Israel Adesanya give his pick for Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis

Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will be watching the UFC 297 main event with keen interest.  Champion Sean Strickland, who won the title by defeating Adesanya, put his belt on the line for the first time against second-ranked Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday.  

Looking back at the previous press conference where Strickland and Du Plessis had words, Adesanya thought it was funny.  

“I find it funny how he can dish it but can’t take it, and that’s very telling for me.  I’m glad they’re fighting, an interesting clash of personalities,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.  “Dricus is fake.  I’ll put it this way, he’s fake on camera.  He’s a real person, a real n***a, but he’s fake when the cameras come on.  When you meet him in person, he’s real.”

As far as the fight goes, Adesanya believes Du Plessis will try to out grapple Strickland.    

“Dricus is going to try to wrestle him.  Stand up in the beginning of course, do his offbeat rhythm, all that kind of stuff.  But the problem is he might get jabbed by Sean in the first round and have to really have to switch to the grappling because Sean’s jab is underrated.  I never underestimated it, but I’ll say it’s underrated,” said Adesanya.  

“Dricus is just weird.  It’s weird the way, the way he strikes is so ugly but it’s effective,” Adesanya continued.  “I think Dricus has to take a backward step first.  Sean’s pressure.  I don’t know if Dricus knows how to fight off his back foot.  He likes to fight forward.  Sean can kind of fight on his back foot.  Sean can.  He’s defensively sound.”

Grappling is the key for Du Plessis’ success, according to the former champion.  

“To the ground, I think Dricus can handle him on the ground if it gets there,” Adesanya said.  “Sean can scramble but I don’t think he’s going to out-scramble Dricus.  Sean, definitely striking advantage.  I’ll give Dricus the grappling advantage.  

“I’m going to go with Dricus.  Does it got the distance?  I’m going to say no.”