Tag: UFC 305

5 Positives & 3 Negatives From UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya

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 […]

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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.

Positive – Don’t Be Silly…You Know The Rest

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…

Show Me The Money podcast

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?

Where to begin. The clash between Junior Tafa and Valter Walker brought with it an abundance of negatives — and no, the referee’s decision-making was absolutely not one of them.

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.

The negatives didn’t stop there, however.

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.

Negative – The Worst Scorecard In UFC History

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.

Even while writing this, I’m still in shock at the scorecard. 30-27 Tai Tuivasa. You’d be hard pressed to make an argument for “Bam Bam” getting one round over Jairzinho Rozenstruik on Saturday night, yet alone two, yet alone three.

“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?

Positive – He’s Back

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.”

But the New Zealander’s promise to fight through relentless takedown attempts and make Gamrot pay with his striking weapons came to fruition. For the most part, though, he actually gave as good as he got on the feet.

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?

Positive – Did You Blink?

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.”

After spending over a year on the sidelines recovering from a concussion and taking all the necessary precautions to protect his health, Kara-France made a splash in his comeback by knocking “AstroBoy” out in the very first round. You’d be hard pressed to find a bingo card that had that finish on it.

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.

Positive – Respect

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.

I can’t remember the last time I was as enthralled by a headline matchup to the extent I was when Dricus Du Plessis defended his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya. It saw two top athletes with polar-opposite styles come together to be about as evenly matched as possible.

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.”

Continue Reading 5 Positives & 3 Negatives From UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya at MMA News.

Dan Hooker Narrates Hilarious Story Of Becoming Friends With A Fan He Threw A Drink 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 […]

Continue Reading Dan Hooker Narrates Hilarious Story Of Becoming Friends With A Fan He Threw A Drink On at MMA News.

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.

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.”

“The Hangman” is poised to make his long-awaited return after a year-long hiatus due to a hand injury as he faces off against Mateusz Gamrot on the main card of UFC 305. The upcoming pay-per-view event is set to take place this weekend at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.

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.

Continue Reading Dan Hooker Narrates Hilarious Story Of Becoming Friends With A Fan He Threw A Drink On at MMA News.

UFC Full Fight: Relive Israel Adesanya’s Battle With Middleweight Legend Anderson Silva Ahead Of UFC 305 Return 

UFC 305 headliner Israel Adesanya increased his prominence en route to the middleweight throne by adding the legendary name of Anderson Silva to his record in 2019. The former two-time champion will return in the main event of this weekend’s pay-per-view card at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, where he’s tasked with regaining the belt once […]

Continue Reading UFC Full Fight: Relive Israel Adesanya’s Battle With Middleweight Legend Anderson Silva Ahead Of UFC 305 Return  at MMA News.

UFC 305 headliner Israel Adesanya increased his prominence en route to the middleweight throne by adding the legendary name of Anderson Silva to his record in 2019.

The former two-time champion will return in the main event of this weekend’s pay-per-view card at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, where he’s tasked with regaining the belt once again in a grudge match against Dricus Du Plessis.

Adesanya captured the 185-pound crown for the first time as an undefeated fighter by stopping Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. The result was the culmination of a successful 3-0 year in the cage for the Nigerian-New Zealander, and it started against a GOAT contender.

Eight months before his undisputed win, Adesanya shared the cage with Silva. The pair’s flashy striking styles collided in the UFC 234 main event, getting promoted to the headline spotlight on short notice after the cancellation of Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum’s scheduled title fight.

The three-round contest, which collected Fight of the Night honors, delivered plenty of highlights, with Adesanya ultimately running out a unanimous decision win over one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.

Ahead of Saturday’s event, the promotion has released the full Adesanya vs. Silva fight from UFC 234 on its official YouTube channel.

Since that result, Adesanya has made good on the decision many made to brand his victory over Silva a passing of the torch moment. With two reigns and numerous notable wins, “The Last Stylebender” now sits just below “The Spider” in the division’s all-time list for many.

And he’ll have the chance to further cement that spot this weekend by achieving a record third crowning at 185 pounds at the expense of Du Plessis.

Continue Reading UFC Full Fight: Relive Israel Adesanya’s Battle With Middleweight Legend Anderson Silva Ahead Of UFC 305 Return  at MMA News.

Mateusz Gamrot Feels UFC 305 Main Event Similar To Dan Hooker Match Up: ‘High-Level Striker But Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu Not Super…’

Mateusz Gamrot recently predicted that the UFC 305 main event between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya would play out much like his own showdown with Dan Hooker. UFC 305 is set to rock the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, this weekend with a stacked array of fights. The highly anticipated pay-per-view will be […]

Continue Reading Mateusz Gamrot Feels UFC 305 Main Event Similar To Dan Hooker Match Up: ‘High-Level Striker But Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu Not Super…’ at MMA News.

Mateusz Gamrot recently predicted that the UFC 305 main event between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya would play out much like his own showdown with Dan Hooker.

UFC 305 is set to rock the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, this weekend with a stacked array of fights. The highly anticipated pay-per-view will be headlined by a middleweight title clash, where Du Plessis defends his UFC belt for the first time against Adesanya. The co-main event features a high-stakes flyweight showdown between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg, while the main card also boasts a pivotal lightweight bout between Gamrot and Hooker.

“The Last Stylebender” enters this fight after the longest hiatus of his UFC career, following a shocking title loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023. Despite coming off a defeat and a year-long layoff, Adesanya is still slightly favored to win against Du Plessis, largely due to his dominant title reign and highly technical fighting style.

However, Gamrot believes that Adesanya has some vulnerabilities that “Stillknocks” will exploit, much like he plans to do against his own opponent, Hooker…

Gamrot Believes Adesanya’s Wrestling Falls Short Of His Striking

During UFC 305 media day on Wednesday, Gamrot offered his prediction for the main event. “Gamer” acknowledged that while Adesanya’s striking is exceptional, he falls short when it comes to wrestling and grappling. Gamrot predicted that Du Plessis will exploit these weaknesses to put Adesanya under pressure, much like he intends to do against Hooker in their own bout.

“I think Dricus [will win],” Gamrot said. “I like the guy, we have a good relationship. He is good everywhere like he’s—maybe this matchup is similar to my matchup against Hooker. So, Adesanya is a high-level striker, but his wrestling and jiu-jitsu, I think, are not super. I don’t know, but I can think about that—jiu-jitsu and wrestling are not at the same level as his striking. So if Dricus takes him down, then the fight will be much easier for him, and I think the power is much different between Adesanya and Dricus. So, my prediction is that Dricus will win this fight.”

“Gamer” is riding a three-fight win streak and is set to return to the Octagon after a commanding unanimous decision victory over Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 299 this past March.

Gamrot enters UFC 305 with a distinct advantage, thanks to his wrestling-heavy style, which could pose serious problems for “The Hangman”, who prefers to keep the fight standing.

Continue Reading Mateusz Gamrot Feels UFC 305 Main Event Similar To Dan Hooker Match Up: ‘High-Level Striker But Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu Not Super…’ at MMA News.

Junior Tafa On Fighting Johnny Walker’s Brother At UFC 305: ‘I’d Like To Fight Both The Walker Brothers…’

In a rare situation at UFC 305, two fighters that have siblings also on the roster, will come face-to-face in the featured prelim. Junior Tafa is looking for his second UFC win after being stopped earlier this year by Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 298. His older brother Justin is the more experienced of […]

Continue Reading Junior Tafa On Fighting Johnny Walker’s Brother At UFC 305: ‘I’d Like To Fight Both The Walker Brothers…’ at MMA News.

In a rare situation at UFC 305, two fighters that have siblings also on the roster, will come face-to-face in the featured prelim.

Junior Tafa is looking for his second UFC win after being stopped earlier this year by Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 298.

His older brother Justin is the more experienced of the two men, with a total of nine Octagon appearances under his belt.

The same dynamic can be found in the household of his opponent with Valter Walker looking to bounce back from a debut defeat in April.

In comparison, his older brother Johnny Walker is a 14-fight UFC veteran and a staple of the light heavyweight division.

Despite the difference in weight classes between them, the younger of the Tafa brothers hopes that he can run through a Walker family gauntlet in his coming fights.

Junior Tafa Says He’d Like To Fight Both Of The ‘Cool Cat’ Walker Brothers

During his media day interview ahead of his clash with Walker this weekend in Perth, Tafa gave his opinion on his opponent’s brother.

He said that he would be very keen on the idea of facing both of them during his UFC tenure which would be possible with his aspirations of competing at 205-pounds.

“Yeah preparation is good, watched a little bit of tape but yeah, I’d like to fight both of the Walker brothers if I could. I want to campaign down to light heavyweight and his brother would like to come after too.”

Tafa then clarified that he has no personal vendetta against this particular family or the fighters they produce and if anything, wants to fight them because he’s a fan of what they do.

“I’m a fan of their fighting style, they’re cool cats you know but, be cool to do both of them ay.”

Read also: VIDEO: Israel Adesanya, Dricus Du Plessis, Dan Hooker, & More Complete Open Workouts Ahead Of UFC 305

Continue Reading Junior Tafa On Fighting Johnny Walker’s Brother At UFC 305: ‘I’d Like To Fight Both The Walker Brothers…’ at MMA News.

Tom Aspinall Pays Rich Tribute To Israel Adesanya Ahead Of UFC 305: ‘I Have Learned A Lot Just From Watching Him…’

Tom Aspinall recently heaped praise on Israel Adesanya, expressing admiration for the former UFC middleweight champion’s fighting style and acknowledging how much he has learned from studying his techniques. “The Last Stylebender” is gearing up to make his comeback to the Octagon and challenge reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in the headlining bout of […]

Continue Reading Tom Aspinall Pays Rich Tribute To Israel Adesanya Ahead Of UFC 305: ‘I Have Learned A Lot Just From Watching Him…’ at MMA News.

Tom Aspinall recently heaped praise on Israel Adesanya, expressing admiration for the former UFC middleweight champion’s fighting style and acknowledging how much he has learned from studying his techniques.

“The Last Stylebender” is gearing up to make his comeback to the Octagon and challenge reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in the headlining bout of the upcoming pay-per-view event, scheduled for August 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.

After suffering a shocking title loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last September, the Nigerian-born Kiwi took a voluntary sabbatical to prioritize his mental health. Now, after 11 months of reflection and recovery, he’s returning to active competition with a renewed focus.

Adesanya is regarded as one of the most dominant middleweight champions in UFC history, boasting five successful title defenses. However, Izzy’s fortunes have taken a downturn in the past couple of years, starting with his first-ever middleweight defeat—a dramatic fifth-round TKO at the hands of his arch-nemesis, Alex Pereira, at UFC 281 in November 2022.

As an expert in distance control and fluid striking himself, Aspinall holds a deep respect for the finesse that defines Adesanya’s elite fighting style…

Aspinall Says Adesanya’s Style Is From ‘Different Universe’

During a recent interview with TNT Sports, Aspinall broke down how Adesanya expertly dismantles his opponents with a unique blend of unorthodox striking, a key factor behind his success in the Octagon.

The interim UFC heavyweight champion expressed profound respect for Adesanya and said that he has even incorporated elements of it into his own game.

“Israel Adesanya, such contrasting styles and by the way, if you’re not an Izzy fan, what are you?” Aspinall said. “I mean, the guy’s an absolute technician. The thing with Izzy is the styles are so different, they’re on different universes, you know what I mean? They’re never mind a different spectrum. The way that Izzy fights is he has his hands low a bit, and he will constantly keep you guessing. But because he’s so long—6’4” at middleweight is so tall for a middleweight—he’ll do this kind of stuff a lot. He’s so good with his kicks; he fakes with the legs as well, so he’ll be doing a lot of this, then he’ll be coming up.

We’ve seen him with his chopping leg kicks, we’ve seen him with the high kicks. He’s just so long, and he reads the fight so well. He’s had so many fights now as well. I’ve learned a lot just from watching him, do you know what I mean?”

Aspinall also offered his prediction for the upcoming clash between Du Plessis and Adesanya. He suggested that “Stillknocks” will have a tough time keeping up with the elusive former champ, likely ending up on the receiving end of some devastating, fight-altering strikes as he tries to close the distance.

“I would say it’s almost like the bull and the matador, this fight. It’s like we’ve got the bull in DDP [Du Plessis]; he’s coming forward, you know what you’re going to get with him—he’s closing the space, trying to kill you. On the other hand, he’s [Adesanya] staying out of the way, doing his feints, and it’s just such a contrast of styles. As a massive fan of MMA myself, I just can’t wait to see it.”

“The Last Stylebender” is on the verge of making history. A victory on Saturday night could see him join the ranks of the legendary Randy Couture by securing an undisputed title in a third division—an achievement that would undoubtedly cement his legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greats.

Continue Reading Tom Aspinall Pays Rich Tribute To Israel Adesanya Ahead Of UFC 305: ‘I Have Learned A Lot Just From Watching Him…’ at MMA News.