"I’m 100% backing Ilia Topuria” - Dricus du Plessis is behind ‘El Matador’ to defeat Alex Volkanovski at UFC 298 but showers ‘The Great’ in praise
Dricus du Plessis is confident that his friend, surging featherweight contender Ilia Topuria, will defeat Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 next year.
'El Matador' and Volkanovski are set to clash in February, 2024, for the 145-pound title, in what should be an incredible fight.
'The Great' recently faced off against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, where the featherweight champion suffered his first KO defeat in the promotion. But Volkanovski voiced his interest in facing Ilia Topuria as soon as possible, and the pair will clash in less than four months.
While Dricus du Plessis did not share a final prediction for the fight, he expressed his confidence in 'El Matador' to defeat Alexander Volkanovski, during a recent interview with James Lynch.
'Stillknocks' said:
"I'm a massive fan [of Volkanovski], he's an incredible fighter. Against Ilia Topuria, a good friend of mine, we fought on the same card on our debuts and we had the same trajectory to the title. So I am 100% backing Ilia Topuria in the fight."
Listen to Dricus du Plessis' comments below from 21:25:
Dricus du Plessis shares thoughts on Israel Adesanya's break from MMA
Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya once appeared likely to square off at UFC 293.
Following the South African's KO victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, he shared a heated face-off with Adesanya in the octagon that all but scheduled a clash between the pair.
But Du Plessis was unable to commit to fighting at UFC 293 due to injury, and 'The Last Stylebender' took on Sean Strickland instead.
Strickland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year after he dominated Adesanya for five rounds, and was crowned the new middleweight champion.
A month after his defeat, Israel Adesanya announced that he would be taking an extended break from MMA. While he jested that he may only return in 2027, his genuine timeline is still unknown.
During the aforementioned interview with James Lynch, Dricus du Plessis was asked to share his thoughts on Adesanya's decision to step away from competing. 'Stillknocks' said this:
"[Adesanya] was active. As a champion, he showed up and didn't shy away from fights. He fought everybody, some people twice. He deserves some time away from the sport. He said 2027... If he comes back in 2027, he's going to get hurt. You shouldn't do that." [20:00-20:23]
Du Plessis continued:
"Take some time off. Maybe a year, that will be good for him. He earned that as one of the best to ever do it in the middleweight division." [20:25-20:32]