MMA HEADLINES

Dricus du Plessis | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Dricus du Plessis is setting the record straight about his health and upcoming bout status. Rumors have swirled this week regarding a potential injury to the UFC middleweight champion, with potential title challengers Khamzat Chimaev and Caio Borralho calling du Plessis out for allegedly not being available to defend his belt. Du Plessis responded to the rumors in a statement released to social media Thursday. “[OK], so everyone had their opinions and rumors and stories about a shin break and injuries etc. “I found it all very entertaining, unfortunately none of it is true myself and [UFC] already discussed a fight date and opponent, the June fight was never signed I did not pull out of any fight, I am the champion I know when I fight you as a contender just show up when we tell you to. Fight announcement coming soon stay tuned.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by MMA Fighting (@mmafighting) Du Plessis did not provide an estimated timetable for when his next title fight announcement will be made nor when the actual booking will take place, but by his account he plans to defend again in 2025. The South African star most recently defended his belt in a rematch against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 this past February. Du Plessis (23-2) won a unanimous decision over a listless Strickland to record his second straight title defense following a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya at UFC 312. He has won all nine of his UFC appearances. In all likelihood, it will be the undefeated Chimaev or Borralho who gets their shot at du Plessis. Chimaev is yet to lose in 14 pro bouts and has finished all but one of his opponents, while Borralho is on a 17-fight unbeaten streak including a 7-0 UFC mark.

Tai Tuivasa | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Tai Tuivasa has some slimming down to do before his next fight. The veteran heavyweight contender is currently mired in a five-fight slump and is yet to be booked for a fight in 2025. That’s likely to remain true for the remainder of the year as the 32-year-old Australian admitted in an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show that while he hopes to resume his career soon, he’s well over the limit for his division. “I’m going to go back into the cage,” Tuivasa said. “I’m going to aim for the start of next year.” “Look at me, I need to get back in the gym,” he continued. “I need to get ready. I’ll be 140 kg [approx. 308 pounds], easy. It’s big, whatever it is, I don’t know, it’s big.” Tuivasa has a lot of work to do in and out of the cage to reach his goals. Following a surge of wins from 2020-2022 that saw him rattle off five straight knockouts, he now finds himself slipping in the other direction. Since a knockout of Derrick Lewis that put him on the cusp of title contention, Tuivasa has fallen to contenders Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Tuivasa’s slump is a major reason why he decided not to rush back into competition after fighting this past August. “Definitely, that’s why I needed this break,” Tuivasa said. “I feel much better now I’ve had this break. It’s kind of grounded me a little bit in what I want to do. I’ve been going hard in my businesses and stuff like that, so it’s definitely given me some time away from training and from fighting, but we’re fighters, so it’s naturally in me and I’m kind of missing it now. “I definitely want to get back into it, but I want to come back and I’ve got something to prove. I’m not done yet.” The loss to Rozenstruik was particularly disheartening as Tuivasa put on a listless three-round performance before losing a decision (a split call only thanks to an egregious scorecard from Howie Booth that resulted in Booth immediately being relieved of his judging duties for the evening). Tuivasa doesn’t just regret losing, he regrets going to a decision at all. “I think after the last fight where I was like, ‘F*ck, I should have smashed him,’ I was like, ‘I need a break to get back to why I want to do this,’” Tuivasa said. “Winning is winning and losing is losing, but going out there, it takes a toll on you, it takes a toll on your team, I needed to just get back to ground level. I kind of feel like I’m back there now. The only thing is I’ve got a bit of kilos on.” TOP STORIES OK. Ian Machado Garry calls himself “more Brazilian” than Brazil’s Carlos Prates. Lies. Chael Sonnen now claims Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall isn’t a done deal. Done. Fans are beyond over it with Conor McGregor comeback talk. Really Done. Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against UFC, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar appears to finally be over—and not in Hunt’s favor. Smashing. Dwayne Johnson explains why he wanted to play Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine. VIDEO STEW Damon Martin chats with upcoming UFC Des Moines headliner Cory Sandhagen. Jed Meshew does Submission Radio. Harsh headline, but… Jon Anik and Kenny Florian look ahead to UFC Kansas City. UFC Kansas City media day. FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR MMA Fighting’s 2025 MMA Draft. The crew picks 28 fighters to lead their promotions into the future—and yes, GFL is involved. No Bets Barred. Jed Meshew brings you the best bets to spice up the UFC’s return to Kansas City this Saturday. SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE Jersey game on point. Media day pic.twitter.com/v6t1takgl2— David A. Onama (@DavidOnama145) April 22, 2025 The most wholesome thing going right now. Max Holloway and The Korean Zombie enjoying their time together in Korea @KoreanZombieMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/r5A6dlowjc— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 23, 2025 Give him a chance. Y’all should initiate me into the gang https://t.co/AzRPrOaTIg pic.twitter.com/0cnDPs42kk— Tyson Nam (@TysonNam) April 23, 2025 Crazy. pic.twitter.com/oR3Klx0196— Knockout of the day (@KOofTheDAY) April 22, 2025 One way to get back. Give me a call @ufc https://t.co/pOOyPWbIYu— Kyle Daukaus (@KyleDaukaus) April 23, 2025 These always crack me up. Training VS Reality pic.twitter.com/bhaxHwrsKP— Rico Verhoeven (@RicoVerhoeven) April 23, 2025 FINAL THOUGHTS Unlike usual, nothing profound to say here, just make sure you listen to our latest promotional draft. And don’t vote for Damon and GFL! EXIT POLL If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out. We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form. Today’s UFC in-5 game If you can’t see the game due to Apple News or another service, click this game article. Previous games Wednesday, April 23, 2025Tuesday, April 22, 2025Monday, April 21, 2025 Play more SB Nation in-5 trivia games NFL in-5MLB in-5 The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day. After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

Ian Machado Garry | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC The UFC is back! This Saturday, the UFC returns after a week off for its third trip to Kansas City, with a dynamite welterweight matchup between Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates headlining the card. UFC Kansas City also features the retirement fight for Anthony Smith, and a stacked main card, so, of course, No Bets Barred is here to break it all down. This week, host Jed Meshew flies solo to break down all the action. Topics discussed include a brief recap of his successful UFC 314 venture, who he likes in the main event between Garry and Prates, whether or not Smith can end his career on a high note, which underdogs are worth a look at on Saturday, the latest step in The Climb, the majestic Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Eddie Hall matchup over at KSW, and more. Tune in for episode 125 of No Bets Barred. New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Ian Machado Garry has definitely embraced the Brazilian culture since moving there to work with the famed Chute Boxe team and he believes the country loves him right back. In fact, the Irish welterweight expects Brazil to side with him in his UFC Kansas City main event fight against Carlos Prates on Saturday. While Prates continues to seek his biggest vices from outside the country, Garry says he’s welcomed everything that Brazil has offered him thus far and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “Look the dude smokes American cigarettes. Drinks Irish whiskey,” Garry said about Prates during UFC Kansas City media day. “Meanwhile, I’m in Brazil having [acai and paçoquinha]. I’m more Brazilian than this guy. I’ve got his whole country wanting me to win.” Garry addressing his adoration for Brazil came after he was asked about Prates openly admitting that he still smokes cigarettes regularly before and after his fights. While his bad habits haven’t hurt Prates in the UFC thus far considering he’s scored four knockouts in his first four performances with the promotion, Garry knows that he’s never going to carry himself that way. “That’s his life choice,” Garry said. “That’s nothing for me to get involved in. He can do whatever he wants with his life and we can all sit here and talk about it. At the end of the day on Saturday night, you step into that octagon with someone who’s a complete professional. “I’m going to manhandle him in every way, shape and form that I want. I will manipulate him and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.” Garry also addressed some prior comments he made about Prates when he called him a “quitter” after watching one of his early fights before earning a UFC contract. The remark ended up earning a fiery response from Prates but Garry doesn’t care much what his opponent has to say about him. In Garry’s opinion, he was just offering analysis on one of Prates’ past fights and his opponent can’t deny what actually happen. “I like to do my job and watch my opponents and watch their fights,” Garry said. “I analyze. Look his team is called the Fighting Nerds. They do the same thing. They’ve never seen a fight where I quit before. So when I saw that, he put his hand in the air, he waved at the ref and said ‘I’m done.’ I have never seen that in MMA. “That showed the true Carlos Prates as well. When the going gets tough he quits and on Saturday night, I’m going to put him in that position where he has to choose if he wants to quit.” For all the hype and attention that’s been paid to Prates since first arriving in the UFC, Garry knows he’s by far the toughest opponent the Brazilian has faced. The same can’t be said when Garry looks at his resume and then compares the level of talent he’s faced in the UFC versus what Prates has accomplished thus far. “I want to prove I’m the best against everyone and I think Carlos is up there,” Garry said. “When you look at my previous opponents, I don’t think he’s as awkward as [Michael ‘Venom’ Page]. I don’t think he’s as fast as MVP. I don’t think he’s as well-rounded as Shavkat [Rakhmonov] and I think obviously because of the awkwardness because I’m long and tall, he doesn’t have the stylistic irritation that Geoff Neal does. For me, this is a guy I can go out there and put on full display that I’m just levels and levels above him.” Prates may have an impressive highlight reel through his first four fights in the UFC but don’t expect Garry to be impressed until he sees something truly special. Judging by his opinion on Prates and his skill set, Garry definitely hasn’t witnessed that yet. “This guy is a one-trick pony,” Garry said. “He’s got a left hand, he’s got a left knee and he’s got a left leg. They’re all on one side. I’ve got everything I need. I can beat him everywhere for every second of this fight and that’s what I’m doing Saturday night.”