A lot has changed since Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis first faced off inside the Octagon at UFC 290 last year.
The middleweight title has been exchanged between them without them fighting inside the Octagon, but that changes at UFC 305 on August 17.
At the time, Adesanya would have been considered to be a big favorite against the challenger, even after Du Plessis stunned the MMA world by stopping Robert Whittaker.
However, the South African fighter then went on to defeat Sean Strickland for the 185-pound belt. This was after “The Last Stylebender” was convincingly beaten by the short-notice title challenger Strickland at UFC 293, making this upcoming fight very different.
One of the biggest arguments that can be made for the champion retaining the title in Perth is the awkward timing and movement that Du Plessis brings into the cage.
We saw how Strickland was able to stifle Adesanya’s offense and whilst Du Plessis may not have the same defensive ability, he’s very unpredictable.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, the former two-time champion said that he doesn’t expect this to be a problem for him despite “Stillknocks” presenting some issues.
He compared him to a former opponent of his in Marvin Vettori, who Adesanya has faced and beaten twice, with one added element to his game.
“A bit like Vettori to be honest but he’s just more of a risk taker than Vettori. So yeah, I don’t think I’ll have an issue dealing with what he brings but it’s the intangibles, the unknown unknowns. He takes way more risks than Vettori so that’s what makes him really dangerous.”
Israel Adesanya Says Du Plessis Fight Isn’t Personal Despite ‘Blasphemous’ Comments
This fight has had a long time to build and in that time, things have been said that likely aren’t going to be forgiven and forgotten when the dust settles.
Du Plessis’ comments about being the first African champion kicked this feud off and whilst Adesanya wants to make him pay for that, he doesn’t believe that this bout is on the same level as some of his great rivalries in the past.
“The Last Stylebender” told Mike Bohn that he won’t move past what his next opponent said but that doesn’t mean it’s personal for him.
“Nah, I haven’t even fought the guy yet. Those rivalries with Whittaker and Pereira, those are etched in history. Me and this guy haven’t even fought yet. We tried to fight, it never happened, so now we’ll fight and set the score. But nah, it’s not really personal. What he said was blasphemous cuz without myself, Francis and Kamaru, he wouldn’t be able to be champion. So, what he said was really blasphemous and he’ll take accountability for what he said.”
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