible.. When Myron checks into the game, you immediately feel a difference…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/h8RR8FaOqx

– Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) 18 January 2026

At any rate, Gardner wants to be a part of helping the Heat turn their season around, which has them at 29-27, placing them in eighth place in the Eastern Conference as their next game is on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Los Angeles Clippers shook things up in a big way at the recent NBA trade deadline, sending James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers, receiving a wealth of draft assets and young players in return. Since then, the Clippers have been playing with only 14 players on their official roster, leading some to wonder if they might make another move as the season continues.

It finally happened on Wednesday morning.

“The Los Angeles Clippers are signing guard Jordan Miller to a new two-year contract. The Clippers are 9-3 when Miller scores 10 or more (averaging a career-high 9.1 points), and have gone 21-12 since joining the rotation this season,” sources told ESPN.

ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel said, “Miller fills the Clippers’ 15th roster spot and joins Kobe Sanders in converting his two-way deal.”

Miller is one of several Clippers playing some anonymous basketball off the bench in Ty Lue’s rotation this year. While Los Angeles’ bench was much maligned during the first stretch of the season when the team got off to a bad start, they have started to pick things up in recent weeks, providing some assistance to Kawhi Leonard and company when he is off the field.

As Charania said, the Clippers have put together an impressive record since adding Miller to the rotation.

Los Angeles next plays against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday evening.