Dricus du Plessis is thanking his coach Morne Visser for the tips that helped him beat Robert Whittaker and earn a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
“Stillnox” stopped Whittaker in the second round in their title eliminator bout at UFC 290 in July 2023. The South African revealed that his coach’s plan to fight the southpaw led to the win.
Du Plessis acknowledges that Whittaker is technically near perfect, but his team was aware that “Bobby Knuckles” was being beaten by southpaws even after the Australian had emerged victorious. Du Plessis followed his coach’s advice to fight as a southpaw, and it paid off handsomely.
UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya, Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now! “I owe this fight to my coach,” du Plessis said on the UFC 305 Countdown Show. “Robert Whittaker’s game has very few holes. He’s fought southpaws, he’s won them all, but he’s been caught a few times. He showed me each time, watching the tape. And then my coach came in and said, ‘OK, you’re going to fight a southpaw,’ and he was right. The game plan worked perfectly.”
💥Drikas du Plessis’ coach told him to switch to southpaw for the Whittaker bout, which led to the knockout.
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August 10, 2024
Footage from UFC 290 also showed then-champion Israel Adesanya, who had defeated Whittaker twice, attending the event and cheering du Plessis for the win. A title fight between Adesanya and du Plessis would have been the perfect setup to settle the rivalry, but after UFC 290, “Stillnox” withdrew from the event with a foot injury. This paved the way for Sean Strickland to challenge Adesanya for the title at UFC 293 in September of this year. Strickland mounted an impressive defense and dominated Adesanya in one of the biggest upsets in UFC title fight history, winning by unanimous decision.
Du Plessis has already earned a shot at the title, defeating Strickland by narrow split decision in January at UFC 297. The South African will finally face Adesanya in his first title defense on Saturday at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
