Israel
Adesanya expects Dricus Du
Plessis to immediately shoot for a takedown in their upcoming
title fight.
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Adesanya will challenge Du Plessis for the middleweight title in
the main event at UFC 305
in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. A well-versed mixed martial
artist, Du Plessis has an almost equal number of knockouts (nine)
and submissions (10) among his 19 career finishes. While he is
primarily considered a wrestler, Du Plessis has proven his ability
to strike at an elite level with knockout wins over the likes of
Derek
Brunson and Robert
Whittaker in the UFC.
However, Adesanya, who is considered one of the greatest strikers
in the history of the sport, doubts Du Plessis will be willing to
stand with him. The former Glory Kickboxing standout believes
“Stillknocks” will be looking for the takedown from the get-go, a
strategy for which he is prepared. Boasting a takedown defense rate
of 77%, “The Last Stylebender” recalls handling a number of
top-tier wrestlers in the past.
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“I think he’s going to shoot straight away,” Adesanya recently told
Stake.com. “I doubt he’ll want to strike with
me for too long. This is something that people always say, but I’ve
shown before that I can wrestle too. It might not be how everyone
else wrestles, but I can wrestle too. That’s why I ended up
becoming champion of the world.”
Du Plessis has a calculated brawling style, which has seen him
consistently pull off upsets on the biggest of stages. However,
Adesanya believes that style will leave the perfect opening for him
to pull off a highlight-reel knockout like he has done several
times in his career. That being said, Adesanya won’t go hunting for
any flashy moments.
“Definitely. He is a guy who fights the way he fights, but he gets
a lot of success, but it leaves him very vulnerable,” Adesanya
said. “When you fight a guy who is very precise and lethal like me,
come on… The highlights will always be there. The way I fight will
always produce highlights, and those are nice bonuses. But I don’t
look for them, they just show up.”