"Can't judge a book by its cover" - Legendary boxing trainer makes eye-opening observation about Dricus du Plessis 

Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas made an eye-opening observation about UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis ahead of his rematch against Sean Strickland on Saturday at UFC 312.

Du Plessis is on an eight-fight winning streak since making his UFC debut back in 2020. The South African native has defeated three former champions, Robert Whittaker, Strickland, and Israel Adesanya in a row.

'Stillknocks' defeated Strickland in their last bout at UFC 297 in a razor-close fight which he won via split decision. Du Plessis will be making the second defense of his title on Saturday.

Atlas, who also trained former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, recently made an observation about the physical strength of du Plessis. Speaking on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas, he said:

"I expect to see strength, physical strength of Du Plessis. You know confidence, determination of the champion. Physically strong but more than that he is the proverbial, you can't judge the book by its cover. He's not just a strong guy, he's more than that. He's technically you know good in all areas, he's solid."

Check out Teddy Atlas' comments below:

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Dricus Du Plessis claims Khamzat Chimaev deserved the title shot rather than Sean Strickland

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis revealed that he wanted to make his title defense against Khamzat Chimaev instead of Sean Strickland at UFC 312. Chimaev's last outing came against Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 where he finished the former champion dominantly in the first round. Speaking to ESPN Africa, Du Plessis compared the recent performances of the pair and said:

"I was rallying for the Khamzat fight just because it was strike while the iron’s hot, The hype was there. It would’ve been good for all of us. I would’ve preferred the Khamzat fight.”

He added:

"I think he deserved it more even though he didn’t have as many fights. But if you look at Strickland’s last fight against Costa, that doesn’t warrant anybody, ever, a title fight. That was super boring. I mean, watching that fight I was sitting there thinking, ‘What?’ I mean, dominant performance by Strickland, but a terrible fight to watch. Then, Khamzat comes in and does to Rob, the way he did it, I mean, that’s what gets you to jump the line.”