Introduction
Busy few days in the fight game. Dricus du Plessis reminded everyone why he was champion, the Abu Dhabi card lost a main-eventer and gained a finisher, the light heavyweight dominoes kept falling all the way to Belgrade, and UFC 330 in Philadelphia is officially locked and loaded. Here's everything you need to know from the last 72 hours of MMA.
Contents
Du Plessis Steamrolls Usman, Demands Strickland Trilogy
Rountree Out, Guskov In for Abu Dhabi Main Event
Undefeated Stirling Steps Up Against Blachowicz in Belgrade
UFC 330: Makhachev vs. Machado Garry Locked In for Philly
Fatima Kline Cracks the Strawweight Top 10
Poirier to Chandler: "What Are You Doing?"
Du Plessis Steamrolls Usman, Demands Strickland Trilogy
Dricus du Plessis is back, and he made sure everybody knew it. The former middleweight champion overwhelmed Kamaru Usman for five rounds in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City on Saturday, sweeping the scorecards by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46 x2) at Paycom Center. It was Dricus at his relentless, awkward best — and it was his first outing since dropping the belt to Khamzat Chimaev last August.
Afterward, du Plessis wasted no time putting current champ Sean Strickland — who he's already beaten twice — on notice, saying a performance like that absolutely earns him another crack at the title. With Strickland fresh off dethroning Chimaev in May and Nassourdine Imavov still lurking, the middleweight title picture just got very crowded, very fast.
Rountree Out, Guskov In for Abu Dhabi Main Event
Saturday's UFC Fight Night at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (July 25) has a new main event. Khalil Rountree Jr. is out with an injury, and Bogdan Guskov — who was booked to fight a week later — has stepped up to face No. 1-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev in his first UFC main event.
Don't sleep on this one as a short-notice filler fight: Guskov has finished every single one of his 18 career wins, 13 of them in the very first round. Against a former champion looking to fight his way back to the belt, that's a live underdog with nothing to lose.
Undefeated Stirling Steps Up Against Blachowicz in Belgrade
The Guskov shuffle left former champ Jan Blachowicz without a dance partner for the UFC's first-ever trip to Serbia — but not for long. Unbeaten Kiwi prospect Navajo Stirling (10-0) takes the vacated slot and meets Blachowicz in the co-main event of UFC Belgrade on August 1.
It's a classic prospect-versus-legend setup: the 43-year-old Blachowicz leaning on veteran savvy against a City Kickboxing product who's 5-0 inside the octagon and coming off a second-round stoppage of Ion Cutelaba. Someone's 0 — or someone's era — has to go.
UFC 330: Makhachev vs. Machado Garry Locked In for Philly
UFC 330 hits Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena on August 15, and it's a double title-fight card. Welterweight king Islam Makhachev (28-1) makes his first defense of the 170-pound strap against Ian Machado Garry (17-1), who punched his ticket with back-to-back wins over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad. Makhachev is chasing history too — he's currently tied with Anderson Silva for the longest win streak the UFC has ever seen.
In the co-main, Mackenzie Dern puts the strawweight title on the line against grappling ace Gillian Robertson. Garry, for his part, says he's ready to shock the world against the pound-for-pound No. 1 — even Cain Velasquez weighed in this week, backing Makhachev to run through him. August 15 can't come soon enough.
Fatima Kline Cracks the Strawweight Top 10
Quietly having one of the best runs in women's MMA, Fatima Kline turned in another statement on the Oklahoma City card, comprehensively outpointing veteran Tabatha Ricci. The reward came Monday: a spot in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie strawweight top 10. Remember the name — at this trajectory, a ranked-contender fight is next, and a title conversation isn't far behind.
Poirier to Chandler: "What Are You Doing?"
Michael Chandler says he's done starving himself down to 155 and has bulked past 200 pounds while teasing a move to welterweight — and Dustin Poirier, of all people, is worried about him. Speaking on his Deep Waters show, Poirier said the quiet part out loud: "If 155ers are stopping you and you're taking all this damage, what are 170s gonna do? I want to know what he's fighting for."
It's hard to argue with the math. Chandler has dropped four straight and sits at 1-6 in his last seven, with the most recent loss a first-round stoppage against Mauricio Ruffy. Poirier — who buried the hatchet with his old rival long ago — would rather see "Iron" hang up the gloves than get welcomed to welterweight the hard way.
That's the wrap for today. With Ankalaev vs. Guskov going down Saturday in Abu Dhabi, there'll be plenty to talk about in the next roundup — see you then, fight fans.
References
Yahoo Sports — Dricus du Plessis overwhelms Kamaru Usman in UFC Oklahoma City main event
UFC.com — New UFC Abu Dhabi Main Event: Ankalaev vs Guskov
Bloody Elbow — UFC Belgrade new co-main event official as former champion gets replacement matchup
Yahoo Sports — USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, July 21: Fatima Kline enters top 10
BJPenn.com — Dustin Poirier baffled by Michael Chandler's welterweight tease