Dricus du Plessis points to Israel Adesanya’s last fight while previewing their UFC 305 clash: “If I catch him with that shot, it's over”
Dricus du Plessis is full of confidence heading into his middleweight title fight with Israel Adesanya, which is set to headline UFC 305. The South African previewed his upcoming clash, reflecting on Adesanya's previous fight, a loss to Sean Strickland.
Du Plessis' believes he is a level above Strickland, which likely stems from his personal experience in the octagon with 'Tarzan', whom he defeated at UFC 297 to win the middleweight title.
'The Last Stylebender' has not competed since his defeat to Strickland, where he was dropped for the first time in his UFC career in the first round. 'Stillknocks' reflected on the shocking moment while previewing UFC 305 on mainevent, stating that he would have KO'd Adesanya had that been him:
"If I landed that shot that Sean Strickland landed, the fight was over right there 100%. We know Strickland is not a power puncher, I felt. Strickland is an incredibly good boxer, boxing is really good. Very awkward... But he doesn't have that power."
He continued:
"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."
Watch Dricus du Plessis' interview below (14:18):
Israel Adesanya will be his best version to date against Dricus du Plessis, says Alex Volkanovski
Israel Adesanya will return from his lengthy hiatus from MMA to take on Dricus du Plessis in a highly anticipated middleweight title fight. The pair will headline UFC 305, set to take place in Perth, Australia, with the South African wading into enemy territory to defend his belt.
With 'The Last Stylebender' having taken care of several lagging injuries during his time away from competition, he has returned as a bigger, more powerful version of his old self, according to teammate Dan Hooker.
Another teammate of Adesanya's, Alexander Volkanovski, recently shared a prediction for the UFC 305 title clash. He believes the former champion will paint his best picture yet and expects a performance akin to his demolition of Paulo Costa at UFC 253.
'The Great' told talkSPORT:
"We're gonna see him coming back; I think he's gonna look incredible. Dricus is a tough guy, great fighter. But I think this Israel that's gonna turn up is gonna be one of those, you know when he comes back and you see a Paulo Costa performace, or even the first Robert Whittaker performance."
Watch Volkanovski preview Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya below (6:15):