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Sean Strickland is taking his loss against Dricus Du Plessis in stride.

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Strickland challenged Du Plessis in a middleweight title rematch at UFC 312 this past weekend in Australia. Du Plessis defended his title via a lopsided unanimous decision, also leaving Strickland with a shattered nose. Addressing his injury, Strickland said that his nose is so badly broken that it was easy to reset.

“Hey, what up, guys? We’ve been here once or twice. I’m so grateful for you guys’ support. You guys are so awesome, win or lose, you guys always ride and I appreciate you,” Strickland said on Instagram. “Dricus, f—king hats off, hell of a fight, broke my nose in six places. The silver lining is my nose is so broken it’s really easy to reset, so that was a new experience.”

Strickland further thanked his fans who continue to support him while urging them to take inspiration from him during difficult times.

“I’ll be quick. I get so many messages from fans,…

Belal Muhammad reacts to "racist clown" Sean Strickland's loss to Dricus du Plessis:

"He wants people to say that 'he's crazy, he's nuts'. He's not. He's just a racist little clown that's hiding in the body of a fighter. He's a coward."

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🎥 @bullyb170 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/MfjDlhTHQP — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 9, 2025

Belal Muhammad has no sympathy for Sean Strickland after his loss against Dricus Du Plessis.

Strickland tried to reclaim the middleweight title in a rematch against Du Plessis at UFC 312 in Sydney this past weekend. While Strickland lost his title via split decision in their initial encounter, he suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss in their rematch at UFC 312.

Known for expressing his unhinged opinions, Strickland was already beefing with Muhammad over Islamophobic comments. The welterweight champ repeatedly called Strickland undeserving of a rematch against Du Plessis. And …

Weili Zhang currently has no peers when it comes to the strawweight division.

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“Magnum” proved that yet again in the UFC 312 co-headliner, as she dominated Tatiana Suarez en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph in Sydney on Saturday night. Heading into the bout, Suarez was tabbed as a favorite by oddsmakers in large part due to her wrestling prowess. Someone forget to tell Zhang, as she stuffed 14 of her opponent’s 15 takedowns while also outstriking Suarez by a considerable margin on the feet.

To hear her tell it, the Chinese standout will never grow tired of cleaning out her division — perhaps because there’s always more to learn.

“I think the biggest opponent to me is myself, so [even] if I stay in strawweight, if I fight different styles of opponent, I can still learn a lot from that,” Zhang said. “Eventually, to improve myself, that’s my ultimate goal. I see all my opponents as my teachers. I will learn from them and just make my…

In the moments after closing the book on his rivalry with Sean Strickland for good, Dricus Du Plessis grabbed the microphone and stared across the Octagon.

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“Is there no one else?” he yelled. “Is there no one else?”

The message was clear: The reigning middleweight champion hadn’t forgotten about Alex Pereira’s callout following his victory over Israel Adesanya last year. Since Pereira was in Strickland’s corner in the UFC 312 main event in Sydney on Saturday night, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Despite that intriguing bit of theater, Du Plessis realizes there’s a natural order to things, and that means clearing out the remaining challenges in his own division. That includes a future showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, who is the No. 1 contender in waiting following his brutal submission of Robert Whittaker this past August. Pereira, meanwhile, has business of his own to attend to — a UFC 313 title defense against Magomed Ankalaev.

“I have t…

Khamzat Chimaev has an ongoing million rubles (approximately $10,000) challenge at his gym.

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The middleweight contender claims he hasn’t been submitted for a long time, even in practice. While he admittedly offers some vulnerable positions while training with youngsters, Chimaev takes it to another level during serious sessions. “Borz” has an open challenge offering a million rubles to anyone who can submit him in the gym.

Chimaev also said that his teammate Abubakar Vagaev is the one who has come the closest to submitting him in recent times. The Chechen-born Swede was in Vagaev’s corner when he dethroned Albert Tumenov via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title at ACA 183 on Saturday.

“Anyone who submits me during training gets a million rubles from me,” Chimaev told media at the post-fight press conference after ACA 183 via Home of Fight). “It hasn’t happened in a long time. When I’m fooling around with young guys, I give up my ne…

It was a night for fresh faces to shine when it came to post-fight bonuses at UFC 312.

That included towering newcomer Tallison Teixeira, who took home a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for making short work of Justin Tafa in a featured heavyweight affair at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night. The 6-foot-8 Teixeira stunned his foe with a knee to the body and an elbow to the face, bringing an abrupt end to their bout just 35 seconds into Round 1.

Meanwhile, an even quicker finish propelled Quillan Salkilld to a $50,000 “Peformance of the Night” bonus in the opening fight of the evening. The Aussie needed just 19 seconds to wallop Anshul Jubli with a right hand behind the ear in their lightweight encounter, getting his UFC career off to a memorable start in process.

Finally, Zhu Rong and Kody Steele garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for a spirited preliminary lightweight slugfest. The combatants collaborated on a “Rou…

In a rivalry full of close rounds and tiny adjustments, Dricus Du Plessis once again proved he has Sean Strickland’s number.

The main event of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney featured du Plessis (23-2) and Strickland (29-7) in a rematch of their meeting just over a year ago at UFC 297, where the South African captured the title in a closely contested split decision. With five rounds’ worth of first-hand experience about one another’s skills, the champ and challenger picked up more or less where they left off in their first go-round last year, with a few added wrinkles. Du Plessis was notably aggressive in the early going, working to keep Strickland from getting into a rhythm and chaining his formidable jab by throwing out a variety of techniques including body punches and spinning back kicks. “Tarzan,” for his part, stuck with what brought him to the pinnacle of the division in the first place: crisp, patient boxing defined by the relentless jab and well-timed right crosses. …

Sherdog's live UFC 312 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Salkilld (-575), Jubli (+425)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Jousset (-258), Micallef (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Steele (-218), Rong (…

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A “Little Mosquito” is starting to make a big buzz in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.

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In the featured preliminary bout of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney, Gabriel Santos (12-2) survived an early scare, showed off a complete MMA skill set and earned a dominant finish over Jack Jenkins (13-4, 1 NC). A measured kickboxing match turned wild in a hurry when Jenkins uncorked a head kick that floored “Mosquitinho.” Jenkins swarmed for the finish as the crowd exploded, but Santos recovered his wits and ensnared Jenkins in a deep triangle choke. It looked for a few tense moments as if Jenkins was going to be forced to tap or take a nap, but he managed to extricate his neck, only to have Santos switch to an armbar. Jenkins fought that off as well, and made it back to his feet, but Santos dragged him back down and finished the frame in top position. Santos wasted little time in bringing things back to the canvas in …

"One of the greatest fights I've ever seen in my life." -Dana White@KelvinGastelum vs @Stylebender is the newest inductee to the #UFCHOF Fight Wing 👏 pic.twitter.com/YQIbgwNiNC

— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2025

The middleweight classic between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum will be the latest inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame’s “Fight Wing.”

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The promotion announced the news during UFC 312 on Saturday night. Adesanya and Gastelum squared off in an interim title bout at UFC 236 on April 13, 2019. While “The Last Stylebender” ultimately prevailed in a five-round unanimous decision, Gastelum gave Adesanya the most difficulty of any opponent up to that point in his UFC tenure. When all was said and done, Adesanya was credited with four knockdowns in the bout — including three in the final stanza. The Nigerian-born Kiwi would go on to unify the 185-pound belt with a second-round KO of Robert Whittaker in his next outing at …

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A previously rumored boxing match between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson is now official for the spring.

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On Friday, the New Mexico State Athletic Commission approved a boxing card to be held at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 12. The event will be headlined by Evans and Jackson and is co-promoted by Albuquerque’s Tapia Promotions and Florida’s Signature Punch Promotions. The Albuquerque Journal was first to report the details of the event. No other bouts were announced for the card, but it will reportedly include a number of local boxers from New Mexico.

Evans and Jackson served as opposing coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 10” before squaring off at UFC 114, where Evans took a unanimous decision triumph over his rival in May 2010. Neither Evans nor Jackson has previous professional boxing experience.

A former UFC light heavyweight champion and a “TUF 2” winner, Evans hasn’t competed in combat sports since out…

👀Dustin Poirier says the UFC is planning his retirement fight this summer in New Orleans

"Things are getting pretty close. Lat the gloves down where it’s all started would be an honour for me."

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🎥 @TheSchmo312 ▫️ pic.twitter.com/dwUf1KD2xx — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) February 7, 2025

Dustin Poirier’s retirement could be drawing near.

Poirier revealed that his retirement fight is likely in the workds for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to New Orleans this summer. It would be the perfect setting for “The Diamond” to hang up his gloves in front of his home fans in Louisiana.

“I actually have been having calls every week with the UFC,” Poirier recently told The Schmo. “But it’s looking like summer in New Orleans is close to happening for my retirement fight. The pay-per-view this summer in New Orleans would be incredible. That’s what I’m pushing forward for. That’s what the UFC is working toward…