Tag: UFC 290

Jon Jones was uncomfortable with Israel Adesanya’s racially charged attack on Du Plessis at UFC 290

AdesanyaEven UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones believes Israel Adesanya may have taken things a little too far in his confrontation with top-ranked middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been at odds with Du Plessis ever since the South African suggested that he would be the promotion’ first true African world champion. Obviously, […]

Adesanya

Even UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones believes Israel Adesanya may have taken things a little too far in his confrontation with top-ranked middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis.

‘The Last Stylebender’ has been at odds with Du Plessis ever since the South African suggested that he would be the promotion’ first true African world champion. Obviously, those comments struck a chord with former titleholder Kamaru Usman and reigning champion Israel Adesanya. The pair have shared some back-and-forth comments in the media, but it all came to a head at UFC 290 after Du Plessis scored a shocking second-round knockout against perennial contender Robert Whittaker.

Immediately following the win, Adesanya hopped in the cage and engaged in a racially charged confrontation that saw ‘Stylebender’ repeatedly use the N-word while referring to Du Plessis.

Asked his thoughts on the intense face-off between Adesanya and Du Plessis, Jon Jones admitted to finding the whole thing fairly uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to talk sh*t, because Izzy and I have become friends and whatever,” Jones said during a recent appearance on the Kanpai Pandas podcast. “But I was uncomfortable. As a black man, I was uncomfortable my damn self. That was just weird.”

Israel Adesanya Plans on Fighting Dricus Du Plessis Following His UFC 293 Headliner with Sean Strickland

With Du Plessis establishing himself as the No. 1 contender to the middleweight title, fans were hoping to see him square off with ‘Stylebender’ in the UFC 293 main event this month, but the turnaround was simply too short for ‘Stillknocks’ to accept. Instead, Israel Adesanya will step inside the Octagon with the always outspoken and ever-controversial Sean Strickland.

Win or lose, Adesanya still has every intention of settling some business with Dricus Du Plessis, suggesting that it would be the “biggest fight in sporting history.” We’re guessing he’s never heard of the Thrilla in Manilla or Mayweather vs. Pacquiao for more modern fans. But considering Du Plessis’ meteoric, and honestly shocking rise as a legitimate contender, and the tension already boiling over between these two, fight fans are undoubtedly chomping at the bit to see them share the Octagon sooner rather than later.

Robert Whittaker believes he beat himself at UFC 290: ‘I didn’t do anything I worked on’

Robert WhittakerRobert Whittaker places 100% of the blame for his loss to Dricus Du Plessis squarely on his shoulders. ‘The Reaper’ stepped into UFC 290 earlier this month as a three-to-one favorite against streaking middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis. None of that mattered to ‘Stillknocks,’ who delivered a star-making performance against the former 185-pound king, finishing […]

Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker places 100% of the blame for his loss to Dricus Du Plessis squarely on his shoulders.

‘The Reaper’ stepped into UFC 290 earlier this month as a three-to-one favorite against streaking middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis. None of that mattered to ‘Stillknocks,’ who delivered a star-making performance against the former 185-pound king, finishing Whittaker with a flurry of strikes in the second round to secure himself as the No. 1 ranked contender and next man in line for a shot at reigning champion Israel Adesanya.

Appearing on the MMArcade Podcast, Robert Whittaker suggested that he had beaten himself inside the Octagon that night, neglecting to utilize any of the training he tirelessly put himself through in the months leading up to his middleweight clash with Du Plessis.

“The hardest part about the loss is just that I know I can do better,” Whittaker said. “I beat myself, in a funny sense. It’s not performing… It’s never fear of my opponent or fear of getting beaten up, fear of getting hurt. It’s fear of failing to perform. It’s fear of going out there and not doing what you trained for the last four months, four hours a day in the gym, seven days a week. Then to go in there and do none of it.

“That’s kind of where I’m sitting, what I’m upset about. I put months and months and months of work into the fight, working things with my different coaches… and I went out there and did absolutely none of it,” Whittaker continued. “Not only did I lose, I didn’t do anything I worked on. I’ve only got myself to hold the blame on. And this isn’t taking anything away from Dricus, because Dricus, he trained, he showed up ready to fight, and he fought… I didn’t” (h/t MMA News).

Fortunately, the setback does not appear to have hurt Robert Whittaker’s motivation. In fact, ‘The Reaper’ is already plotting a potential return to the Octagon before the end of the year with hopes of righting the ship and getting himself back into title contention.

Robert Whittaker is 4-2 in his last six bouts but has lost two of his last three. He is still ranked No. 3 in the division, meaning one more big win could still put him in line for another shot at ‘The Last Stylebender.’

Dricus du Plessis denounces racial rant from Israel Adesanya at UFC 290: ‘I don’t want a part of that’

Dricus du Plessis denounces racial rant from Israel Adesanya I don't want that UFCExpected to likely miss out on a planned UFC 293 return against rival, Israel Adesanya in a mooted middleweight title fight, surging South African contender, Dricus du Plessis claims he is not offended by racially-charged language from the former, however, insists there is no part for it in the sport, or in the world. du […]

Dricus du Plessis denounces racial rant from Israel Adesanya I don't want that UFC

Expected to likely miss out on a planned UFC 293 return against rival, Israel Adesanya in a mooted middleweight title fight, surging South African contender, Dricus du Plessis claims he is not offended by racially-charged language from the former, however, insists there is no part for it in the sport, or in the world.

du Plessis, the newly-minted number one ranked middleweight contender, most recently featured on the main card of UFC 290 earlier this month during International Fight Week – earning a stunning second round win over Robert Whittaker, finishing the ex-champion with a second round TKO win.

And met by current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, Adesanya in the Octagon following his spectacular victory, du Plessis exchanged with the City Kickboxing staple in the center during a face-off – with Adesanya using the ‘n-word’ on multiple occasions, in talk which has since been highly-criticized. 

However, according to reports earlier this week, Pretoria native, Dricus du Plessis is likely to miss out on a Sydney showdown with Adesanya for middleweight gold at UFC 293 in September, due to an injury he carried into his fight with Whittaker, with the former now expected to potentially draw the outspoken, Sean Strickland in Australia instead.

Dricus du Plessis distances himself from racial tension with Israel Adesanya

Reflecting on his staredown with Adesanya at the T-Mobile Arena, du Plessis, whom Adesanya labelled a “cracker” in prior months, insisted he was not offended by the former’s racially-charged outburst, and distanced himself from any undertones.

“It does not belong in sports,” Dricus du Plessis said of racial slurs uttered by Israel Adesanya during an interview on the Cameron MSP Saimon YouTube channel.,” It does not belong in the world, in my opinion. I do not want that part of anything that I’m doing. This sport is so amazing, and it’s given so many people so much things, and bringing race, color – racial slurs, all that stuff into it, immediately made me like, ‘I don’t want to be a part of it.’ That’s why I just walked away.”

“I don’t want to engage in that,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “That is not the example I wanna set for people. That is not the message to anybody in the world is. I guess, he (Israel Adesanya) can do whatever he wants. Like Dana (White) said, ‘He can say whatever he wants.’ Yeah, he can. I’m not entertaining that. I’m not entertaining any talk about the racial slurs that he’s been using. And it doesn’t bother me. People are like, ‘Does it offend you? ’It doesn’t offend me, it has no effect one me. What it does do is – people that are looking up to me, see that too. The people that I influence see that too. And I don’t want to be any part of that.” 

Israel Adesanya previews Dricus du Plessis fight: ‘I’ve never been more motivated to kill a man’

Israel Adesanya on Dricus du Plessis I've motivated to kill a man UFC 293Expected to make his Octagon return at UFC 293 in September, current undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has claimed he is “motivated to kill” inside the Octagon, and put a bad beating on expected foe, Dricus du Plessis. Adesanya, a two-time undisputed middleweight champion, most recently featured atop a tuFC 287 card back in April […]

Israel Adesanya on Dricus du Plessis I've motivated to kill a man UFC 293

Expected to make his Octagon return at UFC 293 in September, current undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has claimed he is “motivated to kill” inside the Octagon, and put a bad beating on expected foe, Dricus du Plessis.

Adesanya, a two-time undisputed middleweight champion, most recently featured atop a tuFC 287 card back in April in Miami, Florida – avenged a prior loss to Alex Pereira, defeating the Brazilian with a second round KO to reclaim the middleweight crown.

As for du Plessis, the newly-minted number one ranked middleweight contender earned his title fight with Israel Adesanya before the close of the year at UFC 290 during International Fight Week earlier this month, stopping common-foe and former champion, Robert Whittaker with a second round TKO win.

Expected to challenge Adesanya for undisputed gold at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on September 9. – du Plessis has been picked as a stern challenge for the City Kickboxing striker.

Israel Adesanya insists he’s motivated to “kill” in his return to the Octagon

And motivation for a bout with the South African native is far from lacking for Adesanya, with the latter claiming he is “motivated” to kill in his return to the Octagon before the end of 2023.

“I’ve never been more motivated to kill a man,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel of a fight with Dricus du Plessis. “When I say that, I mean like not to end his life, but to really put a beating on someone. Not emotional anger. Just really want to take time and really put a beating on someone and I’m going to work my way to get that done in all ways, all shapes, all angles, all aspects of the fight.” 

Reflecing on his in-Octagon face-off with du Plessis at the above-mentioned UFC 290 event earlier this month, Adesanya claimed that he “lost my [his] sh*t” in his racially-charged tirade against the promotional-perfect Pretoria native.  

Israel Adesanya defends racially-Charged encounter with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290: ‘I just lost my sh*t’

Israel Adesanya defends racial encounter with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 I lost my sh*tFollowing his racially-charged outburst aimed at incoming foe, Dricus du Plessis following his UFC 290 knockout win over former champion and common-foe, Robert Whittaker, defending middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya has defended his tirade aimed at the South African following criticizm he’s received.  Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, is expected to make his […]

Israel Adesanya defends racial encounter with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 I lost my sh*t

Following his racially-charged outburst aimed at incoming foe, Dricus du Plessis following his UFC 290 knockout win over former champion and common-foe, Robert Whittaker, defending middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya has defended his tirade aimed at the South African following criticizm he’s received. 

Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, is expected to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 293 in September, taking on recent big-winner and current number one ranked middleweight contender, du Plessis in a heated championship grudge match in Sydney, Australia.

Most recently headlining UFC 287 back in April of this year against former champion and arch-rival, Alex Pereira, Adesanya rebounded to the winner’s enclosure with a second round KO win over the Brazilian phenom.

Israel Adesanya reflects on his tirade against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290

And sharing the Octagon with du Plessis during a post-fight segment at UFC 290 during International Fight Week earlier this month, Israel Adesanya, who called the Pretoria native the ‘n-word’ on multiple occasions during their face-off, has reflected on his heated face-to-face with the former.

“He (Dricus du Plessis) worked hard,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “I manifest for myself and I make sure I do the work to get that manifestation right. It’s not just sit there and ‘Kumbaya’. What’s going to happen? I do the work. Trust me. There’s levels… Even at the prep point, I was giving him energy. Like, f*ck yeah – positive affirmations, like ‘Let’s go.’ But yeah, when (the face-off) happened, I just lost my sh*t.” 

Now in the midst of an impressive promotional-perfect six-fight winning run since transitioning to the UFC back in 2020, du Plessis has racked up wins over Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, former title challenger, Darren Till, Derek Brunson, and his aforenoted second round TKO win over former champion, Whittaker. 

Video – Brandon Moreno takes part in ‘Lucha Libre’ wrestling event days after title loss at UFC 290

Brandon MorenoBrandon Moreno is seemingly taking the recent loss well, as evident by his recent performance in a Lucha Libre wrestling event in Tijuana, Mexico. At UFC 290, Moreno was defeated by Alexandre Pantoja via split decision and lost his UFC flyweight title. The fight was extremely close and was a brutal war that was waged […]

Brandon Moreno

Brandon Moreno is seemingly taking the recent loss well, as evident by his recent performance in a Lucha Libre wrestling event in Tijuana, Mexico.

At UFC 290, Moreno was defeated by Alexandre Pantoja via split decision and lost his UFC flyweight title. The fight was extremely close and was a brutal war that was waged within five rounds. Unfortunately for Moreno, the judges thought Pantoja edged him out and he would leave the cage no longer a UFC champion.

For Moreno, this must have been crushing. The path to the title for him was a long and arduous journey. His first title fight ended in an extremely rare draw with Deiveson Figueiredo back in 2020. Next, would come three more fights with Figueiredo and a dangerous battle with Kai Kara France. When everything was done and the dust settled, Brandon Moreno reigned supreme over the flyweight division. Just when it looked like the Mexican superstar was ready to settle in and defend his title for years to come, the Pantoja fight came along and the Brazilian fighter would end up walking away as the champion.

Yet, the future still appears bright for Brandon Moreno. It now even seems that a potential wrestling career could present itself to the fighter after he’s ready to call a quits to his journey in combat sports.

Brandon Moreno gets rowdy at Lucha Libre event in Tijuana

Crashing a Lucha Libre Triplemanía wrestling event in Tijuana, Mexico, Brandon Moreno seemingly had a ton of fun. He attacked one of the wrestlers with a brutal barrage of strikes and even mixed in some submission attempts.

This comes just a week after the brutal fight with Pantoja, where Moreno also suffered a broken hand. While the road to recovery will keep him sidelined for months, it’s nice to see the former champ enjoying himself after a tough loss and such a hard fight.

Do you think Brandon Moreno will wrestle for the WWE after his MMA career is over?