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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

After the UFC 305 kickoff press conference on Tuesday, the Middleweight division is back at the forefront of the MMA world. Scheduled August 17, 2024 from Perth, Australia, the main event is a bad-blood-fueled title fight between 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.

The trash talk is already getting a little hairy.

Du Plessis vs. Adesanya comes at an interesting time. On one hand, it’s the obvious fight to make, a high-profile grudge match that was supposed to happen last year. Some extra time for the beef to simmer has only increased the intrigue, and it’s sure to move a lot of pay-per-view (PPV) buys. At the same time, “Stylebender” has lost two of his last three, whereas fellow former champions Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker are already in the win column.

Consequently, Strickland and Whittaker both want the next shot at gold after UFC 305. According to the current champion, the obvious solution is to book the duo … even though Strickland is busy swearing up and down that he will not fight again unless it’s for the belt.

“People want to see me and Strickland do the rematch,” Du Plessis explained when asked which man he’d rather rematch. “They make the most noise, the Strickland fans. Either one of them. At the end of the day, I’m here to fight the best guys. I’m here to do the biggest fights, the fights the fans want to see.

“In my opinion, how I see this playing out, you cannot not do the Whittaker vs. Strickland fight. I think that’s the fight that needs to happen. It’s just a fight that makes so much sense. that’s the fight on its own, you can main event it on any card. I honestly think that’s how it’s gonna play out.”

Really, “DDP” is in an interesting spot. If victorious at UFC 305, he’ll have defeated three out of the last four Middleweight champions, as well as the top three ranked men in his division. Of course, Adesanya could throw a wrench in his matchmaking with a victory, and Khamzat Chimaev could be waiting in the wings too … if he’s ever healthy.

Insomnia

Joshua Van’s scheduled UFC Vegas 93 fight fell apart a couple weeks ago, but thankfully he’s getting a fairly quick rebound at UFC Denver.

Another high-quality Flyweight booking between entertaining up-and-comers:

Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev have been chirping quite a bit lately — think we see a rematch in the near future?

Jon Jones weighs in on all the talk of shamanic magic:

In today’s episode of “Fight news that definitely isn’t happening.”

Nate Diaz and Demetrious Johnson is a funny combination that works better than I would’ve thought.

A look into the “Suga” Sean O’Malley training camp!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

A boxing match most that a lot of fight fans probably didn’t see:

I thought flinching/moving wasn’t allowed in this stupid game?

Fighting on top of freight has a real aesthetic to it.

Random Land

All terrain vehicles.

Midnight Music: Indie pop, 2014

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

LAS VEGAS — Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña is expecting to get the opportunity to become a two-time world champion, she’s just waiting for the paperwork to go through.

Peña is expected to challenge new champion, and fellow cast member on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter Raquel Pennington later on this year, although the fight has yet to be announced by the promotion.

Prior to the 2024 UFC Hall of Fame ceremony — which took place during UFC 303 fight week in Las Vegas — Peña spoke to reporters about waiting for the contract to face Pennington for the title. Additionally, “The Venezuelan Vixen” discussed being the “most hated” woman in the bantamweight division, Kayla Harrison entering the UFC, believing Harrison is a far bigger fight for her than Pennington, and much more.

Check out the full media scrum with Peña in the video above.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Instead of fighting, Khamzat Chimaev is promoting a new crypto coin — and UFC fans are not amused.

After bowing out of his previously scheduled headliner with Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia due to an undisclosed illness, ‘Borz’ took to social media to promote a new crypto endeavor called Smash.

“Hello guys, there is one crypto coin about me,” Chimaev said. “They call it Smash. Let’s smash together.”

According to the official website, the goal of Smash is to “bring the fighting spirit and the drive of the man himself into the world of DeFi,” or decentralized finance.

The last time stepped inside the cage was in October for a scrap with former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 284. Usman stepped into the bout on less than two weeks’ notice and moved up to 185 for the fight. Still, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ delivered a solid showing, pushing Chimaev to the limit and barely coming up short on the scorecards, surrendering a majority decision to the undefeated Chechen monster.

Overall, Chimaev is a perfect 13-0 in his mixed martial arts career, but he has only fought twice in the last two years, seeing no less than five main events canceled.

UFC Fans Slam Khamzat Chimaev’s Crypto promo

Needless to say, fight fans online were not very kind in the comments, calling out Chimaev for his stalled-out career inside the Octagon and promoting a sus cryptocurrency.

LowKickMMA.com

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is locked in to prepare for his first title defense, which will come at UFC 305 against Israel Adesanya.

Without looking past the former champion, Du Plessis is still keeping an eye on who else could challenge him for the title in the near future, with it likely coming down to two potential opponents.

Both Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker have held the title in the past and they’ve rebounded in recent fights from losses to the current champion.

After Whittaker stopped Ikram Aliskerov, who was a late-notice replacement for Khamzat Chimaev, and Strickland convincingly defeated Paulo Costa, a fight between them makes a lot of sense to the champion.

Dricus Du Plessis Says Sean Strickland vs. Robert Whittaker Should & Will Happen Next

In an interview with Submission Radio following the first press conference for UFC 305, Du Plessis spoke about what he thinks should be next for the middleweight division.

Strickland has made it very clear that after believing he beat Du Plessis in January and then getting the win over Costa at UFC 302, he wants to sit out in order to wait for his second shot at the title.

The champion believes that with Strickland and Whittaker both having claims to be the next in line, a number one contender’s match-up should and will take place in the near future.

“Stillknocks” spoke about this option and why he wants to see his two former opponents meet for the first time inside the Octagon.

“In my opinion, how I see this playing out, you cannot not do the Whittaker versus Strickland fight. I think that’s the fight that needs to happen. Now I know Strickland when we’re at the presser said Whittaker is nothing but a blitz and it’s an easy fight and now he doesn’t want to take that fight. Let me tell you one thing, Robert Whittaker is no easy fight for anybody. Strickland, also an incredible fighter, and that is just a fight that makes so much sense. That’s a fight on it’s own, you can main event that fight on any card and I honestly think that’s how it’s gonna play out.”

Read also: ‘This Guy Is Such A Trash Person’ – MMA Fans Annoyed After Sean Strickland Puts A Beating On Navy Seal In Sparring

Continue Reading Dricus Du Plessis Matchmakes For Sean Strickland, Shuts Down Desire To Wait For Title Shot: ‘You Can Main Event That Fight On Any Card…’ at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal press conference will feature the two stars of the main event, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, and a host of other fighters Thursday evening to promote Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Los Angeles.

The Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal press conference will begin at 5 p.m. ET.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A trio of UFC veterans will compete in Abu Dhabi the night before the octagon lands in the United Arab Emirates in August.

ADXC announced that former WEC champion Urijah Faber will headline ADXC 5 in a no-gi match with Bibiano Fernandes on Aug. 2. The co-main event has multiple-time UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes taking on former UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee.

UFC’s Fight Night show in Abu Dhabi goes down the next day with Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov in the headlining attraction. The card also features Vicente Luque vs. Nick Diaz, and Tony Ferguson battling Michael Chiesa.

Faber recently tapped Jeff Glover in a combat jiu-jitsu match at his own promotion A1 Combat in May. “The California Kid” won 19 of his 35 MMA wins by way of submission, and defeated Fernandes via dcotor stoppage back in 2006 at King of the Cage.

Fernandes, who was 1-0 in MMA at the time, would go on to win multiple titles at ONE Championship and Dream, scoring nine of his 24 professional victories by way of submission.

Mendes competed in grappling and bare-knuckle boxing since his final UFC appearance in 2018, starting with a draw in a grappling match with Gesias Cavalcante at Quintet in 2019 and a 1-1 run at BKFC, knocking out Joshuah Alvarez before a split decision defeat to Eddie Alvarez.

Lee won nearly half of his MMA wins via submission, tapping the likes of Michael Chiesa and Francisco Trinaldo in the UFC back in 2017, but came up short in his return bout in the UFC in July 2023, losing to Rinat Fakhretdinov.

The gi portion of ADXC 5 will be headlined by Rayron Gracie, the son of late Ryan Gracie, taking on Marcos Carrozzino, while Pedro Ramalho draws Max Lindblad in the co-main event.

MMA Fighting – All Posts