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Dricus du Plessis says Kamaru Usman needed convincing to sign fight

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Dricus du Plessis says Kamaru Usman needed convincing to sign fight
Dricus Du
Plessis has accused former
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Kamaru
Usman of delaying their bout.

While Usman and du Plessis are now confirmed to be squaring off at

UFC Oklahoma City on July 18, the latter claims “The Nigerian
Nightmare†wasn't keen on the matchup. Ahead of the two former
champions' clash, du Plessis has revealed that the UFC had to
convince Usman to sign the contract.

Dricus Du Plessis claims Kamaru Usman didn't want UFC fight
contract

The UFC Oklahoma City main event announcement was left until the
11th hour, despite du Plessis claiming weeks earlier that he'd been
offered a fight and was waiting for his opponent to sign the
contract. With the Fight Night headlining bout now confirmed,
“Stillknocks†has opened up about how it came together.

“He didn't want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact,†du
Plessis said in an interview with Fight Forecast. “I spoke to the
UFC and they said, ‘We finally convinced him to sign.' If you need
convincing to sign, that's a problem, but I can't blame him. I
would also not want to fight me right now. It would be the smart
move not to sign the fight, but let's go.â€

While Usman is a couple of years removed from his dominant
welterweight title run, du Plessis isn't counting out the
Nigerian-American, especially considering how Usman's teammate
Justin
Gaethje defeated the far younger Ilia
Topuria at
UFC Freedom 250.

“We've been talking about the fight for a long time. He's mentioned
the fight way before we made the fight and I said, ‘Well, cool.
I'll take that fight.' Now people will say, ‘Why don't you fight
[Nassourdine] Imavov?' I don't mind that fight either,†he added.
“I want to fight somebody that gets me to my title again. Kamaru
Usman, yes, he's a bit older, but now you look at what [Justin]
Gaethje just did, so that throws that argument out the window
immediately.â€

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MMA

Just Scrap Radio Ep. 230 with Dan Ige and Drakkar Klose

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Just Scrap Radio Ep. 230 with Dan Ige and Drakkar Klose

The 230th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com, with host Cole Shelton, is live to preview Noche UFC on Saturday.

We're joined by UFC bantamweight Dan Ige (0:00). We close things out by talking to UFC lightweight Drakkar Klose (14:26).

Dan Ige opens up the show to talk about his Noche UFC scrap against David Martinez. Dan chats about moving down to bantamweight and when that idea first came together. He then talks about the practice cut to 135lbs. Dan then talks about whether or not he was surprised to get a top-ranked opponent like Martinez, and why he actually called for this fight and event. He then talks about the style matchup, fresh matchups at 135lbs and what a win does for him here.

Drakkar Klose then closes out the program to talk about his Noche UFC fight against Tommy Gantt. Drakkar talks about another year-long layoff due to injury and when he was fully cleared to return. He then talks about how familiar he was with his opponent and whether or not it caught him by surprise. Drakkar then chats about the style matchup and wanting to bring Tommy into deep waters. Drakkar then talks about what a win does for him and wanting the Beneil Dariush rematch.

Be sure to tune in every Tuesday for another episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN as Cole Shelton chats with fighters to help preview or recap their fights.

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Stay locked to BJPENN.com all week for your Noche UFC coverage.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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MMA

Ex-UFC stars new career takes wild turn during traffic stop

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Ex-UFC star's new career takes wild turn during traffic stop
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Marlon
Moraes now deals with real-world situations, as seen in a
recent South Florida traffic stop.

Viral footage circulating on social media shows Moraes, now working
as a police officer, dealing with a motorist who repeatedly
confronted and verbally challenged him. After several warnings to
back away, the man moved toward Moraes, who responded by taking him
to the ground.

Marlon Moraes hip tosses motorist while working as South
Florida police officer

The incident took place on March 27. Moraes joined the Davie Police
Department in Florida in June 2024 before taking a position with
the Coral Springs P.D. later that year.

In the viral footage, the situation escalates after the motorist
repeatedly insults Moraes and another officer. Moraes warns him
against moving closer before eventually using a hip toss to bring
him to the ground, where other officers move in to handcuff
him.

The incident adds another chapter to Moraes’ unusual post-fighting
career, which has seen him transition into law enforcement while
also returning to mixed martial arts competition. The Brazilian
exited the UFC in 2023 on a seven-fight losing streak. He defeated
Maximiliano
Perez by unanimous decision on Aug. 28, returning to
competition after three years to record his first victory since
2019.

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MMA

Shavkat Rakhmonov admits UFC return is far from guaranteed

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Shavkat Rakhmonov admits UFC return is far from guaranteed
Shavkat
Rakhmonov isn’t ready to say that his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career is over, but the unbeaten
welterweight admits his return is far from guaranteed.

Rakhmonov has been sidelined since defeating Ian Garry in
December 2024. He entered that bout with a knee injury and it left
a long-lasting impact. In a new interview, he reflected on the
fight and where he stands in the 170-pound division.

Shavkat Rakhmonov details the knee injury that has kept him
sidelined since beating Ian Garry

“Nomad†admits that he should not have competed with his injury. He
also took a shot at Dagestani stars Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Islam
Makhachev, claiming they would never fight injured.

“Well, that's my problem; I couldn't fight,†Rakhmonov told Alf
Global. “If I had fought, I could've become champion, but that's
how it turned out. I was injured. What can I do? We are only human.
I actually shouldn't even have fought Ian Garry at
all. With injuries like that, I shouldn't have fought at all; I
just took a risk. That's the Kazakh way. Kazakhs are very daring.
They're not afraid. If it had been some other Dagestani fighter
like Khabib or Islam Makhachev, they definitely would've
refused.â€

Rakhmonov then delved deeper into how his injury worsened during
the Garry fight.

“I already had an injury going into the Ian Garry fight,†he added.
“I stepped in; I hadn't fought for a year; I wanted to fight. That
old injury was still bothering me a lot. My leg was swollen. And
when he was striking me, it was probably because I completely
lacked a ligament. I couldn't really feel that strike, in
general.â€

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