During their middleweight title fight, Dricus Du Plessis displayed superior grappling skills that ultimately won him the fight. These skills will be crucial for DDP given that he might be facing the winner of Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev sometime in the future. However, Sean O’Malley believes it won’t give the champion much of an advantage.
‘Suga‘ shared his thoughts on Du Plessis’s performance and what might be next for him in a YouTube video following UFC 305.
The bantamweight champion started by praising the champion for his performance and claimed that he was extremely good at mixing it up He then went full analytical and talked about how grappling won’t be an issue for Whittaker.
And if it is Khamzat DDP was facing, then grappling is right where the Chechen wants the South African to be.
“I don’t think for the next couple of fights it is going to be that big of an advantage, but he is so well rounded at mixing it up. When you f**king crack someone so hard they make mistakes on the ground.”
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What O’Malley is describing is exactly what happened to Adesanya during their fight. ‘The Last Style Bender’ was rocked hard multiple times with clean shots and due to this he gave up his back easily during their grappling exchange.
From there, it was extremely easy for DDP to sink in a rear-naked choke and get the job done. However, O’Malley believes both Whittaker and Chimaev have a better takedown defense than Adesanya, which will make it quite hard for DDP to use the same strategy.
Meanwhile, after his win, DDP confidently picked the fighter he wanted to fight next.
Du Plessis defends Whittaker as the number one contender
As things stand, next in line for the South African champion is a rematch with Sean Strickland. DDP beat Strickland a few months back to claim the middleweight belt. However, a huge portion of the fan base, the media, and Dana White felt that Strickland had done enough to retain his belt.
‘Tarzan’ then went and secured a win against Paulo Costa to put himself in pole position for a title shot. However, when asked about who he thinks should get the next title shot, Du Plessis picked Whittaker in a heartbeat. He insisted that Whittaker was being ‘done over’ and that Strickland’s only saving grace was that he went to a decision with the champion.
