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UFC 305 is in the books and the champion remains Dricus du Plessis.

In classic DDP form, the champion retained his title with a fourth-round submission that left many fans frustrated by how a fighter who appears to be so flawed can nonetheless be the best in the world. But like him or not, du Plessis is the king of the mountain at 185 pounds, with three straight wins over former UFC champions. It’s his world and we’re just living in it, so let’s talk about the fallout from UFC 305.

Dricus du Plessis

“DDP: The best worst fighter ever of the worst best fighter ever?”

In the famous words of Old El Paso: ¿Por qué no los dos?

As one of the leading drivers of the DDP bandwagon over the past few years, this weekend was delicious, not because he won, but because he won while being completely true to form. There are a bunch of very smart people who I respect that insist du Plessis is not good, and seeing him break everyone’s brains by winning what should be a terrible matchup — and doing so in classic DDP fashion — is so fun. Because I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t love du Plessis in spite of his flaws, you love him because of them.

Here is an objective fact: du Plessis 8-0 in the UFC with six stoppages, including over the two greatest middleweights of this era, and three straight victories over former champions. Here is a subjective fact: he’s looked ugly as hell in all of those fights, which is why despite the results, there are still many smart people who refuse to respect him. And they’re not entirely wrong! Du Plessis is both unequivocally excellent and obviously deeply flawed. You would never teach someone to fight like him, and yet it undeniably works. He’s Schrödinger’s MMA fighter and I love him dearly.

The reality is, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You know what they call a guy who wins ugly? A winner. Doesn’t matter how he does it or what it looks like, du Plessis gets the job done. And honestly, skill is overrated in fighting. Sure, it’s good to have and it can absolutely make the difference between evenly matched competitors, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. A lot of the time, fighting is just about being a unit. That’s why, for as much as we love him, Demetrious Johnson would get obliterated by Tai Tuivasa. Being bigger and stronger than your opponent has been the backbone of fighting since the stone age, and DDP has that in spades.

Now, that’s not to say it’s all the champ has. Aside from being a hoss, du Plessis is also extremely durable, loaded with grit, and has a terrific mind for the sport, all of which makes him a handful. The last bit is the most important part though. Despite not hailing from a big gym, du Plessis and his camp has pretty firmly established themselves as elite game-planners, tailoring specific tactics and strategies for each opponent. Against Adesanya, DDP knew exactly how Izzy would approach the fight — and how to take advantage of it — and it played out exactly like that. When you’re that smart about fighting and a physical monster, it’s OK that not everything you throw is textbook.

Ultimately, flaws are only flaws if other fighters can take advantage of them, and thus far, no one in the UFC has for DDP. Could someone do so in the future? Sure, but I won’t be picking against him for the foreseeable future.

Future challengers

“Which middleweight currently represents the biggest challenger to DDP?”

Well, for all intents and purposes it appears that Sean Strickland will get the next short at du Plessis, and the next challenger is always the biggest, especially given how close their first fight was. That being said, if Strickland beats du Plessis, it will be a classic Strickland split decision, so like, that’s not really fun. It’s just a matter of the judges on the night. If we’re talking about someone who can really take the belt off du Plessis, it’s Khamzat Chimaev.

As mentioned above, du Plessis is this concoction of brains and brawn that makes him really hard to reckon with. To beat him, you either have to have a very defensive style where you can outwork him while not letting him hulk you (Strickland), or you have to meet him head-on with force and out-hulk him. Adesanya tried to do that at points and found that he didn’t have it in him (because again, dude is a HOSS), but Chimaev might. And that’s only a might. I still would pick du Plessis in that fight. But if there’s a dude who can simply out-physical him, DDP doesn’t exactly have the tools to manage that. But beyond that, you’re looking for like, Bo Nickal, and he’s a long way away from coming into this conversation.

All-Stars

“Who joins DDP on the “MMA Style that Probably Should Not Work but it Does Work” All-Star Team?”

Though I would quibble with this description because I think it in fact should work for DDP (see above), the first person that comes to mind is Justin Gaethje. I said this several times before UFC 305, but du Plessis is a combination of Gaethje from before the Dustin Poirier loss and Yoel Romero (two of my all-time favorites, so of course I love this dude). Gaethje’s self-described style of “creating car crashes” was obviously ridiculous except it totally worked for most of his career.

The next person I think of, though I’m loath to admit it, is Brian Ortega. I feel about Ortega the same way everyone else feels about DDP: he is not good and I don’t understand how he keeps winning. Ortega is among the worst defensive fighters I’ve ever see but gets away with it because he’s impossible to kill and he has such predatory offense that he can get wailed on infinitely and still find a finish.

And of course, the best possible example of this is the man that I desperately need to see du Plessis fight one day: Jiri Prochazka.

Jiri is an absolute maniac when he fights and he doesn’t even have the otherworldly durability of someone like Ortega; he just doesn’t care. Basically, everyone that fights Jiri should Alex Pereira him and yet only “Poatan” has.

MMA nirvana

“By the gods Jed how do we make Dricus vs Jiri happen, I need to see that fight more than any other besides Topuria-Holloway. It would be the most chaotic evil stupid fun fight since Dada-Kimbo except with actual fighting skill.”

Good God willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll get it, because I need this fight like I need oxygen. Other than Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, there’s not a fight I want to see more in MMA (including Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Eddie Hall). I would pay all of King Midas’ silver for that matchup. So we must will it into existence.

(Mike) Heck, I did it with Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., we can to it with this one.

Alex Pereira

“Will Poatan actually make 185 again?”

Nah. If these two ever fight, it will be up at 205. I doubt Pereira can even make 185 anymore, and even if he did, for what? This is just Alex being very good at understanding that fighting is about keeping as many irons in the fire as you can at all times, because maybe something sparks fan interest and then you have big money.

For what it’s worth, Pereira would boop DDP violently up at light heavyweight, but if he has to cut down to 185, it’s 50/50. Cutting that much weight really diminishes you, I’m not at all confident a drained Pereira can stop DDP’s takedowns.

Israel Adesanya

“Does this actually free Izzy up to make a REAL 205 move? Like, fight a top contender to establish legitimacy like Alex did…. I’m thinking Izzy Jiri b/c who TF wouldn’t immediately pay all the moneys to see that?”

Immediately after UFC 305, I would have thought Adesanya would use this as an opportunity to move up light heavyweight permanently for the final act of his career, but then in his post-fight presser he said he didn’t want to do that. So him moving up to 205 seems unlikely.

That being said, him fighting Jiri still seems in play. Prochazka’s coach already suggested a possible drop to middleweight for Jiri, and if that happens, a matchup with Adesanya makes all the sense in the world. If not, Adesanya’s next opponent will just depend on timing and how a few of these future fights go. Like, if Robert Whittaker beats Khamzat Chimaev, Adesanya vs. Chimaev makes a lot of sense. Similarly, if Kevin Holland beats Roman Dolidze, that fight makes a ton of sense.

But if you’re looking for a moon shot, something that makes no sense by merit but would be great business and is absolutely possible, it’s Izzy vs. Bo Nickal. If Izzy wins, it was a big fight and Bo doesn’t lose any shine. If Bo wins, man just got fast-tracked to a title shot. Win-win.

Kai Kara-France

“KKF-Pantoja: is it happening next and who wins?”

In the co-main event at UFC 305, Kai Kara-France stopped his two-fight losing streak with a first-round stoppage of former title challenger Steve Erceg. It was a very good return to form and afterward he called for a shot at flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. Will he get it? Kind of seems like he might!

The flyweight division is in a weird spot at the moment because Pantoja has already beaten most of the top contenders, and the ones he hasn’t all have some kind of blocker. Amir Albazi is chronically injured, Tatsuro Taira is currently booked, and Muhammad Mokaev is no longer with the UFC because they just didn’t like him. In concept, Mokaev should have been up next; that’s now a complete no-go.

So unless UFC wants to ice Pantoja until after Taira and Brandon Royval fight in October (meaning he probably wouldn’t fight until next year), there are only two real options: either “KKF” gets it, or recent UFC signing and former RIZIN bantamweight champion Kai Asakura gets it. UFC generally hates to give title shots to people who have never fought under the banner, so process of elimination is that Kara-France punched his ticket to a title fight on Saturday.

And should that happen, I’d strongly favor Pantoja to win. He’s just a better all-around fighter. Pants can striker, grapple, mix up the two, and he’s nigh unkillable. I think it will look like most Pantoja fights, which is to say fun as hell with Pantoja retaining his belt.

Controversy

“Thoughts on the commission sending Howie Booth home after that horrible 30-27 scorecard he turned in for Tai? Do you think this is something we could start seeing more often?”

If you missed it, Howie Booth put down one of the worst scorecards in MMA history at UFC 305, giving Tai Tuivasa a 30-27 against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, despite being massively out-landed in every round and anyone with eyeballs being clear about who won. It’s not the worst scorecard of all-time (shoutout to the two judges who said Mike Easton beat Chase Beebe), but it may well be the worst scorecard in UFC history. It was so bad that the commission yanked him from the event afterward, which was a first as far as I can remember. And I’m glad they did. He has no business ever working again in MMA judging.

I am extremely lenient with MMA judges because the sport is subjective and they have the worst seats in the house. I’ve sat cageside plenty, and until you do it, it’s hard to recognize how different that view can be. I’ve scored fights very differently cageside than I did when I went back and watched them from after. But even taking that into consideration, there are only two plausible explanations for what happened there: gross incompetence or straight up fraud.

There is simply no view of the fight, no angle of the outcome, that is up for that sort of egregious scoring. Either Booth put the wrong numbers in the wrong columns or he had some nefarious ulterior motives. If it’s the latter, banned for life and let’s get the cops involved. If it’s the former, still banned for life. This is serious business and gross incompetence should not be allowed.

And for what it’s worth, I assume the answer is the former. Never ascribe to malice what you can to incompetence. Booth was just woefully, dangerously incompetent, and so had to be removed.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.

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Pathetic
| BJPenn.com

Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones don’t appear any closer to fighting after UFC 304 last month (July 27, 2024).

England’s best fighter continued to prove he’s exactly that with his first successful interim title defense against Curtis Blaydes at the event. Needing just one minute to score redemption via technical knockout (watch highlights), Aspinall put away “Razor” and further staked his claim to an undisputed title shot. Unfortunately, the former two-time champion, Stipe Miocic, is still ahead of him to fight Jones, according to UFC CEO, Dana White.

White has made it clear at every possible opportunity he gets how Jones is undeniably the greatest combat athlete that has ever lived. Meanwhile, Aspinall’s activity levels and success have doubled what both Jones and Miocic have done in the past four years combined. So, he just wants the shot he earned when he won the title UFC created for him.

“The way I look at it, I’m the best Heavyweight in the world,” Aspinall said on Believe You Me (h/t MMA Junkie). “I’m not getting my credit for it. They’re holding the belt hostage, mate, and Jon Jones is loving it. He’s loving the fact that Dana is getting on every interview possible. You’re talking about Bantamweights, and Dana White flips it and starts talking about how good Jon Jones is. I’m like, ‘Mate, if he’s that good, let’s fight.’

“I’m the No. 1 Heavyweight right now,” he continued. “Let’s put it on the line, and let’s see who the man is — me or Jon. It’s as simple as that.”

Jones, 37, lashed back at doubters ahead of the fight, expecting Blaydes to surprise and possibly pull off an upset. Ultimately, that didn’t happen and a stance has been (publicly) changed from Jones regarding fighting the Brit over Miocic.

“We know he’s a bit overweight these days,” Aspinall said. “The guy sat there with the Cheetos fingers or whatever, the Doritos fingers with his iPhone in his hand, waiting for me to get knocked out so he can start tweeting about it. Let’s be honest: Since I won that fight, he’s been completely silent and continues to go completely quiet about me because there’s no way on Earth that he’s going to fight me. I’ll retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”

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Absolutely killer photo too. I’d of posted it as well, loss or not lol. submitted by /u/RickDankoLives [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas are running things back.

The two veteran UFC strawweights are expected to collide in a rematch on Dec. 14 at UFC Tampa, which takes place at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. MMA Fighting’s Guiherme Cruz confirmed the matchup Monday following an initial report by Ag. Fight.

Dern and Ribas previously fought once before in the UFC in October 2019, with Ribas outpointing Dern to hand the jiu-jitsu champion her first professional MMA loss. Coincidentally, that fight also took place at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

Dern (14-5) is MMA Fighting’s No. 8 ranked strawweight in the world. One of the most decorated female jiu-jitsu athletes of all-time, she recently rebounded from a two-fight losing streak at the hands of Jessica Andrade and Amanda Lemos to score a decision win over Loopy Godinez at UFC Abu Dhabi in August.

Ribas (13-5) is MMA Fighting’s No. 9 ranked strawweight in the world. December’s bout marks a return to strawweight for the Brazilian following a hard-fought decision loss to former two-time UFC champion Rose Namajunas in March at UFC Vegas 89, which also served as Ribas’ first UFC main event. In her most recent strawweight bout, Ribas picked up a third-round knockout of Luana Pinheiro in November 2023.

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Manny Pacquiao scored a knockout in court after a judge overturned and vacated a verdict against him in a lawsuit filed by Paradigm Sports Management, a prominent agency that also represents UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

Judge Walter P. Schwarm issued his decision on Aug. 12 in court documents obtained by MMA Fighting on Monday. The judge stated that the “court finds for Mr. Pacquiao on the cross-complaint’s declaratory relief cause of action and declares the contract void due to illegality.”

Basically the decision boiled down to Audie Attar — Paradigm’s founder and CEO — not holding a management license issued by the California State Athletic Commission at the time the contract was signed to represent Pacquiao.

The judge didn’t dispute that Pacquiao signed the agreement to have Paradigm represent him, but “Mr. Attar’s testimony supports that [Paradigm Sports Management] did not have the required license … based on the evidence, the court finds that Mr. Pacquiao has demonstrated, by a preponderance of evidence, that [Paradigm Sports Management] did not have the required license under [California law].”

Based on those findings, the court ruled that “the contract is illegal” and “unenforceable.”

As a result, the judge overturned the jury’s verdict, which originally awarded $ 5.1 million damages to Paradigm after the company alleged that Pacquiao was in breach of contract after signing with the agency to represent him for future fight negotiations but ultimately allowing others to continue negotiating for him for bouts. Paradigm also paid Pacquiao millions in a signing bonus to join the agency, which was part of the basis for the lawsuit.

“After hearing Paradigm Sports Management’s objections to the tentative decision, the court decided the contract that Paradigm sought to enforce Mr. Pacquiao was illegal as Paradigm was not properly licensed,” Pacquiao’s attorney Jason Aniel said in a statement to The Philippine Star.

“This decision negates the jury’s findings back in May of 2023. We thank the court’s time and effort in this matter. Mr. Pacquiao thanks his fans for their patience while the court fully resolved all the legal issues.”

All told, Pacquiao was on the hook for more than $ 8 million, including attorney fees, due to Paradigm from the jury’s verdict, which was issued back in 2023.

Now that decision has been vacated.

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Following the UFC 305 fights at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, UFC officials announced the recipients of the performance-based fighter bonuses.  Four fighters banked an extra $ 50,000 for the efforts inside the octagon: Dan Hooker, Mateusz Gamrot, Kai Kara-France and Carlos Prates.

Fight Of The Night: Dan Hooker vs Mateusz Gamrot

Dan Hooker and Mateusz Gamrot put on a show, delivering the back-and-forth battle everyone was hoping for. Gamrot came out strong, landing some solid shots before attempting to take it to the ground, but Hooker held his own and even landed a strong shot towards the end of the first round. The second was a toss-up, with Hooker landing the bigger hits and Gamrot scoring a takedown. By the third, they were trading punches, with Hooker shutting down most of Gamrot’s grappling attempts. In the end, the judges gave the hand raise to Hooker after an awesome scrap between two top lightweights.

Performance Of The Night: Kai Kara-France

Kai Kara-France made a triumphant return to the Octagon, securing a dominant first-round stoppage over recent title challanger Steve Erceg. After landing a powerful left hand that dropped Erceg, Kara-France wasted no time finishing the fight, putting himself back in the flyweight title conversation. This emotional win marked his first victory since March 2022 and could lead to him getting a shot at the title sooner than we think.

Performance Of The Night: Carlos Prates

Carlos Prates started the UFC 305 main card with a bang, becoming the first to knock out veteran Li Jingliang and adding another impressive victory to his standout rookie year. Prates displayed his dangerous striking skills, damaging Li repeatedly before finishing him with a left hand in the second round. Now 3-0 in the UFC and riding a 10-fight win streak, Prates is building a strong case for a Top 15 ranking.

UFC 305 Attendance and Gate Numbers

14,152 spectators filled RAC Arena to witness UFC 305 resulting in a gate totaling $ 5,477,097 USD.  UFC 305 set the record for the highest grossing event in RAC Arena history.  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts