Tag: UFC 305

Chael Sonnen ‘Surprised’ By Dan Hooker’s Top 5 Ranking After UFC 305 Win: ‘That Should Not Have Happened’

Apparently beating a top five contender doesn’t warrant a place inside the top five… That’s according to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, who has been reflecting on the events that unfolded at this past weekend’s pay-per-view event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Among the biggest winners to emerge from UFC 305 was […]

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen ‘Surprised’ By Dan Hooker’s Top 5 Ranking After UFC 305 Win: ‘That Should Not Have Happened’ at MMA News.

Apparently beating a top five contender doesn’t warrant a place inside the top five…

That’s according to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, who has been reflecting on the events that unfolded at this past weekend’s pay-per-view event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Among the biggest winners to emerge from UFC 305 was Dan Hooker, a lightweight fan favorite who enjoyed a difficult fall from grace during the pandemic. In more recent years, however, “The Hangman” has returned to winning ways in style.

And after defending his place in the rankings opposite Claudio Puelles in late 2022 before making a statement in victory over the highly regarded Jalin Turner in 2023, Hooker’s first outing of this year saw him leap back into the title conversation.

The New Zealander came out on the right side of a split decision verdict opposite the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot. And this week he was rewarded with a rise into the top five, where his defeated opponent previously sat.

While that didn’t come as a surprise to many, Sonnen was shocked. And he sees it as a mistake on the part of the rankings panel…

Sonnen Questions Hooker’s High Place In UFC Lightweight Top 15

During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen reflected on Hooker’s triumph Down Under this past weekend and commented on talk of him sharing the cage with Charles Oliveira next.

At one point, “The American Gangster” noted “The Hangman’s” recent surge up the pecking order at 155 pounds, expressing surprise and disagreement with Hooker being granted a place inside the top five.

“I owe an apology. … It was stated from Conner Burks, ‘Tatted Dan Hooker is undefeated and about to be ranked in the top five.’ I wrote back and said, ‘Well, you’re half right.’ … I have to apologize to Conner,” Sonnen said. “Hooker got ranked in the top five. That should not have happened.

“I’m surprised that that happened. We don’t know who that rankings committee is, but I think we can comfortably understand that Conner is one of them, they spoke, and that’s how they did it,” Sonnen jokingly added.

Regardless, Hooker is indeed now a top five contender on MMA’s biggest stage, and he’ll look to ride that momentum all the way into a first title shot down the line.

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen ‘Surprised’ By Dan Hooker’s Top 5 Ranking After UFC 305 Win: ‘That Should Not Have Happened’ at MMA News.

Paddy Pimblett Reacts To Dan Hooker’s Upset Win Over Mateusz Gamrot At UFC 305: ‘Could Be A Nice Fight For Me…’

One of the clear highlights of the UFC 305 pay-per-view this past weekend was the lightweight contest between Mateusz Gamrot and Dan Hooker. Given Gamrot’s position in the division and recent wins, many expected him to get this victory to take one more step closer to a title shot. However, “The Hangman” had other plans. […]

Continue Reading Paddy Pimblett Reacts To Dan Hooker’s Upset Win Over Mateusz Gamrot At UFC 305: ‘Could Be A Nice Fight For Me…’ at MMA News.

One of the clear highlights of the UFC 305 pay-per-view this past weekend was the lightweight contest between Mateusz Gamrot and Dan Hooker.

Given Gamrot’s position in the division and recent wins, many expected him to get this victory to take one more step closer to a title shot. However, “The Hangman” had other plans.

He managed to win a split decision and a top five ranking spot following a great clash between them, which sent the Perth crowd crazy after witnessing the Fight of the Night bonus winner.

One fellow lightweight contender who had his eye on this clash was Paddy Pimblett. “The Baddy” recently entered the top 15 at 155 pounds with a submission win over King Green at UFC 304.

He gave his live reaction to the fight on his YouTube channel, where before the first bell sounded, he teed up the idea of meeting either man down the line.

“I could end up fighting one of these couldn’t I?”

Paddy Pimblett Agreed With Decision, Tees Up Dan Hooker Encounter In The Future

Like many, Pimblett agreed that Gamrot was the favorite going in. He did, however, make a point of stating that Hooker shouldn’t have been such a big underdog due to the caliber of opponents he has faced.

“The Baddy” wasn’t surprised to see “Gamer” get takedowns, but over the course of the fight, he watched as “The Hangman” kept pouring on the pressure with his forward momentum.

The fight was a close one, which the scorecards and Pimblett’s reaction seconded. But the former Cage Warriors champion did agree that Hooker did enough to get his hand raised.

While there may be 10 ranking spots between them, “The Baddy” would be open to testing himself against the fan favorite in the future.

“Fight of the night so far of what I’ve watched. Let’s see the decision anyway. I reckon Hooker, lad, to be honest. 29-28 Gamrot. 29-28 Hooker, upset, Dan Hooker back in the top five,” Pimblett said. “Could be a nice fight for me in the future.”

Continue Reading Paddy Pimblett Reacts To Dan Hooker’s Upset Win Over Mateusz Gamrot At UFC 305: ‘Could Be A Nice Fight For Me…’ at MMA News.

Robert Whittaker Describes ‘Same Moment’ From His Fight Against Du Plessis That He Saw At UFC 305

Robert Whittaker recently drew a parallel to the identical situation from his own fight against Dricus Du Plessis, which he observed during the main event of UFC 305. “Stillknocks” successfully defended his UFC middleweight title last weekend, securing victory with a fourth-round rear-naked choke to submit Adesanya at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. […]

Continue Reading Robert Whittaker Describes ‘Same Moment’ From His Fight Against Du Plessis That He Saw At UFC 305 at MMA News.

Robert Whittaker recently drew a parallel to the identical situation from his own fight against Dricus Du Plessis, which he observed during the main event of UFC 305.

“Stillknocks” successfully defended his UFC middleweight title last weekend, securing victory with a fourth-round rear-naked choke to submit Adesanya at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.

The fight erupted at a blistering pace, with both fighters driving the action from the opening bell. The first round was a closely contested striking exchange, but in the second, Du Plessis relied on his superior grappling, securing multiple takedowns despite Adesanya’s resilience. As the third round unfolded, “The Last Stylebender” appeared to be in trouble but soon found his rhythm, landing powerful shots to the head and body.

Early in the fourth, the challenger seemed poised for a knockout, but Du Plessis turned the tide with punishing combinations, culminating in a perfectly timed takedown. He swiftly took Adesanya’s back and secured the submission victory moments later.

The South African’s unconventional fighting style, combined with the power in his hands, seems to be an enigma that his opponents can’t unravel. No one is better suited to attest to this than Whittaker, with his firsthand experience facing Du Plessis in the Octagon…

Whittaker Analyzes How Du Plessis Lulls Opponents Before Capitalizing

During a recent appearance on the MMArcade Podcast, ‘The Reaper’ dissected Du Plessis’ triumphant performance against Adesanya at UFC 305. Whittaker highlighted the uncanny similarity between his own second-round knockout loss to Du Plessis at UFC 290 in July 2023 and the manner in which Adesanya succumbed to the South African’s relentless power.

The former UFC middleweight champion observed that “Stillknocks” possesses a deceptive ability to coax his opponents into a false sense of security, making them believe he’s slow and predictable. But just when they start to feel comfortable, he surges forward with an unorthodox stance, unleashing powerful strikes that catch them off guard.

“There’s a method to his madness like I’m making light of it and making it funny, but the dude is a weapon. He’s a true warrior,” Whittaker said. “I can say that firsthand because he beat me right with the same cumbersome throwing punches. It’s funny—I saw the same moment Adesanya had in his fight that I had in my fight, and it was somewhere in the first round where you think you see the punches, you move out of the way of the punches, and you realize like he’s slow, I can see them, like I got this, it’s almost like you’re thinking, ‘This is too easy, I can see everything.’”

“And then, all of a sudden, he hits you. Then he starts climbing on you when he starts closing that gap a little bit more, like he starts, what, risking it a little bit more, like lunging into his shots, and he closes that inch that you thought you were safe by a little bit. Then there’s the factor of his power.”

“The Reaper” also highlighted that what truly makes Du Plessis a formidable force is his versatile style and the power that complements it perfectly.

“In that last exchange before the submission, Adesanya took some heavy shots. Adesanya’s got a great chin—he does, bastard. Dricus saw that too, pushed it, got the takedown, and then jumped on the back straight away—good instincts. He said he trained for that transition, and it looks good, but that’s just a testament to his power because his power is what got him the chance, the opportunity. There’s so much to dissect and so many ‘what ifs,’ like you’d have to ask him, but, like, man, to sum it all up, I think Adesanya looked outstanding. Dricus is just a warrior, and I understand what you need to do to beat him.”

Whittaker is eager to redeem his loss to Du Plessis and plans to do so by decisively defeating Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 in October. With his sights set on reclaiming his place as the top contender for the next title shot, he’s meticulously analyzing the reigning champion’s every move.

Continue Reading Robert Whittaker Describes ‘Same Moment’ From His Fight Against Du Plessis That He Saw At UFC 305 at MMA News.

Chael Sonnen Warns Dricus Du Plessis: ‘Israel Adesanya Does His Finest Work When It’s Personal!’ 

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen doesn’t think it’s wise for Dricus Du Plessis to rile Israel Adesanya up ahead of their championship clash Down Under this weekend. Du Plessis will defend his middleweight belt for the first time since winning it from Sean Strickland when he makes the walk to headline the UFC 305 […]

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen Warns Dricus Du Plessis: ‘Israel Adesanya Does His Finest Work When It’s Personal!’  at MMA News.

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen doesn’t think it’s wise for Dricus Du Plessis to rile Israel Adesanya up ahead of their championship clash Down Under this weekend.

Du Plessis will defend his middleweight belt for the first time since winning it from Sean Strickland when he makes the walk to headline the UFC 305 pay-per-view event, which takes place inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

To maintain his grip on the belt, the South African is tasked with stalling Adesanya’s planned return to the throne for a record third time.

Beyond championship stakes, however, their matchup appears to be motivated by a bad-blood rivalry, sparked by some comments Du Plessis made regarding his status as the first fighter to achieve title glory on MMA’s biggest stage having been born, trained, and resided in Africa.

An early Octagon interview also saw Du Plessis use the term “real African,” which rubbed the likes of Adesanya and Kamaru Usman the wrong way.

With that in mind, there appears to be a personal element to the bout for the Nigerian-New Zealander. And one ex-fighter thinks that’s a dangerous scenario for the champ…

Sonnen On Adesanya’s UFC 305 Return: ‘When He Has Something Personal…’

During a recent episode of his Good Guy / Bad Guy show alongside Daniel Cormier on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Sonnen looked ahead to the matchup tasked with topping the lineup in Perth.

In terms of the bad blood that appears to be fueling the animosity between the pair of headliners, “The American Gangster” thinks Adesanya now has the one element that was missing from his last UFC fight.

“It’s wildly important that our viewers understand what these guys are fighting for,” Sonnen said. “Israel Adesanya has done his finest work when it’s personal. As a matter of fact, the worst performance he’s put forward was against Sean Strickland, and the only thing that was missing was a personal feud. He didn’t have a problem with Sean when that fight happened. He wasn’t really looking at Sean. … When that fight was over, Dana wanted to do a rematch; in fact he offered Izzy an immediate rematch. He said no. He just never had heat with Sean.

“When he has something personal — excuse me, he called out Yoel Romero. You know how crazy that is? … It was personal. He told Dana, ‘Hey man, I got into this business because there’s guys that I want to fight…I don’t care what Yoel’s record is.’ That’s why this is so important,” Sonnen continued. “They didn’t just throw a belt out there…didn’t just dangle some pay-per-view points. The belt has nothing to do with it on Izzy’s side. And I will just contend for you, he does his final work when it’s personal.”

Having stated that he’s returning to competition to “take heads” instead of with any focus on the gold, Adesanya will hope to start by beheading the reigning middleweight kingpin come fight night in Australia.

And should he settle that grudge successfully by having his hand raised, perhaps he’d next turn his gaze back to Strickland and redemption against his fellow former champ.

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen Warns Dricus Du Plessis: ‘Israel Adesanya Does His Finest Work When It’s Personal!’  at MMA News.

UFC Rankings Report: Dricus Du Plessis Lands Above Sean O’Malley On Pound-For-Pound List

As always, the latest action on offer inside the Octagon has seen some climb the ladder toward contention and others fall away. And in the aftermath of UFC 305, MMA News has you covered with this week’s updates to the official UFC rankings. Men’s Pound-For-Pound: Dricus Du Plessis closed out the latest pay-per-view by once again proving his […]

Continue Reading UFC Rankings Report: Dricus Du Plessis Lands Above Sean O’Malley On Pound-For-Pound List at MMA News.

As always, the latest action on offer inside the Octagon has seen some climb the ladder toward contention and others fall away.

And in the aftermath of UFC 305, MMA News has you covered with this week’s updates to the official UFC rankings.

Men’s Pound-For-Pound: Dricus Du Plessis closed out the latest pay-per-view by once again proving his doubters wrong, emerging from a competitive main event against the great Israel Adesanya with the middleweight gold still in his possession. The South African has been rewarded with a five-place rise up the P4P ladder, leaving him one position above his bantamweight counterpart Sean O’Malley at #6.

Adesanya, meanwhile, has fallen two spots to #15, with his and Du Plessis’ former opponent Sean Strickland going the same distance the other way to replace “The Last Stylebender” at #13.

Women’s Pound-for-Pound: There were moves unrelated to UFC 305 on the female P4P list, with reigning bantamweight queen Raquel Pennington suddenly dropping two places to #8, now leaving her below flyweight contenders Rose Namajunas (#6) and Erin Blanchfield (#7).

Women’s Strawweight: No changes.

Women’s Flyweight: At 125 pounds, Viviane Araújo has been pushed out of the top 10 to #11. Her two-spot slide has paved the way for Amanda Ribas and Karine Silva to rise to #9 and #10, respectively.

Women’s Bantamweight: No changes.

Flyweight: Kai Kara-France made an emphatic return this weekend by knocking out recent title challenger Steve Erceg inside the first round. He’s remained unmoved at #4, however. “AstroBoy,” meanwhile, has slipped to #8, swapping positions with Matheus Nicolau (#7).

Bantamweight: No changes.

Featherweight: No changes.

Lightweight: Among the biggest victors to emerge from UFC 305 was Dan Hooker, who is this week’s biggest mover in the rankings. After falling on the right side of a split decision against the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot, “The Hangman” has climbed six spots to #5. “Gamer,” on the other hand, has fallen three positions to #8. Further down, Hooker’s rise has resulted in drops for Rafael Fiziev (#10) and Renato Moicano (#11).

Welterweight: No changes.

Middleweight: No changes.

Light Heavyweight: No changes.

Heavyweight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik made it back-to-back wins in 2024 this past weekend, outpointing home favorite Tai Tuivasa across three rounds. As a result, “Bigi Boy” has risen by two places to #10. His defeated opponent, meanwhile, finds himself three spots worse off at #13.

You can view the full updated UFC rankings here.

Continue Reading UFC Rankings Report: Dricus Du Plessis Lands Above Sean O’Malley On Pound-For-Pound List at MMA News.

‘Tui Tuivasa Is Giving Me Tony Ferguson Vibes’ – MMA Fans React To ‘Bam Bam’ Earning A Ridiculous 30-27 Scorecard Despite Getting Dominated At UFC 305

Jairzinho Rozenstruik may find himself back in the top-10 of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings come next week, but the story after his win doesn’t come from his performance, but that of one judge’s scorecard. Rozenstruik pieced up Tai Tuivasa in their UFC 305 encounter, being technical with his striking and doing serious damage. Tuivasa hurt […]

Continue Reading ‘Tui Tuivasa Is Giving Me Tony Ferguson Vibes’ – MMA Fans React To ‘Bam Bam’ Earning A Ridiculous 30-27 Scorecard Despite Getting Dominated At UFC 305 at MMA News.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik may find himself back in the top-10 of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings come next week, but the story after his win doesn’t come from his performance, but that of one judge’s scorecard.

Rozenstruik pieced up Tai Tuivasa in their UFC 305 encounter, being technical with his striking and doing serious damage. Tuivasa hurt his leg with a leg check in the second round, and Rozenstruik nearly finished with a couple of flurries in the round.

But while one judge saw the fight 29-28 Rozenstruik, and another 30-27 Rozenstruik, a third judge, Howie Booth, scored every round for Tuivasa — despite unanimous agreement from MMA media and MMA fans that Rozenstruik won rounds two and three.

MMA Fans And Media Blast Judge Who Awarded Tai Tuivasa A 30-27 Card Despite Being Dominated By Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Rozenstruik has now won three of his last four fights.

Tuivasa, meanwhile, has dropped five straight.

UPDATE: The judge who scored the fight for Tuivasa has been relieved of his duties for the rest of the night.

Continue Reading ‘Tui Tuivasa Is Giving Me Tony Ferguson Vibes’ – MMA Fans React To ‘Bam Bam’ Earning A Ridiculous 30-27 Scorecard Despite Getting Dominated At UFC 305 at MMA News.