Israel Adesanya returns to the Octagon at UFC 305 after taking some time off to put bad memories of his most recent outing behind him.
Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in one of the biggest title fight upsets in UFC history last year at UFC 293.
Whilst the challenger had a great night in general, the defining moment of the fight was when he caught and dropped "The Last Stylebender" in the first round but was unable to get the finish.
This came as such a shock to many fans who felt like Strickland simply wouldn't be on the same level as the champion, when it came to the striking exchanges.
Adesanya's next opponent and the current champion paid special interest to this.
Dricus Du Plessis Says He Would've Finished Israel Adesanya With The Same Strike
Dricus Du Plessis is much more of a power striker than Strickland, who he defeated earlier this year to become the middleweight champion.
Whilst the former champ may be very accurate and defensively sound, "Stillknocks" has the momentum and force to stop any opponent and that gives him confidence ahead of August 17.
Du Plessis believes that he can close the show on Adesanya in their heated grudge match in Perth, especially if he's able to land something similar to the strike Strickland landed last year.
He spoke in a recent interview with mainevent on Fox Sports about how "The Last Stylebender" wouldn't have made it out of the first round if it was him in there that night.
If I land that shot that Sean Strickland landed, the fight is over right there, 100%. We know that Strickland's not a power puncher. I've felt, and Strickland's a great boxer, his boxing is really really good. Very awkward and amazing jab, he throws that 1-2 and he does it great but he doesn't have that starch power and he put him down. I honestly thought the fight was over but if I catch him with that shot then it’s over.