Daniel Cormier thinks UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will bring the best out of Israel Adesanya.
Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) makes his first title defense against Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in the UFC 305 main event Aug. 17 at RAC Arena in Perth (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
With the bad blood between Adesanya and Du Plessis continuously brewing, Cormier expects a dangerous version of “The Last Stylebender.”
“I love this one,” Cormier told ESPN. “I’m messy, so I love mess. I love when things aren’t clean. I love when they aren’t hugging each other before they go in the octagon. These two dudes aren’t hugging each other. Dricus Du Plessis does things differently, and I have been called a hater of his style, but he has won and won and won. Now, I believe that he goes into the fight with Adesanya as the favorite to retain his championship.
“This young man can wrestle. He can strike, he has great cardio, but in Israel Adesanya, you have one of the greatest middleweights of all time who wants nothing more than to become champion again. Izzy thrives in tough situations. Izzy dominated Paulo Costa very quickly because he was mad at him. He doesn’t like Dricus du Plessis. I’m excited to see that angry Izzy.”
Despite coming off a title loss to Sean Strickland in his most recent fight at UFC 293, oddsmakers are favoring Adesanya to reclaim gold. According to DraftKings, Adesanya is a slight -142 favorite, meaning a $142 bet would be needed on the former two-time middleweight champion to return $100 profit. Du Plessis is a +120 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the champion would win $120.
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