In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 18 (Eastern Time), defending UFC Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will go to war with former champ Israel Adesanya. Both fighters are incredible kickboxers, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we witnessed a knockout at Perth’s RAC Arena.
Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Odds
| Moneyline | Odds |
| Dircus du Plessis | +110 |
| Israel Adesanya | -130 |
Odds Courtesy of Sports Odds Direct as of Friday, August 16, 2024
When, Where, and How to Watch?
Place: RAC Arena in Perth, Australia
Date: Sunday, August 18, 2024
Time: ~1:00 a.m. ET
How to Watch: NBC
Dricus du Plessis is 21-2 overall with a 7-0 record since joining the UFC in 2020. What’s interesting is that five of those wins happened by a finish. The other two were wins by decision, including the one over Sean Strickland in January, which brought Dricus the UFC Middleweight championship belt.
Even though Strickland landed more significant strikes, the South African won by making 6 takedowns. It’s kind of strange that Strickland made more strikes than him as Du Plessis is famous for his kickboxing. In fact, before that fight, he was the male fighter with the highest number of significant strikes landed per minute in the UFC.
Apart from being a hell of a kickboxer, he’s also a fantastic grappler, the evidence being that almost 50% of his wins happened by submission.
Israel Adesanya could be the very best kickboxer in the UFC. He’s 24-3 overall with 16 wins by KO/TKO. When it comes to his losses, the first one happened against Jan Blachowicz who beat him by decision in the fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight title, which was Adesanya’s first, and so far, only fight in this division.
His second career loss happened to Alex Pereira who beat him by a TKO in the fight for the UFC Middleweight title. Izzy got his revenge a few months later by beating Poatan by KO.
Then, he was supposed to have a relatively easy job against Strickland, but he didn’t take the fight too seriously. Instead of destroying Strickland, who was a huge underdog, he ended up losing by decision. Strickland beat him with his own weapon, landing 40+ more significant strikes than Izzy.
