One particular aspect of Dricus Du Plessis’ game impressed Jared Cannonier.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title with a Round 4 submission of Israel Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 305 headliner.
Du Plessis continues to surprise people having now beaten former champions Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and Adesanya in a row. Cannonier wasn’t counting Du Plessis out, but enjoyed the full striking arsenal that he displayed.
“I wouldn’t say I was too surprised,” Cannonier told MMA Junkie. “It was one of the results that I envisioned, but it was still a competitive match. I thought Israel looked good having been out for a year. Maybe there may have been a little bit of rust involved. I don’t know. Maybe a lack of sense of urgency when (Du Plessis) was taking his back. But I thought it was a good match. I thought both of those guys looked good.
“Of course, (Adesanya is) one of the best at managing distance and countering and throwing some long strikes and stuff like that, and I thought DDP’s kicks looked really well. His kicks for me were the highlight of this fight – caught Izzy off guard. They were really quick, really strong, and even some of his punches were probably heavier than some people may have given him credit for.”
Du Plessis’ style has often been dubbed as awkward, but Cannonier has his own description of the champion’s approach.
“He seems like a clubber in there,” Cannonier said. “That’s the term that comes to mind when I see him: like a clubber, a big, heavy, strong who knows how to grapple and be heavy, be weighted when he’s grappling you. So, yeah, it was a good fight. Good for him, congratulations to him, he remains the champion, and still. The future of the middleweight division is definitely intriguing. … I can see the effects of his fighting style. He explodes in toward you, but he’s not crashing into you like uncontrollably.
“He’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s strong, and his kicks are really good. It’s mixed martial arts, it’s not just one refined style that’s going to be successful in this game. I think everybody is looking for that aesthetic, and that’s not the game we play. That’s not the game I’m playing. I’m not trying to be pretty in there. I do want my sh*t to be pretty, don’t get me wrong, but it ain’t got to be pretty. It just has to be effective, and his sh*t was effective enough to retain the title.”
Cannonier (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) will look to re-enter the title picture when he meets rising contender Caio Borralho (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62 (ESPN/ESPN+) main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.
