The idea of Alex Pereira vs. Dricus Du Plessis has Joe Rogan salivating.
Middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) was called out by Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) after he retained his title with a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.
Du Plessis accepted light heavyweight champion Pereira’s callout – but at 205 pounds, not middleweight. Rogan had high praise for Du Plessis after his finish of Adesanya.
“(He’s) very awkward, no quit, big power, super durable, takes a great shot, amazing heart,” Rogan said of Du Plessis during his Fight Companion podcast. “I mean, he got pieced up. He rocked him (Adesanya). Those are big right hands. They caught him right in the side of the head and then he caught him with two in a row.
“You can’t count that guy out. Whenever you have these exchanges and you see these winging punches come Izzy’s way, anything can happen. When you’re tired and you’re not moving back as good as you were in the second and the first (rounds), sh*t happens. That’s a definitive victory.”
Rogan was especially impressed with the fashion that Du Plessis defeated Adesanya. Prior to getting submitted by Du Plessis, Adesanya had only been finished once in his career – a TKO loss to Pereira.
“He finished Izzy with a rear-naked choke,” Rogan said. “Nobody’s finished Izzy like that in a fight ever in the UFC. No one’s submitted him like that. That’s a crazy victory.”
Rogan thinks Du Plessis is a big middleweight and could handle moving up a division. He isn’t sure how he’d handle Pereira’s power though.
“He could definitely go to 205,” Rogan said. “Wouldn’t you love to see him try? He can take a shot, for sure. But can you take a shot from that guy (Pereira)? Can you take a shot from that guy at 205? Because that guy at 205 puts everybody night-night. Everybody goes night-night.”
Rogan hasn’t called a pay-per-view outside of the U.S. in years, but says he would make an exception for Pereira vs. Du Plessis.
“If Dricus goes up to 205 and fights Alex, oh my goodness,” Rogan said. “I’ll fly to the moon to commentate that fight. I want to see that fight. That’s crazy.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.
