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The UFC on Saturday confirmed the main card for UFC 298 and broke news of a main card shuffle.

Anthony Hernandez, who was set to open the pay-per-view card opposite Ikram Aliskerov, now faces Roman Kopylov after Aliskerov was forced off the card, MMA Fighting confirmed after the UFC’s initial report.

UFC 298 takes place Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The event’s main card airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Still in the headlining position for the winter card is a featherweight title fight between champ Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Ilia Topuria. Volkanovski looks to shake off the doldrums of a knockout loss to lightweight champ Islam Makhachev in a short-notice rematch against the Russian champ at UFC 294. Topuria is undefeated in the octagon and as a professional with 14 straight wins, six of which came inside the octagon.

The co-main event for UFC 298 features a middleweight rebooking between ex-champ Robert Whittaker and one-time title challenger Paulo Costa. The pair were supposed to meet at UFC 294 before a severe illness forced Costa to withdraw from the bout.

Below is the full main card for UFC 298:

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria
• Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa
• Ian Machado Garry vs. Geoff Neal
• Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov

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Dana White isn’t one to hold his tongue if something he disagrees with is brought to his attention and that’s exactly what happened during the UFC 297 post-fight press conference.

UFC 297 came to a close with Sean Strickland losing his title in a gritty five-round war against Dricus Du Plessis. The clash went the entire 25-minute time limit, with the judges’ scorecards ultimately handing the South African the victory.

In the aftermath of the event, Dana White sat down at the press conference to answer some questions. Well, not every question went down great with the boss and he hit back at one reporter for his comments.

“I don’t give anybody a leash,” Dana White responded to a reporter’s left-field question. “A leash? Free speech.”

“Gonna control what people say? Gonna tell people what to believe? Gonna tell people, I don’t f***ing tell any other human being what to say, what to think, and there’s leashes on any of them.”

“That’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash. Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want, they can believe whatever they want.”

Recalling the UFC 297 pre-fight press conference, Dana White claimed the two homosexual women in the co-headliner couldn’t care less about what Sean Strickland or anybody else on the card thinks of them.

“We had two gay women who fought in the co-main event. They sat on the stage with Sean Strickland. They could give a sh*t what Sean Strickland thinks or what he says or what his beliefs are or what his opinions are. You know what I mean?”

Related: Sean Strickland slays reporter: ‘You are an infection’

Strickland has caused a lot of controversy since his rise to fame but, like everybody else on the roster, he is given the platform to speak whatever is on his mind.

Another man known for his wild statements is Colby Covington. He recently came under fire from fans for his comments made toward Leon Edwards’ deceased father.

While respect should always be a part of the sport, Dana White rightfully believes free speech should be given to each and every individual. Check out his rant in the video below.

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UFC 297 blew the roof off Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last night (Sat., Jan., 20, 2024), which featured a Middleweight title fight that Dricus Du Plessis defeat Sean Strickland via split decision (highlights). In the co-main event another champion was crowned as Raquel Pennington defeated Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision to win the vacant women’s Bantamweight title (recap here).

Winner: Dricus Du Plessis

Who He Should Face Next: Israel Adesanya

Look, there is no telling when “The Last Stylebender” will return to action, but I really don’t see him sitting out for an extended period of time, especially after he teased this last night. He took the loss to Strickland pretty hard, saying he was going to take a couple of years of, but I just don’t see that happening. Adesanya has the title fight there for the taking if he wants it. and I don’t see any reason why the promotion wouldn’t give it to him if he decided to return sooner, rather than later, especially since Jared Cannonier — the other viable option — is on the mend from an unfortunate injury. Du Plessis and Adesanya have some unfinished business to settle, so there is no better time than UFC 300 to take care of it… or not.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Winner: Raquel Pennington

Who She Should Face Next: Julianna Pena

This one is not a secret. Pena is the No. 1 ranked fighter in the division and the former champion is the only option to get the next title shot. Pennington came up short in her first bid to win UFC gold way back at UFC 224 in May 2018, losing to then-champion, Amanda Nunes. Pena has been doing a lot of talking prior and after this fight took place, so now “Rocky” has the chance to silence “The Venezuelan Vixen” while scoring her first-ever title defense.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Winner: Neil Magny

Who He Should Face Next: Rafael dos Anjos

Magny pulled off a great come-from-behind win over Mike Malott, stopping him via technical knockout (TKO) in the third and final round after losing the first two. It was a great bounce back victory after suffering a loss to Ian Machado Garry in his previous bout. It’s hard to pair Magny up with a Top 10 fighter at the moment despite his win, and Malott wasn’t even ranked. Also, Magny has pretty much fought anyone who is anyone in the 170-pound division. For now, a fight that could be a possibility is a rematch against Rafael dos Anjos. “RDA” defeated Magny way back in 2017 via first-round arm-triangle choke. Dos Anjos is coming off a loss at the hands of Vicente Luque, so this would be a good chance for him to get back in the win column against a familiar foe, while Magny has a chance to get some revenge.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Winner: Chris Curtis

Who He Should Face Next: Anthony Hernandez (late replacement)

Curtis got back into the win column with a razor-thin split decision win over Marc-André Barriault, his first victory in over a year. During the UFC 297 telecast it was revealed that Ikram Aliskerov was forced out of his scheduled fight against Hernandez, which was set to go down at UFC 298 on Feb. 17. If Curtis feels up to it, why not make a quick turnaround? Curtis and Hernandez were set to face off against one another in Sept. 2023 before the fight was scrapped due to a late injury suffered by Curtis.

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Winner: Movsar Evloev

Who He Should Face Next: Ortega vs Rodriguez winner

While all the talk is about the upcoming Featherweight title fight between division king, Alexander Volkanovski, and top contender, Ilia Topuria, which is set to go down next month at UFC 298, a contender is rising to the top of the pecking order in Evloev. The scrappy Russian continued his ascension with a nice win over Arnold Allen, upping his undefeated record to 18-0, which includes winning his first eight fights inside the Octagon. He should expect a huge bump in the rankings, possibly into the Top 5. I would love to see Evloev face off against the winner of the upcoming rematch between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega, which is set to go down on Feb. 24, 2024.

For complete UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” results and play-by-play, click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Amanda Nunes isn’t closing the door on a potential comeback after retiring and relinquishing her two UFC titles this past June.

As she sat just a few feet away from the octagon at UFC 297 and watched Raquel Pennington be crowned the new bantamweight champion in her absence, the consensus greatest women’s fighter in UFC history wasn’t upset, but she was still a little conflicted. When she surrendered that belt, Nunes was undeniably the top fighter at 135 and 145 pounds in the UFC, but she was also ready for a break as she prepared to welcome a second child to her family.

Now seven months removed from that night, Nunes doesn’t regret her decision, but it appears fighting is definitely still on her mind.

“I was nervous [watching the title fight],” Nunes said on the UFC 297 post-fight show. “I don’t know why, but I was very nervous. It was mixed feelings. I was happy and sad. When I saw ‘Rocky’ with the belt, I was OK. I wasn’t upset or anything like that.

“I think I did the right decision retiring, resting a little bit. Taking care of the babies. Can’t leave Nina [Nunes] with two babies by herself. So I’ve been enjoying it, too. My whole life was fighting related, so I was not really able to enjoy my 20s. My 20s passed like that. I’m 35 now, and now I’m able to go back to Brazil, stay a little bit with my friends and family, and enjoy and see what happens.”

The extended hiatus from fighting has allowed Nunes to focus something other than the constant grind of training camps and getting ready for title defenses. That being said, she knows she still has a lot left in the tank, and it’s hard to deny those instincts when she’s still a fighter at heart.

“I’m still young, fresh,” Nunes said. “We never know [what might happen]. We have a lot of things to do. I’ve got to figure out a bunch of things at home still, what I’m going to do and see what happens.”

Nunes isn’t ready to declare a comeback, but it certainly appears that she was at least contemplating that move after witnessing her title wrapped around someone else’s waist.

From the sound of things, Nunes has a lot to think about in the coming months, and it’s entirely possible the end of that road leads her back to the UFC.

“I don’t know — we never know,” Nunes said. “I’m a fighter and this is my job. I love this so much, and I don’t know. I enjoy as well not being in the gym everyday and having a normal life, stay home a little bit and be lazy. I [can’t be] lazy as a fighter, it’s very hard.

“But I’m still healthy and powerful, smart, think like a champion. I still feel like a champion, so we’ll see.”

Nunes retired with a remarkable 23-5 record in her career, including reigns as both the bantamweight and featherweight champions in the UFC. She’s also the only fighter in UFC history to hold wins over every single champion to ever hold the belt at both 135 and 145 pounds — including a lopsided victory over Pennington in 2018.

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Receiving the offer of a light heavyweight title defense against Dricus du Plessis ahead of the former’s title fight at UFC 297, following viewing last night in the South African’s victory over his teammate, Sean Strickland, former two-weight champion, Alex Pereira appears to be weighing up a potential final career foray at 185 pounds.

Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion and the current undisputed light heavyweight titleholder, has been sidelined since he landed the vacant belt back in November at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden.

Turning in his second consecutive victory since his middleweight title defeat back in April, Pereira stopped the returning former titleholder, Jiri Prochazka with a devastating second round TKO win in New York.

Alex Pereira teases middleweight return

And receiving a call out from du Plessis ahead of UFC 297 – should he emerge victorious with a middleweight title in tow, following last night’s action, in which Pereira cornered former opponent, Strickland en route to a close split decision loss, the Brazilian teased a move back to his prior stomping grounds.

“Maybe one last rodeo at middleweight?” Alex Pereira posted on his official Instagram account. 

However, appearing to switch his attention to long-time rival and would-be common-foe, Israel Adesanya after his title triumph at UFC 297, Pretoria native, du Plessis welcomed the possibility of a championship defense against the former two-time gold holder – as soon as UFC 300 in April in a quickfire Octagon return. 

Yet to book his own return to the Octagon, Sao Paulo knockout artist, Pereira has been hot in his pursuit of a title fight with former gold holder, Jamahal Hill next, however, has also been the subject of speculation linking him similarly with a UFC 300 return – in the form of an interim heavyweight title fight against champion, Tom Aspinall.

Would you like to see Alex Pereira fight Dricus du Plessis?

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