UFC veteran gets honest about Dricus du Plessis' fighting style with breakdown of first Sean Strickland clash: "How does he keep winning, this guy?

A UFC veteran has shared his take on Dricus du Plessis' fight style and broke down the South African’s first outing against Sean Strickland at UFC 297 ahead of their rematch.

At UFC 297 last year, Strickland was dethroned by du Plessis, who won by split decision. 'Stillknocks' will lock horns with Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, looking to defend his belt for the second time. UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson has now dissected du Plessis' style of fighting and how he always prevails in the cage.

Appearing on the OverDogs Podcast, 'Wonderboy' broke down the first fight, saying that du Plessis beat his American counterpart with effective striking and, more importantly, timely takedowns. The South African landed six takedowns, and while Strickland managed to work his way back to his feet every time, it affected the latter's gas tank, according to Thompson, who said:

"[Dricus] du Plessis, how does he keep winning this guy? Dude, I went back and watched the first fight cause I did a breakdown of that. I think it goes the same route. I know [Sean] Strickland’s been training with Alex Pereira but it’s not just the striking, du Plessis beat him with the takedowns."

The former title challenger added:

"Yes, Strickland kept getting back up but it wore him and it made him tired. It fatigued him in the third, fourth and fifth round why is why he kept getting pieced up which is wild to me. He does like so many things wrong. But then he just ends up winning it, right?"

Check out Stephen Thompson's comments about Dricus du Plessis below:

---

Israel Adesanya shares his pick for Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who fought both Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis, has weighed in on the upcoming rematch.

'The Last Stylebender' believes that the upcoming pay-per-view headliner will be won by du Plessis, who he thinks will be "too tough" for the American challenger. In a UFC 312 breakdown for his YouTube channel, Adesanya said:

"To be honest, it's gonna be Dricus doing what he does and Strickland might wrestle better, but he's not going to initiate it. If he can have his defense on point, he might be able to beat Dricus, but I think Dricus is just too tough. I think Dricus is going to win, but he's going to do it the way he does which is just be stubborn and take him down."

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below about du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 below: