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    MMA News wrap-up: UFC Kansas City fallout, Dricus du Plessis silences the trolls, more

    https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zBGpufvwxM_HKWlZrX79nLfRdJ8=/0x304:7958x4470/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25972907/2212171351.jpg

    Ian Machado Garry | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

    UFC Kansas City had no shortage of storylines, with Ian Machado Garry triumphant, Anthony Smith retired, and several names taking advantage of the chance to impress outside of the comfy confines of the APEX.

    Garry bounced back from a competitive loss to the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, but not everyone was impressed with how he pulled off the win. After coming out strong in the first three rounds and controlling the action against a struggling Carlos Prates, "The Future" ran into trouble at the end of Round 4. Prates' highly vaunted knockout power finally emerged and he put a scare in Garry, which led to him pouring it on in the fifth round and seemingly being moments away from a finish.

    With 30 seconds remaining, Garry hung on for the win—or Prates let him off the hook—to keep his championship hopes alive. According to UFC CEO Dana White, the promotion has officially designated Garry as the backup for the upcoming UFC 315 welterweight title main event between champion Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. But if our reader reaction is any indication, fans aren't sold on Garry reaching for gold just yet.

    Check out the best responses to UFC Kansas City and the rest of the week's biggest stories below.

    semantic5
    such a strange ending. I know he was exhausted, but prates had enough energy to move his position, and even get up, but not throw a punch or hammer fist on the two or three clear fight ending opportunities in that last sequence. It's like his brain just couldn't connect the dots.

    RonDoLee
    Garry was very lucky in the 5th. Too many takedown attempts and his arms were gone in the 4th. He was much more effective standing and would have been more effective if he would have faked a few of those takedown attempts. But he was much better than I thought.

    aceknighthigh
    Absolutely shameful from Prates. Dude is fradulent....no cardio at all, complete Marlon Vera shit. He had Ian hurt and desperate. Garry was crawling on his knees to the fence at one point and Prates refused to throw or was too tired in a fight he barely did anything in.
    3-2 Ian.
    Oh, and this is why Ian's point fighting straight is dumb. When you have a guy shut out, expand on your lead to keep them out of the fight. His corner was telling him all this crap about jab and grab, wait to shoot your takedowns, and he nearly got knocked out by a guy he was outclassing.

    Swampwalker
    UFC is becoming the king of point fighters.. future Champs are going to destroy the Org.. No wonder Dana is seeking a TV deal with no more PPV's.

    EmeraldConfusion
    Neither dude deserves a title ahot

    nuts!!!
    Garry tries to give the fight away. Big enough lead on points, though.
    Don't want to see either of these guys again against top 5 guys.

    Dricus du Plessis releases statement on injury rumors, fight announcement

    We never reported it, but there were a lot of folks spreading the news that Dricus du Plessis was not only unavailable to defend his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 317, he might not fight until 2026.

    DDP wrote a post telling everyone to cut it with the fake news and it was well-received.

    MIldoggyMan
    I mean...Yea?
    But this also comes across as an empty CYA statement. I'm coming around on DDP, but like I said from the start..he better stay healthy because Chimaev is the biggest name in the division.
    I don't want anyone hurt... But if they can delay DDP-Chaimaev, get and interim on him first, and turn that into a unification? That goes from big fight to monster fight

    Nicolas Caged
    I'm hearing that his leg was broken, but he took the advice of Dr. Rock and put some Robitussin on it. Now it's all better. So many rumors swirling around, and I think we're about 8 weeks away from International Fight Week. Still don't know who's fighting. Either the UFC likes to keep us in the dark or they still don't know what is going on themselves. Either way, I don't like it.

    MMAfanaticNumber1
    Amazing trolling lol

    Chael Sonnen: Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall 'is agreed, all the way down to the date'

    But then...

    Chael Sonnen shoots down own Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall report, claims Aspinall opponent booked

    In the span of 24 hours, professional truth-twister Chael Sonnen said he knew for sure Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall had a date for their heavyweight championship unification bout and then fact-checked himself saying Aspinall is actually fighting someone else.

    As always, Sonnen's comments need to be taken with more than a grain of salt.

    SwitchStanceStrikingAndSlickSubs
    So this fight's never happening then, huh?

    semantic5
    Both men could be stood across from each other in the octagon, awaiting the first bell, and Chael saying the fight is happening would cast doubt on the whole thing.
    Chael and facts were never friends, never.

    iamthekeyboardwarrior
    Chael and DC. Two windbags that never shut up, act like they know everything, usually wrong and you can't escape them because they are everywhere.

    Daddydaft
    "The current plan right now, Tom Aspinall vs.Ciryl Ganefor the interim championship"
    If this is actually true then I can no longer defend this sport. What an absolute laughing stock the org has become if this actually is scheduled. I'm holding onto hope that Chael is just citing shitty sources again.
    We've got an interim champ who will have defended his interim belt twice, before fighting the undisputed champion.. Who is supposedly requesting a 6 month delay on the fight, even though this absolute douche cannoli has already had all the time in the world by fighting twice in a five year span.

    ithertz
    Tom will get the record for HW title defenses before fighting for the undisputed title

    Belal Muhammad scoffs at Ilia Topuria getting immediate title shot, Islam Makhachev has 'nothing to gain' from that fight

    Belal Muhammad unsurprisingly backs up his boy Islam Makhachev not anointing Ilia Topuria as the No. 1 contender. And honestly, fans are also divided on "La Leyenda" receiving an immediate lightweight title shot.

    TopTierPlatypus
    Topturo doesn't make any sense for a titleshot unless he gets a top 10 LW win first. He needs to beat either Arman or Paddy to prove himself.
    Islam already beat the "FW GOAT" twice and ppl still diminish his accomplishments. It's just another high risk low reward situation for him. The champ deserves better.

    MMAfanaticNumber1
    Shut up Belal, you just upset because no one remembers your name

    LaRusso
    Belal is right. It's an awesome fight and I'm a big fan of Islam and Topuria, but it doesn't do much for Islam if he beats another featherweight. Like he said, Islam still has Gaethje, Arman, maybe Paddy, all waiting for him. Topuria had a lot of challengers at 145 too that he didn't face. It's not crazy or asking too much to make Topuria fight a top dude at 155. I think Topuria was riding high (as he should) after beating Max and Volk, but he might have jumped the gun vacating his belt.

    Brotherwu
    The UFC likes to strike while the iron is hot and the islam/ilya is arguably the fight to make from a financial standpoint. But if Ilya came out and smoked a top 7 LW, it would lay a lot of doubts to rest and legitimize his claim to a title shot.
    It would probably entail too much time and risk for the UFC. The gain in ppv buys now vs in 1 yr would also probably be marginal. If it was projected to be 2x, they might wait, but doubt it.
    I'm ok with whomever Islam fights, there are different challenges out there for him.
    For some reason, I want to see paddy/Ilya. I don't think paddy is quite top tier (yet?) but he's got size and reasonably decent skills. I'd be happy however that fight played out.

    SexyFatGuy
    I 100% agree with Belal here. Ilia should have to prove it with at least one top 5 fight.
    Even Ilia's buddy Merab acknowledged he might lose to Charles. Though he was stating it in a way that the UFC then loses a big fight.
    Beyond what Belal said, I would hope for 2 fights before a title shot. A top 10, then a top 5, then a title shot if he wins those.
    I would like to see Paddy for Ilia's next bout. The build up would be awesome.

    TexMexSupreme
    He...kinda makes sense. Really.

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