The UFC 305 main event fighters, middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya, successfully made weight for their grudge match.
Adesanya was the first fighter to step on the scales and officially weighed in at 184 pounds. Du Plessis was the second fighter to weigh in and came in at 185 pounds even.
The championship bout will be Du Plessis’ first title defense. He captured the championship in January by defeating Sean Strickland via split decision in the UFC 297 main event. Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland in his last outing last September.
The fighters competing on the UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya fight card in Perth, Australia officially weigh-in on Friday. The event takes place at RAC Arena and is headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Dricus Du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya. The event will mark the third trip for the fight promotion to Perth.
The championship bout will be Du Plessis’ first title defense. He captured the championship in January by defeating Sean Strickland via split decision in the UFC 297 main event. Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland in his last outing last September.
Dana White clashing with reporters seems to be a regular occurrence, and that remained the case when questioned about his allegiance to Donald Trump.
White is a huge supporter of Trump and his loyalty knows no bounds. Despite his positive relationship with the 78-year-old, the UFC CEO would still welcome any sitting or former president to one of his events with open arms.
During a recent interview, Dana White was forced to defend his alleged special treatment of Donald Trump at UFC events.
“Do you see the way the crowd reacts to it?” White said. “[It’s] off the charts, right?”
“Now, if Biden came to a UFC event, I would treat Biden the same way… If Biden was there, we would cover the fact that the president of the United States is [in attendance].”
“Or if Obama or Bush or any of those guys ever came to an event, we would treat them with the same respect.”
“A former or standing president of the United States shows up at your event, you show them the respect.”
“It’s just like the thing that happened with Trump, the assassination attempt. If somebody attempted to assassinate Biden or any of the other former presidents of the United States, I would be f***ing disgusted by it. Just like I was in the attempt on Trump’s life.”
White later insisted that no matter if it’s a friend or a stranger, he will show each and every US president the same respect.
“I’m an American. And whoever is the president of the United States is my president. You don’t hear me running around yelling, ‘That guy’s not my president.'”
“Whoever is the standing or former president of the United States is my president and they would be treated with the same respect.”
Related: Dana White’s Trump Speech at RNC Convention 2024 “Willing to Risk it All”
Dana White then detailed a story of Joe Biden’s granddaughter showing up to one of his UFC events.
“The last time that Trump came to Madison Square Garden, two of the Secret Service details had passed each other and they had said that Biden’s granddaughter was there. And Secret Service was there with her.”
“I tried to grab her. I tried to have them pull her back to my room to meet her and say thanks to coming to the event or whatever.”
“But, I guess when she heard Trump was coming, she left, which sucks. I would have liked to have met her.”
Doubling down on his views, White insisted that politics don’t alter his actions toward people.
“I don’t judge people by their politics. I don’t play any of those f***ing games that people play with politics. I treat everybody with respect.”
“Trump has been a fan. Since day one, this guy’s been a fan. He showed up, guess what, when he wasn’t the president of the United States and he came to [those events], he was all over the broadcast, too.”
Check it out below.
pic.twitter.com/W63tojiFWB
— JustTheFights3 (@JustTheFights3) August 15, 2024
Watch as the key fighters from UFC 305 Face-Offs as Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya go face-to-face ahead of their Saturday night showdowns in Australia.
Tai Tuivasa, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Kai Kara-France, Steve Erceg, Mateusz Damrot and Dań Hooker also face off after the much heated UFC 305 pre-fight press conference.
After months of worrying reports, Khabib Nurmagomedov can go back to enjoying his retirement after settling his debt with the Russian tax service.
The Dagestani has left a flawless legacy in the sport of mixed martial arts and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest to ever do it. Despite being loved by millions, ‘The Eagle’ almost tarnished his name in his home country due to alleged tax evasion.
$ 3.4 million was the reported amount owed to the tax authorities by Khabib Nurmagomedov. Thankfully, that period of uncertainty is over as Khabib was been declared debt free by Telegram outlet SHOT.
Amid the confusion of his large amount of debt, the 35-year-old had almost $ 1 million worth of cars seized — alongside his bank accounts — by the Russian government.
Though nothing was confirmed, reports claimed that in order to clear his debts, the head of the Nurmagomedov clan would return to the UFC. And when he was spotted back with his former coach Javier Mendez, speculation began to pile up, though that now looks like an improbability.
Related: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov intense video footage surfaces
Other rumors hinted at Khabib possibly leaving Russia for good. The global star was thought to have fled his home and was contemplating becoming a UAE citizen.
While that no longer needs to be the case, there’s one place that the combat sports icon is always welcome. According to the man himself, Donald Trump is a huge fan of the former UFC champion, announcing him as his favorite fighter earlier this month.
The feeling is mutual between the two, as Khabib Nurmagomedov was snapped sharing words with Donald Trump at a recent UFC event. Khabib made a plea to the former US President and believes he is the only man who is powerful enough to step in and stop the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine.
UFC CEO Dana White recently stated that Conor McGregor’s octagon return will not happen this year. McGregor pushed back saying that he wants to fight in December.
“Ah Dana, December is the date! Bring the calendar year home with a winning event! Come on now, what’s this? I am off to altitude next month to prepare,” McGregor wrote on X. “DECEMBER! Tell Dana and UFC WE WANT DECEMBER! WE DESERVE DECEMBER!”
McGregor was scheduled to face Chandler in the UFC 303 main event on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but was forced out of the bout due to a toe injury. Chandler is no longer waiting to face the Irishman and is ready to accept ‘any fight’ if he and McGregor do not fight in December.
“At some point, you’re just like, ‘hey man, you pulled out with a pinky toe injury.’ I would have fought through it,” Chandler told TMZ Sports. “If we can fight in December, let’s do it. I’m in, but the fact of the matter is I’ve stayed ready since I left training camp for that June 29th fight and I am staying ready to take a fight, any fight, if this fight doesn’t look like it’s happening in December.”
McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor last tasted victory in January 2020, defeating Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via technical knockout in just 40 seconds.
Chandler last fought in November 2022, losing to Poirier via submission. He filmed The Ultimate Fighter 31 last year and expected to face McGregor last fall. Last fall turned into June and now June has turned into next year. At this point, Chandler just wants a fight.
“It’s time to fight. It’s definitely time to fight,” Chandler said.
Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor will not be returning to the octagon this year. UFC CEO Dana White revealed the news on Tuesday during the Dana White’s Contender Series post-fight press conference in Las Vegas.
White and McGregor spoke over the weekend and White stated, “He wants to fight.” White also divulged that McGregor will not be back in action this year.
“He won’t fight this year,” he said.
McGregor was scheduled to face Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but was forced out of the bout due to a toe injury. The matchup was expected to be rebooked for December, but that’s not happening.
The McGregor and Chandler fight has been in the making since they coached The Ultimate Fighter 31 as opposing coaches last year. It’s unclear whether McGregor will still face Chandler when he does fight again. Chandler seemed to have moved on from the McGregor bout in a recent interview calling for a rematch against former champion Charles Oliveira.
McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor last tasted victory in January 2020, defeating Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via technical knockout in just 40 seconds.
During the Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8: Week 1 post-fight press conference on Tuesday, UFC CEO Dana White dropped a bombshell announcement about Conor McGregor’s octagon return. White stated that McGregor ‘won’t fight this year.’
McGregor was scheduled to face Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but was forced out of the bout due to a toe injury. The bout was expected to be rebooked for December, but according to White, that’s not going to happen.
Shortly after White’s comments, McGregor responded to the UFC CEO on social media and pushed for a December return date.
“Ah Dana, December is the date! Bring the calendar year home with a winning event! Come on now, what’s this? I am off to altitude next month to prepare,” McGregor wrote on X. “DECEMBER! Tell Dana and UFC WE WANT DECEMBER! WE DESERVE DECEMBER!”
Ah Dana, December is the date! Bring the calendar year home with a winning event! Come on now, what’s this? I am off to altitude next month to prepare. DECEMBER! Tell Dana and UFC WE WANT DECEMBER! WE DESERVE DECEMBER! https://t.co/ZTVO4wDBuQ
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 14, 2024
McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in the final seconds of the opening round in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor last tasted victory in January 2020, defeating Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via technical knockout in just 40 seconds.
With the USA currently living in uncertain times, Oscar De La Hoya has decided to change his allegiance regarding Donald Trump.
Since his inauguration into office in 2017, Trump has divided opinion among the American people. While some doubts still remain, the 45th President of the United States has received a wave of support since surviving an almost fatal assassination attempt.
One man that has turned the doubt into praise for Donald Trump is boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. During a recent interview, De La Hoya questioned the state his country is in under the current leadership.
“Where I’m at today, I just feel that our country needs help,” De La Hoya said on the PBD Podcast. “It really needs help.”
“I was born in California, in Los Angeles. Taxes are through the roof right now. I’m walking my streets, I have a place in Beverly Hills, and even there you see the homelessness. The situation is just getting worse.”
“I’m not sure if it’s this party’s fault or that party’s fault but America needs help. And right now with our current president, I just feel that it’s not getting the help necessary to make this country what it is.”
“Our country is great. It should be great. Better than any country in the world. I just personally feel it’s not.”
Related: Dana White blasts CNN host: ‘You guys are really bad’
De La Hoya later insisted that Trump is the right man to take the country forward — backtracking on his past ‘America sucks’ comment.
“I would consider it [voting for Trump], I literally would consider it. I have to tell you a little secret here, I actually just purchased the Donald Trump shoes…”
“Nobody knows it, I’m really considering it. Whether it’s Trump or somebody else, our country needs help. It just needs help.”
“I don’t know exactly what the policies are and where we can get help from and what we can change but our country needs help.”
Watch Oscar De La Hoya speak about Donald Trump below.
Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis puts his title eon the line for the first time on Saturday in the UFC 305 main event against former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya. One fighter that will be watching the middleweight championship clash closely is former champion Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker broke down the matchup and gave his prediction for the outcome on the MMArcade podcast. Whittaker has fought both men and is on the cusp on earning another title shot.
“It’s very hard to put a hard pick on either one of them,” Whittaker said. “All we can look at is historically, like their previous fights. Dricus, his last fight against Sean Strickland, he moved forward. He put pressure on Strickland, didn’t let Strickland do that to him, shut his game down, was very aggressive, crowded that space, didn’t Strickland really find the rhythm he likes to fight in and came away with the decision win.
“Strickland, prior to that fight (with du Plessis), fought Adesanya. (He) did exactly that to Israel. He pushed into his space, didn’t allow Adesanya to utilize that dangerous space that he likes fighting in,” Whittaker continued. “He crowed him to a point where he didn’t let him have any free distancing from the fence so he could move away and be evasive because he loves fighting like that. He’s very tall. He fights very tall. He likes countering with that. He slips back. He leans back, a lot of weight on that rear leg to get away from the punches and strikes. He moves out, circles out. Strickland closed that gap, crowded that space, kept Adesanya’s back to the fence for 90 percent of the fight and beat Adesanya by a decision win.”
Related: Jon Jones doxxes himself or plays epic prank
In his analysis of the matchup, Whittaker seemed to be leaning toward that champion retaining his title against “The Last Stylebender.” The unknown is what has Adesanya done to prevent du Plessis from doing what Strickland accomplished.
“This fight, Dricus versus Israel, we have to look at it and think Dricus was able to, obviously styles fight fights, but Dricus was to push that plan against Strickland that Strickland was able to push against Adesanya. So, you’d have to think that Dricus is going to push that same plan, the same motive on Adesanya. The million-dollar question is, what has Izzy done in his layoff since the Strickland fight to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Whittaker said.
“If I had to make a pick, I’d say that there’s a 50 percent chance, this is my confidence here. I’m sitting on the fence, but I mean it. There’s a 50-50 odds. That’s how much I think either one could sway,” Whittaker continued. “I think there’s a 50 percent chance that Izzy kind of keeps him at the end of his jab, utilizes that spacing, doesn’t get his back put against the fence. Defends some takedowns but ultimately wins buy decision.
“I also think there’s a 50 percent chance Dricus does what he did to Strickland, pushes into that space, takes him down, wears him out, turns it into a dog fight. Doesn’t get a finish, but drags it out to the point where he’s still going to remain the champion.”
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