Dricus du Plessis explains why his opinion changed on Israel Adesanya’s stunning loss to Sean Strickland

When Israel Adesanya lost in lopsided fashion to Sean Strickland in 2023, it was considered a massive upset at the time.

As the incumbent UFC middleweight champion who’d just vanquished longtime rival Alex Pereira a few months earlier, Adesanya was expected to dispatch Strickland then set up a future showdown against Dricus du Plessis. Instead, Adesanya was dominated for the better part of five rounds and lost his title to Strickland in a shocking unanimous decision.

Knowing he was expected to face the winner, du Plessis watched Strickland vs. Adesanya and was stunned by the result, but he also chalked up Adesanya’s performance to a bad night at the office. His opinion changed rather dramatically, however, after he faced Strickland in a grueling affair back in January, narrowing winning by split decision.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve said it many times in previous interviews where I said I think it was an off night,” du Plessis said of Adesanya’s loss to Strickland during UFC 305 media day. “It was very evident in terms of how he fought, just the whole fight you could see it.

“Then I fought Strickland and my whole perception around that fight changed. Because now I firsthand experienced what it’s like to fight Sean Strickland.”

Spending five rounds against Strickland taught du Plessis a valuable lesson that the Adesanya win wasn’t nearly the upset du Plessis first imagined.

Instead, he came to respect Strickland as an incredibly tough out, but in particular, du Plessis realized that Strickland’s high-pressure, high-volume attack, combined with stifling defense, became a puzzle Adesanya just wasn’t capable of solving.

“[Strickland is] hard to hit,” du Plessis said. “With Izzy, he doesn’t throw volume. He throws strikes, he’s pinpoint accurate with his strikes, or at least he tries to be. He’s more of a move, move, move, hit. When he fought Strickland, he missed all those shots. Strickland is really, really good defensively.

“When I fought Strickland, I immediately realized that’s what happened. I threw volume so I could catch him and I could beat him. But Israel doesn’t throw the volume, so every time he threw, he missed the shot. He missed his shots. He had two, three maximum, and he would miss. Originally I thought Israel had an off night, and then after fighting Strickland and going to watch that fight again, I actually think it was just Strickland doing what he does extremely well and that style didn’t suit Israel at all.”

It remains to be seen if du Plessis can create the same kinds of problems for Adesanya when they fight on Saturday at UFC 305, but he’s obviously anxious to find out.

The matchup against Adesanya is a long time coming, especially with the bad blood the two shared over the past years as du Plessis crept closer and closer to title contention.

While he downplayed the disdain he feels towards Adesanya personally, du Plessis is very excited to put on a show the crowd should enjoy when the main event pops off.

More than anything, du Plessis just wants to compete in fights fans want to see, which is why he’s happy to face Adesanya — and the same goes for anybody else in the middleweight division. That includes a potential rematch against Strickland after UFC CEO Dana White claimed the American will get the next title shot after du Plessis vs. Adesanya.

“I honestly don’t care [who I fight next],” du Plessis said. “I’m here to beat whoever, the fight that people want to see. That’s why this fight is so great for me, that we’re fighting Israel Adesanya, because the most people in the fight world want to see myself versus Israel Adesanya. That’s the fight people want to see.

“At the end of the day, we entertain. We entertain the people. We entertain the crowd and we entertain the people that buy the tickets, that buys the pay-per-views. That’s why they do it, because they want to be entertained.”

The same goes for the highly anticipated matchup between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 in October, with that winner possibly jumping the line for a title shot.

Du Plessis can name good and bad aspects to any potential fight, which is why he leaves it up to the fans and UFC to find his opponents. He just stays ready to knock them down.

“For me, I don’t mind fighting either of those [three], Strickland, Khamzat, or Whittaker,” du Plessis said. “But all three of those fighters have the pros and cons. Actually, fighting Strickland, a lot of people want to see it but it’s a rematch. If that’s the decision of the UFC, great, let’s go for it. Fighting Khamzat, he’s never been beaten, it’s going to be a massive fight just in terms of numbers. Great, let’s do it. Fighting Whittaker, all-time legend Robert Whittaker, but it’s a rematch.

“So there’s pros and cons for any of these three guys. For me, the most important part is fighting the best next guy.”