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Kamaru Usman contemplating ‘whether it’s worth continuing to do this’ after lopsided loss to Dricus du Plessis

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13 hours ago

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Kamaru Usman contemplating ‘whether it’s worth continuing to do this’ after lopsided loss to Dricus du Plessis

Kamaru Usman has a few losses on his record, but the former UFC welterweight champion is proud to say he usually made a good showing in every one of those fights. Following a lopsided loss to Dricus du Plessis in the UFC Oklahoma City main event, Usman questions whether he should continue fighting or not.

In the aftermath of his loss, Usman isn't spending much time thinking about whether he wants to stay at middleweight or return to welterweight; instead, making an honest assessment of his performance, the 39-year-old veteran says he needs to sit with his team and make a decision on booking another fight or possibly walking away from the sport for good.

“Right now, I just have to sit with the coaches, sit with the team, assess everything,†Usman said on his Pound-for-Pound podcast. “Assess the place where I'm at in my career. Just all in all, see whether it's worth continuing to do this. Whether it's worth continuing to put them through that.â€

Usman detailed how he's always made a good accounting for himself in past losses — including his initial rematch against Leon Edwards where he was cruising to a decision victory until he was caught with a stunning head kick in the final round.

Every loss is a tough pill to swallow, but Usman was proud he never looked overwhelmed or out of his league against any past opponent. While he doesn't feel like du Plessis just beat him up for five rounds, he understands that's the visual so many people saw this past Saturday night.

“Listen, I've never really gone out there and not represented them appropriately, myself and my coaches,†Usman said. “This one was a hard one because I felt like I didn't do that. The Khamzat [Chimaev] fight, it's like I took that on a week's notice and if I had two more rounds, it's iffy, who knows what could have happened. The Leon [Edwards rematch], I think I represented myself well until that last minute took that kick to the head. The third one, I probably shouldn't have been in there but I pushed it, I said you know what I'm hard-headed, I'm going to go in [and fight] and halfway through that fight I found myself again.

“There was something to build off of for those fights. This one to the untrained eye, looks like I bit off more than I could chew. Just a fair and honest assessment. Even though I may not feel that on the inside, it looked that way and I don't like that.â€

Usman didn't set a timetable on when he wants to decide what's next, but he knows difficult decisions likely await him in the future.

If he retires, Usman will go down as one of the greatest welterweights of all time and is a guaranteed UFC Hall of Famer. For now, he is waiting to speak to his coaches and teammates before coming to a decision about booking another fight or hanging up his gloves.

“I've got to really go back, sit with the team, sit with family and assess and decide,†Usman said. “This is just as difficult of a place to be, when we've achieved so much and you've got so much highs in the sport, when you start to feel the lows it's not that great.

“Because you hold yourself to a certain standard. So when you start to feel those things, it just puts you in a really difficult and really tough place to make a tough and potentially permanent decision.â€

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MMA

Gable Steveson returns to wrestling following UFC 329 debut win

Published

6 hours ago

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July 23, 2026

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Gable Steveson returns to wrestling following UFC 329 debut win
Gable
Steveson will return to the wrestling mat following his
triumphant debut in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Real American Freestyle announced Wednesday that the Olympic gold
medalist has been added to the lineup for RAF 12, where he will
meet former collegiate foe Anthony Cassioppi at Rocket Arena in
Cleveland on Aug. 22.

Gable Steveson returns to Real American Freestyle for RAF 12
matchup with Anthony Cassioppi after UFC 329 victory

After making his Octagon debut at
UFC 329, Steveson is returning for a wrestling matchup with RAF
before his next UFC fight. He will compete at RAF 12, which streams
on Fox Nation, marking the first anniversary of the promotion.

Steveson will enter the matchup with momentum on his side. The
decorated wrestler defeated Alexander
Romanov at RAF 9 in May before making a statement in his
Octagon debut at UFC 329, where he stopped Elisha
Ellison via first-round knockout to improve to 4-0 as a
professional.

Following his UFC 329 victory, Steveson said he hopes to return to
the Octagon this fall.

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MMA

CSAC’s Andy Foster: Herb Dean made right call in Pereira-Gane fight

Published

10 hours ago

on

July 23, 2026

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CSAC’s Andy Foster: Herb Dean made right call in Pereira-Gane fight
Andy
Foster believes Herb Dean made
the right call in the Ciryl Gane
vs. Alex
Pereira bout.

The California State Athletic Commission executive director
defended Dean’s handling of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship interim title bout between Gane
and Pereira. The
UFC Freedom 250 co-headliner ended in a technical knockout
victory for the Frenchman, but Pereira subsequently pointed out
that illegal back-of-the-head shots were pivotal in the finishing
sequence.

CSAC official says other referees would've done the same as
Herb Dean at UFC Freedom 250

Dean has faced immense scrutiny in recent weeks after Pereira
accused him of mishandling his loss to Gane. The spotlight has been
firmly on the veteran referee since the White House event, with
fans and fighters pointing out alleged errors in his past and
recent outings.

Pereira argues that Dean should have intervened after Gane landed
multiple punches to the back of his head before the finish.
However, Foster believes that the right call was made, claiming
that other high-profile referees would've also let the bout
continue.

“That looked like a normal fight to me,†Foster told MMA Fighting.
“There was no doubt a few of them got through and hit [the back of
the head]. The question is what do you do in that situation? Do you
stop the action? I don't think many referees would have, if any,
certainly at the high level.â€

Foster believes Dean handled the situation appropriately.

“I told Herb, in my view, you don't want to warn a lot of
times.â€

Foster then explained that halting the action for the fouls could
have unfairly altered the outcome by allowing Pereira time to
recover after being rocked with a legal shot.

“That's the dilemma,†Foster said. “So, what do you do? That is
exactly Herb's dilemma, and I think it's worse if he stops it.â€

He further added that the criticism aimed at Dean was excessive and
reiterated his full confidence in the longtime official.

“I think Herb Dean's a good referee,†Foster added. “You'll see
Herb Dean on the main event of my upcoming UFCs because Herb Dean
is the senior referee in California. Herb Dean has my full
confidence.â€

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MMA

Rankings Shakeup: Paddy Pimblett will not be denied

Published

12 hours ago

on

July 23, 2026

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Rankings Shakeup: Paddy Pimblett will not be denied

Love him or hate him. Overrated or underrated. Real deal or hype job. One thing is a fact about Paddy Pimblett right now: He's one of the 10 best lightweights in the world. And he ain't 10.

With the Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway main event falling flat, Pimblett was the unequivocal star of UFC 329. He needed just 52 seconds to choke out the surging Benoit Saint Denis, washing the bitter taste of a loss to Justin Gaethje that kicked off Pimblett's 2026 campaign—a loss that doesn't look so bad considering he lasted longer than Ilia Topuria did against Gaethje.

Pimblett silenced plenty of doubters just by cracking the top 15, so I'm curious to see what the #haters have to say about “The Baddy†making an undeniable contender statement. The MMA Fighting was so wowed by Pimblett's Submission of the Year candidate that he jumped all the way from No. 12 to No. 7 on our charts. Just ahead of him are PFL's Usman Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway, who has said he'd like to stick around at welterweight (though presumably only for a third fight with McGregor), so if you squint, you can see that Pimblett is actually top 5 if we're talking just UFC lightweights.

It's unlikely Pimblett gets another shot at Gaethje next, so he likely needs one more win over an elite 155er to cement his case. Depending how the cards shake out, that could mean a dance with presumptive No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan, “BMF†champion Charles Oliveira, or longtime rival Ilia Topuria.

Regardless of who it turns out to be, is it really wise to bet against Pimblett beating the odds again?

Check out MMA Fighting's updated lightweight rankings below following UFC 329.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Max Holloway def. Conor McGregor (welterweight bout), No. 12 Paddy Pimblett def. No. 7 Benoit Saint Denis, No. 14 Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Archie Colgan (PFL New York, July 31), No. 11 Mateusz Gamrot vs. No. 13 Quillan Salkilld (UFC Vegas 120, Aug. 8)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Beneil Dariush (1), Alfie Davis (1), Tom Nolan (1)

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