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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC’s middleweight title picture may look quite different in the coming months as most of the key players in the division compete to enter — or re-enter — the conversation for a shot at the belt. One rising contender, Caio Borralho, sees major changes on the horizon.

Dricus du Plessis defends his title Saturday against two-time champion Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. Du Plessis is undefeated inside the octagon and recently claimed the belt from Sean Strickland, who dethroned Adesanya in 2023.

Strickland, ranked No. 2 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, is the sole top-ranked middleweight currently not booked. Robert Whittaker, No. 4, faces Khamzat Chimaev, No. 11, in the co-main event of UFC 308 on Oct. 26. UFC Paris, scheduled for Sept. 28, is headlined by Nassourdine Imavov (No. 5) vs. Brendan Allen (No. 9), while No. 7 Jared Cannonier battles the unranked Borralho in a five-round main event on Aug. 24.

Looking atop the mountain, Borralho foresees Adesanya dethroning du Plessis.

“I think Adesanya wins,” Borralho told MMA Fighting. “It’s not a good matchup [for du Plessis]. Du Plessis walks forward and explodes with his attacks, while Adesanya moves more laterally. I don’t think Adesanya will fight that much in the first round and then he’ll start to connect. I think Adesanya wins by third-round knockout, or it’s a decision.”

“The division is all mixed up,” Borralho added. “I don’t know if Chimaev gets a title shot or anything like that if he wins against Whittaker, I don’t know if that would be fair. I think Brendan Allen is closer because he has the longest winning streak at middleweight today and he’s fighting Imavov in Paris. I think he’s definitely the next contender if he wins.”

Allen has won seven straight UFC bouts, including finishes of Paul Craig, Andre Muniz, and Bruno Silva prior to a recent split decision over Chris Curtis. Imavov, on the other hand, headlines a card with home field advantage after a controversial stoppage of Cannonier in his most recent appearance and a majority decision against Roman Dolidze earlier this year.

“Imavov is tricky and full of surprises,” Borralho said. “He throws elbows and knees out of nowhere. He’s tall and has a long reach, he’s kind of complete, but I think Brendan Allen is more solid and is having a good moment [in his career]. He has good jiu-jitsu. Imavov also has good jiu-jitsu, but Brendan Allen is better. And Brendan Allen does the basics well on the feet, he can secure some good takedowns, so I think he wins.”

Strickland was victorious via split decision in his most recent bout against Paulo Costa and said he would wait “as long as it takes” to get his shot at the gold, showing no interest in fighting Whittaker. On the hand, Whittaker is staying active by facing Chimaev, and Borralho is curious to see what happens in that five-round clash. Chimaev hasn’t fought since winning majority decision over late-notice replacement Kamaru Usman in October 2023, while Whittaker dismantled Ikram Aliskerov with a quick first-round knockout this past June.

“I think it’s a hard fight for Whittaker because he doesn’t know what to expect from Chimaev’s wrestling,” Borralho said. “When you feel the level of wrestling he has, the pressure, it’s a bit impressive. I’ve trained with him and I know the level he has, I know what to expect if this fight happens one day. The crazy thing about fighting him is that you don’t know what to expect. I don’t think Whittaker has anyone who can mimic half of that wrestling in his camp, so I think Chimaev wins. Being a five-round fight, if Whittaker can survive the first and second rounds, maybe the fights gets better for him, but I still think Chimaev wins.”

Borralho hopes to inject his name into the conversation with a win over Cannonier. Another victory would boost his UFC winning streak to seven straight following past victories over the likes of Craig, Abus Magomedov, Michal Oleksiejczuk, and Makhmud Muradov.

“It all depends on how those fights go,” Borralho said. “If they all win via decision, and one of them gets the knockout, he might be the next [contender], and that’s why I think a knockout or a submission [against Cannonier] might put me as the next contender. I’ll be ready for anything the UFC says, as always. I’ll walk the hardest road and do the fights the UFC asks.

“I’ll point at my waist and ask for my belt after I knock out Cannonier, I’ll show the champion has arrived. But I’ll be ready. If there’s a short-notice fight, anything like that, I’ll be ready for the belt.”

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UFC 305 takes place a RAC Arena in Perth, Australia and the live results begin at 6:30 p.m. ET on MMAWeekly.com.  The event 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.

Start Times:

• Main Card begins at 10 p.m. ET (Pay-per-view)
• Preliminary Card begins at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2/ESPN+)
• Early Prelim Card beings at 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

UFC 305 Live Results and Analytics

UFC 305 Official Results

Main Card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya
• Steve Erceg vs. Kai Kara-France
• Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker
• Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Tai Tuivasa
• Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates

Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker
• Josh Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos
• Herbert Burns vs. Jack Jenkins

Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes
• Ricky Glenn vs. Song Kenan
• Jesus Aguilar vs. Stewart Nicoll

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Not long after Luana Santos made short work of Mariya Agapova in July, she agreed to face Casey O’Neill on three weeks’ notice at UFC 305, which goes down this weekend in Perth.

The Brazilian travels to Australia knowing she’s about to compete in enemy territory.

O’Neill was born and raised in Scotland but moved to Queensland when she was 10 years old. Though she’s lived in Oceania ever since and is 4-0 as a professional MMA fighter when competing in Australian soil, O’Neill will experience what’s like to have the home field advantage for the first time since joining the UFC in 2021. But Santos is ready.

“She represents Australia so the crowd definitely won’t be on my side,” Santos told MMA Fighting. “I’m ready for that. They will be on her side. [I want to finish her] so I don’t leave anything to chance.”

Santos is unbeaten under the UFC banner, sandwiching a decision over Stephanie Egger between finishes of Agapova and Juliana Miller. She looks at every other sport where a judge can decide the winner as instructive on why she needs to get the job done early.

“We just saw at the Olympics that we have to be careful with the judges at all times,” Santos said. “It’s inevitable, right? We want to win by knockout or submission, but sometimes it doesn’t happen, and it’s hard to leave in the hands of the judges. In all sports, really.”

Alexa Grasso, who currently reigns at Santos’ weight class, faces Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight trilogy at UFC 306 after battling to a draw last time around, and Santos agrees that “Bullet” should be concerned about facing the Mexican star at UFC 306, a Mexican-themed pay-per-view on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.

“I agree with her fear,” Santos said. “It’s her life and career on the line. I think she should have had the chance to pick the date now since she fought on Mexican Independence Day last time, but it’s part of the game. There are things we can’t control, right? I think Valentina won that last fight and they scored it a draw because of the whole Mexico thing. Alexa is tough and is proven she deserves to be there, but I think Valentina wins this time. I think she will win more clearly now to show the judges what they didn’t see last time.”

For now, Santos is thrilled to face a ranked opponent in O’Neill. The 24-year-old talent sees herself sitting in the top 15 with a finish Saturday, and even has a name in mind for a post-fight callout, hoping for a December return to end the year on a six-fight winning streak.

But remains focused on the task ahead.

“She’s coming off two losses so I think she has a ton of pressure over her, and that definitely favors me,” Santos said of O’Neill. “She’s a good fighter everywhere. She walks forward on the feet, her jiu-jitsu is very versatile, but is different from my grappling. My grappling is more judo style, more pressure, and hers is more loose. It’s going to be interesting if the fight goes to the ground.”

“But the fight starts on the feet and she has flaws there, and I will work on her flaws, both on the ground and on the feet,” she continued. “I have three weeks to study her game and work on what will be good for me, and I’m ready. I’ve done everything I had to do to come out victorious, no doubt about it.”

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UFC

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will come face-to-face for a special press conference Sunday afternoon (Aug. 18, 2024) LIVE and FREE on Netflix’s YouTube. The press conference will be hosted by Ryan Clark and take place at the Inaugural Fanatics Fest in New York City.

This is according to a recent announcement by Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), which confirms the press conference will go live at 2 p.m. ET tomorrow. See below:

Remember, Paul and Tyson were expected to meet inside of the boxing ring last month before “Iron Mike” suffered a medical scare and was forced to withdraw from the fight. Most fight fans were happy to see the Netflix spectacle canceled because a 58-year-old Tyson should not be stepping in the ring with a 27-year-old Paul.

Tyson was replaced by former UFC fighter and current bareknuckle boxer, Mike Perry, who was dropped three times by Paul for an eventual TKO loss (highlights HERE).

Unfortunately, the Paul vs. Tyson matchup has already been re-booked for another Netflix-charged event on Nov. 15 from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. There’s a chance that Tyson is able to channel his former self and put a beatdown on “Problem Child,” but the consensus is that Paul will take it to the former boxing champion and pad his already questionable boxing record.

Even if one of them has to die.

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