Latest news with #middleweight
Forbes
2 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Announces UFC 319 Main Card Without A Co-Main Event
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 25: UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis greets ... More supporters as he arrives at O.R. Tambo International Airport on January 25, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/) With UFC 318 behind us, it's time to look forward to the next UFC pay-per-view fight card, UFC 319. The main event of that card has been official for some time. In that contest, UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis looks to defend his 185-pound crown against Khamzat Chimaev. On Saturday, during the UFC 318 broadcast, the promotion officially announced the rest of the UFC 319 main card, with one glaring exception: the UFC 319 co-main event remains unbooked. UFC 319 takes place on August 16 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The UFC has not held a fight card in Chicago since 2019. The UFC 319 main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN, and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass. UFC 319 Pay-Per-View Card Officially Announced Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev - For Du Plessis's UFC middleweight title TBD vs. TBD Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates - Welterweight Jared Cannonier vs. Michael Page - Middleweight Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura - Flyweight Other Official UFC 319 Fights 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 Karine Silva vs. JJ Aldrich - Women's Flyweight UFC 319 Main Event: Dricus du Plessis Vs. Khamzat Chimaev PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 18: Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his submission victory ... More 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) 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.' ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 26: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia prepares to face Robert ... More 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) 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. UFC 319 Fight Card Location: United Center in Chicago, IL UFC 319 Date: Saturday, August 16 UFC 319 Time: Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET Preliminary Card: 8:00 p.m. ET Early Prelims: 6:00 p.m. ET We will have more on UFC 319, including the official announcement of the UFC 319 co-main event, as fight night nears.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC 318: Paulo Costa dominates Roman Kopylov for much-needed win, calls out Khamzat Chimaev as promised
Paulo Costa promised a different sort of fighter after a cold streak and a year-long layoff from fighting. He delivered at UFC 318. The former middleweight challenger notched his first win in nearly three and his second in nearly six years with a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) win over the rising Roman Kopylov. An underdog entering the fight, Costa looked like the fighter that began his career 13-0, knocking down Kopylov in the first round and dominating for much of the fight. Kopylov got some major shots in the third round, but not nearly enough to reverse possession of the night. The best that could be said for Costa is that all his losses were against some of the UFC's best. Israel Adesanya used one of his best performances to hand him his first loss. Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker both won via unanimous decision. Sean Strickland needed a split decision to beat him in a bizarrely inactive bout. It was after that last bout at UFC 302 in June 2024, that Costa took a long lay-off. He promised to be aggressive again against Kopylov, whose own fight style promised a firework show if Costa followed through. He did, and the result was one of the most impressive performances of the Brazilian's career. We already have a clue on where Costa goes from here. Like his promise to be the aggressor, Costa promised he would call out future middleweight challenger Khamzat Chimaev after a previous fight date fell through. The two have been the opposite of friends for quite some time, though Costa might need more than just this win to get Chimaev if the latter beats Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in August. For full coverage of UFC 318, including live results, play-by-play and highlights of the entire Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway 3 pay-per-view card, check out Uncrowned's UFC 318 hub.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC 318: Roman Kopylov media day interview
UFC 318 fighter Roman Kopylov spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his co-main event middleweight bout vs. Paulo Costa on Saturday in New Orleans.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC 318: Paulo Costa media day interview
UFC 318 fighter Paulo Costa spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his co-main event middleweight bout vs. Roman Kopylov.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Conor Benn blames rival Chris Eubank Jr for proposed rematch ‘falling apart'
Conor Benn has laid the blame for his proposed rematch against Chris Eubank Jr 'falling apart' at his bitter rival's door. The British pair engaged in a ferocious battle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April, with Eubank Jr prevailing by a close but clear unanimous decision to hand Benn his first defeat as a professional. Much of the focus centred on Eubank Jr's cut to the 160lb middleweight limit and subsequent rehydration clause, and the 35-year-old was hospitalised for two days after the fight owing to severe dehydration. A return bout had been in the offing for September 20 but it now appears on the verge of collapse, with Saudi kingpin Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season reportedly withdrawing from the negotiations. Benn said in a statement to Ring Magazine: 'This rematch falling apart had nothing to do with me. I was ready to go on the scheduled Sept 20 date. I'm not sure what happened to Chris Eubank.' The first fight rekindled memories of their fathers' fierce dust-ups, with Chris Eubank Sr defeating Nigel Benn in November 1990 before a hard-fought draw three years later. Eubank Sr was an outspoken critic of their children renewing the rivalry 32 years on, with Eubank Jr campaigning at middleweight or super-middleweight during his career and Benn primarily a welterweight. Eubank Jr incurred a £375,000 fine after missing the middleweight limit by half an ounce but came in under the stipulated rehydration weight of 170lbs on the day of the fight. The rematch was expected to be on the same weight terms but Benn's promoter Eddie Hearn cast doubt on Eubank Jr fighting again. Hearn told IFL TV: 'We've said to Eubank that is the date. And if you don't take the fight on that date, the fight doesn't work. 'There are no stadiums available. Commercially you guys are on a fortune. So if Eubank is not prepared to take the fight on September 20, I don't think there will be a fight. 'That's not my decision, that's a decision of (Alalshikh). Eubank probably can't be bothered to go back into camp. I'm not sure if he'll ever fight again. I've just got the feeling he doesn't want it.'
