Latest news with #UFC293
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Din Thomas: Sean Strickland 'could possibly be' best UFC middleweight: 'It's depressing'
Din Thomas thinks Sean Strickland is focusing his energy in the wrong places. Since upsetting Israel Adesanya to claim the UFC middleweight title at UFC 293, Strickland has lost two of his past three – both in title fights against Dricus Du Plessis. His first fight against Du Plessis at UFC 297 was a close split decision loss, but the rematch at UFC 312 went much more in favor of the champion. Thomas lauded Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) for his work ethic, but doesn't see it translating to his fights. "The stories you hear about Sean Strickland from every high-level guy that I know that's ever worked with him said that he's the best guy in the room," Thomas said on Daniel Cormier's YouTube channel. "I believe that he could possibly be the best 185-pound fighter in the world right now if he put his energy into actually fighting in the big fights. If he put the same amount of energy that he does on fighting YouTubers and having beef with other people, if he put that energy into fighting the top contenders in the big fights, he would be winning." Daniel Cormier brought up Strickland punching a regional fighter who beat his teammate while he was cornering at Tuff-N-Uff 145 as an example to explain why he thinks Strickland's mind isn't in the right place. "That's my point," Thomas said. "If he would take that energy, if he had that energy against DDP, he'd still have the belt. It's depressing. It's the fact that he's so in the weeds right now, he can't see the big picture, because when his career is over, he's going to look back and go, 'Damn.' He can't see it right now. He's a knucklehead, and I'm sure Eric Nicksick tells him all the time, 'Hey man, you've got to focus on your career, focus on doing the right things, because you're letting these dudes beat you, and you're better than them.' It's despicable."
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC's Caio Borralho would expect Sean Strickland-Israel Adesanya rematch to look same
Caio Borralho doesn't see a rematch between former UFC middleweight champions Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya going too differently. After three straight losses, Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) wants to run things back with Strickland, who dethroned him in a stunning upset title win at UFC 293. Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) was able to hurt Adesanya early en route to a unanimous decision win. If Adesanya does get his wish, top contender Borralho doesn't see him avenging that loss. "To be honest, I see it the same way, because Strickland – styles make fights, and Strickland is a guy that pressures a lot, and Izzy doesn't like to get pressured too much," Borralho told Submission Radio. "He moves a lot, moves very good in the octagon, but he needs the guy to throw with everything if the guy is pressuring him. But Sean Strickland doesn't throw everything. He touches. Maybe it could be different, but I think it's going to be the same thing. "Strickland is going to be marching forward, Izzy is going to try to guess which punch is coming with power, and then there will be no power, and then he's going to be a little bit confused. He's going to get touched a lot, and I think Strickland wins again. Not the Strickland that showed up against Dricus (Du Plessis), because that Strickland was not the Strickland that I know. So if Strickland really shows up to fight like he did the first time with Izzy, he wins this fight." Adesanya went on to drop two more fights to UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305, followed by a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 250 headliner in February.
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Manel Kape picks Kai Kara-France to beat 'too reckless, too sloppy' Alexandre Pantoja
Manel Kape predicts a new flyweight champion will be crowned at UFC 317. Alexandre Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) defends his flyweight title against Kai Kara-France (25-11 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in Saturday's co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pantoja has looked nearly unstoppable at 125 pounds, having already notched three title defenses over Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and most recently a submission of Kai Asakura at UFC 310. But with Kara-France's power, and Pantoja's walk-forward style, Kape (21-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) thinks the Brazilian will find himself in trouble. "Honestly, I see a potential win from Kai Kara-France," Kape told Inside Fighting. "I'm not going to lie. Pantoja is a great fighter, he's a great champion. I just see his game is getting too reckless, too sloppy, and I see the game of Kai Kara-France more composed. He has some power in his right hand. "I'm not saying he can knock down Pantoja. He has that power, but Pantoja is tough. But, I don't believe Pantoja takes him down, too. Kai Kara-France has been facing better grapplers than Pantoja like (Rogerio) Bontorin, Askar Askarov. So, that's my point. Unfortunately, my odds go to Kai Kara-France. That's my read on the fight." Kape, who's coming off a TKO of Asu Almabayev in the UFC Fight Night 253 headliner in March, has been eager to settle things with Kara-France after the pair have been beefing for almost two years now. Their back-and-forth stems from Kara-France withdrawing from their UFC 293 matchup, and Kape thinks their fight could finally be rebooked after UFC 317. "After this fight, we can run back me and Kai Kara-France," Kape said. "He's been saying a couple of things in interviews. He's getting that confidence because I'm not close to him." Kape was scheduled to compete at UFC 317 against Brandon Royval, but was replaced by Joshua Van after breaking his foot.
NZ Herald
13-06-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Blood Diamond on UFC exit, renewed reason for competing ahead of King in the Ring return
Standing inside the UFC octagon, sweat dripping from his forehead after three hard-fought rounds against American Charles Radtke, Blood Diamond knew what was to come. The disappointment was clear for the world to see as he awaited the decision at UFC 293 in Sydney; a decision that was going
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Paul Felder: David Goggins can help Israel Adesanya find next level of commitment and grit
Paul Felder: David Goggins can help Israel Adesanya find next level of commitment and grit Paul Felder sees David Goggins having a positive impact on Israel Adesanya. Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) has recently spent time training with former Navy SEAL Goggins, who put him through the trenches in a workout that resulted in the former UFC middleweight champion throwing up. With Adesanya currently on a three-fight losing skid, Felder thinks Goggins can reignite the fire in "The Stylebender." "Depending on what you're using it for, this could be a great thing for him," Felder said on the "Believe You Me" podcast. "Because if it's just to get your ass back in gear, get you motivated, and maybe push yourself to another level that you're not quite getting just doing your basic, everyday gym training, and you want to just kind of find out who you are, Goggins is the guy to pull that out of you. 'He's just going to torture you. He's going to make you find another level down there. And with somebody like Izzy, who's shown that he's still got the skills, whereas Tony (Ferguson), I see why that might have been something they were trying to pair up with each other to try to dig him out of the trenches, but I think he's just too far gone physically and in so many other ways, where (Goggins) wasn't able to really make him successful." Goggins' work with Tony Ferguson may have not yielded results, but his work with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones prior to his fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 certainly did. "Jones, I could see why Jon would want a guy like that around, a guy who maybe slips off and loses discipline," Felder said. "And Izzy maybe is having the same issues where he just needs to find that next level of commitment and grit more importantly." Adesanya is coming off a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night 250 in February. He recently caught the itch to compete again, and wants to avenge his loss to Sean Strickland, who dethroned him to become middleweight champion at UFC 293.
