UFC champion Dricus Du Plessis says that after making a statement in Perth, he’ll join ‘Stylebender’ in the middleweight GOAT debate.
One year since their infamously hostile face-off back at UFC 290, South African brawler Dricus Du Plessis will finally get the chance to silence former king Israel Adesanya on the August PPV.
And if there wasn’t enough already on the line for the UFC champion, ‘Stillknocks’ has revealed he’s setting some enormous goals for not only his reign over the middleweight division but at light heavyweight too.
Dricus Du Plessis claims victory will see him enter UFC GOAT conversation
Speaking via the FOX West Texas YouTube channel, Dricus Du Plessis acknowledged that when it comes to the greatest middleweights in UFC history, he views Israel Adesanya as the standard to compare all 185ers against.
“This win for me, I’ve always looked at Israel Adesanya as the benchmark… Izzy became a champion a long time ago and I’ve looked at him and always knew, this is where I need to be if I want to be the best in the world, this is the benchmark.
“Izzy has done such incredible things in this sport; his style is very tricky to figure out; he’s so good and he’s a very smart fighter – figures out his opponents and sets a lot of traps.”
The pair will finally lock horns in the main event of UFC 305, scheduled for August 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, with Du Plessis having wrestled away the title from Sean Strickland earlier in the year.
“He’s one of the greatest to ever do it,” said the South African, before noting that UFC 305 will be his opportunity to step out from Stylebender’s shadow and create his own piece of history.
“This fight for me, this is where I take over as one of the greatest to ever do it. This is where my years of building and climbing that ladder is coming to a point where I am now the guy that’s one of the greatest to ever do it.”
‘Stillknocks’ understands all too well that August 17 will likely be the toughest fight of his career to date “against arguably one of the best middleweights ever,” yet that breathtakingly demanding challenge brings equally breathtaking results.
“I have to go out there and prove that I am that guy… This fight is going to mean that I told you I belong here, this fight means exactly that Dricus Du Plessis is now in the conversation of being one of the greatest middleweights ever.”
Should he best Adesanya in front of a raucous Australian crowd at UFC 305, there will be demand to see Du Plessis testing the water at light heavyweight – and ‘Stillknocks’ has a plan for that as well.
‘Stillknocks’ believes in waiting for the right moment to go for second belt
There have only ever been a handful of fighters skilled enough to earn a UFC title in a second weight class, even fewer have held onto both divisional belts simultaneously.
Whilst it has become frustratingly common for champions to constantly tease a move up (or down) for a chance at joining those chosen few – the South African wants to enjoy a more methodical path to the top.
“Everybody wants to become a champion [and] immediately go for double-champ status. [But] I’m not rushing it, I am a fan of defending your title at least three times and then going [for a second belt].
“I am looking to defend my belt and then on to the next defense – I’m definitely in no rush to go up to light heavyweight, I just see it as a goal in the future but it’s definitely not something I’m rushing towards.”
‘Stillknocks’ reaffirmed that he is “focused solely on defending this middleweight title as many times as it takes,” that is as many times as it takes means “until it only makes sense to go up a weight division.”
Interestingly, the 30-year-old also mentioned that he was disappointed to hear of Khamzat Chimaev’s withdrawal from UFC Saudi Arabia as “that was going to answer a lot of questions” as to who his next potential opponent after Adesanya could be.
UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya is scheduled for August 17, live from the RAC Arena in Perth.
Related Topics
