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Dricus Du Plessis might just be MMA’s Rodney Dangerfield: the guy just can’t get no respect!

At 30 years of age, the first-ever UFC champion from South Africa is both at the top of his game and the top of the 185-pound division. His professional record stands at an impressive 21-2 with 19 victories via finish. He’s defeated former champions like Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland, as well as veteran contenders like Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson.

Why then, are so many fans baffled by his success? He rarely enters fights as the betting favorite. Until Du Plessis defeated Whittaker, the general belief among fans was that Du Plessis was outright bad at MMA despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Stopping the second most accomplished Middleweight of the last decade forcibly earned Du Plessis a bit of begrudging recognition, but even now, many don’t understand how Du Plessis keeps winning.

It’s ultimately a matter of substance vs. style. From a style stand point, “Stillknocks” does a lot wrong. His movement is herky-jerky rather than fluid. His punching mechanics are awkward. He tends to advance hard and retreat on straight lines, off-balance either way. Half the time, his takedowns resemble Rugby tackles more than scholastic wrestling.

If we’re talking about substance, however? From a strategic and effectiveness standpoint, Du Plessis’ success makes a ton of sense. Those Rugby tackles land him in top position fairly often for a man who primarily identifies as a striker. He’s finished more opponents via submission than knockout despite his brawler reputation, and he came closer to strangling Whittaker than a genuine jiu-jitsu master in “Jacare” Souza.

Then, there’s Du Plessis’ kickboxing, which is never pretty but has still stopped nine opponents and bloodied up one of the least hit strikers in the sport. There are standout factors in play here. Notably, Du Plessis is the rare high-volume striker with knockout power, and he is also unusual in consistently attacking all targets. He kicks hard with both legs up and down the body, throws punishing hooks at the mid-section, and will fire stiff jabs or overhands alike upstairs.

That kind of variety is unusual, especially at the bigger weight classes. Sean Strickland’s ability to stay in the pocket and avoid clean shots is probably his greatest attribute, but Du Plessis was able to slowly wear through those defenses because he attacked at all levels constantly. All of his early low kicks were checked, but his continued commitment to low kicks, body shots, and shifting combinations meant that they eventually did start to land. By the championship rounds, Strickland was absolutely feeling the damage and wear of Du Plessis’ offense despite his slick parrying.

Du Plessis is a very smart fighter with ugly mechanics. He makes sound strategic choices even if the means are sometimes confusing. Incredible physical attributes — can anyone at Middleweight match both Du Plessis’ raw strength and physical conditioning? — make it possible at the elite level, but that shouldn’t undermine Du Plessis’ tactical and technical abilities.

This weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024), Du Plessis will finally collide with rival and former champion Israel Adesanya after more than a year of feuding. “Stylebender” will live up to his name and be the smoother, more elegant striker between the two. However, that’s no guarantee of victory … and Du Plessis has proven it a dozen times over.

To checkout the latest UFC 305 fight card and rumors click here.

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This UFC 305 Countdown is all Izzy vs. Dricus, which tells you just how massive this fight taking place in Perth, Australia is.

After a less-than-thrilling weekend of MMA action, things are stepping back up next Saturday with UFC 305 on August 17th.

The card, set to go down in Perth, Australia, is headlined by a grudge match between middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and two-time former champ Israel Adesanya. And in a somewhat unusual move, the UFC has decided to dedicate the entire hour of it’s Countdown show to that main event rather than share the spotlight with anyone else.

If you’ve got friends you plan on exposing to UFC for the first time this coming weekend, show them this UFC 305 Countdown show. It goes in-depth on both Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis, detailing their rise from the world of kickboxing to MMA stardom. There’s lots of highlights and knockouts and, of course, drama when Izzy and Dricus start circling each other.

That all stems from Du Plessis’ decision to style himself the first ‘real’ African champion.

“Dricus first came on my radar when he disrespected the Three Kings,” Adesanya told the Countdown crew. “He doesn’t respect African kings, African champions, because he sees himself different from us.”

“How the f— are you going to question our African-ness, like who the f— are you?” Izzy added. “He could have been like, ‘Lately there’s been a great reign of African champions, and that’s awesome. I look forward to taking my place as an African champion as well.’”

“I said I was the first fighter out of Africa who’s gonna bring the belt back home,” Du Plessis replied. “To where I live … This whole story was never about him, for me. It was about my own goal. My accomplishments. It was never to discredit his. If he got triggered, I don’t care. I don’t care if he’s angry about it. We’ll settle it.”

They will indeed settle it on August 17th at UFC 305.

Also on the card: a flyweight scrap between New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France and Australia’s Steve Erceg. Dan Hooker returns against Mateusz Gamrot. And it’s big boy Tai Tuivasa vs. “Bigi Boy” Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a heavyweight slobberknocker. Keep it tuned to MMA Mania for all the news and results from Down Under.

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PFL wants Mokaev to keep their name out of his mouth as he continues to seek a new home after the UFC dropped him.

The PFL wants you to know they have no interest in signing Muhammad Mokaev.

Mokaev was very publicly dropped by the UFC following the completion of his contract at UFC 304, with CEO Dana White implying he was difficult to deal with on multiple levels. Rumors have swirled on what exactly he did — was he rude to UFC employees? Was it the non-stop brawling with Manel Kape? The terrible cage fight with Kape that followed? Or was it because Mokaev was in talks with PFL before his UFC contract was up?

All of these are credible possibilities, and while Mokaev admits maybe White heard through the grapevine that he’d been talking with PFL, he claimed he hadn’t been.

PFL also took the unusual step of attacking Mokaev, with president Ray Sefo declaring “Apparently he’s just a pain in the ass to deal with. So no, we’re not interested.”

“Of course you gonna say this,” Mokaev replied on X (formerly Twitter). “I never accepted you deals. Nice move!”

Reports have Mokaev leaning towards a return to Brave CF, the promotion he fought for en route to UFC. But in a new tweet, he suggested he had a number of options to choose from.

“Thank you to all organizations that reached out to me: Brave CF, Rizin, PFL, Karate Combat, ACA,” he wrote. “I appreciate for believing in me, now I will sit down with my team and take the best option not on money wise but that could let me go back to the UFC ASAP!”

This time it was PFL’s Mike Kogan who shut down Mokaev’s claim of an offer.

“This story is a lie,” he wrote on social media. “No one from PFL or Bellator spoke to the dude or showed even an ounce of interest.”

The PFL clearly wants the world to know they’re not interested in Mokaev, and at this point the denials are hitting conspicuous levels. If the promotion had been talking to Mokaev before his UFC contract officially ended, that could constitute tortuous interference. It’s been a while since the UFC has used their legal might to crush another promotion, but if there were talks, they’d have a case.

So all these heated denials against speaking to Mokaev may be as much for legal cover as they are over specific dislike for the young contender. That doesn’t make him look any better as he seeks a new home in the difficult MMA landscape outside the UFC.

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UFC Vegas 95 went down last night (Sat., Aug. 10, 2024) from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, which saw Serghei Spivac submit Marcin Tybura in the first round (see it again here). In the co-main event of the evening, overweight and embarrassed Chepe Mariscal defeated Damon Jackson via incredibly lopsided unanimous decision.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Winner: Serghei Spivac

Spivac got his much-desired revenge on Tybura, making quick work of the Polish contender, submitting him in less than two minutes with a slick armbar. In doing so, Tybura got one back on the man who defeated him four years ago, as well as banked a $ 50,000 “Performance of the Night” award. Furthermore, he improved to 4-1 in his last five outings and he should expect to move up a spot or two on UFC’s official rankings.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Runner (s) Up: Toshiomi Kazama

Coming into the event, Kazama was on our list for the fighter who needed a win the most because he was coming in having dropped his first two fights with the promotion via first round knockout. And it looked like he was well on his way to a third straight loss because he was getting worked by Charalampos Grigoriou on the feet. Halfway through round two, however, Kazama sunk in a triangle choke that forced a stoppage, giving him a new lease on his combat life. He also won a $ 50,000 post-fight bonus award, so it was a great night for him all the way around.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Loser: Pannie Kianzad

The UFC brass recently parted ways with several fighters in the latest round of cuts to make room for the incoming talent from Contender Series … and Kianzad could very well be on the chopping block after last night. That’s because she lost her third straight fight after coming up short against Karol Rosa via unanimous decision. She now dropped to 1-4 over her last five fights. She might not get another chance to make a good impression, but if she does, it will come with a ton of pressure to get the “W” … or her walking papers.

For more UFC Vegas 95 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.

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Last night (Sat., Aug. 10, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 95. It was quite possibly the least anticipated event of the year. The main event featured a rematch that nobody really asked for, and half of the card either pulled out or missed weight in the final days. All told, 20 athletes still showed up to put it all on the line, which was always guarantee at least a couple interesting moments … but not much more than that, if we’re being honest.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 95’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Spivac Scores Revenge

Serghei Spivac avenged his 2020 loss to Marcin Tybura in quality fashion. It didn’t last very long, but the Moldovan “Polar Bear” still managed to show off improved hand speed, quality wrestling, and excellent jiu-jitsu in just about half a round. We have never seen Tybura submitted in his professional career, let alone submitted with the classic armbar from full guard.

It’s a quality feather in Spivac’s cap, proof of his improvement and potential alike. At 29 years of age, Spivac isn’t the flashiest Heavyweight prospect, but he might still be able to achieve elite calibre if he continues improving. At the very least, he’s looking at a long career of submitting Heavyweights who cannot grapple at all (Tybura does not fall into that category), which is not a bad way to make a living.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Mariscal Overwhelms Jackson

The co-main event between Chepe Mariscal vs. Damon Jackson was expected to be a highlight, and the duo delivered. Right away, the pace was chaotic, as both grapplers chased takedowns and reversals.

Mariscal’s Judo background proved the difference, allowing him to score a few slick throws when the clinch work threatened to stall out. Additionally, Mariscal separated himself by landing damaging shots in close quarters. Whenever he briefly gained a control position or even just stopped a Jackson shot, Mariscal was bonking his opponent on the nose with surprisingly stiff arm punches.

Those strikes and the rapid pace really wore Jackson down over time. What began as a competitive scrap turned into an utter beatdown at the end of the second. Jackson caught a small second wind in the third and saw the final bell, but Mariscal’s undefeated UFC run continued nevertheless.

He just needs to make weight next time.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

A Tale Of Two BANGER Rounds

Toshiomi Kazama vs. Charalampos Grigoriou was unexpectedly awesome.

Japan’s “Silent Finisher” entered this bout in must-win territory, having lost his first two UFC fights. He started really strong, immediately — and I mean immediately! — getting his wrestling going. On the floor, he showed off his slick transitional grappling, changing positions and attacking submissions at an impressive rate.

Grigoriou was also looking for his first UFC win, and he recognized the first round didn’t go so well. “The Ferocious” New Yorker lived up to his nickname, surging forward with wild swings and flooring Kazama. The beating didn’t stop there, as a barely conscious Kazama absorbed a dozen hard elbows while on the floor.

Kazama wasn’t really there, but somehow, he managed to cling to guard and survive the onslaught. When Grigoriou finally ran out of gas, Kazama threw up a triangle choke and forced his opponent to submit! It was an impressive display of durability after a lovely show of grappling, so while it may not have been the cleanest win possible, it was absolutely memorable.

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

Additional Thoughts

• Karol Rosa defeats Pannie Kianzad via unanimous decision: Rosa has developed into a rare bright light at 135-pounds, a division I could not possibly care less about overall. That division is seemingly permanently bogged down by the same handful of aging contenders, but Rosa is an exception! At 29 years of age, she’s developing into a true contender with excellent kickboxing and devastating calf kicks. Her last two fights have been a ton of fun, making her a real divisional standout in a way that just wasn’t the case a couple years ago. She brutalized Kianzad, chopping her leg to pieces then opening up gnarly cuts with repeated elbows, scoring a couple takedowns along the way for good measure.
• Youssef Zalal defeats Jarno Errens via second-round rear naked choke (HIGHLIGHTS): “The Moroccan Devil” was one of the biggest favorites on the card, and he looked the part! Right away, Zalal’s movement was making his foe miss while Zalal dug in hard calf kicks. He controlled the exchanges well and timed a takedown beautifully late in the first. As soon as Errens moved to stand, Zalal jumped his back and locked in the body triangle. The choke came soon afterward, securing Zalal his second flawless UFC win of 2024.

For complete UFC Vegas 95: “Tybura vs. Spivac 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura squared off in a Heavyweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Aug. 10, 2024) at UFC Vegas 95 from UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Spivac started the fight strong, showing off surprisingly fast hands. Those punches set up a slick transition to the back clinch and subsequent takedown. Tybura showed off his experience with a smart reversal into top position. That veteran move put Tybura in a good position to control his opponent, but Spivac flipped the script by throwing up a quick armbar!

Seconds later, Tybura was flipped over and forced to tap.

In an instant, Spivac avenged an early career loss with this smooth armbar. Prior to the submission, his hands looked fast and his wrestling effective — that’s a solid performance! If nothing else, this victory demonstrated serious improvement from the first fight back in 2020, which saw Tybura win pretty much every aspect of the fight.

It’s important to remember the Moldovan is just 29 years of age, which is very young for a Heavyweight contender. He’s suffered some tough losses to the division’s elite, but he could still develop into a title threat given a couple years of improvement.

“Polar Bear” remains one to watch.

Result: Spivac defeats Tybura via first-round armbar

For complete UFC Vegas 95: “Tybura vs. Spivac 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Dricus du Plessis is gearing up for a title defense against former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya next weekend at UFC 305, but “Stillknocks” might have to look out for Islam Makhachev after that.

Earlier this week, Makhachev’s head coach, Javier Mendez, teased a potential move up to middleweight for the reigning UFC lightweight champion. Of course, Makhachev still has some unfinished business at lightweight and after that he would have to knock off the champion at welterweight, but Mendez believes Makhachev is the pound-for-pound best for a reason.

That said, Makhachev would be noticeably undersized if he ever decided to make a move to 185 pounds. Waiting for him would be a hulking champion like du Plessis, who is one of the larger fighters in the middleweight division. He also hasn’t lost since entering the promotion back in 2020, turning in a 7-0 UFC record en route to capturing the undisputed title.

Earlier this week, du Plessis was asked about Makhachev and how he’d fair in a huge move up two weight classes. The reigning UFC middleweight champion scoffed at the idea as he believes the lightweight king would simply be too small.

“I mean what can I say? Everybody can dream right, I always say never cap your dreams, dream big, but he’s dreaming real big. I’m very big,” du Plessis told Kevin Iole.

If both du Plessis and Makhachev keep winning long enough to actually meet inside of the cage does Islam even stand a chance? Or is du Plessis simply too big of a fighter?

Let us know!

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Fight fans who tuned in to Rough N’ Rowdy 25 on Friday night got more than they bargained for. In fact, they witnessed a real-life police arrest inside of the ring.

On Friday, Barstool Sports hosted another installment of its Rough N’ Rowdy boxing event. For those who have never seen one of these, it’s a circus. The fights usually involve inexperienced, out-of-shape fighters who swing for a knockout from the opening bell. It’s certainly compelling action to watch, but nothing that’s overly impressive.

The main event of the night featured a matchup between two randos named Mikey Bets and Zach Abel. Neither have real combat experience, but there was some bad blood between the two stemming from a brawl during weigh ins so fight fans were hoping for some memorable action. Unfortunately, the fight itself was a complete letdown. Luckily, the aftermath left fight fans with a lasting impression.

After the verdict was read and Abel found out he lost via split decision he proceeded to punch one of Bets’ cornermen right in the face. All hell broke loose and ringside security quickly rushed in to subdue Abel. He was eventually brought to the ground and arrested inside of the ring. It was a truly bizarre scene even for a makeshift event like RNR 25.

Check out the chaos below:

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Veteran Light Heavyweight contenders are now scheduled to collide, as former title challengers Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes are booked to throw down at UFC 310 on December 10, 2024.

That breaking news is courtesy of MMAmania’s very own Alex Behunin.

A former title challenger, Smith currently stands at No. 12 in the Light Heavyweight ranks after his fairly recent loss to Middleweight’s Roman Dolidze. “Lionheart” tried to turn a short-notice opportunity into 205-pound momentum, but it backfired in the form of an ugly defeat. Though he scored a major upset in his previous bout opposite Vitor Petrino (watch here), Smith publicly discussed retirement after his last defeat, as his path to the title was becoming increasingly complicated after growing losses to ranked fighters — now we know that he’ll return to action at least one more!

Reyes knows something about bouncing back from adversity. Though he currently stands at the No. 14 spot, Reyes was once an undefeated hotshot prospect who very nearly dethroned Jon Jones. After that controversial decision loss, Reyes lost three more in a row and suffered serious health issues. It wasn’t until June 2024 that “The Devastator” finally bounced back by knocking out Dustin Jacoby in the very first round.

It remains to be seen if he can keep that momentum rolling opposite Smith.

Insomnia

I guess failing a drug test and abusing eye pokes equals out in the end, and therefore Chris Weidman is the rightful winner after all? What a journey.

Yana Santos is already riding a three-fight losing streak heading into UFC Vegas 95, she definitely should not accept this fight.

Hmm what did he mean by this?

I cannot wait for somebody to put two fingertips on the mat only to get destroyed by a knee.

What’s fun about Merab Dvalishvili is he has a proven track record of doing silly stuff like this even when the cameras are not around.

Got a little carried away …

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Beautiful takedown feint into spinning elbow, the Jon Jones special.

I am reminded of when a Stefan Struve jump knee didn’t go so well back in the day — it’s not good to get punched with zero connection to the floor!

Embarrassing.

Random Land

UFC went into decline as soon as Steven Seagal stopped hanging around.

Midnight Music: Hardcore hip-hop, 1993

I don’t know that many besides me will care or remember, but a decade ago today (Aug. 9, 2014), I made my amateur MMA debut. HERE is the article for the interested and the grainy video can be seen below:

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Tom Aspinall is on the offensive and doing everything in his power to score a UFC title fight with Jon Jones. If heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic ends up catching some strays along the way then so be it.

As you may know, Aspinall is the hottest thing to hit UFC’s heavyweight division in quite some time. The English star just stopped Curtis Blaydes with a 60-second knockout last month at UFC 304 to defend his interim UFC title for the first time. Overall, Aspinall is 8-1 inside the Octagon with eight finishes. His only loss was an injury to Blaydes back in 2022. He has also finished all three of his most recent fights in 73 seconds or less.

With all of this success you would think UFC matchmakers would be champing at the bit to book Aspinall against Jones, who currently holds the undisputed UFC heavyweight title. Aspinall is already one of the biggest English stars on the roster and a potential win over “Bones” could take his UFC stock to unfathomable heights.

However, the promotion is not ready to book Aspinall vs. Jones just yet. That’s because a matchup between Jones and Miocic – which was originally booked for UFC 295 back in 2023 — is still being planned. Aspinall will have to wait for that matchups of legends to play out before getting his hand on the winner (which is expected to be Jones).

Aspinall, who is usually quiet and calm when it comes to talking matchups, seems to be angling heavily to step in for Miocic and unify his title with Jones. The interim champ had the below to say in a recent interview with UFC on TNT:

“The guy needs to be Joe Biden’d mate, he’s too old,” said Aspinall of Miocic. “No one’s that interested anymore.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Is it finally time to put Miocic out to pasture and give Aspinall his shot?

Let us know!

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