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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The main card for UFC’s next pay-per-view event is set.

During Saturday’s UFC 304 broadcast, the main card for UFC 305 was revealed. The event takes place Aug. 17 at RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, headlined by a rivalry fight for the middleweight title between new champ Dricus du Plessis and former two-time champ Israel Adesanya.

In the co-main event, recent flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg fights in front of his home crowd against past interim title challenger Kai Kara-France.

For the second consecutive pay-per-view card, lightweights battle it out in the featured contest as surging contender Mateusz Gamrot battles the always game Dan Hooker, while a heavyweight slobber-knocker between Tai Tuivasa and Jairzinho Rozenstruik also takes place.

Opening up the main card is a welterweight bout between Li Jingliang — who returns to action for the first time since September 2022 — and rising knockout artist Carlos Prates.

Check out the full main card lineup below.

• Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya — middleweight title fight
• Steve Erceg vs. Kai Kara-France
• Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker
• Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates

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UFC

No one expected Paddy Pimblett to hang with Bobby Green on the feet, which ‘The Baddy’ blames on his deceptive looks.

Paddy Pimblett was the star of the night at UFC 304 in Manchester, England. Not only did he charge up a sleepy local crowd with his rousing first round submission win over Bobby “King” Green, he charged up his bank account with two $ 100,000 performance bonuses.

The win puts Pimblett in the lightweight rankings at No. 15, a point Paddy made in the cage on the mic.

“That’s a statement to all the haters out there who said I’d never get a ranking,” he said. “Now you’re just going to have to move the goal posts again and say Bobby’s a has-been, Bobby’s finished. Well, I’ve got a ranking next to me name now haven’t I, so suck it!”

Pimblett was surprisingly sharp with his striking against Green, who’s known for being a sniper on the feet.

“People thought that I was just gonna come straight in and shoot in, and I told you all I didn’t need to,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “You know know what I mean? People underestimate me striking. Don’t think I can strike … I had a striker shooting in on me. You know what I mean?”

That takedown attempt was the beginning of the end for Green, who ended up in a triangle choke with Pimblett cranking his arm (watch the finish here).

“Yeah, I was surprised,” he said of Green shooting on him. “But as I say, everyone underestimates me just because I look like a 14 year old girl.”

Pimblett was on the verge of becoming a free agent after his bout at UFC 304, and had suggested he was willing to fight an influencer if the money was right. But he confirmed that he had signed a new deal with the UFC instead.

“I’m gonna be here for the rest of my life, lad,” he said. “People took what I said and click-baited it. Obviously, it goes without saying, just like what McGregor did with Mayweather, if you get an offer of a million pounds to go and do a boxing match, you’re gonna do it. But I’ve signed a 6 fight deal, so I’m here for a while. I’m getting some nice wages. Need to get the duffle bag out.”

Pimblett’s performance was all the more impressive considering his coaches were considering pulling him off UFC 304 due to a mental health struggle in training camp. Paddy said it was important for him to bounce back from that and stay on the card.

“It’s not just to prove it to myself either,” he said. “It’s to prove to everyone else that no matter how low you feel and how dark times are, you can push through it. And as I’ve showed tonight, even though 5 or 6 weeks ago I was in a dark place … I went out there and put on the best performance that I’ve ever done. I’ve never looked that good in the UFC.”

So good that he took Green out faster than the current lightweight champion.

“My coach has just said they finished them a a second faster than Islam Makhachev,” he said with a smile.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Curtis Blaydes is heading back to the drawing board.

The longtime heavyweight contender hit another roadblock to his dream of becoming UFC heavyweight champion on Saturday, losing in just 60 seconds in his shot at the interim title against Tom Aspinall in UFC 304’s co-main event. It was a disappointing showing from Blaydes, who has now suffered first-round knockout losses in two of his past three bouts.

Early Sunday morning, Blaydes released his first statement addressing the loss on his Instagram Stories, which can be seen and read below.

Curtis Blaydes, Instagram

Sorry guys, I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplan that my coaches Vinnie Lopez [and] Cody Donovan came up with that would’ve worked I’m sure of it. No excuses Tom was on point tonight I know this isn’t the end of my journey but damnit, I know I’m better than tonight’s performance. I appreciate all the support truly it’s been an eye opening experience to have so many ppl rocking with me

Blaydes, 33, entered the bout as MMA Fighting’s No. 4 ranked heavyweight in the world.

The Illinois native has won 13 of his 19 octagon bouts since debuting in the UFC in 2016, beating the likes of Jailton Almeida, Aspinall, Alexander Volkov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

UFC 304 took place on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.

Watch highlights of Aspinall’s 60-second win over Blaydes here.

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Not only did Paddy Pimblett put on what is arguably his greatest performance in the octagon to date last night, but he did so in violent fashion.

The story heading into UFC 304 was that Paddy ‘The Baddy’ hadn’t faced any real challenges since signing for the promotion. Now, the doubters will need to find a different narrative to pursue following the scouser’s double bonus-winning showing on Saturday night.

Paddy Pimblett managed to showcase his elite jiu-jitsu game and made quick work of his opponent Bobby Green. 

Midway through the first round, Pimblett locked in a nasty triangle choke that put his opponent to sleep. Thr Brit was pleased with his outing and pushed fans to stop doubting him.

“As I said all week, people thought that I was going to come straight in and shoot in,” Pimblett said during the post-fight press conference. “And I told you all, I don’t need to.”

“People underestimate my striking, [they] don’t think I can strike. I had a striker shooting in on me. I kept him on the end of my range, kept him on the end of my jab, using my kicks and stuff.”

“I never even got a chance to throw a head kick at him. As I say, I leg kicked him and he shot in, and I capitalized on it.”

“I went guillotine, switched to triangle, and I ended up taking the arm as well. I thought the ref was a little bit slow, to be honest. I think he was unconscious for a few seconds before I took the arm.”

During the finishing sequence, the 29-year-old revealed that he may have caused some career-altering damage.

“I was surprised he shot in at all. He’s had some brilliant stand up fights with people… So, yeah. I was surprised.”

“As I say, everyone underestimates me, lad. Just because I look like a 14 year old girl… In this game, I like to be respectful. We’re fighting to put food on the tables for our families.”

“The fact that his arm went. I felt it, I felt a little crunch, and it was nasty.”

pic.twitter.com/Ol4WnBE4lh

— Casuals (@MMACASUALS1) July 28, 2024

“I just hope that it isn’t too bad, ’cause I know he likes to be active and he likes to fight as much as he can.”

“So, hopefully it’s not a bad injury and he can fight again soon. It’s nothing but respect with Bobby.”

Related: Paddy Pimblett submits King Green in the first round at UFC 304

The fan-favorite has now forced his way into the top 15 in what is believed to be one of the most dangerous divisions in MMA history. 

Despite having the odds stacked against him, the Liverpudlian already has several of big names that he would like to tick off his hit-list.

Before getting ahead of himself, Paddy Pimblett doubled down on his devastating finish of Bobby Green.

“What the f*** did I do with Bobby, lad? I’ve just put him [to sleep] and snapped his arm.”

Watch Paddy Pimblett’s full post-fight press conference below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Muhammad Mokaev believes he was in the right after starting a brawl with Manel Kape days before their fight at UFC 304.

The flyweight feud came to a head at Saturday’s pay-per-view at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, with Mokaev winning a unanimous decision in a bout that was high on bad blood and light on in-cage action. It certainly didn’t live up to the hype that was built up by their pre-fight altercation that took place at the fighter hotel this past Wednesday.

Speaking to the media after the fight, Mokaev was asked about the tension going into the fight and he made a surprising admission as to how the brawl was ignited.

“This fight was important to me,” Mokaev said. “Five days before my Alex Perez fight [in March], I met with Manel, he head-butted me. If you watch my Alex Perez fight, I went to the fight with a cut. They stitched up my eyebrow, my fight with Alex Perez everybody thought I was a boring wrestler, but I was shooting on my knees to [prevent my cut from opening]. Nobody knew this. We shook hands with Manel. In one of the interviews, whoever asked me about Las Vegas, I said what’s between me and Kape stays in Vegas. In an interview, [Kape] said if he comes to Manchester, he’s going to do it a second time.

“So I couldn’t come close to him in the hotel, so I told him let’s come take a picture. And once he came, I dropped him. I had to do it because I’m not somebody who — I’m not Alex Perez. I’m not other guys who, somebody can bully me. I come from a rough background. My life was tough and I give no shit to anyone to bully me.”

Before the bell rang on Saturday, it looked like Mokaev and Kape might get into a pre-fight scrap again as they had to be separated shortly after entering the cage. Cooler heads prevailed — and security stayed between them for as long as needed — and the bout proceeded as scheduled.

Mokaev brushed off that incident as being part of the game.

“It’s OK,” Mokaev said. “We’re two men, we’re there to fight. He’s old. We’re two men [here] to fight, what else we should do? I know there’s UFC security and stuff, but we’re two men, he’s coming for what’s his and I’m coming for what’s mine. It’s normal.”

When Mokaev was asked to elaborate further on his outside-of-the-cage rivalry with Kape, he declined, calling the matter resolved for now.

“We just fought,” Mokaev said. “We shook hands. Whatever happened, it should stay between me and Manel now. I don’t want to talk shit about him. He lost, he has a family, he has a kid that watches his fights. He’s there to earn money for his family.

“I think I need to stop once I beat somebody, I don’t want to bring the man down already. I wish him all the best. I’m young, but I’m strong in my mind, and I believe those people, we need to help them to lift them from the ground, not kick him down on the floor now.”

In his immediate post-fight interview, Mokaev revealed the Kape fight was the last on his current contract and he implored the Manchester crowd to cheer for him to get a new one. He later added that he’d discussed signing a new contract with matchmakers beforehand and they suggested he show off his striking as opposed to his trademark wrestling.

Unfortunately for Mokaev, UFC CEO Dana White shot down any chance of the up-and-coming flyweight returning to the octagon in the immediate future.

“Yeah, that’s what we tell guys. We tell guys how to fight,” White said at UFC 304’s post-fight press conference. “We’ve been doing this for a long f*cking time. I’m sure one the matchmakers probably said something to him or whatever. The matchmakers aren’t big fans of his for many different reasons. There’s a lot of people who shoot takedowns in this business, a lot of guys that fight with that type of style. But it’s a lot more than just that.

“He’s not under contract anymore. I think the PFL’s going to get a great undefeated guy. Good luck to him.”

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