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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With UFC 305 fast approaching, a preview taking a deeper look at the heated rivalry between middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya takes center stage in the UFC 305 Countdown video.

For Adesanya, the fight serves as a chance to reclaim his throne after he was defeated in a stunning upset against Sean Strickland back in September 2023. With Adesanya out, du Plessis stormed his way to gold with a win over Strickland and now he’ll attempt to do the same to Adesanya with his head coach Morne Visser doing everything to get him ready … including the use of a cattle prod during training.

Check out the wild UFC 305 countdown video to see how du Plessis’ coach makes sure he corrects mistakes in brutal fashion.

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PFL wants Mokaev to keep their name out of his mouth as he continues to seek a new home after the UFC dropped him.

The PFL wants you to know they have no interest in signing Muhammad Mokaev.

Mokaev was very publicly dropped by the UFC following the completion of his contract at UFC 304, with CEO Dana White implying he was difficult to deal with on multiple levels. Rumors have swirled on what exactly he did — was he rude to UFC employees? Was it the non-stop brawling with Manel Kape? The terrible cage fight with Kape that followed? Or was it because Mokaev was in talks with PFL before his UFC contract was up?

All of these are credible possibilities, and while Mokaev admits maybe White heard through the grapevine that he’d been talking with PFL, he claimed he hadn’t been.

PFL also took the unusual step of attacking Mokaev, with president Ray Sefo declaring “Apparently he’s just a pain in the ass to deal with. So no, we’re not interested.”

“Of course you gonna say this,” Mokaev replied on X (formerly Twitter). “I never accepted you deals. Nice move!”

Reports have Mokaev leaning towards a return to Brave CF, the promotion he fought for en route to UFC. But in a new tweet, he suggested he had a number of options to choose from.

“Thank you to all organizations that reached out to me: Brave CF, Rizin, PFL, Karate Combat, ACA,” he wrote. “I appreciate for believing in me, now I will sit down with my team and take the best option not on money wise but that could let me go back to the UFC ASAP!”

This time it was PFL’s Mike Kogan who shut down Mokaev’s claim of an offer.

“This story is a lie,” he wrote on social media. “No one from PFL or Bellator spoke to the dude or showed even an ounce of interest.”

The PFL clearly wants the world to know they’re not interested in Mokaev, and at this point the denials are hitting conspicuous levels. If the promotion had been talking to Mokaev before his UFC contract officially ended, that could constitute tortuous interference. It’s been a while since the UFC has used their legal might to crush another promotion, but if there were talks, they’d have a case.

So all these heated denials against speaking to Mokaev may be as much for legal cover as they are over specific dislike for the young contender. That doesn’t make him look any better as he seeks a new home in the difficult MMA landscape outside the UFC.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ben Askren is pretty surprised UFC CEO Dana White hasn’t switched gears toward a Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall unification bout rather than Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.

After Jones withdrew due to injury from his heavyweight title defense against Miocic at UFC 295 this past November, Aspinall instead competed on the card, knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in short order to win the interim title. Since then, the bloom has seemingly fallen off of the proverbial rose in terms of fan interest for a Jones vs. Miocic re-booking, especially considering Miocic hasn’t fought since getting brutally knocked out by Francis Ngannou in March 2021. Aspinall continues to compete — he defended his interim belt with a knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 — leading many to believe the Englishman is the world’s best heavyweight.

Askren is now left wondering, why isn’t UFC pushing for Jones vs. Aspinall?

“I almost feel like maybe Jon’s got some dirt on Dana or something, because Dana generally would not put up with this type of behavior,” Askren said on Funky & The Champ with Daniel Cormier. “He would say, and this is what the UFC is founded on where boxing [wasn’t], is, ‘We want the best guys to fight. We want to see who the actual best guy is. We don’t want to waste time with shenanigans, we won’t want to pad records to go to 40-0, we don’t do that, that’s what boxing does. In the UFC, we put the best guys in there and see who wins.’

“So the fact that Jon is being — I don’t want to say, [I don’t know] if allowed is the right term, but Dana’s playing along, and letting him and Stipe fight. Stipe is going to be close to four years [since his last fight] by the time they ever fight. … You have this young interim champion, he’s a beast, just smashes people, and the fact that they won’t put them in there together — and then there’s this good [chance] that Jon beats Stipe and then says, ‘I’m done, I’m gone.’ And then you never get to see [Jones vs. Aspinall].”

Jones has competed just once in the past four years, capturing the vacant heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023.

Askren understands business and putting on the biggest fights possible, but at some point, he argues it has to be about the best two guys in a division competing for a world title.

“Dana almost always presses these issues with the best guys, it’s pretty rare when he hasn’t,” Askren said. “Like Sean [O’Malley] and Merab [Dvalishvili], he’s making that happen. He let Sean fight ‘Chito,’ that was one fight, but now Sean and Merab are fighting.”

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Despite all but confirming plans to retire from combat sports this year ahead of his expected UFC 309 return, Jon Jones has been tipped to likely end his own talk with a unification championship fight with Tom Aspinall – particularly with footage emerging of his training with grappling superstar, Gordon Ryan.

Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight titleholder and a current heavyweight champion, is all but signed to make his return from a year-plus hiatus at UFC 309 in November, topping the Madison Square Garden card in a matchup with former two-time best, Stipe Miocic.

Furthermore, the Rochester native has been heavily linked with a title unification pairing against current interim champion, Aspinall – with the Atherton finisher avenging his sole Octagon loss at UFC 304 with a blistering knockout of perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes. 

However, this week, Jones all but confirmed plans to retire following his fight with Miocic in a first outing in his homestate, claiming he was “winning” at life given the fact he would be retired at just 37 years of age.

Fun fact, after this year, Jon Jones will never have to work again,” Jon Jones posted in response to a comment on his official Instagram account. “Retired at age 37. Winning.”

Jon Jones again linked with Tom Aspinall showdown

However, across social media, amid the release of footage of Jones grappling with renowned grappling star, Ryan ahead of his expected November return, speculation has been rife amongst fans how the veteran will take on Aspinall after all.

“And people act like he (Jon Jones) won’t do this to (Tom) Aspinall in a f*ckin’ heartbeat,” A user on X posted.

“Jones would beat Aspinall easily,” Another user posted. “Respect the GOAT.”

In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Jones landed the vacant heavyweight championship with a stunning first round guillotine choke win over former interim titleholder, Ciryl Gane back in March of last year. 

Do you think Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall in the future?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts