Kai Kara-France recently suggested that Muhammad Mokaev’s grappling-centric approach was a key factor leading to his release from the UFC. Mokaev secured a unanimous decision victory over Manel Kape in their heated grudge match at UFC 304 last month. The intense rivalry between the two flyweight contenders spilled over into an eventful fight week, marked […]
Kai Kara-France recently suggested that Muhammad Mokaev’s grappling-centric approach was a key factor leading to his release from the UFC.
Mokaev secured a unanimous decision victory over Manel Kape in their heated grudge match at UFC 304 last month. The intense rivalry between the two flyweight contenders spilled over into an eventful fight week, marked by several unsightly confrontations and even a brief physical altercation.
Despite earning his seventh consecutive victory in the Octagon, UFC CEO Dana White revealed during the UFC 304 post-fight press conference that “The Punisher” would not be re-signed.
Mokaev acknowledged that his conduct was out of line and issued a public apology to the UFC through a series of posts on X. Despite his remorse and even offering to fight for free, the MMA promotion remained steadfast in their decision, leading to his removal from the official flyweight rankings.
Kara-France Takes Aim at Mokaev After UFC Release: ‘This Is The Hurt Business’
During the UFC 305 media day on Wednesday, Kara-France shared his thoughts on the current landscape of the UFC flyweight division and his upcoming bout against Erceg. The former interim title challenger emphasized that the division is wide open, with a title shot up for grabs for anyone who delivers a strong performance against top-tier opponents.
“It’s a funny time for flyweights, especially as contenders, because it’s wide open—anyone can beat anyone, and anyone can get a title shot,” Kara-France said. “When I told my coach Eugene [Bareman] and my manager Ash [Ashley Belcastro] I want to fight on this Perth card, Steve’s name came across the table, and straight away we knew this was the fight to take. We want to fight the guys that just fought for the belt, and that’s how I took it back to fighting for a world title—take him out in his hometown, and look, whoever’s the champ when it’s time to go, that’s the clear pathway.”
“Don’t Blink” went on to comment on Mokaev’s departure from the UFC, suggesting that it was largely due to his fighting style. He emphasized that in MMA, it’s not just about winning—it’s about putting on a show. Fans and the promotion want to see fighters who are willing to leave it all in the Octagon and truly entertain.
“There’s been a lot of guys that have come through and done really well. Mokaev is a guy that was obviously winning, but this isn’t wrestling, this isn’t grappling, this isn’t doing the bare minimum just to win—this is an entertainment sport, this is the hurt business. If you’re not in there to entertain and lay it all on the line, people want to see that heart, that courage, that willingness to go all in and get the knockout. Or not just the knockout, but go in there and show why you should be co-headlining, not on the prelims. That’s why Steve and I are in this position because that’s what we do—we go out there and fight, not just talk about it and build it up.”
Kara-France is returning to the Octagon after a year-long hiatus following a controversial split-decision loss to Amir Albazi in June 2023. The 31-year-old New Zealander is currently on a two-fight skid, which also includes a TKO defeat at the hands of Brendon Moreno during their interim title clash at UFC 277 in July 2022.
“Don’t Blink” is eager to reverse his fortunes and reclaim his spot in the title conversation with a decisive victory over Erceg this weekend.
On Saturday night, the mixed martial arts leader returned for its latest pay-per-view event, UFC 305. For the first time this year, the UFC was Down Under this week, where Perth’s RAC Arena played host to the promotion’s latest Australian show. And the promotion brought with it across the globe a notable lineup that included a title […]
On Saturday night, the mixed martial arts leader returned for its latest pay-per-view event, UFC 305.
For the first time this year, the UFC was Down Under this week, where Perth’s RAC Arena played host to the promotion’s latest Australian show. And the promotion brought with it across the globe a notable lineup that included a title fight and a host of intriguing undercard scraps.
The championship clash at the top of the billing saw Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s heated feud finally reach the the Octagon, with the South African’s middleweight belt on the line seven months on from his crowning at the expense of Sean Strickland in “The Great White North.”
Elsewhere, former flyweight title challengers Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg looked to stake their claims for a second shot at UFC gold in the co-main event, while Oceanic fan favorites Dan Hooker and Tai Tuivasa also hoped to deliver standout triumphs on the main card.
But did all those names come together to put on an entertaining night of fights? Let’s find out with all the positives and negatives from UFC 305.
Jesus Aguilar has two hobbies (among other things, I’m sure. Perhaps he’s partial to some ballroom dancing. Who knows?) — fighting Australians and locking in guillotine chokes. Combining them must have been like Christmas at UFC 305.
The Mexican entered the cage as an underdog for the first fight of the night in Perth, which many expected to be a coming out party for Australia’s newest hot prospect, the previously undefeated Stewart Nicoll.
But the 29-year-old fell to the same fate as his fellow countryman Shannon Ross did at UFC 290 in July 2023 — being left unconscious in the very first round.
In Las Vegas last year, Ross was absolutely obliterated on the feet by Aguilar in just 17 seconds in one of 2023’s most brutal knockouts. Nicoll’s demise came on the ground when he had his strong start rendered null after getting caught in Aguilar’s favorite submission move. The Mexican was, indeed, not silly. When the opportunity presented itself, he jumped the gilly and put Nicoll out — not that anybody bar Aguilar actually noticed.
That left a scary visual of the Aussie wide-eyed as his sleeping body fell back. On another note, could the referee not have maybe caught his head as it thundered onto the canvas? It feels like we regularly see superhero saves from officials in Muay Thai fights over in Asia, but on this occasion, it looked like the ref practically dodged Nicoll’s head.
Regardless, the finish was incredibly impressive from Aguilar, who now has five guillotines out of his six fight-ending chokes.
Accept a bout with Aguilar at your peril, Australian flyweights!
Negative – What One Burns Can Do, The Other Burns… Well, Can’t
With the watering down of the UFC product, there’s been quite a few instances of fighters entering the cage this year who simply aren’t of a sufficient quality to be competing on the sport’s biggest stage.
Herbert Burns, however, is a veteran of that group.
It’s fascinating to watch back Burns’ knockout of Nate Landwehr in 2020. I try not to buy into ‘fluke’ narratives, but that is a compelling one. Since then, the Brazilian has lost four straight by TKO, two of which have been the same type of retirement.
Against both Bill Algeo in 2022 and Jack Jenkins on Saturday night, “The Blaze” — an apt moniker for someone whose UFC career has gone up in smoke — responded to adversity by attempting to pull guard and collapsing to his back when desperation takedowns failed.
After a while of doing so in both instances, Keith Peterson and Marc Goddard waved the bouts off. With the memory of the Algeo fight growing ever clearer as Burns’ UFC 305 bout played out, I remarked to colleagues, “He’ll do it (fall to his back) enough times until Goddard stops it.” Like clockwork.
You know it’s bad when your brother’s own podcast is flaming you on social media, before hastily deleting…
Of course, credit has to go to Jenkins for his performance on home soil. Regardless of the opposition level, “Phar” looked on it in the striking realm. But his crisp boxing wasn’t enough to override the negative that is Burns’ latest disastrous display inside the Octagon.
Negative – A Mess
Well, the UFC 305 featured prelim when swimmingly, didn’t it?
The fight’s conclusion came after the Brazilian clutched onto his Aussie counterpart’s leg and locked in a heel hook. Things suddenly came to an end, with replays showing that Tafa had yelled out in pain. That stoppage ended up being controversial, not because it was wrong, but because the sport’s leading promotion employs commentators who don’t know the ruleset of what they’re tasked with describing to a global audience.
It’s remarkable to say, but we had two legendary former champions, Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz, questioning the third man inside the cage. The latter — who never shies away from using his agenda against Keith Peterson to slam referees — even went as far as to group the moment with instances of fighters having their chance to compete cruelly taken away.
Guys…Read. The. Rules.
Verbal tap out: When a contestant verbally announces to the referee that he or she does not wish to continue or makes audible sounds such as screams indicating pain or discomfort.
The fact we had to sit through five minutes of doubting the referee’s decision before texts from those better informed arrived to save the day is yet further evidence as to why Laura Sanko needs to be a permanent fixture on the commentary desk.
#UFC305 Official Result: Valter Walker defeats Junior Tafa by Technical Submission at 4:56 in Round 1.
An unhappy Tafa responded by butting heads with Walker before slapping him. The UFC has been pretty inconsistent when it comes with dealing with similar instances — Khabib Nurmagomedov continued his title reign post-instigating the UFC 229 brawl, while Paul Daley was cut and forever ousted from the promotion for his sucker punch against Josh Koscheck at UFC 113.
What happens next in the career of Tafa remains to be seen, but a release shouldn’t be out of the question.
Positive – Nightmare? I’ll Say
The welterweight division always seems to have one major prospect establishing himself as one to watch, with recent years seeing Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry following successful arrivals with climbs into title contention.
All signs point toward Carlos Prates joining them soon enough.
There aren’t enough superlatives to do justice to the Brazilian’s performance. He became the first man to knock out Li Jingliang, but his display was by no means defined by a sudden fight-ending sequence. Prates frankly beat “The Leech” up for the best part of nine minutes.
That’s evidently what it was going to take to get the returning Chinese fighter out of there — soften up what’s long been an iron chin with knockdown after knockdown, before uncorking one of the most clubbing hooks in recent memory to finish the job.
Add Prates to the list of, “Oh, he’s on the card? Hell yeah,” fighters in the UFC.
Considering I’m often leaping to the defense of judges, who frequently come under fire from individuals with no concept of how mixed martial arts fights are scored, it feels good to be able to grab a pitchfork this time around.
“Bigi Boy” was clinical with his performance, piecing Tuivasa up while avoiding virtually all of the home favorite’s power shots. Judge Howie Booth, however, must have gotten the red and blue corners confused because it’s hard to see any other explanation for his work at UFC 305.
Thankfully, he was relieved from his duties for the rest of the night (not that it mattered anyway given how the co-main event finished…more on that soon). But, to be honest, that scorecard is so bad that Howie probably shouldn’t be with scorecard in hand ever again.
Even hours later, I’m still trying to recall a scorecard that even comes close. Chris Lee’s 48-47 in favor of Paul Felder over Rafael dos Anjos, perhaps?
It’s 2024 and Dan Hooker is in the lightweight top five (or at least should be come next week’s update). Redemption arcs don’t come much better than that.
Hooker entered the cage at UFC 305 with an almighty task ahead of him, getting his wish to feature on the card granted in the form of a showdown with the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot. Be it odds, fans, or analysts, basically every metric had “The Hangman” falling short to the smothering grappling of “Gamer.”
Round one saw both men exchange knockdowns, before the second frame was more a tail of the Polish fighter’s control versus Hooker’s strikes while defending Gamrot’s wrestling. And the concluding stanza was just a war that can be summed up by two-and-a-half minutes of striking success each.
Judge that.
Two cageside scorers ultimately leant the way of “The Hangman,” and with that he’s rendered the 1-4 run he entered UFC 281 in 2022 riding a distance memory. And with three straight wins and a triumph over a name like Gamrot, he is well and truly back in the mix.
If Dustin Poirier is looking for one last hurrah…rematch, anyone?
He wants it ALL! @DanTheHangman is talkin' his talk after beating Mateusz Gamrot at #UFC305!
Speaking of underdogs who made a mockery of their betting lines…
Steve Erceg was perhaps one or two ill-advised takedowns away from a shock title win in Brazil this past May. And his efforts left many heavily favoring him to bounce back at the expense of the returning Kai Kara-France at UFC 305.
But in the words of the New Zealander’s teammate Israel Adesanya, “Y’all must have forgot.”
With Kai Asakura’s signing and Kara-France’s emphatic performance on Saturday night, Alexandre Pantoja isn’t short on possible challenges. And with that, the flyweight division remains among the most exciting, and one in which you absolutely should not blink.
it always seemed unlikely that the UFC 305 main event would disappoint. It was just always going to deliver, wasn’t it? But even so, what we got in Perth was special.
Add in a bit of a feud, the story of Adesanya’s return, and Du Plessis’ continued habit of proving his sizable group of doubters wrong, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a Fight of the Year contender.
Through three rounds, I had the champ leading 29-28, but that was by no means a clear and easy score. As has been the case with the South African in the past, the tale was his power shorts versus his opponents’ volume. In the end, after that had already put him up on the scorecards, “Stillknocks” connected hard in a fourth frame that had been all Adesanya, eventually putting him down and locking in a rear-naked choke.
The positives here are all around, from the entertaining nature of the fight to the pair’s respectful exchange in the Octagon in the aftermath to Adesanya’s humble approach to another setback.
Du Plessis, of course, deserves the main plaudits. He is beginning to amass a largely unrivaled résumé in the UFC, with his 8-0 record including a knockout of Robert Whittaker and the feat of being the first to submit another all-time great in “The Last Stylebender.”
Dan Hooker recently shared an amusing story about how he struck up an unlikely friendship with a fan, despite their first encounter involving him tossing a drink at them. Earlier this month, “The Hangman” attended a rugby match at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, accompanied by his City Kickboxing teammate Kai Kara-France, to cheer on […]
Dan Hooker recently shared an amusing story about how he struck up an unlikely friendship with a fan, despite their first encounter involving him tossing a drink at them.
Earlier this month, “The Hangman” attended a rugby match at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, accompanied by his City Kickboxing teammate Kai Kara-France, to cheer on their prized New Zealand Warriors as they faced off against the Parramatta Eels.
As the match progressed, the Parramatta Eels started to gain the upper hand, which was already enough to frustrate Hooker. But to make matters worse, a fan began taunting, pushing him past his breaking point.
In a viral video making the rounds on social media, the UFC lightweight fighter is seen dashing through the stands before launching a drink at the fan, hitting him squarely. The fan seemed intent on continuing his taunts at Hooker, who responded by playfully pretending to hurl his shoe in retaliation.
Video emerges on TikTok of Dan Hooker throwing drinks at fans at a sporting event recently
Thankfully, what started as a tense moment turned out to be lighthearted banter, as “The Hangman” and the fan have since patched things up and are now on friendly terms…
Hooker & Fan Plan To Catch The Next Game Together
During the UFC 305 media day on Wednesday, Hooker gave a full account of his encounter with the fan at the recent Warriors vs. Parramatta Eels game.
“So Kai invited me to watch our home team, The Warriors, and as you know, I’m a very passionate Warriors supporter,” Hooker said. “And there was another cob from the other team, the Parramatta Eels, and he was standing up there, rubbing it in. The boys were getting pumped; I think we were 20 points down at halftime, and every time they scored, he was kind of rubbing it in. So I said, ‘I’m going to start getting into this bloke,’ so we were absolutely spraying each other. It was like the most fun I’ve had at the game in a long time. And then, every time they scored, he was getting up, and he was looking at me and going, ‘Hey, you like that, Hangman?
The 34-year-old New Zealander revealed that after their playful exchange, he made amends with the fan through social media and even promised to join him for the next game at the stadium.
Usually, if you have seen me before, I throw my shoes at people, but I had my Timberlands boots on, and I don’t throw my Timberlands, so I fired a drink at them. But he messaged me after, and he’s like, ‘I wanted to grab a picture with you, where’d you go?’ And I said, ‘Oh, Kai made me leave, so I had to go home.’ But no, I messaged him. I follow him on Instagram now. I said we’ll go to the next game together, and we can just spray each other sitting next to each other.”
Hooker is currently fueled by the surge of a two-fight win streak, with his most recent triumph being a hard-fought split-decision victory over Jalin Turner at UFC 290 in July 2023. He was initially slated to make his comeback against Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night Austin last December, but an unfortunate setback forced him to withdraw after re-injuring his arm.
The top stars set to be in action at UFC 305 this weekend took to the stage on Thursday for the open workouts in Perth. Mixed martial arts’ leading promotion is Down Under for the first time this year, returning to Perth, Australia, 18 months on from the Alexander Volkanovski-headlined UFC 284 event in February […]
While that occasion saw the lightweight gold on the line, championship stakes on August 17 will come at middleweight, with reigning kingpin Dricus Du Plessis putting his belt on the line for the first time against Oceania’s own Israel Adesanya.
Elsewhere on the main card, fan favorite Dan Hooker gets the chance to climb into the top five at 155 pounds by stalling the title ambitions of Mateusz Gamrot, hard-hitting Aussie Tai Tuivasa throws down with Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and “The Leech” Li Jingliang makes his comeback opposite the fast-charging Carlos Prates.
The event will be available exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view on Saturday, August 17, 2024. The main card begins at 10 PM ET, while the preliminary card kicks off at 6 PM ET.
Ahead of it, a number of UFC 305 fighters appeared for the open workouts at the Crown Nightclub in Perth Works on Thursday. You can check out a selection of highlights from the various workouts below:
When the UFC was announced to be returning to Australia on August 17, two top flyweights were sure to be in action at UFC 305. The #4-ranked Kai Kara-France has had the opportunity to fight close to home several times during his UFC career but not since February of 2020. #7-ranked Steve Erceg, on the […]
When the UFC was announced to be returning to Australia on August 17, two top flyweights were sure to be in action at UFC 305.
The #4-ranked Kai Kara-France has had the opportunity to fight close to home several times during his UFC career but not since February of 2020.
#7-ranked Steve Erceg, on the other hand, has travelled with the Octagon to Canada, the United States and Brazil but this will be his first time fighting under the UFC banner with home fans backing him.
Unfortunately for those fans, there may be a bit of a divide caused by this Australia versus New Zealand clash that Erceg would have rather skipped over if that had been an option.
Steve Erceg Says His Respect For Kai Kara-France Makes Fighting Someone Else More Desirable
In a recent interview on Just Scrap Radio for BJPenn.com, Erceg revealed how this match-up wasn’t desirable for him at first.
There was no way he was going to miss out on the opportunity to fight in his hometown of Perth and given that his last fight was for the title, it was always going to be a highly-ranked opponent.
With both he and Kara-France pushing for this card, pairing them together makes a lot of sense. But the two men have been aware of one another for a long time during their climbs up the regional scenes.
Erceg spoke about how his opponent has always been someone he admired so fighting another name at the top of the rankings would have been his chosen route.
“I mean I’m excited I’m getting to fight a good guy. I would have preferred it to be someone not from this region just cuz yeah, somebody I’ve looked up to for a while. I was an amateur when he was a pro in like the top of the Australian-New Zealand MMA scene so I wanted to avoid him if I could but he got offered and I’m not going to turn people down. He’s in the same boat that I am, we’re both looking for the same thing so if it has to be, it will be and we’ll find out who the better guy is.”
UFC 305 takes place tomorrow night, and MMA News is here to bring you the official weigh-in results! For the first time in 2024, the Octagon is Down Under, with the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, playing host to the promotion’s latest pay-per-view event. And the mixed martial arts leader has brought a lineup worthy of […]
The championship clash at the top of the card will see Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s heated feud finally reach the steel surroundings of the Octagon, with the South African’s middleweight title on the line.
UFC 305 takes place Saturday, August 17 (August 18 local time) at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The main card begins at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT, with the preliminary card starting at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT.
See above for a replay of the UFC 305 Weigh-In Show, and check out the full results below!
Main Card:
Middleweight Championship Main Event: Dricus Du Plessis (185lbs) vs. Israel Adesanya (184lbs)
Flyweight Co-Main Event: Kai Kara-France (125lbs) vs. Steve Erceg (125.5lbs)
Lightweight: Mateusz Gamrot (156lbs) vs. Dan Hooker (155.5lbs)
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa (265lbs) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (259lbs)
Welterweight: Li Jingliang (171lbs) vs. Carlos Prates (170lbs)
Preliminary Card:
Heavyweight: Junior Tafa (244lbs) vs. Valter Walker (252lbs)
Featherweight: Joshua Culibao (146lbs) vs. Ricardo Ramos (145.5lbs)
Women’s Flyweight: Casey O’Neill (125.5lbs) vs. Luana Santos (126lbs)
Featherweight: Jack Jenkins (145.5lbs) vs. Herbert Burns (146lbs)
Early Preliminary Card:
Lightweight: Tom Nolan (155.5lbs) vs. Alex Reyes (156lbs)
Welterweight: Song Kenan (171lbs) vs. Ricky Glenn (171lbs)
Flyweight: Stewart Nicoll (126lbs) vs. Jesus Aguilar (127.5lbs)*
*Jesus Aguilar missed the flyweight limit by 1.5 pounds, fight status TBC
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