UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis got a good laugh out of Darren Till’s recent attempt to impart some wisdom to Israel Adesanya.
Du Plessis is currently on Australian soil for his first defense of the 185-pound gold, which he wrested from the grasp of Sean Strickland at the UFC 297 pay-per-view in Canada this past January.
Seven months on, the South African titleholder will finally share the Octagon with Israel Adesanya over a year on from the start of their bitter feud. They’re tasked with headlining UFC 305 inside the RAC Arena in Perth.
Ahead of his attempt to achieve a record third middleweight crowning, Adesanya recently received some advice from a former opponent of the champ’s. Till, who was submitted by Du Plessis in his final UFC fight in December 2022, took to X in an attempt to outline how “The Last Stylebender” can get the better of “Stillknocks.”
Having had his attention turned to the tweet, Du Plessis had one poignant question — if you know how to do it, what stopped you at UFC 282?
Du Plessis Laughs Off Till’s UFC 305 Advice For Adesanya
During a fight week interview with Fox Sports’ mainevent, Du Plessis was asked if he had seen Till’s attempt to pass down some helpful tips to Adesanya from his experience sharing the cage with the current champion.
The South African sent a reminder about how their fight played out 20 months ago, before making a jibe about the post-match brawl Till was involved in following his disappointing combat sports return in a Dubai-held boxing match in early July.
“See, I did hit him hard,” Du Plessis said. “And he seemed to forget — he said he beat me after two rounds. I think in the first round, the strike (count) was 61 strikes for me and zero for me. Then the second round, he had a good round until I took him down. In the third round, I just outstruck him, took him down, and finished him.
“I mean, I appreciate it, Darren Till is trying other — I know he got taken down by a boxer in the boxing ring. I assume he’s trying a different career path of coaching, so let’s see how that goes,” Du Plessis sarcastically continued. “He should probably mention, ‘Try to defend the takedown or your neck,’ because he didn’t. What’s the guy saying? It was ridiculous. If you saw it that good, why didn’t you do anything about it?”
Till’s gaze has evidently remained on the upcoming showdown between his former opponent and Adesanya Down Under.
More recently, “The Gorilla” once again commented on Du Plessis’ style after seeing a clip from the South African’s open workout in Perth. The ex-UFC fighter described the champ’s striking as “so sh*t that it works.”
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