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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Title Shot?
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Nicksick shared his thoughts on his fighter’s loss in the UFC 297 main event and what probably cost them the win in the judges’ eyes.

Xtreme Couture’s head coach Eric Nicksick had a hell of a 2023. He lead Francis Ngannou to a competitive split decision loss against Tyson Fury in boxing, and then helped Sean Strickland defeat Israel Adesanya to capture the UFC middleweight championship.

2024 is off to a rough start, though: Strickland just lost the belt in his first title defense against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297. It was a close fight: a split decision that Sean came within one point on one scorecard of winning. In Nicksick’s mind, his student should have won.

“The fight was close,” he wrote in an Instagram post Sunday morning. “Close fights mean we needed to win the optics battle. Live, I had us winning 1, 2, and 5, but all that matters are the three [judges] cage side. I’ll watch it again, to see where we / I can be better. Much love to everyone who supported us. On to the next!”

When Nicksick is talking about optics, he’s talking about the perception of the fight versus the actual substance of the fight. So even though he saw Strickland winning the technical battle, he knew Du Plessis was probably swaying the judges with his more explosive attacks and forward movement. That gusher on Sean’s head (from a headbutt?) probably didn’t help either.

The two judges that scored the fight for Du Plessis had Strickland winning just rounds 1 and 5. Dissenting judge Sal D’Amato had Strickland winning round 3 as well. None of them handed round 2 to Strickland, despite it being the round where his jab started to seal up the eye of “DDP.”

Nicksick also had some kind words for Du Plessis and his team.

“I never met a more classy opposing fighter during fight week, along with the skills to back it up,” he wrote. “I’m happy for you, your team, and your country, you made them proud.”

Du Plessis showed up in the comments to reply “Thank you so much for the kind words coach, you and the team are incredible and it was an honor to battle the best in the business. Thank you for the war and the true warrior like respect before and after the war.”

It’s somewhat surprising to see Strickland vs. Du Plessis end with such a show of mutual admiration and appreciation, considering the two were brawling in public a mere month ago. That’s the healing power of mixed martial arts on display. After five hard rounds, there’s nothing much left but respect.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Joe Rogan’s UFC 297 fight companion turned into a full-on rave as the longtime UFC commentator broke out the smelling salts during Saturday’s middleweight title main event.

With the promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2024 emanating from the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, Rogan opted to live-stream a fight companion alongside a slew of Joe Rogan Experience regulars, including former heavyweight standout Brendan Schaub, comedian Joey Diaz, and BJJ icon Eddie Bravo.

Following the opening round of the 185-pound title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, Rogan handed his guests some smelling salts to have a little fun between rounds.

The popular podcaster decided to turn things up to 11 with some EDM, prompting everyone to break out in dance.

Fight fans who tuned in to the fight companion appeared to have just as much fun watching the events unfold as Rogan and his crew of JRE OG’s had.

“Was the BEST Fight Companion EVER!!!”

“When the vibes are immaculate”

“Yall trying to kill Uncle Joey!”

“Well… looks like you guys had a good time”

“Yall had me turning up too”

“Absolutely 1 of my fav clips I’ve seen on the internet”

“I thought we might witness Joey have a heart attack live with those smelling salts, you guys made me nervous!”

“This was one of the best 4 hours of my life”

“Is that sh*t that good ??? I know it wakes u up but damn thats looking like a mix of molly and cocaine hahah”

Joe Rogan Shocked by Dricus Du Plessis’ UFC 297 Victory

Following Bruce Buffer’s announcement revealing Du Plessis as the new middleweight world champion, Rogan was seemingly shocked by the split decision in favor of the South African.

“Wow. Interesting. Very interesting. I wonder how the people online feel about that,” Rogan said. “Because, you know, we’re not scoring it while we’re watching it. We’re watching it, we’re just having fun.

“Were we wrong? It was good. Listen, fourth round he [Du Plessis] did awesome… I definitely think he won the fourth but do you think he won the fifth? I don’t know, man, the fifth seems like Sean was landing more shots… Interesting. Tough fight, though.”

Fans online, and even Dana White echoed similar sentiments, with the UFC CEO saying in no uncertain terms that he thought Sean Strickland did enough to retain his title in The Great White North during the post-fight press conference.

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Unable to be there live on the announce table alongside his regular trio of Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier, Joe Rogan still found time to watch UFC 297.

Alongside Brendan Schaub, Joey Diaz, and Eddie Bravo, Rogan witnessed the razor-close decision during the middleweight title fight on Saturday night. While many had different views on the outcome, the podcast host shared his opinion on who he believed should have rightfully won.

As he sat in anticipation of Bruce Buffer’s announcement, Joe Rogan was visibly surprised when Dricus Du Plessis was given the nod and crowned the new king of the 185 lbs division. Agreeing it was a close matchup, Rogan believes Strickland should have retained his title.

“Wow. Interesting. Very interesting. I wonder how the people online feel about that,” Rogan said after Du Plessis was revealed as the winner. “Because, you know, we’re not scoring it while we’re watching it. We’re watching it, we’re just having fun.”

“Were we wrong? It was good. Listen, fourth round he [Du Plessis] did awesome… I definitely think he won the fourth but do you think he won the fifth? I don’t know, man, the fifth seems like Sean was landing more shots… Interesting. Tough fight, though.”

Joe Rogan then named potential opponents for Dricus Du Plessis and even proposed a rematch with Sean Strickland at UFC 300.

“Listen, if Izzy [Israel Adesanya] wants to come back and he wants to fight Dricus,” Rogan said in regards to what’s next for the new middleweight champion. “How about a rematch at 300?”

Related: UFC 297 Bonuses: Main event earns ‘Fight of the Night’

“Why not? If Adesanya can’t make it, listen, that’s a good fight. A rematch, that’s a good fight. It’s a very quick turnaround for either of these guys, though.”

“If they’re going to have a rematch, look, if you have a split-decision loss, that is one of the best indications that it was a close fight. And the kind of fights you want to see a rematch on are the ones that are close fights.”

“Still, if Izzy can’t, that as a rematch is very compelling. Stitch that f***ing eye up, let’s go.”

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TORONTO—Frankie Edgar’s legend will live on forever in the UFC Hall of Fame.

The UFC announced during Saturday’s UFC 297 broadcast that the former UFC lightweight champion is the first inductee of the promotion’s 2024 Hall of Fame class. An emotional Edgar was in attendance at Scotiabank Arena to witness the honor becoming official.

Watch video of the announcement below.

Edgar, 42, joins the Modern Wing of the institution, which includes longtime rivals Jose Aldo and B.J. Penn, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre, and Ronda Rousey, and other superstars of the past.

In his prime, Edgar was a three-division threat, capturing the 155-pound title at UFC 112 in April 2010 with a controversial upset of Penn, and going on to successfully defend the title three times. Edgar later dropped down to the featherweight division where he twice challenged for featherweight gold, and closed out his career as a contender in the bantamweight division.

Edgar will always be remembered for his trilogy of fights with Gray Maynard, the second of which is widely hailed as one of the greatest fights in MMA history and likely a future induction to the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing. His exciting style led to eight Fight of the Night bonuses in his 15-year UFC career, a tally that is second to only Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz.

The proud New Jersey native retired in November 2022 after a knockout loss to Chris Gutierrez. Edgar’s pro record stands at 24-11-1.

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