Israel Adesanya gives prediction for Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has given his prediction for the Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis bout at UFC 297.

There is high anticipation surrounding the upcoming UFC middleweight championship matchup between Strickland and du Plessis. The two will headline the promotion's first pay-per-view card of the year in what would be 'Tarzan's' first title defense.

Going into the fight, Strickland has emerged as a slight favorite on betting lines, and many believe that he will get the job done against du Plessis, considering his performance against Adesanya last year.

However, Adesanya doesn't think so. 'The Last Stylebender' recently offered his prediction for the upcoming bout in a video posted to his YouTube channel, FREESTYLEBENDER, wherein he said:

"Official pick, I'm going to go with Dricus. Does it go the distance? I'm gonna say no. Not that I don't respect Sean or his skills, the guy beat me, so of course I respect his skills."

Catch Israel Adesanya's prediction below:

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Sean Strickland believes Dricus du Plessis is a tougher fight than Israel Adesanya

Sean Strickland shook up the MMA world with his win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. Now set to defend his title for the first time against Dricus du Plessis this Saturday, 'Tarzan' has claimed that he expects his fight against 'Stillknocks' to be tougher than his title-winning bout against Adesanya.

When asked about du Plessis from a fighting perspective during the media day ahead of UFC 297, Strickland said:

''I think it's a harder fight than Izzy [Israel Adesanya]. The thing about Dricus is that, dude, he just likes to fight, you know? Is he the best? Probably not, but like, he just goes in there and he just fights to win you know? That's a hard fight, man.''

However, this doesn't mean Strickland is fazed by du Plessis. Instead, the reigning champion believes that the South African challenger hasn't done enough in the sport to pose a threat to him, adding:

"I mean what is his accolades? He f***ing beat a dead horse, Derek Brunson...Then you [Dricus du Plessis] go fight Whittaker, and Whittaker was a great fight, but like, was that the [best] Whittaker we've ever seen? Whittaker f***ing quit. Maybe he's just f***ing that good but I just think he fought two dead horses.''

Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (3.20):