📰🏟️ NFL deadline deals

Plus: UFC betting scandal…

Kyle Nowak

04 Nov 2025 — 3 min read

Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week of top sports stories and interesting links. Let’s rock and roll.

—Kyle & Peter

1) College basketball is back

Action tipped off yesterday with a full slate of games for both men’s and women’s college hoops—and also a few upsets.

On the men’s side, #13 Arizona pulled off a 93-87 win over defending champion and #3 Florida, while a loaded freshman class delivered a strong debut. (More surprises and takeaways)
On the women’s side, #16 Baylor delivered a 58-52 upset victory over #7 Duke at the “Oui-Play” event in Paris, and last season’s Final Four participants won in blowouts. (A look at Day 1—and what’s to come)

2) It’s the UFC’s turn for a betting scandal

The UFC reportedly kicked American fighter Isaac Dulgarian out of the organization yesterday following his suspicious loss at Saturday's Fight Night event in Las Vegas.

Dulgarian (7-2) came in as the heavy betting favorite, but his odds fell sharply just before the fight, indicating that large amounts of money was bet on his opponent to win.
During the fight, Dulgarian tapped out to a choke in Round 1 after making minimal defensive effort, with the commentators even calling out his amateurish actions.

Dive into the controversy

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3) NBA teams are fouling way more this season

Last NBA season saw the lowest foul rate on record (since 1973), and the lowest free-throw rate since the league’s inaugural campaign in 1946-47. But so far this season, the situation has completely flipped on its head.

NBA teams this year are fouling at a rate higher than it’s been in 15 years, while the leaguewide free-throw rate hasn’t been this high in 17 years.
There have already been 15 instances of a player shooting 15+ free throws in a single game, or 1 every 4.8 contests—versus a rate of 1 every 18.4 games last season.

Why some fans are crying foul

4) The NFL trade deadline expires this afternoon

Starting at 3 pm CT, NFL teams will no longer be able to trade players this season. Several key players have already been moved:

Jets star CB Sauce Gardner was traded to the Colts for two 1st-round picks
The Cowboys acquired three-time Pro Bowl DT Quinnen Williams from the Jets in exchange for a 1st-round pick, a 2nd-rounder, and DE Mazi Smith
Saints WR Rasheed Shaheed was traded to the Seahawks for a 4th-round and 5th-round pick

Every deadline move as it happened

5) LA Clippers owner sued over Kawhi Leonard scandal

11 former investors in Aspiration—a bankrupt tree planting company accused of fraud—are suing Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for allegedly funding a $28M no-show deal between Aspiration and Clippers star F Kawhi Leonard aimed at circumventing the NBA salary cap. (A recap of the scandal)

The investors’ lawsuit claims Ballmer was “complicit in and aided and abetted” Aspiration’s alleged fraud, and that the company couldn’t have kept operating without his support.
The NBA is currently investigating the cap circumvention allegations against the Clippers, Leonard, and Aspiration.

Go inside the suit

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