Israel Adesanya has a long history with both men in the UFC 312 main event and he has made his expert prediction.
In just a few weeks, middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis will defend his title in the UFC 312 main event against Sean Strickland in Sydney Australia.
The fight booking came as quite a surprise considering Khamzat Chimaev ran through Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, seemingly leaving no doubt that he would finally receive a title shot.
Despite Du Plessis also stating that he’d prefer to fight Chimaev, the promotion granted Strickland the rematch after picking up just one win since their fight last January.
Israel Adesanya offers prediction ahead of Dricus Du Plessis vs Sean Strickland 2
Former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya of course has a well-documented history with both ‘Stillknocks’ and Strickland.
Strickland dethroned ‘The Last Stylebender’ to become middleweight champion in what was one of the biggest upsets in title fight history.
Du Plessis’ last title defense came against Adesanya at UFC 305 and although the Nigerian seemed to be on his way to reclaiming the title, Du Plessis scored the submission win in round four.
With Adesanya having spent time in the Octagon with both fighters, he has provided his prediction ahead of the huge grudge match at UFC 312.
“I say, I say that Dricus wins that one, if it’s close maybe, or maybe it’s more decisive this time, it’s gonna be a hard fight for both men but I think I would give the edge to Dricus in this fight,” Adesanya told MMAJunkie.
Earlier this week, Strickland offered Du Plessis a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to only strike in their fight and to not shoot any takedowns.
Adesanya is scheduled to be in attendance for UFC 312 in Sydney as he has teammates fighting at the event and he will likely be keeping a keen eye on the main event.
Israel Adesanya warns a ‘boring’ lead-up to his UFC Saudi Arabia fight
However, before the former champion can revert his focus on the 185lb title, he will need to get passed Nassourdine Imavov first when the two clash in the UFC Saudi Arabia main event on Feb 1.
This will be Adesanya’s first non-title fight in six years and with his last few fights having all come against longtime rivals, he has warned that the lead-up to his fight against Imavov could be ‘boring’.
“It’s always good to mix things up but again, this is just fighting. It’ll be pretty boring the lead-up to this fight for the fans who want like, that kind of stuff but the fights gonna be very exciting, that’s the sauce in this one,” he explained.