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Daniel Cormier firmly believes that Dricus Du Plessis can do anything he sets his mind to, including capturing a second UFC title.

On Saturday, ‘Stillknocks’ will defend his middleweight strap for the first time since stealing a split decision against ex-titleholder Sean Strickland in January. Standing in Du Plessis’ way of a successful defense will be Israel Adesanya, who looks to make history by becoming the promotion’s first-ever three-time champ at 185.

The two will headline UFC 305, emanating from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Sharing his take on Du Plessis’ meteoric rise from prospect to world champion, Cormier believes the South African’s unique style has been largely responsible for his immense success and he expects that to continue in The Land Down Under.

“The problem with Dricus is that the things he does don’t look like everybody else’s,” Cormier told Submission Radio. “His feet may cross at an odd time, he may throw a punch from a weird angle, or he might do a takedown in a weird way, but it’s working. So you have to accept that just because it looks different, it’s not wrong—it’s his way, right? It’s his style, and he’s mastered it. He’s mastered it to the point that he’s the world champion. So I think that awkwardness will play to his benefit on Saturday night” (h/t MMA News).

Cormier confident Dricus du Plessis can capture double-gold with ‘the right matchup’

Having not yet defended the middleweight title, pundits were quick to caution Du Plessis’ desire to move up and try to claim a second crown. However, ‘DC’ is done doubting ‘DDP,’ suggesting that the man who made Izzy cry can do anything he wants inside the Octagon.

“I’m not doubting him no more. I’m just done doubting Dricus Du Plessis, man. I think he can do whatever he wants, you know? He’s shown time and time again that he can do anything, and Alex Pereira showed that it’s possible, right? Going from middleweight to light heavyweight and winning, and winning a lot. So yeah, I think he could, under the right circumstances. A lot of times it’s about matchups, right? The right person holding the belt is what makes you make that decision, and I think with the right matchup, Dricus can be a double champ.”

With Adesanya on Saturday and Sean Strickland already on deck, it’ll probably be a while before ‘Stillknocks’ is allowed to move up, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t already salivating over the idea of a champion vs. champion clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Alex Pereira.

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UFC 305 takes place tomorrow night, and MMA News is here to bring you the official weigh-in results!

For the first time in 2024, the Octagon is Down Under, with the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, playing host to the promotion’s latest pay-per-view event. And the mixed martial arts leader has brought a lineup worthy of the occasion with it across the world, including a title fight and a host of notable undercard bouts.

The championship clash at the top of the card will see Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s heated feud finally reach the steel surroundings of the Octagon, with the South African’s middleweight title on the line.

Elsewhere, top flyweights Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg will look to engineer themselves a second shot at UFC gold in the co-main event, while Oceanic favorites Dan Hooker and Tai Tuivasa will also hope to deliver highlight victories on the main card.

UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Weigh-In Results

UFC 305 takes place Saturday, August 17 (August 18 local time) at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The main card begins at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT, with the preliminary card starting at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT.

See above for a live stream of the UFC 305 Weigh-In Show, and check out the full results below!

Main Card:

• Middleweight Championship Main Event: Dricus Du Plessis (C) vs. Israel Adesanya
• Flyweight Co-Main Event: Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg
• Lightweight: Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker
• Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Welterweight: Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates

Preliminary Card:

• Heavyweight: Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker
• Featherweight: Joshua Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Women’s Flyweight: Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos
• Featherweight: Jack Jenkins vs. Herbert Burns

Early Preliminary Card:

• Lightweight: Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes
• Welterweight: Song Kenan vs. Rick Glenn
• Flyweight: Stewart Nicoll vs. Jesus Aguilar

Continue Reading UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Weigh-In Live Stream & Results (6 PM ET) at MMA News.

MMA News

Dana White clashing with reporters seems to be a regular occurrence, and that remained the case when questioned about his allegiance to Donald Trump.

White is a huge supporter of Trump and his loyalty knows no bounds. Despite his positive relationship with the 78-year-old, the UFC CEO would still welcome any sitting or former president to one of his events with open arms.

During a recent interview, Dana White was forced to defend his alleged special treatment of Donald Trump at UFC events.

“Do you see the way the crowd reacts to it?” White said. “[It’s] off the charts, right?”

“Now, if Biden came to a UFC event, I would treat Biden the same way… If Biden was there, we would cover the fact that the president of the United States is [in attendance].”

“Or if Obama or Bush or any of those guys ever came to an event, we would treat them with the same respect.”

“A former or standing president of the United States shows up at your event, you show them the respect.”

“It’s just like the thing that happened with Trump, the assassination attempt. If somebody attempted to assassinate Biden or any of the other former presidents of the United States, I would be f***ing disgusted by it. Just like I was in the attempt on Trump’s life.”

White later insisted that no matter if it’s a friend or a stranger, he will show each and every US president the same respect.

“I’m an American. And whoever is the president of the United States is my president. You don’t hear me running around yelling, ‘That guy’s not my president.'”

“Whoever is the standing or former president of the United States is my president and they would be treated with the same respect.”

Related: Dana White’s Trump Speech at RNC Convention 2024 “Willing to Risk it All”

Dana White then detailed a story of Joe Biden’s granddaughter showing up to one of his UFC events.

“The last time that Trump came to Madison Square Garden, two of the Secret Service details had passed each other and they had said that Biden’s granddaughter was there. And Secret Service was there with her.”

“I tried to grab her. I tried to have them pull her back to my room to meet her and say thanks to coming to the event or whatever.”

“But, I guess when she heard Trump was coming, she left, which sucks. I would have liked to have met her.”

Doubling down on his views, White insisted that politics don’t alter his actions toward people.

“I don’t judge people by their politics. I don’t play any of those f***ing games that people play with politics. I treat everybody with respect.”

“Trump has been a fan. Since day one, this guy’s been a fan. He showed up, guess what, when he wasn’t the president of the United States and he came to [those events], he was all over the broadcast, too.”

Check it out below.

pic.twitter.com/W63tojiFWB

— JustTheFights3 (@JustTheFights3) August 15, 2024

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Craig Jones Invitational live stream online will feature Friday’s action from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

The Craig Jones Invitational schedule for the first day is as follows:

Friday’s action:

Over 80kg first round:

Nicky Rod vs. Max Gimenis

Owen Livesey vs. Mahamed Aly

Adam Bradley vs. Kyle Boehm

Luke Rockhold vs. Pat Downey

William Tackett vs. Joao Gabriel Rocha

Fellipe Andrew vs. Daniel Kerkvliet

Inacio Santos vs. Pedro Alex

Victor Hugo vs. Lucas Kanard

Under 80kg first round:

Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf

Roberto Jimenez vs Levi Jones-Leary

Lucas Barbosa vs. Kenta Iwamoto

Jozef Chen vs. Andy Varela

Nicky Ryan vs. Andrew Tackett

Magid Hage vs. Eoghan O’Flanagan

Renato Canuto vs. Tommy Langaker

Kade Ruotolo vs. Matheus Diniz

Over 80kg quarterfinals:

TBD

Under 80kg quarterfinals:

TBD

The Craig Jones Invitational live stream online will begin at 6 p.m. ET. Saturday’s action will be at 9 p.m. ET.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gordon Ryan may rub some people the wrong way, but it’s impossible to deny the credentials he’s established as one of the best grapplers in history.

That’s according to UFC veteran and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Kenny Florian, who is preparing to call Ryan’s pair of superfights at the ADCC World Championships on Saturday and Sunday from Las Vegas. In rare back-to-back matches over two days, Ryan faces longtime rival Felipe Pena and then takes on 2022 ADCC champion Yuri Simoes.

Ryan’s willingness to take on a daunting challenge like that after missing a significant amount of time in his career while dealing with a debilitating stomach disorder only speaks to the résumé he’s attempting to put together as the greatest of all-time.

“Gordon Ryan at his best, when he’s healthy, he’s the Michael Jordan of submission wrestling, whether you like it or not,” Florian told MMA Fighting. “He’s just that good. He was a phenom when he was younger. He had a commitment unlike any other person out there. He has just so much to his game. There’s so many ways that he can win. Everything from his defense to his offense, he’s as perfect of a grappler as you’re going to get.

“He knows how to compete when the lights are brightest. Everyone wants to see him either win or lose. When you’re that good in this sport and you talk a little trash like Gordon Ryan, people are going to want to see you compete. He has two big challenges ahead of him. With his health issues, it makes it an interesting wrinkle, for sure.”

While Ryan’s activity has slowed down considerably due to his health issues, the now 29-year-old submission specialist still maintains a remarkable list of wins on his record, with his last noted loss coming all the way back in 2018 in a match against Vinny Magalhaes.

Since that time, Ryan has rattled off a ridiculous amount of wins in succession while taking out champion after champion to help him truly earn his nickname as “The King.”

There’s no metric that can be measured to truly define anybody across sports as the greatest, but Florian believes in his estimation that Ryan has done more than enough to cement himself in that position when it comes to submission grappling.

“There’s no question about it,” Florian said of Ryan’s stake as the best ever. “I think the proof is in the pudding based on what he’s accomplished at this stage of the game. You have to have him as the GOAT. To me, there’s three grapplers that really stand out, all of them ADCC world champions — Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, and Gordon Ryan, and Gordon Ryan being the latest iteration of those gentlemen.

“The sport evolves. You learn from those that came before you. We stand on the shoulders of giants. I think Gordon Ryan and his coach John Danaher, of course one of the best coaches in the world, knows how to learn from those guys, knows how to apply successful techniques, successful strategy, successful training methods, and has improved upon that a lot. We have Gordon Ryan because of it.”

Of course, it’s impossible to ignore that off the mats, Ryan has become one of the most polarizing figures in the sport thanks to his willingness to speak his mind and talk trash to his opponents, which isn’t typically the case in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu community.

Ryan’s brash attitude earned him plenty of attention, but also a few enemies who don’t particularly love the way he handles himself.

In a way, Florian feels like that only adds to Ryan’s mystique and also creates an audience with some fans backing his every move and others constantly rooting for his downfall.

Florian expects those emotions to bubble up a lot this week with the ADCC World Championships kicking off, but even more with Ryan preparing to grapple his old rival Pena, who actually holds two wins over Ryan in the past.

Add in Ryan’s health woes in recent years and Florian knows the drama surrounding his return will reach a fever pitch by his first match on Saturday.

“Gordon Ryan isn’t 100 percent or hasn’t been,” Florian said. “On certain days, he feels great. On certain days, he doesn’t. So I’m certainly curious to see what kind of Gordon Ryan we see. This potentially opens the door for someone to come in here and get an upset.

“[And] just based on their history, the fact that [Ryan and Pena] really do not like each other, it’s what makes it exciting.”

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An emotional moment
| BJPenn.com

‘DC’ doesn’t know where Adesanya’s career goes if he loses to Dricus Du Plessis in Perth, Australia this weekend at UFC 305.

Former UFC double champ Daniel Cormier believes Saturday’s UFC 305 title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya is the most important fight of “The Last Stylebender’s” career.

Cormier is in Perth, Australia to commentate the pivotal middleweight title fight between Du Plessis and Adesanya. Izzy has a chance to become one of the few three-time UFC champions in history — a stat that Du Plessis has pointed out isn’t exactly a positive one. If he fails on Saturday night and falls to “Stillknocks,” where does that leave the UFC superstar?

“I think Izzy needs to win, man. He’s got to win this fight,” Cormier said in an interview with Submission Radio. “Because I don’t know what his career looks like for a guy like Israel Adesanya if he isn’t in the title reign.”

“Motivation is a tricky thing. Especially for a guy that seems to have everything. All the money, all the titles. He’s got the fame. He’s got everything. Getting up to fight for a championship again is easier than saying, ‘I’m just going to fight on a pay-per-view and I might be the co-main event.’ I don’t know if that’s in Izzy’s cards anymore. I think it’s titles. And if it’s not titles, it’s getting back to titles. But I don’t know that he has that run in him. And I don’t know if he should have to have that run in him, because he’s done so much already.”

“It’s vital that he wins on Saturday,” DC concluded.

The big question: which Izzy will we see on Saturday? The one who thundered through the middleweight division en route to his first title, or the one who seemed unable to outpoint Sean Strickland back in September 2023, the last time we saw him compete? This is the longest break we’ve seen Adesanya take since he arrived in the UFC, and his teammates have talked about him healing up a multitude of nagging injuries that could make a difference. But the time off was definitely needed, according to Cormier.

“This dude carried a heavy schedule, man,” he said. “His schedule was crazy. They rode him. They rode him through the pandemic. They rode him after the pandemic, and he always showed up. So, he continued to fight and make a ton of money, but you need a break. And it feels like he’s refreshed and excited again to have the opportunity to go out and fight and try to become champion.”

“Fighters are monsters,” Cormier continued. “Because they have such strong minds, they convince themselves that they‘re okay. When in reality, they’re not. But I don’t know that it was Izzy’s body that was run down as it was probably hard mentally.”

“You’re always getting ready to fight the most dangerous, scariest guy in the world, every time when you’re the champion. And he did that time and time and time again. He had one of the greatest title reigns we’ve seen in a long time. And I think this break will serve him well. I’m not saying he’s going to win because of it. But I think he’ll be better in the octagon than last time because he’s able to reset. It’s hard to carry that schedule. But Dricus is tough. He’s very good.”

Bookies have Adesanya and Du Plessis even at -110, which tells you just how much uncertainty surrounds this grudge match between the two African fighters. All answers will be given when the cage door swings shut on Sunday afternoon in Australia (Saturday night for those of us living in North America) and reality sweeps away speculation, leaving only one man standing.

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