Du Plessis Vows To Stop Adesanya – ‘If I Catch Him, It’s Over’
Dricus Du Plessis is optimistic that he will beat Israel Adesanya.
Du Plessis defends his UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 305 on August 17 from the RAC Arena In Perth, Australia, in the first defense of his belt. He won the belt with a controversial split decision win against Sean Strickland at UFC 297, with Dana White even feeling Sean had done enough to win. Meanwhile, Adesanya’s last fight took place at UFC 293 against Strickland.
Strickland upset the odds by winning a unanimous decision as Adesanya lost his middleweight title. After the loss, Adesanya said he would take some time off. His focus was to fight for fun, not belts. However, that has changed as he aims to regain his middleweight title. Their kick-off presser was fiery, with both refusing to break eye contact during the face off. They only backed away once security separated them slowly. But Du Plessis remained confident that he would beat his man.
Du Plessis Reacts
“If I landed that shot that Sean Strickland landed (at UFC 293), the fight was over right there 100 percent. We know Strickland is not a power puncher. Strickland is an incredibly good boxer, boxing is really good. Very awkward. But he doesn’t have that power. He put (Adesanya) down, I honestly thought the fight was gonna be over. But yeah, if I catch him with that shot it’s over,” Du Plessis said
If he does manage to do that, the attention will turn towards his next challenger. Strickland was unlucky in not securing an immediate rematch. However, he has since then bounced back. He defeated Paulo Costa at UFC 302 via a split decision. However, the scorecards were controversial with many seeing it as a unanimous win for Sean. Strickland has been linked with facing Robert Whittaker next.
Du Plessis’ Future Fights
Whittaker also lost to Du Plessis but has won his last two fights, beating Costa and Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Saudi Arabia. The win over Aliskerov was particularly impressive since his opponent is a KO artist. But Whittaker ended proceedings with a first-round stoppage win. There is now a suggestion that it could be Strickland vs. Whittaker for the right to face Du Plessis. If they square off, Du Plessis will pick Whittaker to win.
“The fact that I really honestly can’t say off the bat means it’s gonna be a great fight. I honestly think it’s going to come down to the same thing, imposing game plans. If you let Strickland walk forward like he did with Paulo Costa and like he did with Israel Adesanya, if you give him that space and that momentum, it’s really really hard to take it back and it’s really hard to swing that fight. So, to make sure that Rob fights his fight. If Rob can do his blitzes the way he does then I think he takes that fight. I think it comes down to a wrestling and clinch game and I think Rob wins that fight,” Du Plessis stated
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