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TORONTO, ONTARIO – JANUARY 19: (L-R) Opponents Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa face off in the course of the UFC 297 ceremonial weigh-in at Scotiabank Enviornment on January 19, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photograph by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC by way of Getty Photographs)Dricus Du Plessis will look to place his foot down on the neck of the middleweight division as he faces Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
If you happen to went again three years in the past, the very concept of any single middleweight contender turning away each Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya inside a span of 13 months was practically unfathomable. So dominant and dynamic had been the pair that it at occasions felt their solely competitors gave the impression to be in one another. So for Dricus Du Plessis to not solely accomplish the feat however to additionally add one other champion to his resume in-between is nothing wanting spectacular. To be blunt, it’s the sort of run that poises one to be a contemporary legend.
“Stillknocks” is presently main the pack of subsequent era fighters shortly taking up the middleweight division. With names like Caio Borralho, Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez, and Khamzat Chimaev all below 33 and using robust win streaks, there isn’t a scarcity of challengers or contenders. Ought to Du Plessis proceed his win streak, then it’s not out of the query that his place amongst the best middleweights (and maybe biggest fighters general) will start to be mentioned.
Standing in his method is a motivated former champion desirous to actual revenge after narrowly lacking the choice the primary time round. Sean Strickland’s bravado dominates the headlines, to the purpose that it usually overshadows the truth that he often is the most technically efficient fighter at middleweight as evidenced by his victories over the likes of Adesanya, Nassourdine Imavov, and Paulo Costa. Going into the rematch, Strickland possesses the uncommon benefit of getting shared the cage with Du Plessis for 5 rounds and carried that into his newest combat camp with esteemed coach Erick Nicksick and the group at Xtreme Couture.
Notably, Strickland enters the bout being the hunter greater than the goal going into his second assembly with Du Plessis. The buildup to the primary combat noticed the newly topped Strickland at occasions flustered within the pre-fight banter and present a really completely different facet as he undertook the media obligations of being the champion. In Australia, he has develop into the gang favourite and performs into the position of the underdog in pursuit of an epic upset to regain his place on the high of the mountain. In need of regaining the title at house in Vegas, it’s about as excellent a setting in favor of Strickland as he might hope for.
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The winner of this bout is predicted to be challenged by the surging Khamzat Chimaev in what can be one of many greatest bouts doable on the calendar yr. Ought to Chimaev not be accessible, then it’s anticipated that Nassourdine Imavov shall be subsequent behind his second spherical stoppage of longtime kingpin Israel Adesanya final week.
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Publish date : 2025-02-08 19:25:50
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