Dricus du Plessis is ready to silence the doubters.
This Saturday, du Plessis defends his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 312, rematching the man he won the belt from, Sean Strickland. Their first fight was a closely contested battle that du Plessis edged out via split decision, a decision Strickland and many fans believe wasn’t the right one. But du Plessis has no doubts about who won.
“If you play the odds like Strickland, having eight split decisions in your career, a split decision is what you call a coin flip,” du Plessis said at the UFC 312 Media Day. “If you flip that coin eight times, you’re bound to get unlucky a couple of times. He got lucky with the split decision otherwise we wouldn’t be here now.
“I am very happy that they made this fight. I was asking for this fight up until the Khamzat thing happened, then I would have preferred that fight. But I’m really happy this fight is happening because now I can go and say we’re going to settle this. We’re going to put this to bed, because all the Strickland fans that believe he won that fight, I can just go out and put this behind me. …
“For me right now, I think Strickland is the best middleweight in the world, behind myself, and he deserves to be here.”
Heading into their rematch, du Plessis has no illusions about what he’s facing. He knows the first fight was “a war” and has the utmost respect for Strickland. However, the middleweight champion is taking some confidence from winning the first go around, and from how much he’s improved since.
“I did the right things to win that fight,” du Plessis said. “He is going to make adjustments to be better. I have to do the same thing. It’s not that I have to do anything different. I have to do whatever I’ve been doing, better. I’ve had a year now to improve on that performance, to be cleaner, to be fitter, stronger, and in terms of strength, that’s not a problem. Just being cleaner, picking the shots better, being more patient.
“This is not my first UFC title fight anymore, and I know I can push that pace for five rounds. So that changes my dynamic. But I’m not going into this fight thinking it’s the same fight as the first one. He’s going to make the adjustments, he knows what it’s like in there with me, just like I know what he’s doing.
“His team is incredible. He has an incredibly good coach. Coach Eric [Nicksick] is very well-respected and I have a world of respect for him. I know he’s a master at the game plan and figuring it out, but so are my coaches and my team. So yeah, very similar in the fight because we both now know, and how much could have really changed? It’s just about being cleaner and better at everything.”
Of course, it might not be exactly that way. Du Plessis also acknowledges that he can’t get too caught up in how their first battle went, because things move quickly in MMA, which is why he prepared for this fight like he’ll see a whole new Strickland come Saturday.
“I think it can but it can also bite you in the ass,” du Plessis said when asked about putting too much stock in their first fight. “If you think you’re fighting a certain style and a certain guy and all of a sudden he comes out completely different, that can throw you off, too. To think of the second fight the same as the first fight would be the same level as underestimating Sean Strickland, which I’m not doing.
“I’m expecting the best fighter in the world to show up, just like I’ve expected the best fighter in the world to show up every single time. Like we saw with Adesanya. When he showed up I knew I was to fight the best Adesanya. Everybody knew. He said it, everybody said he looked incredible. I went out there to be the best Adesanya, just like I’m out there to beat the best Strickland that we’ve ever seen.
“His fight style doesn’t have any effect on how I fight. I’m going out there to do what I do and do it as the world champion, the best in the world. He’s going to be the best Strickland in the world and we’re going to see whose best is the best.”
