DRICUS DU PLESSIS LOCKED CAREER BEST, SAYS ISRAEL ADESANYA

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UFC middleweight Dricus du Plessis looked career-best against Kamaru Usman, according to his longtime rival, Israel Adesanya.

Du Plessis defeated Usman via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City this past Saturday. It was an impressive performance by du Plessis, who got back into the win column nearly one year after losing the UFC middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev in a blowout at UFC 319.

It was such a good performance by du Plessis, according to Adesanya, that it may have been the best he’s ever looked in his entire MMA career, which is impressive given he is a former UFC middleweight champion and has two wins over current champ Sean Strickland.

Israel Adesanya Praises Dricus du Plessis

Taking to his YouTube channel, Adesanya showered praise on du Plessis for his dominant showing against Usman at UFC Oklahoma City.

“It’s the best I’ve seen Dricus look. He looked less out of position when he finished punching, when he initiated punching. Sometimes he still did his thing, but he looked really good. Some of the shots he was throwing, the selection, and the timing of the knee for that single-leg, that was a good chess move from their team,” Adesanya said (via MMAFighting.com).

“I wanted Kamaru to get it done, but again, it just shows how good Dricus is. And good on him.”

DDP’s Win Good for African MMA

By putting on an excellent show for the fans — DDP vs. Usman won Fight of the Night at UFC Oklahoma City — Adesanya believes that it just further strengthens African MMA, as all of these fighters were born in Africa and are among the best mixed martial artists in the world.

“It’s good for us anyway. Just for African MMA. Because off this — every time one of these happens, look, another two African fighters fight in the main event, the whole continent is going to watch. Even though it’s just a Fight Night, they’re still gonna watch and support. I think this is just going to expand the talent pool in African MMA more. And I look forward to it,” Adesanya said.

- Adam Martin

PROS REACT AFTER KHAMZAT CHIMAEV DOMINATES DRICUS DUPLESSIS AT UFC 319

Tonight’s UFC 319 event was headlined by a highly anticipated middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.

Du Plessis (23-3 MMA) was looking to earn his third consecutive title defense when he took to the Octagon this evening. ‘Stillknocks’ had most previously competed at February’s UFC 312 event in Sydney, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over former title holder Sean Strickland. Prior to that, the South African had submitted Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August of last year.

Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA) entered his first career UFC title fight sporting a perfect professional record, with his most previous win coming via first-round submission against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Prior to that impressive showing, ‘Borz’ was coming off a razor close majority decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

Tonight’s UFC 319 main event proved to be a one-sided affair. Khamzat Chimaev was able to dominate Dricus Du Plessis for four straight rounds, using his superior grappling to overwhelm and control the South African. Although ‘DDP’ was able to mount some offense in round five, it wasn’t nearly enough to rectify the dominance that Chimaev put forth in the opening four rounds. After 25-minutes of action, Chimaev was awarded a much-deserved unanimous decision win.

Official UFC 319 Results: Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus Du Plessis by unanimous decision (50-44 x3)

Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Du Plessis vs. Chimaev’ below:

BIG FIGHT IN THE MW DIV!

If Chimaev doesn’t take him out in the 1st couple rounds,

I’m afraid DDP will take it home. #UFC319

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 17, 2025

The strikers have been on a streak I think it’s time a grappler wins

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

Here we go! Driccus by Late stoppage. Or khamzat in first round annihilation. Got all my bases covered with that one 😂

— michael (@bisping) August 17, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is about to shock the world #UFC319

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 17, 2025

Let’s go DDP. In a perfect world DDP wins and Fluff gets his go next!! 👹🐓🏆 #UFC319

— Max Griffin (@MaxPainGriffin) August 17, 2025

Is dricus kissing 🧁 Chenchen at end?

— Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) August 17, 2025

This is going to be a good stare down! #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

I think This is the fight that will help set DDP apart from other known champions – in the fans eyes. #UFC319

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) August 17, 2025

Khamzat just landed a significant strike before the fight even started #UFC319

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 17, 2025

Double leg was to easy not to go right back to it

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

That was a stressful first round lmao

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

How fun would Khamzat vs Islam be?? Damn if we coulda had that fight 🔥🔥🔥🔥

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

Very few killers in this game!

— Michael Johnson (@Menace155) August 17, 2025

Is Usman the uncrowned middleweight champion?!

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) August 17, 2025

Can’t Fight

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) August 17, 2025

Has there ever been such a one sided championship fight before??

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

Absolute domination thus far from Chimaev. #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

2-1 DDP?

— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) August 17, 2025

Chimaev dominating the later rounds was not on my 2025 bingo card #UFC319

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 17, 2025

15 years ago Silva pulled off an amazing 5th round comeback for the 185lb title. Seems like DDP would need such a miracle aswell. #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

Post-fight reactions to Khamzat Chimaev defeating Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319:

I really gotta lock in.

— Bo Nickal (@NoBickal) August 17, 2025

Chechnya’s first UFC Champion! Congrats!

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 17, 2025

Told you it would be easy

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

Chimaev beat DDP with the same pace style and pressure as always! #ufc319

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) August 17, 2025

Im probably the only one in the UFC that can out grapple that little whore for 5 rounds….

Well looks like I gotta stack some Ws to fight that little bitch lmao

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) August 17, 2025

Who would you like to see Chimaev fight next following his victory over Du Plessis this evening in Chicago?

- Chris Taylor

FRANCIS NGANNOU MAKES UFC RETURN SINCE RELEASE AMID POTENTIAL U-TURN ON COMEBACK

Francis Ngannou made a first appearance at a UFC event since leaving the promotion - to support friend Kamaru Usman.

Ngannou left the UFC in 2023 and was stripped of his heavyweight title, as he failed to agree a new deal with Dana White's promotion.

Ngannou returned to the UFC stage to support friend Kamaru UsmanCredit: Getty

The Cameroon star didn't leave on entirely good terms and has barely batted an eye at the UFC since signing with rivals PFL.

But his coach Eric Nicksick recently hinted that he would be open to a comeback to the roster, despite previously suggesting he would never return.

Jon Jones issued a call-out to Ngannou and hinted that the fight could get made, but Dana White didn't budge on a new signature of his former champion.

Although now relations appear to have improved again, with Ngannou attending the UFC Atlanta weigh-ins.

It was the 38-year-old's first arrival at any UFC event since 2023.

He even came up on stage as friend and former UFC champion Usman took to the scales to weigh in for his huge showdown with Joaquin Buckley.

Ngannou received a rousing reception from fans, as his status as a hugely popular fighter has clearly been retained.

And it sent the MMA fraternity into a frenzy, with many demanding he faces either Jones or Tom Aspinall.

But his coach Nicksick believes right now he would likely struggle to exit his deal with the PFL.

On his debut at his new home, Ngannou became the heavyweight champion beating Renan Ferreira last year.

Ngannou received a warm welcome up on stageCredit: Getty

But he has yet to fight since, and has even teased a return to boxing after two outings against Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

A more likely option than a UFC comeback could be a two-fight deal with Deontay Wilder.

And the 'Bronze Bomber' insists talks are still ongoing.

‘Yeah, I'd love to fight Ngannou. It’s a lot of things going on," he said.

"I think that fight is still stirring up. We’re still talking about it. Certain things have been laid out.

We do one fight boxing and one fight MMA, fair is fair. We’re just trying to figure out how we want the segment to go with me and Ngannou. I’m definitely interested; he is as well.

Ngannou last fought in the UFC in his win over Cyril Gane in 2022Credit: Getty

"I guess it’s just a matter of time, time is always the matter, and then when you execute that you always get a place and a date, and then you can start the promotion.

"I think that’s something that’s looking to be created, something that is looking to be done.

"People are going to look forward to that, I’m going to look forward to that. Stay tuned."

- Ben Davies

DANA WHITE TAKES 'FULL RESPONSIBILITY' FOR ERASING FRANCES NGANNOU'S NAMR FRON UFC 305 PRIMOTION VIDEOS AS HE ISSUES APOLOGY

Dana White’s relationship with Francis Ngannou has always been a rocky one, and ahead of UFC 305 this past Saturday, the promotion seemingly cut Ngannou’s name out of the UFC 305 countdown video which didn’t sit well with Israel Adesanya.

At one point, the UFC donned three champions from Africa in Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou, but things went from bad to worse as Usman and Adesanya lost their titles and Ngannou left the promotion.

A few months prior to UFC 305, Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis took part in an on-sale press conference in which Adesanya commented on the history of African champions, mentioning Ngannou.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Dana White was unaware of the promotion cutting out Ngannou’s name

During UFC 305 fight week, the UFC posted their UFC 305 countdown video in which they used the clip of the former middleweight champion talking about the history of African champions, however, they removed Ngannou’s name from their version of the video.

‘The Last Stylebender’ made it extremely clear at the UFC 305 media day that he wasn’t happy with the promotion for erasing Ngannou’s name from the promotion, stating that ‘you can never erase Francis’ history from the UFC’.

Following another week of Dana White’s Contender Series this past Tuesday evening, the UFC boss was asked about the decision to remove ‘The Predator’s’ name from the promotion, to which he was confused about and didn’t know it had happened.

“If that’s true (that we removed his name) and that was done and it was something we produced, then somebody in the company made that decision. Listen, you know me, if I said we did it, I’d say ‘Yeah f*** him this is why we did it’, I know nothing about it, nobody ever asked me about it and this is the first we’re hearing about it,” Dana White stated at the DWCS post-fight press conference.

Dana White takes responsibility for the removal of Ngannou’s name and apologizes

Despite the initial confusion, following the press conference White and his team discussed the matter and he issued another comment on it.

“My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f*cking awesome. I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy sh*t I say and it’s tough. When you (Kevin Iole) asked me about that, I didn’t know anything about it.

“But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do, that that’s what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted. I didn’t know about it and that was nothing that ever came across my desk.

I’m in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact it happened falls on me 100 percent. It’s my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. But that’s on me. Totally on me. I already called Israel Adesanya and apologized for it,” White admitted.

- Jamie Theodosi

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