Dricus Du Plessis feels more confident than ever before following his face off with Israel Adesayna at the UFC 305 On-Sale press conference.
The pair will meet on Sunday August 17 inside the RAC Arena, Perth as Du Plessis makes his first title defence against the returning Adesayna.
After the press conference, the two came face to face for the second time, in what was an extremely tense face off. Lasting well over a minute, neither man waned to be the first to back down. Du Plessis then spoke with Submission Radio and revealed what was said between the two, before discussing where he believes Adesayna’s mindset is heading into the bout. He said:
“He said, ‘Don't kiss me’ as far as I know, he said ‘Don't go kissing me now.’ And I said ‘I'm not a dog, so I wont.’ I don't know what he was saying. I wasn't really focused on what he was saying. I didn't say anything. I'm not here to just say anything to him. You know, the date is set, there’s no need to be saying anything.
“In terms of the demeanor, this whole demeanor around this whole fight, I can feel this man is trying to convince himself that he still wants to be here. In saying that, he has done so much in the sport and he says it's not about titles anymore.
“He will never, ever be he will never get what he had again, there's not enough time. You know, the winning streak, he has done what he was going to do in the sport in terms of legacy. So, right now he's talking about so much outside of the sport instead of talking about what's going on in the sport.
“I don’t know, in my opinion, I think this is him trying to show or convince himself that he still wants to do this, that he still has what it takes. But I'm here just to show him that he's not, and it's fine. Take your time and enjoy a golf and I'm the new champion and I'm the new king of this division.”
When asked about the length of the face off and why he felt it went on for as long as it did, the Middleweight champion said:
“I go out there to win. Just like I go out there to win every exchange. Now, listen, you'll be the one to move. And I went out there and, you know, every situation is different.
“Like in a fight, you can have all the plans in the world at the end of the day, different things happen in there and you have to adapt to those situations and that's what happened that stare down, so I loved it. The longer we stood there, the smaller he became, in my eyes and in his own.
“So for me, that was that was great, that was awesome and that staredown gives everybody a feel for what this fight is going to hold. I have no doubt in my mind that this fight is going to be an absolute banger of a fight.”
Come fight night, Du Plessis only has one thing on his mind and that is to secure a stoppage win and in a devasting manner. He said:
“At the end of the day, I'm coming to finish. You know, I didn't get to finish my last fight. Only had two decisions in my and my career and that's more than enough. Both decisions were incredible wars, so I'm happy with that but I'm coming to finish. I'm coming to prove a point and I'm going to do it in spectacular fashion.”
You can watch Du Plessis’ full interview with Submission Radio, below:
