One key takeaway from UFC 312 is that Dricus Du Plessis entered his fight with Sean Strickland with a game plan and executed it perfectly.
Their first contest at UFC 297 was a closely contested decision, and Du Plessis came off worse with his eye swollen shut from Strickland’s jabs. ‘Stillknocks’ came into UFC 312 better prepared, snubbing Strickland’s jab and outstriking him across five rounds. UFC 312’s main event scorecards were a landslide for ‘DDP.’
His performance was so impressive that well-known pundits like Joe Rogan praised Du Plessis. That said, it wasn’t just a need to end the saga with Strickland that motivated Du Plessis, but a need on behalf of Du Plessis’ coach to prove the general audience wrong about his fighting style.
‘You need to change that’ … Dricus Du Plessis’ coach puts ‘best worst fighter’ nickname to bed
Speaking to Daniel Cormier backstage at UFC 312, Du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser discussed how fan perception of Du Plessis’ fighting style motivated the team to showcase their striking against Strickland.
“He’s never showed that he can properly strike and stay composed,” Visser said. “… I needed to show the world that Dricus doesn’t get into the cage and swim, like everybody says he’s the ‘best worst fighter in the world,’ you need to change that.”
Why fans and pundits criticise Dricus Du Plessis’ striking
Despite Du Plessis being a 33-0 amateur kickboxer, his striking style on his UFC championship run left much to be desired. ‘Stillknocks’ revealed that his parents had said he wouldn’t be champion after one of his dicey performances.
This is because he was often losing his earlier UFC fights before pulling off miraculous victories. Du Plessis uses a karate blitz to storm into range and wing wild hooks at his opponents. While not possessing the cleanest striking, Du Plessis was critiqued for his cardio since the South African fighter gagged for air early in his fights.
Coach Visser later alleged that Du Plessis received eight percent oxygen from his nose. He had this fixed via surgery before fighting Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 and had one of his best performances.