Dricus du Plessis is gearing up for an exciting showdown against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. This upcoming bout presents a golden opportunity for du Plessis to claim the coveted 185-pound championship title.
Although no official confirmation has been made, speculations are running high that the highly-anticipated encounter between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya will take place at UFC 293 on September 10, 2023. The venue for this thrilling match is expected to be the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Dricus du Plessis secured his title shot after an impressive second-round TKO victory over former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker.
Amidst the swirling rumors, an intriguing video from the past has surfaced. DDP and Yannick Bahati clashed in a bout for the EFC middleweight championship back in August 2017.
The tension between Dricus du Plessis and Bahati escalated when du Plessis confidently claimed that he would exhaust Bahati during their EFC 62 bout and emerge victorious. In response, Bahati aimed a low blow at du Plessis by insinuating that du Plessis’ girlfriend would testify against his claims of stamina.
Bahati stated: “He believes I will gas and my response was, ‘Ask your girlfriend’. What is he going to do? You’ll do nothing. I’m the king of South Africa. I own that place.”
With both competitors vying for the middleweight championship, the contest turned into a thrilling affair. Leveraging his exceptional grappling skills, Dricus du Plessis capitalized on a critical moment when Bahati attempted a takedown. Du Plessis swiftly executed a decisive guillotine choke, sealing his victory and winning the EFC middleweight championship.
Following his sensational second-round TKO triumph over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Dricus du Plessis has garnered immense praise and admiration from the MMA community.
In an episode of ‘The Schaub Show’, former UFC heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub lauded du Plessis’ skills inside the octagon and acknowledged the impressive work of his coaching team. Schaub expressed his belief in Dricus du Plessis’ caliber and recognized him as a formidable contender.
He said: “DDP is the real deal. I think Robert Whittaker, you look at his fights before this he looked pretty f*cking good. You can’t say this is an older version of Robert Whittaker. I think Dricus du Plessis is that f*cking good and it’s time we start acknowledging it.”
Schaub went on to say: “Du Plessis is f*cking good and damn near impossible to beat. I’d love to talk to his coach. Hat’s off to him, they’ve done a great job with him and tuning his style and getting it to this world-class level, and nobody believed him. Nobody but his coaches and probably his few family members thought he was going to be at this level.”