South African fighter Dricus du Plessis’s star is on the rise. He likely could have had a title shot even without facing former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. But he took the difficult route, stopping Whittaker in the second round.
That solidified his position as the next contender to current titleholder Israel Adesanya. The two even squared off in the Octagon following du Plessis’s win over Whittaker.
Adesanya is defending his belt at UFC 293 on Sept. 10 in Sydney, Australia (Sept. 9 in North American time zones). du Plessis was supposed to be the opponent, but he withdrew his name from consideration, citing an undisclosed injury.
UFC officials quickly shifted focus to No. 5 ranked middleweight Sean Strickland, who is on a hot streak right now. Though he got knocked out by Alex Pereira and then dropped a split decision to Jared Cannonier, Strickland rebounded with back-to-back wins over Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov.
More importantly, he has been outspoken about topics both inside and outside of the cage. He’s drawn the spotlight, whether it be fans that agree with him or despise him. And, Strickland was willing to step in after have just fought in July.
UFC Vegas 76 highlights: Sean Strickland stops Abus Magomedov
Defeating Abus Magomedov so decisively in his last fight helped Sean Strickland raise his stock and get the nod to step in for Dricus du Plessis to challenge UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 on the Sept. 9 pay-per-view.
Did du Plessis pulling out of UFC 293 fade him into the background?
Adesanya’s City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman believes that du Plessis wasted an opportunity, not knowing what direction any UFC division takes when you fail to seize the day.
“I don’t make that call, but the problem is, if you don’t step up and take fights, you go into the pool. That’s a fact,” Bareman said in an interview with Submission Radio.
“Nothing in this sport is solid until there’s something signed on the dotted line. If (duPlessis has) got nothing signed on the dotted line then he’s out there in the ether. He had a shot. It’s the same shot that many of my boys have had who fought for titles or have titles. You never, never, never — and fought with horrific injuries — you don’t take that lightly.”
“You’ve taken your shot for granted. You think you’re gonna get it again. But you don’t know what this machine does. You don’t know the UFC. You don’t know what they do. You don’t know how they twist and turn things.” – Eugene Bareman
Bareman is of the mind that, injured or not, you have to take your shot when it is granted. Obviously, there are some injuries that can’t be overcome and wouldn’t make it beyond medical scrutiny, but outside of that, he feels a fighter should not dismiss an opportunity to fight for UFC gold when it is offered.
“The problem with them is they’ve had an injury and it’s been a bad injury. So what? You’ve taken your shot for granted. You think you’re gonna get it again. But you don’t know what this machine does. You don’t know the UFC. You don’t know what they do. You don’t know how they twist and turn things,” he continued.
“Never feel comfortable with where you are. If there’s something in front of you that you’ve been working for your whole life, don’t think for a minute that it can’t be taken away just like that. (du Plessis) had it and he let it slip. So, they can’t be sitting comfortable thinking that they’ve got the next shot. Because they don’t. I know this sport. The fact is they don’t. They did. They never took it and now they should not be sitting comfortable thinking they got the next shot because in this sport that’s just not true.”