Tag: dricus du plessis

Off the back of his spectacular second round TKO win over former undisputed champion, Robert Whittaker, South African contender, Dricus du Plessis has criticized the conduct of titleholder, Israel Adesanya – vowing to “manhandle” the City Kickboxing staple in a planned championship showdown.

Featuring on the main card of UFC 290 last night, Pretoria native, du Plessis turned in his sixth consecutive Octagon win, defeating former undisputed titleholder, Whittaker in an eventual second round TKO win over the fan-favorite contender in the pair’s official title-eliminator.

And following his stunning victory, which came as his third consecutive stoppage win inside the Octagon, du Plessis was confronted by champion, Adesanya – with the latter using the ‘n-word’ on multiple occasions during a tense and heated face-off between the duo.

Dricus du Plessis criticizes the conduct of Israel Adesanya at UFC 290

Expected to be firmly on a collision course for a battle at UFC 293 in September in Sydney, Australia – du Plessis has since vowed to “manhandle” Adesanya in their planned title affair, questioning the overall conduct of the titleholder.

“He (Israel Adesanya) knows what a force I am in there,” Dricus du Plessis told assembled media after UFC 290. “You could feel the energy, and I could feel how insignificant he is to me when we get into that cage. I’m prepared for everything. Everything he says – he’s behaving like a clown in there. That’s not how a champion behaves, that’s not how a man behaves, he’s behaving like a child. Conduct yourself like a champion. There’s people looking up to you , and you’re behaving like that?”

“I’ll knock him out, just like I did tonight,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “You know, if not – we saw his fight with Alex Pereira, if i get him to the floor, it is not even a fight. It’s not even a fight – if I just get my hands on him, it’s not even a fight. I will manhandle him. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.” 

Improving to 6-0 since his Octagon debut back in 2020, South African contender, Dricus du Plessis has set up his first championship outing under the UFC banner tonight — stopping former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker with a second round TKO on the main card of UFC 290.

Turning in his second stoppage win of the year, Pethora native, du Plessis, who had landed a prior March stoppage win over Derek Brunson, secured the most high-profile win of his professional career win to date, defeating former titleholder, Whittaker with a second round barrage.

Entering tonight’s UFC 290 clash as the number five ranked middleweight contender, du Plessis changed the tide of the fight in the latter stages of the first round, bloodying Whittaker and landing some heavy ground strikes.

And in the second frame, du Plessis managed to drop the former champion with a counter left hand, before following up and dropping Whittaker for the second time, before forcing a TKO stoppage over the latter — setting up a championship battle with Israel Adesanya, conceivably for later this year.

Below, catch the highlights from Dricus du Plessis’ win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290

Ahead of his pivotal championship-eliminator next month on the main card of UFC 290 next month, Dricus du Plessis has denied claims he was on the underhand of striking exchanges with current champion, Israel Adesanya – during a host of prior sparring sessions.

du Plessis, the current number four ranked middleweight contender, is slated to feature on the main card of UFC 290 next month during International Fight Week – taking on former titleholder and soon-to-be common-foe, Robert Whittaker in an official title eliminator clash.

In the midst of a five fight winning run since his UFC landing, in two recent victories, South African finisher, Dricus du Plessis submitted former welterweight title challenger, Darren Till, before defeating perennial contender, Derek Brunson at UFC 285 back in March.

And off the back of his stunning second round KO win over Brazilian rival, Alex Pereira in his championship reclamation win, Adesanya called for an immediate title defense with Pethora native, du Plessis. 

Offering to fight the latter later this year in preference of a trilogy with Whittaker, Adesanya claimed the South African was dominated by him in prior sparring matches.

“So, you know what’s funny? What’s funny to me – I remember this, we actually sparred,” Israel Adesanya said. “We actually sparred. Hey, sparring is sparring. Alsjo you know what, I’m coming from China. I was doing kickboxing over there, I had no MMA, nothing. I was just kickboxing. I had MMA already, but it wasn’t sharp. It was blunt. My Jiu-Jitsu was blunt, very blunt.”

“So, we’re sparring – I don’t know if we did two rounds or one, it’s so long ago as well,” Israel Adesanya explained. “This is 2014, so, long ago. I remember like on the grappling he had me. But on striking, I just messed him up.”

Dricus du Plessis denies ever striking with Israel Adesanya while sparring

However, according to du Plessis, the contender claimed they never actually shared any standup rounds against each other in the past.

“Yeah, we trained in Thailand together,” Dricus du Plessis said during an interview with The Schmo. “He had quite a record in MMA already back then. I was 3-0, I think, when we trained together. He said I beat him in the grappling exchanges – he is one hundred percent correct in that. I did manhandle him in the grappling and wrestling exchanges.”

“But we did not do a single round of striking together, not one,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “That was his way of saving himself, saying, ‘No, but I beat him in the striking.’ We never did striking together. When we sparred, we grappled and we wrestled. We never did one single round of striking together, not as far as I know and that’s something you would remember.” (Transcribed by MMA News)