Author: mmafighting
As he sat in front of reporters, UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis joked about his appearance after a hard-fought title win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. “A little bit of damage? Do you remember how handsome I was before this fight?” he responded when asked about the lumps on his face and when he could return. “I look like a cauliflower now. But yeah, I’m pretty banged up right now.” One of the most pressing questions coming from du Plessis’ win was naturally who was next, and the South African made that clear from jump street by calling…
Sean Strickland lost a split decision in his battle with Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event, but UFC CEO Dana White believes he deserved to get the win. White acknowledged the five-round fight was extremely close, and both fighters definitely had their moments. He takes nothing away from du Plessis for his effort, but if he was scoring the fight, Strickland would be leaving Toronto with the UFC middleweight title still around his waist. “We were just looking at how the media had scored it and right down the middle,” White said at the UFC 297 post-fight…
The Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland UFC 297 scorecard shows how the three judges scored the extremely close main event Saturday night in Toronto. In the main event, du Plessis edged Strickland 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 to become the new UFC middleweight champion. Judges Derek Cleary and Eric Colon both scored the fight for du Plessis, giving him Rounds 2, 3, and 4. Judge Sal D’Amato gave the fight to Strickland, giving him Rounds 1, 3, and 5. Du Plessis has now won seven straight UFC fights and nine overall. He also spoiled Strickland’s first title defense after he won…
Dricus du Plessis is the UFC middleweight champion of the world after a split decision over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. Du Plessis went five hard rounds – a first for him in his long MMA career – and captured two of three judges’ scorecards by scores of 48-47 to pick up his seventh UFC win and the middleweight title on Saturday night. One judge dissented 48-47 for Strickland, who was denied his first title defense after a massive upset win over Israel Adesanya this past year. Here’s how fighters reacted to the UFC 297 main event between Dricus du…
Dricus du Plessis is the new UFC middleweight champion after defeating Sean Strickland via split decision in the main event of UFC 297. While the fight was very close, did the judges get it right? Following Saturday’s pay-per-view event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Shaun Al-Shatti, and Jed Meshew react to the scorecards, du Plessis’ championship win, and what will be next for the new champion. Additionally, they’ll discuss Raquel Pennington’s bantamweight title win against Mayra Bueno Silva, her likely first title defense against Julianna Pena, the overall grade for the promotion’s first PPV event of 2024, Movsar Evloev’s impressive win…
Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland are taking home an extra $50,000 for their main event scrap. On Saturday night, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, du Plessis and Strickland went to war for five rounds with the middleweight title on line at UFC 297. It was a back-and-forth affair with both men refusing to give an inch until the final bell. Ultimately, du Plessis took home a split-decision victory and the middleweight title, and while that is a big loss for Strickland, the former middleweight champion isn’t walking away completely empty-handed as the two men earned Fight of the…
Anthony Hernandez has a new opponent for UFC 298. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Hernandez will now face Roman Kopylov at the UFC’s next pay-per-view event, which takes place Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Kopylov steps in for Ikram Aliskerov in the middleweight bout following an announcement of Aliskerov’s departure from the scheduled booking during Saturday’s UFC 297 broadcast. Hernandez and Kopylov were scheduled to compete at Noche UFC in September before the former was forced to withdraw due to injury. “Fluffy” enters the bout on an impressive…
UFC 297 kicked off with quite a scrap. On Saturday evening in Toronto, Jimmy Flick faced Malcolm Gordon in the first fight of the evening for UFC 297, and the two flyweights delivered a back-and-forth battle that saw Flick score a comeback submission win in the second round. Right out of the gate, Gordon stormed across the cage and the two men traded big shots before Gordon got a bodylock and slammed Flick to the mat. From there, Gordon worked Flick over on top with heavy ground-and-pound, while Flick attacked with submissions off his back, nearly locking in a triangle…
Luis Pineda was quite the mystery opponent in the Misfits Boxing 12 main event. Pineda sent Ed Matthews through the ring with his second-round knockout to win the Misfits Boxing 12 clash Saturday evening at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Pineda wasn’t revealed to Matthews or the audience until after Swarmz, BDave and Ginty were introduced as possible opponents for Matthews in the main event. After the three possible foes argued in the ring, Pineda’s intro music was played and he made his way to the ring. During the fight, Pineda and Matthews both scored knockdowns in the first…
Less than six months after Drake put down $500,000 on Israel Adesanya to knock out Sean Strickland, he’s now placing an even bigger wager on the current middleweight champion ahead of UFC 297. The famed rapper showed off a huge $700,000 bet placed on Strickland to beat Dricus du Plessis in the main event on Saturday night. Unlike his previous bet on Adesanya, which Strickland ruined with a lopsided win to claim the 185-pound belt, Drake won’t try to predict a finish this time around. Instead, he’s just betting on Strickland to win with the 37-year-old hip-hop superstar in line…