Dricus du Plessis talks UFC 300, ex-rival predicts Khamzat Chimaev's future, Conor McGregor out of highest-paid list: MMA News Roundup
Does Dricus du Plessis want to fight at UFC 300? How good is Khamzat Chimaev as a middleweight contender?
Sportskeeda's MMA News Roundup is back with the answers to some of the most raging questions of the day.
Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 300
Featuring on UFC 300 isn't the most important thing for Dricus du Plessis.
Speaking with Jacaranda FM, the South African shed light on his immediate plan and when he expects to meet Israel Adesanya inside the octagon.
"Right now, we need to be smart and defend this belt when it suits us. UFC 300 obviously gonna be a milestone event. I would love to be part of that but not if that means I’m not gonna be fully recovered. Defending my title is much more important to me than being on this milestone event. The real milestone event will be UFC in Africa...That’s history. UFC 300 is just a number. It’s not as massive as UFC Africa."
Fortunately, Adesanya has also been vocal for a while about hosting an event in Africa. Although the two fighters don't see eye to eye much, this is definitely one thing they both could get on board with.
Jack Hermansson weighs in on Khamzat Chimaev's middleweight future
Jack Hermansson, who takes on Joe Pyfer at next Saturday's UFC Vegas 86, talked about Khamzat Chimaev in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA.
The Swedish-Norwegian faced the Chechen in a freestyle wrestling match previously and spoke from experience on how 'Borz' would fare in the middleweight division:
"I did a wrestling match with Khamzat and I trained with him several times. He's definitely up there skill-wise, and no doubt he can be great... But I can agree that he hasn't been tested in this division yet. He's only had one fight against a proper middleweight, which is Gerald Meerschaert, so I can understand people want to see him against a few more opponents before he gets a title shot."
Catch Jack Hermansson's comments below (4:43):
Conor McGregor is not on the 2023 list of highest-paid athletes
The 2023 list of highest-paid athletes was published by Sportico on Feb. 7, 2024.
Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list with a total income of $275 million, followed by golfer Jon Rahm and soccer rival Lionel Messi. The highest-ranked combat sports athlete on the list is Canelo Alvarez at No.17, having earned $66 million last year. Surprisingly, heavyweight giants like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are behind him, raking in $55 million and $40 million respectively in 2023.
Jake Paul, Gervonta Davis, and Ryan Garcia are also in the top 100, but Conor McGregor is nowhere to be seen. Once the top name on the Forbes list of richest athletes, the Irishman's incomes seem to have taken a hit, sitting out of action for nearly three years now.