Israel Adesanya’s self-imposed hiatus will end at UFC 305 on August 17. Scheduled to fight Dricus du Plessis, the middleweight champion, in Perth, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is a slight betting favorite. With their shared African heritage, the duo have a fierce rivalry.
Adesanya had employed a new mindset before his UFC rematch against Alex Pereira. Preluding his fight against ‘Stillknocks,’ the Kiwi seemed to have adopted the same attitude.
Adesanya’s Warrior Mindset for du Plessis Clash
The first press conference for UFC 305 recently concluded in Perth, Australia. Adesanya and du Plessis had exciting things to say at the press conference. One of the interesting things Adesanya revealed at the press conference was his mentality going into the middleweight title fight against Dricus du Plessis.
“It’s about taking on the best warriors from different lands and putting them on my record. I’ve never beaten Dricus Du Plessis, so beating him is what attracts me to this fight, not the belt. Those who have never been in our shoes will never understand that mindset. So yeah, f**k the belts. I’m coming for heads, and I stick with that,” said Adesanya.
Stylebender adopted this mindset after he lost his middleweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. With this mindset, the Kiwi brutally knocked out Pereira in the rematch at UFC 287. Unfortunately, his second title reign didn’t last long, as he lost to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. The American dominated the Kiwi from start to finish, winning 49-46 on all scorecards.
Interestingly, du Plessis was Adesanya’s original opponent at UFC 293. The South African had TKOed Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 and had a heated face-off with Adesanya inside the Octagon. However, Stillknocks had sustained a foot injury and couldn’t fight at UFC 293 in Australia. Nonetheless, he got the chance at UFC 297, where he defeated Strickland to become champion.
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