UFC 290 occurred just recently and included some unexpected results. Brandon Moreno lost his flyweight title to Alexandre Pantoja in the co-main occasion. However, the most significant shock was when Robert Whittaker lost to underdog Dricus du Plessis, who is now placing himself as the next opposition for middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.
Following the fight, Adesanya went into the Octagon and had a conflict with du Plessis, verifying that a fight in between the 2 remains in the works for UFC 293 in Australia. Interestingly, this will not be the very first time Adesanya and du Plessis have actually shared the cage. In 2014, they had a sparring session, which did not work out for Adesanya.
Adesanya confessed that he lost in grappling to du Plessis throughout their sparring session. He described that at the time, he was living and contending in kickboxing in China and did not have the correct training in MMA. While du Plessis mastered grappling, Adesanya mentioned that he transcended in striking.
Du Plessis, on the other hand, sees himself as a trustworthy danger in the middleweight department. He described himself as a “genuine African fighter” in contrast to Adesanya, who still lives in South Africa. In an interview, du Plessis revealed his regard for Adesanya as a terrific fighter however thinks Anderson Silva is the best middleweight of perpetuity. He validated that he beat Adesanya in their grappling exchanges however clarified that they did not have any striking exchanges.
This contrasting account of their sparring session recommends a growing competition in between the 2 fighters. It stays to be seen which fighter the audience thinks in.
