Dricus du Plessis shares the difference between fighting Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker as he previews a clash with ‘The Last Stylebender’

Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya are likely to face off in the next middleweight title bout. An official announcement is yet to be made, but with UFC 305, set to take place in Perth, Australia, still without a headlining fight, all assumptions are that a clash between the middleweights will materialize.

'Stillknocks' recently took to X to share that he had agreed to a fight deal for his next opponent, but who the South African will be facing is currently unclear.

With the consensus being that he will fight 'The Last Stylebender' next, du Plessis recently compared a potential fight with Adesanya to his fight with former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

Whittaker and Adesanya have been two of the most accomplished, and arguably most talented, fighters in the middleweight division over the past ten years. Given their prestige, 'Stillknocks' admitted that his initial moments inside the octagon with 'The Reaper' were slightly daunting.

During a recent interview with Sias du Plessis, the middleweight champion explained why standing across from Adesanya would likely not be as daunting as his clash with Whittaker:

"Whittaker, I'd never even seen him in my life before our fight. A guy like Adesanya, I've met him, we've been on the same training mats, I've trained with him, I've had a face-off with him after knocking out Whittaker. I saw him now at [UFC 300]. I'm not going to be shocked when I see him in there. And the other thing is, I'm walking in there as the champion... That plays a big role. So, it won't be the same."

Watch Dricus du Plessis' interview below from 30:20:

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Dricus du Plessis lays out his plan to "earn" a shot at the light heavyweight title

Dricus du Plessis recently won the middleweight title after defeating Sean Strickland via decision at UFC 297.

With several of the UFC's current crop of champions seeking more gold in other divisions, such as Islam Makhachev or Sean O'Malley, the South African has remained eager to defend his 185-pound title first.

In the same interview mentioned above, he laid out his two-fight plan in order to "earn" the chance to fight for the light heavyweight title. He said this:

"That double-champ status - 100% it's something that I want... I believe beating Adesanya, if Khamzat [Chimaev] beats Whittaker, beating Khamzat. That earns you a spot at light heavyweight." [44:52-45:25]