Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is ready to step back into the Octagon this week at the highly anticipated UFC 305. He’ll face off against current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in Australia. This fight marks Adesanya’s return after being away from the octagon for almost a year. He took a break to recharge after losing his title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Recently, Adesanya appeared in a UFC video where he broke down his fight with Strickland and shared his insight. Adesanya emphasized that it simply wasn’t his night. Dricus Du Plessis, however, has dismissed Israel Adesanya’s ‘off night” excuse” excuse for losing their title fight.

In a recent interview with the New York Post, Du Plessis admitted to understanding Sean Strickland’s fighting style but emphasized that, unlike Adesanya, he was able to overcome it and secure a victory. Shifting the blame entirely onto Adesanya, the fighter claimed, “I started thinking that Adesanya wasn’t off that night; it was Strickland who just completely shut down Izzy’sgame. he enforced his game, and that style that Strickland fights with was the kryptonite for guys like Adesanya.”

Emphasizing further on Strickland’s game plan, the champion added, “He couldn’t land those shots. And the constant pressure — when you let Strickland walk forward and have his rhythm fight … Adesanya is not a big quantity fighter. He’s a guy that moves, moves, moves, and then he throws his accurate strikes.”

Sean Strickland’s reign as UFC middleweight champion was short-lived. After shocking the world by defeating Israel Adesanya at UFC 293, he lost the belt to Dricus Du Plessis just a few weeks later, at UFC 297. Now, Adesanya has a chance to reclaim his title, and even some former champions are rooting for him to do it.

Alexander Volkanovski sides with Israel Adesanya

Alexander Volanovski, the former featherweight champion, is currently taking a break after suffering back-to-back losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. While on hiatus, he’s been keeping busy by sharing his thoughts on the upcoming Adesanya vs. Du Plessis fight, predicting an Adesanya victory based on his dominant performance against Paulo Costa.

Volkanovski believes Dricus Du Plessis is a unique and challenging opponent. The former featherweight champion described the current champion as someone having “awkward pressure” that can be difficult to handle, similar to the style that gave Israel Adesanya trouble in their first fight. However, Volkanovski doesn’t think Adesanya will fall victim to the same tactics twice, emphasizing the champion’s consistency and resilience.

The 35-year-old mentioned, “Dricus is very awkward, very unorthodox. He’s got awkward pressure, which is very, very hard for people to deal with, and we’ve seen awkward pressure from Strickland give Izzy problems. But that doesn’t happen to Izzy twice. There’s no way that fight looks the same.”

Whether Israel Adesanya’s loss to Sean Strickland was a fluke or a sign of things to come remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: he has a massive opportunity to reclaim his title when he faces Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305. Who are you picking to win this epic battle? Adesanya’s striking brilliance or Du Plessis’ raw power? Let us know in the comments below.