Latest news with #RobertWhittaker
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Schedule August 2025: Four Fight Cards Anchored By UFC 319
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 26: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia prepares to face Robert Whittaker of New Zealand in a middleweight fight during the UFC 308 event at Etihad Arena on October 26, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Zuffa LLC The UFC is in the midst of a busy schedule. On July 12, the fight promotion began a run of Saturday events featuring a UFC event that will conclude in August, following a trip to China. This means that the next break on the UFC schedule is Saturday, August 30. The highlight of the August UFC run is the UFC 319 pay-per-view fight card. Below, we look at the full UFC schedule for August. Fight cards are subject to change, and not all events are completely booked at this time. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 09: Tatsuro Taira of Japan reacts after his knockout victory against Carlos Hernandez in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on December 09, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images The first fight card on the August UFC schedule is UFC Vegas 108. That event takes place on Saturday, August 2, and is headlined by a short-notice flyweight matchup. In the UFC Fight Night main event, Hyun Sung Park steps in for the injured Amir Albazi against top-10-ranked UFC contender Tatsuro Taira. UFC Vegas 108 airs on ESPN, with prelims at 6:00 p.m. ET and a 9:00 p.m. ET main card. Tatsuro Taira vs. Hyun Sung Park - Flyweight Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rebecki - Lightweight Elves Brener vs. Esteban Ribovics - Lightweight Nora Cornolle vs. Karol Rosa - Women's bantamweight Neil Magny vs. Elizeu Zaleski - Welterweight Danny Silva vs. Kevin Vallejos - Featherweght UFC Vegas 108 Preliminary Card Nathan Fletcher vs. Rinya Nakamura - Bantamweight Tresean Gore vs. Rodolfo Vieira - Middleweight Nick Klein vs. Andrey Pulayev - Middleweight Felipe Bunes vs. Rafael Estevam - Flyweight Piera Rodriguez vs. Ketlen Souza - Strawweight UFC Schedule August 2025: UFC Vegas 109 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 22: Anthony Hernandez reacts after a victory against Brendan Allen in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Climate Pledge Arena on February 22, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Zuffa LLC The UFC is at the Apex in Las Vegas in back-to-back weeks for the first time since a two-week run in May when it presents the UFC Vegas 109 fight card on Saturday, August 9. At the top of the ESPN card is a middleweight matchup between Roman Dolidze and Anthony Hernandez. Dolidze is currently the No. 9 ranked fighter in the UFC middleweight division, while Hernandez checks in at No. 10. UFC Vegas 109 Main Card Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez - Middleweight Iasmin Lucindo vs. Angela Hill - Strawweight Andre Fili vs. Christian Rodriguez - Featherweight Miles Johns vs. Jean Matsumoto - Bantamweight Eryk Anders vs. Christian Leroy Duncan - Middleweight UFC Vegas 109 Preliminary Card Julius Walker vs. Raffael Cerqueira - Light heavyweight Elijah Smith vs. Toshiomi Kazama - Bantamweight Joselyne Edwards vs. Priscila Cachoeira - Women's bantamweight Gabriella Fernandes vs. Julija Stoliarenko - Women's flyweight UFC Schedule August 2025: UFC 319 TORONTO, ONTARIO - JANUARY 20: Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his victory against Sean Strickland in a UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images UFC 319 finds the promotion at the United Center in Chicago for the first time since 2019. The main event of the UFC 319 pay-per-view card features UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis putting his belt on the line against the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev. In the evening's co-main event, high-profile UFC free agent signing Aaron Pico faces the undefeated Lerone Murphy. The UFC 319 main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The prelims are on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+. UFC 319 Pay-Per-View Card Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev - For Du Plessis's UFC middleweight title Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico - Featherweight Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates - Welterweight Jared Cannonier vs. Michael Page - Middleweight Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura - Flyweight UFC 319 Other Official Bouts King Green vs. Diego Ferreira - Lightweight Gerald Meerschaert vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk - Middleweight Jessica Andrade vs. Loopy Godinez - Women's Strawweight Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez - Lightweight Edson Barboza vs. Drakkar Klose - Lightweight Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev - Middleweight UFC Schedule August 2025: UFC Shanghai RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: Johnny Walker of Brazil battles Volkan Oezdemir of Switzerland in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Closing out the UFC's August schedule is an event in China. UFC Shanghai takes place at Shanghai Indoor Stadium. In the light heavyweight main event, Johnny Walker faces Zhang Mingyang. The card streams on ESPN+. UFC Shanghai Fight Card Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang - Light heavyweight Brian Ortega vs. Aljamain Sterling - Featherweight Sergei Pavlovich vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta - Heavyweight Song Kenan vs. Kiefer Crosbie - Welterweight Rong Zhu vs. Austin Hubbard - Lightweight Marco Tulio vs. Michel Pereira - Middleweight Uran Satybaldiev vs. Diyar Nurgozhay - Light heavyweight Lone'er Kavanagh vs. Charles Johnson - Flyweight Xiao Long vs. You Su-young - Bantamweight Su Mudaerji vs. Kevin Borjas - Flyweight UFC 319 Main Event Preview PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 18: Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his submission victory against Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Zuffa LLC Dricus du Plessis (23-2) joined the UFC in October 2020 as a 26-year-old with a 14-2 record. Before he joined the UFC, Du Plessis had won titles with KSW and EFC. He made his debut against Markus Perez on the main card of a UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi. Du Plessis knocked out Perez in the first round. He followed that win with a July 2021 'Performance of the Night' KO win of Trevin Giles. Those two wins earned him a shot against the ranked veteran Brad Tavares. Du Plessis won that scrap via decision. The victory put him in the top 15 of the division. A December 2022 submission win over Darren Till moved Du Plessis to No. 10 in the division. A TKO win over the No. 5 ranked Derek Brunson followed. Du Plessis, who was working his way up the rankings, faced a tough test in his next outing when he met the No. 2 ranked Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Du Plessis continued his rise, knocking out the former UFC champion in the UFC middleweight title eliminator and earning another 'Performance of the Night' bonus. More important than the bonus was the title shot Du Plessis received for that win. He faced then-champion Sean Strickland in January, taking the title from Strickland in a 'Fight of the Night' bonus-winning scrap In his first title defense Du Plessis picked up an August 2024 submission win over former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. Du Plessis most recently faced Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312 in early February of this year. Du Plessis won that contest via unanimous decision. I wrote of the champ after that fight, "Dricus du Plessis looked much more controlled and less reckless at UFC 312 than in many of his previous battles. He mixed up his striking techniques and targets against Sean Strickland, landed the more powerful blows, and didn't put himself in too many awkward positions. "Du Plessis did a much better job in his UFC 312 rematch against Strickland in shutting down his foe's offense. In the first fight, Strickland landed 173 of 408 significant strikes. While in the rematch, Strickland was held to 128 landed strikes on 263 attempts. Meanwhile, Du Plessis increased his landed strikes and landing percentage from the first fight to the second. In the first battle, Du Plessis landed 137 of 354 attempts for a landing rate of 38 percent. At UFC 312, the champ landed 147 of 314 attempts for a striking rate of 46 percent. 'Du Plessis has defended the UFC middleweight crown twice while going 9-0 in the UFC. Despite his winning ways, the champ remains a bit of an enigma because his style shouldn't work — but it does.' JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - APRIL 09: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia looks on after his welterweight fight against Gilbert Burns of Brazil during the UFC 273 event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on April 09, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by) Getty Images Khamzat Chimaev (14-0) is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings. The 30-year-old made his UFC debut in July 2020 with a second-round submission win over John Phillips. He followed that victory with a first-round TKO over Rhys McKee 10 days later, breaking the UFC record for the quickest turnaround between UFC wins in the modern era. Then, in September, Chimaev knocked out Gerald Meerschaert. Things slowed down for Chimaev after that. He was booked to face Leon Edwards in December 2020, but that matchup never came to be despite multiple attempts to make the fight happen. The reason behind the numerous cancellations of Edwards vs. Chimaev was COVID-19. When Chimaev finally returned to the Octagon in October 2021, he made short work of Li Jingliang, scoring a submission at 3:16 of Round 1. In his next bout, Chimaev went the distance for the first time in his career, picking up a victory over Gilbert Burns. He followed that with a submission over Kevin Holland. A break of more than a year followed that victory. Chimaev's next outing was an October 2023 matchup against Kamaru Usman, a fight that Chimaev won via decision. A year after that, Chimaev made short work of Robert Whittaker, defeating the ex-UFC middleweight champ via submission (face crank) in the first round of their UFC 308 scrap. We will have more on the UFC schedule for August 2025 as each event nears, as well as results on fight night.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, July 28: Reinier de Ridder vaults into top 10
The UFC's latest trip to Abu Dhabi prompted a big move in the middleweight division. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker faced Reinier de Ridder in the main event of UFC on ABC 9 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It was a solid back-and-forth affair in which Whittaker arguably had the bigger moments of the fight. However, after 25 minutes of action, de Ridder edged out a split decision with dueling 48-47 scores. As a result, de Ridder enters the top 10 at middleweight in this week's rankings update, landing at No. 6 while Whittaker falls one spot to No. 7. Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie rankings, July 28: Reinier de Ridder vaults into top 10
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Robert Whittaker 'disappointed but not disheartened' after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Robert Whittaker is already looking ahead after falling short at UFC on ABC 9. Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. He almost finished De Ridder when he dropped him in Round 3, but the former ONE dual-champion hung tough to outlast him. "OK everybody, it's a couple days since the fight, thought I'd give you all an update," Whittaker said on his Instagram. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not disheartened. There were a lot of things I liked about the fight, there were a lot of things I didn't, but I'm going to take it all, head back to the gym, sit with the team, pick it apart and then get back on the horse. That's all you can do. Congratulations to de Ridder. He had a particular game plan, he executed it well, it got him the win. It is what it is sometimes. I'm going to learn from this experience and move forward." Whittaker has his sights set on competing at home in Australia next, something he hasn't done since he lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October 2019. "This isn't the end of Robert Whittaker, this is just another learning curve, another speed bump," Whittaker added. "I'm going to spend some time with my family, going to just rest and recover a little bit and then hopefully get back on an Australian card. It's been a while and honestly, I'm longing for it. It's been a while since I've fought in Australia, and I'd love to fight here again. It's time, but that's me. Thank you very much everybody, tuning out." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Robert Whittaker gives insight on future after UFC Abu Dhabi loss
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker 'disappointed but not disheartened' after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Robert Whittaker is already looking ahead after falling short at UFC on ABC 9. Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. He almost finished De Ridder when he dropped him in Round 3, but the former ONE dual-champion hung tough to outlast him. "OK everybody, it's a couple days since the fight, thought I'd give you all an update," Whittaker said on his Instagram. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not disheartened. There were a lot of things I liked about the fight, there were a lot of things I didn't, but I'm going to take it all, head back to the gym, sit with the team, pick it apart and then get back on the horse. That's all you can do. Congratulations to de Ridder. He had a particular game plan, he executed it well, it got him the win. It is what it is sometimes. I'm going to learn from this experience and move forward." Whittaker has his sights set on competing at home in Australia next, something he hasn't done since he lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October 2019. "This isn't the end of Robert Whittaker, this is just another learning curve, another speed bump," Whittaker added. "I'm going to spend some time with my family, going to just rest and recover a little bit and then hopefully get back on an Australian card. It's been a while and honestly, I'm longing for it. It's been a while since I've fought in Australia, and I'd love to fight here again. It's time, but that's me. Thank you very much everybody, tuning out."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC analyst says Robert Whittaker's title days over after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Din Thomas was impressed with the fighting spirit of Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 9, but can't overlook the negative career impact of the result against Reiner de Ridder. Thomas was on-site Saturday in Abu Dhabi serving as the broadcast analyst when former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) suffered a split decision loss to de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at Etihad Arena. It was a competitive battle with both men getting hurt at moments and fighting hard until the end, and two of three judges had it for the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder. At could've been a deflating moment for Whittaker, who lost consecutive fights for the first time since 2014. Instead, he only said he was "butt hurt" about what happened then left the octagon with no further excuses. And Thomas likes what he saw in that moment. "Even when the result was read and he lost, he still seemed to be in a good place," Thomas told MMA Junkie. "I like this for Robert Whittaker because he's not sour, he didn't seem like he was complaining and he wasn't pointing fingers at anybody. He knew what he was in with that fight and he knew it was a tough fight, he knew it wasn't a dominant performance so neither fighter could complain either way. "I was really impressed with Robert Whittaker his ability to withstand those hard times in the fight and have a lot of positivity left a lot of confidence in his ability to win. ... In the trenches in this fight, Robert Whittaker still seemed to be able to bounce back, and I liked that. I thought it was inspiring." Despite his commendable performance, results are almost always the ultimate dictator in the UFC, and now Whittaker's record shows four losses in his past seven fights, albeit to elite competition. At 34, Whittaker has logged more than four hours of total fight time during his run at 185 pounds. It's a crossroads moment going forward, and with the top of the division being as intruiging as ever, Thomas said it would be a good time for Whittaker to drop down in rankings and fight someone who will truly serve as a barometer. "I think you give him Roman Kopylov," Thomas said. "I think you give him Kopylov before you start feeding him to the guys. Before we say, 'We're done with you and we're going to start feeding you.' Because Kopylov is somewhere in the back of the rankings. You give him Kopylov to say, 'We're giving you No. 15 and if you win that we keep you up here. We'll keep you fighting these guys. But if you lose that, now you've got to fight the up-and-comers.'" Fighting up-and-comers is surely a far cry from what Whittaker wants to do, but Thomas said it's not an easy spot. "The Reaper" needs a victory to keep his head above water with the emerging contenders, but as far as the pre-fight plans he expressed to have a "fairytale end" to his career with UFC gold? Thomas said that seems like a long shot. "No, if I had to bet I wouldn't assume he gets there," Thomas said. "It's interesting though because he said he had a four-fight plan to get back to a title. Now it looks like it's going to take about four fights. With a win over RDR it would've of been less than four fights." To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst: Robert Whittaker's title days over after Abu Dhabi loss
