Dricus du Plessis uses Alexander Volkanovski's example to explain satisfaction with refusing UFC 300 fight: "You have to be smart about your career"

Dricus du Plessis had the opportunity to headline UFC 300 as the promotion offered him a middleweight title defense against Israel Adesanya. 'Stillknocks' turned down the opportunity, however, claiming that he injured both legs in his UFC 297 bout against Sean Strickland and did not want to start a camp injured.

During a recent appearance on the Fight Wave podcast, the middleweight champion explained his decision, stating (via Championship Rounds):

"I won't say numbers just because I don't like it, but I don't think people understand the amount of money they offered me to fight at UFC 300. You don't understand the bitter pill it was to say no to that fight. I had a broken foot. What do you guys want? The fight was eight weeks after. This is your career. You have to be smart about it. Look at Alex Volkanovski."

Du Plessis continued:

"As a champion stepping in on a week's notice. That is so bad a**, but what happened? What favors did that do him? Yeah, he got money. That's not why I do this. He got money, but he got knocked out because obviously he didn't have time to prepare for that fight. Do you think that anybody went, 'oh, but he took it on short notice?' No, everybody went, 'he got knocked out'. He still got knocked out, still has that loss then he lost his title."

Check out Dricus du Plessis' full comments on turning down UFC 300 below:

While Volkanovski did suffer a loss by facing Islam Makhachev on short notice at UFC 294, many fans did give him credit for stepping in. Furthermore, the two situations are not exactly comparable as Adesanya would also have been accepting the matchup on short notice.

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Dricus du Plessis provides update on Israel Adesanya clash

Israel Adesanya is expected to receive the first opportunity to challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title. 'Stillknocks' provided an update on the timeline for the bout during his appearance on the Fight Wave podcast, stating:

"Yeah for me, I'm in. I'm ready. I've agreed to everything. I'm ready. I want to do it. That's the fight I want. I called him out after winning the belt and that's the fight the fans want to see and at the end of the day, that's the fight that I want to have. That's the guy that I want to fight and for me, let's just announce this thing. I don't know what's the hold up. I want it to be announced."

Check out Dricus du Plessis' comments on facing Israel Adesanya below (starting at the 28:13 mark):

Du Plessis and Adesanya are expected to clash at UFC 305, which will take place in Perth, Australia in August. While the bout has yet to be officially announced, it has been teased by both fighters. Additionally, 'Stillknocks' and 'The Last Stylebender' both appear to be in training camp.