UFC 297 is coming quickly, but April’s UFC 300 event stole some headlines with UFC CEO Dana White announcing that Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway will take place for the BMF title at the event. While the fight will likely produce fireworks and incredible action, Gaethje is perceived as next in line for Islam Makhachev and the lightweight title, and Holloway still sits at the top of the featherweight division. Was this the right fight to make?
On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reacts to White’s announcement of Gaethje vs. Holloway, and how it can shake things up in a wild way at 155. Additionally, listener questions include Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Toronto, Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis, the UFC 297 media day, the PFL vs. Bellator champions event being announced, if the UFC could still have Conor McGregor headline UFC 300, and more.
You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.
If you missed it live, watch the video above, or audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
The first UFC pay-per-view of the year takes place this Saturday in Toronto with UFC 297, and in the main event, the heated rivalry between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis will be settled for the middleweight championship. While the card isn’t as stacked on paper as the rest of the pay-per-view slate thus far, the stakes are still high for one of the more exciting divisions in the promotion.
On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses Saturday’s fight card and its quality, what is on the line in the Strickland vs. du Plessis main event, Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Raquel Pennington for the vacant women’s bantamweight title, and more. Additionally, they’ll discuss the PFL vs. Bellator champions event that was announced earlier this week, Donn Davis’ comments about the UFC Saudi Arabia getting postponed, Dana White announcing Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway for UFC 300, and much more.
Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee.
Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.
If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.
UFC 300 is coming up fast, but Dricus Du Plessis would love to defend the middleweight title at the historic event — if he wins at UFC 297, and stays healthy.
Dricus Du Plessis is making no promises, but he’d love to defend the UFC middleweight title at UFC 300 … if he can take the title off Sean Strickland this Saturday in Toronto.
Du Plessis and Strickland throw down on January 20th at UFC 297, and the bookies have “Stillknocks” as a very slight +100 dog to “Tarzan.” That’s the kind of respect betting outlets are giving Strickland after he took out -770 favorite Israel Adesanya in his last fight. Speaking of Adesanya, the former champ will be in Canada to watch the main event … and possibly enter the cage to challenge the winner to a fight?
If it’s Dricus Du Plessis standing with the belt, he’s hoping to be physically ready to fight at UFC 300.
While Dricus didn’t mention Adesanya, that’s clearly a fight worthy of UFC 300.
“Listen, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this industry is ‘Don’t say anything about after a fight,’” Du Plessis said at UFC 297 media day. “Because they will crucify you whether you’re injured or not. But let me tell you this: [UFC 300] would be ideal. That would be an ideal situation. I would love to fight UFC 300. As a champion, it doesn’t get much much bigger than that. Except if we take it to South Africa.”
Adesanya and Du Plessis have already faced off in the cage when the South African defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. A fight never came together due to a Dricus foot injury, opening the door to Sean Strickland fighting — and beating — Adesanya. So “The Last Stylebender” could be very happy to face either man in the future.
Would it be at UFC 300 in April? That’s unclear. A possibly injured Adesanya has been suggesting a return to action could happen soon, but he’s also repeatedly said he’s trying to be patient with his comeback. There’s also Khamzat Chimaev — if he can enter the U.S. these days.
Even if Dricus or Sean are ready to turn things around in three months, does the UFC have a potential middleweight title showdown penciled in for their historic 300th pay-per-view? If something’s going to happen, we have no doubt it’ll happen fast after Strickland and Du Plessis fight at UFC 297.
UFC 300 is getting bigger and bigger with each fight announcement.
Dana White last spoiled the fans with the surprising first-ever BMF title defense between the champion Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway at lightweight. Therefore, the super-event now has two title fights currently on tap after the strawweight title tilt between Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan was previously made official.
A third title fight is expected to be added to UFC 300’s expanding eight-fight lineup on April 13. Plenty of speculation has surrounded the possibility of the light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira making his first title defense on the night. It’s just a matter of who it’s against.
Well, the wacky and fantastical option is clearly the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who would give Pereira the chance at again making history if he could become the first three-division champion in promotional history with a win. That matchup still feels like a major stretch despite the surprising announcement of Gaethje vs. Holloway. If the UFC comes calling though, Aspinall will answer.
“If he wants to, I will,” Aspinall said of Pereira on his YouTube channel. “But I’m going on record and saying I’m not a bully. I don’t bully smaller guys. But, if the smaller guy wants a scrap, count me in.”
Aspinall, 30, has found himself in one of the more frustrating situations any interim champion has ever been in throughout MMA history. After winning his crown with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 last November, the aforementioned UFC CEO White insisted that the undisputed champion Jon Jones will still defend against Stipe Miocic upon his return from a torn pectoral muscle — the only reason Aspinall vs. Pavlovich happened in the first place.
With all that in mind, Aspinall has expressed that he’s open to fighting whatever would be the most logical next option, which pointed him to the winner of Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida at UFC 299 in March. Meanwhile, at light heavyweight, Pereira awaits Jamahal Hill to return from a ruptured achilles tendon and Magomed Ankalaev continues to make his case for the next title shot after his recent second-round knockout of Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 84 last Saturday.
TOP STORIES
Rivals. Donn Davis trashes UFC’s planned Saudi Arabia debut: ‘That is a poor fight-quality card’
Critique. Sean Strickland justifies trash talk at Ian Machado Garry and his wife: ‘You put her front and f****** center’
Violence. Dricus du Plessis reacts to Sean Strickland threatening to stab him, reveals what UFC champ said in DMs
Assessment. Israel Adesanya criticizes Sean Strickland getting ‘triggered’ over trash talk: ‘He can dish it but can’t take it’
Injury. Rose Namajunas’ finger ‘a little stiff,’ still crooked after UFC Paris loss
Besties. Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann set to star in new reality TV series on BBC in United Kingdom
Secret. Jiri Prochazka reveals pre-UFC 295 staph infection that lingered for months
VIDEO STEW
The MMA Hour.
UFC 297 Media Day.
Embedded 3.
UFC In-Depth: Adesanya vs. Strickland.
Sexyama things.
LISTEN UP
No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew, Connor Burks, and Alex K. Lee discuss Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis and the best bets for UFC 297.
MORNING MUSIC
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Home.
Returned to Moscow! There is a lot of work ahead. We’ll make some noise soon. #ufc pic.twitter.com/9o0yPg5w7J
— Sergei Pavlovich (@SPavlovich13) January 17, 2024
BMF attempt.
⚡️The marathon continues⚡️
April 13th, Las Vegas #blessyourself #blessedexpress pic.twitter.com/M6ShSAPmny
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) January 17, 2024
Frenemies.
Who had Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis being buddies on their bingo card? #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/vKrTiatJ4v
— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) January 17, 2024
It couldn’t be made any more clear that she doesn’t want to and will never fight for PFL.
I never turned down a fight against Pacheco @DonnDavisPFL
I also do not have 4 fights remaining on the deal you inherited.@srjsports please ask our partner @PFLMMA not to speak of my contract publicly as we are building our relationship
This is also the first I’ve heard…
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) January 17, 2024
Rating time.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by NINA DRAMA (@ninamariedaniele)
Turnaround needed.
Khamzat Chimaev has teased a return at UFC 300 on his Instagram story pic.twitter.com/wIzSn6QLwE
— Lewis Simpson (@LewisSimpsonMMA) January 17, 2024
pic.twitter.com/emO52Ss3r6
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) January 17, 2024
Support.
Ryan’s mood is lifted so much reading all the messages of support and genuine love. He has still no movement from neck down.
Thank you everyone for every message, please continue to share the fundraising link as there is a long road ahead and we want to make things as easy as… pic.twitter.com/QqtFexm0XO
Kenta Takizawa (13-10) vs. Shohei Nose (11-4-2); RIZIN Landmark 8, Feb. 24
Daichi Abe (12-7) vs. Kota Shirakawa (4-4); RIZIN Landmark 8, Feb. 24
Ariane Lipski (17-8) vs. Karine Silva (17-4); UFC Vegas 90, April 27
FINAL THOUGHTS
As far as the first half of 2024 goes globally, February 24 is going to be the best day for MMA. UFC Mexico, PFL vs. Bellator, and RIZIN Landmark 8. Talk about the spoils, folks.
Thanks for reading!
EXIT POLL
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is not a fan of Colby Covington’s manufactured persona.
Last month, Covington kickstarted a feud with Strickland, saying that he “would love to slap around” the 185-pound titleholder and labeled him a “pathetic excuse of a human being.”
We’ll just tip-toe around the irony in that statement.
Strickland and Covington are similar in that they are both proud Americans, staunch conservatives, and love to exercise their right to free speech. However, there is one glaring difference that seems to separate them. That being the fact that Covington’s MAGA-loving character is exactly that — a character — while Strickland prides himself on being 100 percent authentic, for better or for worse.
“Yeah, unlike Colby Covington, the fraudulent man himself,” Strickland told ESPN. “He’s just fraudulent. I think to be a UFC fighter, it is a sense of entertainment, WWE. But you want to base your character on authenticity and then you have somebody like Colby, who is a fictional persona that he’s created when he’s not trying to fall on Trump’s d*ck.”
Sean Strickland calls Colby Covington a fraud. Via: @espnmma pic.twitter.com/gJL0D4FEJr
— skmma (@_skmma_) January 17, 2024
“It is the most cringeworthy sh*t,” Strickland continued. “It’s so f*cked that Trump left the arena while he was giving his speech. It’s like watching the ugly girl get rejected at a party. You feel bad for the guy at this point. Don’t worry, Colby, he knows your name” (h/t MMA Mania).
Strickland is set to defend his middleweight title for the first time since claiming the crown with a dominant showing against two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya in September. ‘Tarzan’ will square off with No. 2 ranked contender Dricus Du Plessis in Saturday’s UFC 297 headliner at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
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