Dricus du Plessis’ striking faces brutal scrutiny by former lightweight title contender following UFC 312: “This looks like amateur kickboxing” 

Dricus du Plessis' victory over Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 312 didn't perform according to expectations, particularly as the latter promised a war. Lightweight contender Renato Moicano also felt the fight didn't perform to expectations.

For Moicano, the UFC 312 main event felt like an amateur kickboxing fight. The lightweight contender's comment came after Gilbert Burns, his co-host of the Show Me the Money podcast, alluded to du Plessis fighting awkwardly, having experience training with him. He said:

"Let's talk about that because that was funny. I remember Anderson Silva in his prime, that division. I don't know if he's good or not, but to watch that, that man people are gonna f**king talk trash to me because I just lost, right, in the first round. But to me, that was not like a championship fight, you know what I mean?" [20:48]

"I was watching that thinking, man, this looks like amateur kickboxing, you know? You know what I mean? There was not, I don't know, man. That doesn't look like a championship fight," Moicano added.

Check out Renato Moicano's comments below (20:48):

Burns understood what Moicano meant, but the welterweight claimed the South African has a big heart, which he respects. The Brazilian recalled training with du Plessis in 2020, being impressed by the 'Stillknocks' mentality even when tired.

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Ex-UFC makes case for Dricus du Plessis' GOAT status at middleweight

With 10 middleweight title defenses, Anderson Silva is the arguable GOAT of middleweight MMA. Closely following Silva is Israel Adesanya with five title defenses. Adesanya is also the only two-time champion in the division.

In the recent episode of The Weekly Scraps, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, claimed there is a pathway for Dricus du Plessis to become the GOAT of the middleweight division with fewer title defenses than Silva.

"I think if he [Dricus du Plessis] can get three more, there's an argument to be made that he's up there with, or even potentially surpassing Silva in terms of being considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, middleweight of all time."

Sterling also hilariously pointed out the thought of du Plessis being the GOAT, saying:

"To do that in this day and age, with the way his, the aesthetics of his skill are, it makes it that much more insulting because it's like, 'Yo, this guy just came out here and thumped me while I'm over here hitting pads trying to look clean, and this guy's just throwing the most unorthodox stuff at me and is winning.' It's winning fights and putting guys out."

Check out Aljamain Sterling's comments about Dricus du Plessis below (11:21):