The UFC’s middleweight champion is undefeated since 2018 having won eight consecutive UFC fights.
Dricus du Plessis returns at UFC 312 this weekend to headline his third consecutive PPV card since signing with the MMA leader four years ago.
‘Stillknocks’ arrived in the promotion back in 2020 and started to make noise by stringing together a run of wins and finishes which eventually led him to the middleweight title.
The South African was underestimated by a lot of fans due to his somewhat awkward performances inside the Octagon but his wins over former champion Robert Whittaker, title winning display against Sean Strickland and submission victory over Israel Adesanya have changed the way that he is perceived.
Du Plessis is now set to compete in the second rematch of his career when he faces Strickland in a rematch of UFC 297 at the February 8 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Saturday night.
Roberto Soldic predicts Dricus du Plessis to beat Sean Strickland at UFC 312
The only man other than Sean Strickland to share the cage with Dricus du Plessis on more than one occasion is his former KSW rival Roberto Soldic who is the last man to defeat ‘Stillknocks’.
Now competing in ONE Championship, ‘Robocop’ recently weighed in with his thoughts on the 185-pound rematch that will headline the UFC’s return down under.
“He is like from that time in my fights, he was dangerous even in 170,” Soldic told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview. “Now he’s much bigger, much stronger, he’s an elite fighter… Everyone has his way, I went this side, he went that other side and I see he can beat again Strickland. I don’t know why I believe.
“He’s also young and he’s in really good shape. I know he’s really, really strong guy and I can see he can win again because he don’t look so good but he’s effective and he’s powerful, unpredictable skills. It’s hard to find some sparring partner like him, he can do everything.”
In 2018, Soldic and du Plessis met in back-to-back fights for the Polish promotion’s welterweight title with the Croatian avenging his stoppage loss to ‘Stillknocks’ in their rematch, becoming the only fighter to have stopped the current UFC champion with strikes.
Soldic, who also has a fight coming up with his long awaited return taking place at ONE 171 on February 20 in Qatar, has been impressed with how his former foe has performed on the global stage.
“UFC he, how to say, he kill everybody in the UFC so yeah I see him winning on Saturday night, I see that he defend the title.”
Dricus du Plessis can further cement his status as the middleweight champion at UFC 312
Dricus du Plessis is such an effective fight finisher that it leaves no room for debate when reflecting on a lot of his wins.
Even when the fight doesn’t entirely go his way, as was the case in his recent title defense against Israel Adesanya, the champ tends to get the final word in.
This wasn’t the story of his first encounter with Sean Strickland at UFC 297 where the fight came down to a split decision verdict at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
His challenger is still confident that he should have got his hand raised on that night but du Plessis can now look to end that debate once and for all on February 8.
