Dricus Du Plessis managed to steal the middleweight title from Sean Strickland at UFC 297 last weekend. Yet, it was a tough fight, with the new champ winning the belt via split decision. In line with this, the fighter acknowledged his loss in the first round but shared that the adjustments he made allowed him to win in the end.
Du Plessis’ win made a noise not only because of him being the new champion but also because of Strickland and other MMA personalities questioning the decision. Some contradict the result due to Du Plessis seemingly losing in Round 1, but “Stillknocks” said it was part of the plan.
“I knew I lost round one when I went to the corner because that was our game plan,” Du Plessis said on the Anik & Florian Podcast. “Our game plan was to fight Sean Strickland’s fight in the first two rounds but fighting the exact fight that he would fight. So, going forward and landing one punch, one punch, one punch, one kick, and that would surprise them a little because they’d think that I’m going to come out with the big bombs early.”
However, as pointed out by the fighter, the team has to make adjustments during the fight, pushing him to deliver more attacks to ensure his win.
“After the first round, I went to the corner and I said I think we have to, because obviously my coach would shout to me when the round’s about to end to get that takedown and we made sure to get that at the end of every round to either level the playing field or to make sure we tip the round in our favour,” detailed Du Plessis. “After the first round, I went into the corner and I said ‘I think we have to do a little bit more than that because we lost that round’ and he said ‘you definitely did’.”
