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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