Dricus Du Plessis explains why Sean Strickland is just a bad matchup for Israel Adesanya and it wasn’t an “off night”

Dricus Du Plessis doesn’t think Israel Adesanya had an off night against Sean Strickland after all.

Adesanya suffered a stunning decision loss to Strickland last September to lose his middleweight title. Adesanya was a sizeable betting favorite, but Strickland dominated him for all five rounds to cruise to a lopsided decision win.

After the fight, Dricus Du Plessis felt like Israel Adesanya had an off night, but after he fought Strickland in January, he realized Strickland was just a bad style for Adesanya.

"Originally I thought Israel had an off night."

Dricus Du Plessis says his perception has changed on Adesanya's loss to Sean Strickland ahead of #UFC305. pic.twitter.com/5dAKsBSEVL

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 15, 2024

“I’ll be honest, I’ve said it numerous times. I think it was an off night. It was very evident in terms of how he fought, just the whole fight, you could see it. But then I fought Strickland and my whole perception around that fight changed because I know first-hand experience what it’s like to fight Sean Strickland. He’s hard to hit. With Izzy, he doesn’t throw volume. He’s pinpoint accurate with his strikes – or at least he tries to be. He’s more of a move-move-move-hit. And when he fought Strickland, he missed all those shots,” Dricus Du Plessis said about Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 media day.

“Strickland is really, really good defensively. When I fought Strickland, I immediately realized that’s what happened. I threw volume so I could catch him and I could beat him. But Israel doesn’t throw the volume, so every time he threw, he missed the shots. He had two, three maximum, and he would miss. Originally, I thought Israel had an off night, and then after fighting Strickland and going to watch that fight again, I actually think it was just Strickland that did what he does extremely well, and that style didn’t suit Israel at all,” Du Plessis added.

It is an interesting take from Dricus Du Plessis who believes the way Sean Strickland fights is a tough style for Israel Adesanya. Whether or not Du Plessis looks to implement a similar style to what Strickland did to Adesanya.