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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Eric Nicksick will have a vested interest in Saturday’s middleweight title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.

The rivals headline UFC 305 in Perth, Western Australia. Nicksick, head coach of former middleweight champ Sean Strickland, expects his fighter to be next for the winner, and since he has game-planned for both guys in the past year, Nicksick sees it as a razor-close and compelling matchup.

“I kind of consider it a 50-50 coin flip, man. I really do,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “I’m very curious on seeing what type of Izzy comes back. I’m a lot of ways, selfishly, I’m pulling for him, because the division is much better with a talented, championship level Israel Adesanya in the division.

“And I really took a liking to Dricus over the last year or so. I wouldn’t say we’re close, but we’re friendly and we’re very respectful toward one another. And I’m pulling for him in a lot of ways, because I think he has been overlooked severely over the years.”

Strickland captured the title with a lopsided decision win over Adesanya at UFC 293 this past September, but the reign was short-lived as du Plessis won a split decision over Strickland in their title fight at UFC 297 in January.

Nicksick was familiar with du Plessis because his fighter Brad Tavares dropped a decision to the South African champ at UFC 276 in July 2022. Even with that knowledge, as well as du Plessis being as aggressive yet tactical as he is, Nicksick admits du Plessis was very tough to prepare for.

“He’s a problem, man, and he’s only getting better, and I think the way that he started to fight and understand kind of who and what he is as a fighter, he’s awkward in a way like Sean is but with more power,” Nicksick said. “He hits very hard. It was very difficult for us to find particular sparring partners for Dricus.

“You’re not going to find many people that can fight like him. Our best knowledge that we brought over was when Brad fought him and we had that ability to take that game plan and understand how to implement it, but Dricus only got better since the Brad fight. So it’s a very interesting matchup to me.

Of course, looking at things from an Xs and Os standpoint, Nicksick sees UFC 305 as an interesting puzzle to solve on both ends, and expects that to play out on Saturday.

“I’m curious on how they game plan it,” Nicksick said. “I think if I’m Dricus’ camp, I’ll take a hard look at what we did with Sean, and understanding the cage control and what we did there, and try to bottle Izzy up.

“I think Izzy needs to reverse engineer that game plan and go, ‘Hey, this is what these guys did to me and the blueprint’s out, and here’s how we have to try to keep my back off the cage and implement our game plan out in the open.’”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Huge respect to Israel for this. He's following Francis' footsteps and people in their position speaking out against the UFC is great for the sport. submitted by /u/mkk671 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC returns to pay-per-view this Saturday in Perth, Western Australia, and brings a highly anticipated title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya to cap off UFC 305. What is at stake for both fighters overall, and why does it feel like the heated rivalry fight is flying under the radar?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses this weekend’s card, the main event between du Plessis and Adesanya, and where both guys go with a title win. Additionally, topics include other storylines at UFC 305, the fallout of a lackluster UFC Vegas 95 card, Dana White’s latest update on the return of Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler’s response, the PFL returning this week, big fights confirmed, and much more.

Host Mike Heck is joined by MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew to answer your questions about those topics, and the biggest stories in the MMA world.

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.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Huge!
| BJPenn.com

UFC middleweight veteran Chris Curtis, currently ranked No. 15 at 185 pounds, was recently felled by injury and forced to withdraw from his Kevin Holland fight at the upcoming UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for Sat., Oct. 5, 2024 from inside Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I’m fine, guys. Bit of a fracture in my left foot,” Curtis wrote on Twitter. “Caught Caio Borralho on the knee, at the very end of the last round of sparring. The bigger problem is I have something called a Lisfranc injury as well, which means I’m not even supposed to be walking without crutches the next four to five weeks, which sucks but had it been any worse, it would have possibly been surgical. So count your blessings there. Hopefully, I’ll be okay for December. If not, I’ll see you all next year. Thanks for all the comments and concerns.”

Lisfranc injuries result if bones in the midfoot are broken or ligaments that support the midfoot are torn, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

Curtis (31-11, 1 NC) is looking to (eventually) rebound from his split-decision loss to Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 90 back in April. As for Holland (26-11, 1 NC), he’s just a couple of weeks removed from his submission victory over Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 302 and is likely to be rebooked for Salt Lake City against a new opponent.

UFC 307 does not yet have a main event but is expected to feature the featherweight showdown between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling. Elsewhere on the card, Iasmin Lucindo and Marina Rodriguez collide at strawweight, not long after Cesar Almeida and Ihor Potieria hook ‘em up at 185 pounds.

Stay tuned for more UFC 307 fight card announcements in the coming weeks.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Huge respect to Israel for this. He's following Francis' footsteps and people in their position speaking out against the UFC is great for the sport. submitted by /u/mkk671 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting was in attendance for the UFC 305 open workouts ahead of Saturday’s pay-per-view card at RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.

The main event will see middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis defend his title for the first time against former two-time champ Israel Adesanya.

Both du Plessis and Adesanya worked out for the fans in Perth. Other fighters included Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France, and Steve Erceg.

Watch the UFC 305 open workouts in the video above.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Internet star Hawk Tuah Girl, AKA Haliey Welch, took some Muay Thai classes and now has called out Jon Jones, UFC heavyweight champion. The internet meme has also shouted for UFC president Dana White to give her a fight contract.

Hawk Tuah Girl Wants Jon Jones

Hawk Tuah Girl rose to fame in mid-2024 when during a street interview about moves in bed, she said, “You gotta give him that hawk tuah and spit on that thang.” She became a trending meme and Haliey Welch was sought out by various MMA fighters including Conor McGregor. Recently, she has been spotted ringside at Jake Paul boxing events and Karate Combat. She even called out pop singer JoJo Siwa for a fight.

Recently on Instagram, where she boasts over 2 million followers, she posted a video of her training in Muay Thai, hitting the pads. This was with Kru Al Lanier, a Muay Thai coach at the Renzo Gracie gym. The caption reads:

[DANA WHITE] WHERE’S MY CONTRACT?!?!?! Thanks Coach AL for the Muay Thai lesson

After training, she felt ready to challenge for the UFC heavyweight throne against all-time great Jon Jones, she said:

This S*** is not for the weak … Jon Jones, where you at motherf***er?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Haliey Welch (@hay_welch)

While we don’t have exact measurements for Haliey Welch’s weight and height, given her confidence, we can safely assume that she would be a formidable threat to Jon “Bones” Jones at 6’4″ and 250 lbs. The US-born Jones, who has been a staple of the UFC for more than a decade, has yet to respond to Hawk Tuah Girl’s threats.

LowKickMMA.com

Huge respect to Israel for this. He's following Francis' footsteps and people in their position speaking out against the UFC is great for the sport. submitted by /u/mkk671 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts