Dricus du Plessis was completely dismissive of two of his biggest rivals as they laughed about his confusing fighting style, despite knocking out the Middleweight in impressive fashion.
As he prepares for a blockbuster title defense against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, Dricus du Plessis will be reflecting on some of his biggest wins in the octagon yet.
He earned his first UFC Middleweight title shot by winning a title eliminator fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, when du Plessis forced a stoppage to earn a TKO victory over “The Reaper”.
Du Plessis followed that up with a title win against Sean Strickland, before an impressive first title defense against Israel Adesanya, with such a brutal press conference beforehand that it made the challenger cry.
His unorthodox fighting style in that win may have confused some people, but the champion dismissed any criticism aimed towards him for his performance in that bout.
Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya laughed at Dricus du Plessis’ technique despite beating them
Despite his impressive wins over Whittaker and Adesanya, the pair still found a way to laugh at the technique of du Plessis during those fights.
In the build-up to his rematch with Strickland, the two Middleweights discussed their bouts with du Plessis on the MMArcade podcast.
Adesanya recalled his title fight with du Plessis at UFC 305, calling the UFC Middleweight champion the ‘best s— fighter ever’.
Adesanya said: “I remember when I sprawled on him and like head hit the mat. I tried to kick him on the ground and I was like ‘get up’ and I advanced and straight away he just went [throws punch], and I had to stop.
“I had to stop, so it stopped my momentum, and I had to reset. So he just… weird man, he’s like the best s— fighter in the world.”
Whittaker then discussed his own fight with du Plessis, admitting that he thought the South African was ‘so slow’ before punching him into the ground for the TKO win.
“I remember when I fought him in that… like first, first 30 seconds I was like, ‘Dude, he’s so slow,” Whittaker admitted.
“You know what I mean? Then like… then I got punched in the face.”
Luckily, the trash-talking du Plessis did not take any of their criticism to heart and even fired back with some of his own.
Dricus du Plessis dismissed their criticism as ‘irrelevant’ as he boasted about beating both
Du Plessis had the perfect reaction as he completely dismissed their jokes and laughter with a succinct reply of his own.
He reacted to the clip on the mainevent YouTube channel, where the UFC Champion admitted that their opinions simply meant that they hadn’t figured out how to counter him in the octagon yet.
He added that their criticism is irrelevant, as he has already beaten them both and is moving onto bigger fights, like his clash with Khamzat Chimaev as UFC 319.
Du Plessis noted: “Well, it seems like they still haven’t figured it out, so yeah, I don’t think it was derogatory.
“Well, even if it was, I guess it’s irrelevant at this stage. But I do think that they’re looking at it going, ‘How did this happen?’ And I guess, uh, that’s a good thing.”
His unorthodox style will come in handy when he faces Chimaev on August 16 in his latest title defense in Chicago.