Tag: UFC 297

Video – Ex-Champion Frankie Edgar shares emotional reaction to Hall of Fame induction at UFC 297: ‘I had no clue’

Frankie Edgar shares emotional reaction to Hall of Fame induction at UFC 297 I had no clueFormer undisputed lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar claims he had “no clue” of is impending induction into the ‘Fighter Wing’…

Frankie Edgar shares emotional reaction to Hall of Fame induction at UFC 297 I had no clue

Former undisputed lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar claims he had “no clue” of is impending induction into the ‘Fighter Wing’ of the Hall of Fame last night ahead of an announcement during the UFC 297 broadcast, with the Toms River native sharing an emotional initial reaction.

Edgar, a former undisputed lightweight titleholder and multiple-time title challenger at the featherweight limit, attended last night’s flagship UFC 297 event in Toronto, watching on at a championship doubleheader.

Frankie Edgar receives HOF induction at UFC 297

And during the broadcast of the event’s main card, New Jersey veteran, Edgar, who called time on his professional career back in 2022 at Madison Square Garden, received notification of his impending induction into the organization’s Hall of Fame at a ceremonial event in Las Vegas, Nevada this summer.

Wiping tears away during the broadcast as the camera panned over to the Mark Henry-trained fighter, Frankie Edgar claimed he had “no clue” of his impending induction – with a host of fighters from the likes of former interim champion, Dustin Poirier, and featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski toasting the East Coast star upon the news of his landing.

Calling time on his storied and gold laden career back in 2022, Edgar, competing at the bantamweight limit, suffered a brutal first round flying-knee KO loss to recent headliner, Chris Gutierrez. 

Winning undisputed lightweight championship gold back in 2010, Edgar turned in a unanimous decision win over former two-weight titleholder, B.J. Penn – before successfully defending the title in an immediate rematch win over the Hawaiian. 

Turning in a memorable trilogy affair with multiple-time title chaser, Gray Maynard in that title run, Edgar would turned retain the title in both bouts, before then dropping the crown in a decision blemish to Benson Henderson.

During his memorable tenure with the UFC, Edgar has turned in notable victories over the likes of Jim Miller, Spencer Fisher, Sean Sherk, Charles Oliveira, Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Yair Rodríguez, and Cub Swanson to name a few.

Are you happy to see Frankie Edgar make his way to the UFC Hall of Fame?

Raquel Pennington eyes Julianna Peña grudge clash after UFC 297 title victory: ‘That’s the fight that makes sense’

Raquel Pennington eyes title fight with Julianna Peña after UFC 297 that makes the most senseNewly-crowned undisputed bantamweight titleholder, Raquel Pennington is already making plans for her first attempted defense of 135 pound following…

Raquel Pennington eyes title fight with Julianna Peña after UFC 297 that makes the most sense

Newly-crowned undisputed bantamweight titleholder, Raquel Pennington is already making plans for her first attempted defense of 135 pound following her crowning at UFC 297 overnight, welcoming a long-standing grudge match with ex-gold holder, Julianna Peña first and foremost.

Pennington, a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter, co-headlined UFC 297 overnight against surging Brazilian submission artist, Mayra Bueno Silva – snapping the latter’s four-fight unbeaten run with a one-sided unanimous decision shutout win in the pair’s vacant title battle.

Raquel Pennington eyes Julianna Peña title defense

Crowning herself as the new queen of the bantamweights at the second time of trying following a prior fifth round TKO loss to former two-weight champion and common-foe, Amanda Nunes, Pennington welcomed the idea of a fight with Peña in the future – who herself as been vocal in the days ahead of UFC 297.

“That’s the fight that makes sense,” Raquel Pennington said of a bout with Julianna Peña whilst speaking with assembled media after UFC 297. “ I honestly thought that for the world title it was going to be me and Julianna, but she’s still injured.”

“That relationship just goes back to 2013 when we were both back in The Ultimate Fighter,” Raquel Pennington explained. “Let’s just say, I learned Julianna’s personality then, and it’s kind of one of those where you stay your way, and I’ll stay mine, but you get under my damn skin, I’ve been waiting for that fight for 13 years – whether the title is on the line or not.” 

Ahead of UFC 297 in Toronto, former champion, Peña, the first female Ultimate Fighter victor in the history of the promotion, boldly claimed that both Pennington and the above-mentioned, Bueno Silva were merely fighting for an interim title, before meeting her for the undisputed crown. 

Who wins in a future championship clash: Raquel Pennington or Julianna Peña?

Israel Adesanya accepts call out from Dricus du Plessis after UFC 297 title win: ‘Our paths are destined to cross again’

Israel Adesanya accepts call out from Dricus du Plessia after UFC 297 our paths are destined to crossFormer two-time middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya appears to be all ears toward last night’s call out from rival and…

Israel Adesanya accepts call out from Dricus du Plessia after UFC 297 our paths are destined to cross

Former two-time middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya appears to be all ears toward last night’s call out from rival and newly-crowned divisional champion, Dricus du Plessis following UFC 297 – claiming the duo’s paths are “destined” to cross once more.

Adesanya, a former two-time undisputed middleweight titleholder, has been sidelined since he took main event honors at UFC 293 back in September, suffering his second championship loss in the space of a year, in the form of an upset decision loss to Sean Strickland in Australia.

And failing to appear at UFC 297 last night in Toronto, Adesanya was initially expected to feature at Octagon-side ahead of the main event bout, between Strickland and South African force, du Plessis.

Turning in a close, split judging win over Strickland, Pretoria native, du Plessis landed his first title victory since his move to the Octagon four years prior, retaining his promotional-perfect run to boot in a hard-fought five round clash with the champion.

And immediately switching focus to his first title defense in the immediate aftermath of his UFC 297 win, du Plessis urged City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya to make a hasty return to the Octagon – amid links to a quickfire turnaround on a monumental UFC 300 card in April.

Israel Adesanya welcomes Dricus du Plessis fight

Welcoming the opportunity to settle the score with du Plessis in a bid to become a three-time middleweight gold holder, Nigerian-Kiwi striker, Adesanya responded on social media.

“IS~RA~EL ADESANYA,” Israel Adesanya posted on his official X account. “This arc in my story was written long ago. Our paths are destined to cross again. Stay tuned for the next episode, thanks for watching. We Write History.” 

Sharing the Octagon in a tense face-off back in July of last year following UFC 290 during International Fight Week, Adesanya’s planned September fight with du Plessis was scuppered after the latter was unable to recover from a lingering injury suffered pre-fight. 

Who wins in a future championship fight: Dricus du Plessis or Israel Adesanya?

Dana White Accuses Journalist of Baiting Sean Strickland with LGBTQ Question: ‘People Can Say Whatever They Want’

Dana WhiteUFC CEO Dana White fully supports his fighters’ rights to free speech. In recent years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship…

Dana White

UFC CEO Dana White fully supports his fighters’ rights to free speech.

In recent years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has seen a significant uptick in athletes taking things to unnecessarily personal levels to sell a fight. It’s not a new concept as fighters such as Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor have made quite the career for themselves by engaging in a series of over-the-top confrontations with their opponents.

However, former middleweight world champion Sean Strickland has seemingly taken things to an entirely new level with his often-hilarious, yet sometimes vile commentaries on certain subjects. In particular, his stance on the LGBTQ+ community and transgender individuals. Ahead of his UFC 297 title tilt with Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland was asked about his past comments disparaging the gay community by a Canadian journalist during a pre-fight media scrum.

As expected, Strickland went into total meltdown mode, lambasting the journalist in another homophobic rant that understandably rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

Speaking with members of the press following Saturday’s UFC 297 card at Scotiabank Arena, Dana White was asked about the freedom he gives his athletes to say whatever they want and whether or not he has ever considered asking fighters like Strickland to “tone it down.”

In his response, White specifically accused the Canadian journalist of baiting Sean Strickland.

“I don’t try to tell anybody to do anything,” White said. “I don’t try to control any other human being in any way, shape, or form. I say it all the time. We’re in the fight business. If you get your feelings hurt that bad, you probably should ask the type of questions where you know the answer you’re going to get from Strickland. Let’s start there. If you ask him… You know who he is, and if you ask him a certain question… He was baited in that question.

“I don’t give anybody a leash, a leash. Free speech, White continued. “control what people say and tell people what to believe. I don’t f*cking tell any other human being what to say, what to think, and no leashes aren’t any of them. That’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash. Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want; they can believe whatever they want.” 

Strickland came up short in his first middleweight title defense, dropping a closely contested split decision to Dricus Du Plessis. White revealed during the post-fight press conference that the promotion is not considering an immediate rematch between the two.

Dana White Accuses Journalist of Baiting Sean Strickland with LGBTQ Question: ‘People Can Say Whatever They Want’

Dana WhiteUFC CEO Dana White fully supports his fighters’ rights to free speech. In recent years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship…

Dana White

UFC CEO Dana White fully supports his fighters’ rights to free speech.

In recent years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has seen a significant uptick in athletes taking things to unnecessarily personal levels to sell a fight. It’s not a new concept as fighters such as Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor have made quite the career for themselves by engaging in a series of over-the-top confrontations with their opponents.

However, former middleweight world champion Sean Strickland has seemingly taken things to an entirely new level with his often-hilarious, yet sometimes vile commentaries on certain subjects. In particular, his stance on the LGBTQ+ community and transgender individuals. Ahead of his UFC 297 title tilt with Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland was asked about his past comments disparaging the gay community by a Canadian journalist during a pre-fight media scrum.

As expected, Strickland went into total meltdown mode, lambasting the journalist in another homophobic rant that understandably rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

Speaking with members of the press following Saturday’s UFC 297 card at Scotiabank Arena, Dana White was asked about the freedom he gives his athletes to say whatever they want and whether or not he has ever considered asking fighters like Strickland to “tone it down.”

In his response, White specifically accused the Canadian journalist of baiting Sean Strickland.

“I don’t try to tell anybody to do anything,” White said. “I don’t try to control any other human being in any way, shape, or form. I say it all the time. We’re in the fight business. If you get your feelings hurt that bad, you probably should ask the type of questions where you know the answer you’re going to get from Strickland. Let’s start there. If you ask him… You know who he is, and if you ask him a certain question… He was baited in that question.

“I don’t give anybody a leash, a leash. Free speech, White continued. “control what people say and tell people what to believe. I don’t f*cking tell any other human being what to say, what to think, and no leashes aren’t any of them. That’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash. Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want; they can believe whatever they want.” 

Strickland came up short in his first middleweight title defense, dropping a closely contested split decision to Dricus Du Plessis. White revealed during the post-fight press conference that the promotion is not considering an immediate rematch between the two.

Nate Diaz Throws Shade at Dricus Du Plessis’ Title-Winning Performance Against Sean Strickland at UFC 297

Nate DiazNate Diaz was not impressed with the show that Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis delivered in their UFC…

Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz was not impressed with the show that Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis delivered in their UFC 297 headliner.

Emanating from the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, Strickland put his middleweight world title on the line for the first time since claiming it with a brilliant performance against Israel Adesanya in September. This time around he was tasked with taking out a South African finisher who has yet to suffer defeat inside the Octagon.

Through five rounds of entertaining action, both fighters lit each other up with strikes and drew blood, but it was Du Plessis who seemed to have the upper hand, mixing up his strikes with a fair amount of grappling that stifled Strickland’s offense at times. Strickland poured it on in the fifth, presumably knowing he may be down on the scorecards, but in the end, it wasn’t enough, and ‘DDP’ was announced as the winner via split decision.

Though most fans were entertained by the evening’s headliner, particularly after the event’s lackluster co-main event, there was one former UFC star who was far from amused.

TUF alumnus Nate Diaz posted a single emoji on social media, summing up his take on Saturday’s title tilt.

Fans React to Nate Diaz’s Assessment of the UFC 297 Headliner

Fight fans on X did not appear to agree with Nate Diaz’s assessment of Strickland vs. Du Plessis, with many of them throwing shade at the aging journeyman.

“Nah cmon that was a great fight”

“way more entertaining than ur last 5 fights bum”

“Get in there one more time”

“We have watched many of your fights and you have had quite a few like this”

“C’mon Nate, that was a good fight”

“Must of been watching your boxing performance against Paul again.”

“Better than you v leon”

“you were never champ journeyman”

“You are just hating bro! Go smoke marijuana and get some sleep brother.”

“you’re washed bro”

After 15 years of competing for the UFC, Nate Diaz walked away from the promotion to pursue some opportunities outside of the Octagon. Less than a year into free agency, the ‘Stockton Samurai’ signed on the dotted line for a boxing match with Jake Paul. Diaz lost the bout via unanimous decision.

He hasn’t booked a return to the ring or the cage as of yet, but recent rumors suggest that Diaz is gearing up for a boxing match with former UFC title challenger Jorge Masvidal under the Gamebred Boxing Banner.