Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes Dricus Du Plessis is in uncharted territory with their upcoming matchup.
The pair of rivals will headline the UFC 305 pay-per-view event in Perth, Australia, this weekend, where the RAC Arena will play host to the conclusion of over a year of bad blood between Du Plessis and Adesanya.
When they were originally set to square off in 2023, "The Last Stylebender" occupied the throne at 185 pounds. But when "Stillknocks" couldn't turn around in time for UFC 293 in Sydney, Sean Strickland took his place and shockingly dethroned Adesanya.
A victory over "Tarzan" later and the South African is back with his sights set on the Nigerian-New Zealander. This time, however, circumstances are reversed, with Du Plessis now the hunted following his crowning this past January.
With that in mind, Adesanya sees a fighter trying to act the part in an unfamiliar environment...
During a recent fight week interview with ESPN MMA, Adesanya looked ahead to his attempt to make history as the first three-time middleweight champ this weekend Down Under.
"The Last Stylebender" will be making his comeback having remained away from the cage for the 11 months since his title loss to Strickland. According to Du Plessis, his challenger no longer has the hunger and already has one foot in retirement.
But while the champ claimed to see a man trying to convince himself that he still wants to do this when staring into the eyes of Adesanya at the on-sale press conference six weeks ago, the former kingpin has turned the tables with his own conclusion.
(I saw) a pufferfish. He was just pompous, trying to like, big himself up," Adesanya said. "This is his first rodeo. This is not my first rodeo. I've been here before. I've defended my belt multiple times. It's his first rodeo, so he was trying to — even at the Welcome to Country ceremony yesterday, I found it really weird how I'm listening to the elders speak and he's trying to meme-mug me. I'm like, bro, pay respect to the original people of the land.
Adesanya will look to prove that he's built for these kinds of high-stakes situations by making good on his promise to make Du Plessis pay for some of his controversial past remarks.
Such a feat would only add to his legacy on MMA's biggest stage, with his past accomplishments already leaving him as the consensus second greatest of all time at 185 pounds behind Anderson Silva.
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