Dricus du Plessis claps back at Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker’s fight style criticism: "They still haven’t figured it out"

Dricus du Plessis is the only fighter in history to finish both Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker in MMA. The South African stunned the collective MMA world when he handed Whittaker a second-round TKO loss at UFC 290. After winning the middleweight title at UFC 297, Du Plessis then submitted Adesanya at UFC 305 to defend the belt for the first time.

In doing so, he also became the first man to submit 'The Last Stylebender'.

However, Du Plessis' fighting style has left his past and potential opponents both unable to unravel why he is so successful. During a recent collaboration video, Whittaker and Adesanya both discussed the awkwardness of 'Stillknocks'. The Nigerian-born Kiwi even went so far as to label the middleweight champion as the "best s**t fighter in the world".

On Feb. 8, The 31-year old successfully defended his title for a second time, against Sean Strickland at UFC 312. Nearly two weeks since the bout, Du Plessis was interviewed by Ariel Helwani, who asked the South African what he thought of Whittaker and Adesanya's comments about his fighting style.

He said:

"When I saw Izzy and Whittaker saying they don't know how this works. What is going? And I finished both these guys, that was something good because that means they still haven't figured out how to beat me. That means they still haven't figured out what went wrong... You only get lucky that many times."

Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below (12:55):

---

Dricus du Plessis claims he knows who Israel Adesanya will fight next

Israel Adesanya suffered three losses in a row for the first time in his combat sports career after being knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1.

'The Last Stylebender' has accomplished all that there is to accomplish in MMA. Given that the former two-time champion is at the tail-end of his career, there are questions surrounding who Adesanya could face next, with few viable options seemingly available.

But Dricus du Plessis believes he knows who his former opponent will face next. The South African appeared infront of the media after beating Sean Strickland at UFC 312, where he was asked to discuss Strickland's fighting future. He said this:

"I know what's going to happen next. I can almost guarantee you what's happening next. Is there any bet that [Strickland] is fighting Adesanya next... Nah, I think the Adesanya rematch will be amazing. Yeah, that's what's gonna happen."

Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below (9:10):