John McCarthy was not impressed with new UFC middleweight champion’s ,Dricus Du Plessis, failure to dominate the fight against former champion Sean Strickland. The South African claimed the title from a narrow split decision win.
There is a new UFC middleweight champion! The story of Dricus Du Plessis has reached an immense conclusion at UFC 297 as he claimed the title from the short lived champion Sean Strickland. After wins over Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker, ‘Stillknocks’ catapulted himself into title contention. And now he sits at the top as the newest champion in the UFC. This win has also made Dricus Du Plessis the fourth African Champion in the UFC.
The UFC 297 main event saw both Du Plessis and Strickland go to war, as promised. Dricus opened up a nasty cut on the head of Strickland and dominated the ground game with six takedowns and just over two minutes of ground control. However the former champ wasn’t going down without a fight as Sean Strickland landed 173 strikes to Du Plessis’s 137 and kept the fight going with a ferocious jab. In the end it went to the judges score cards. The judges awarded Dricus Du Plessis with a split decision win claiming the throne of the middleweights. While many were impressed with ‘Stillknocks’ performance, John McCarthy wasn’t pleased with the South African’s inability to dominate the fight.
Speaking on his Weighing In podcast, John McCarthy wasn’t impressed with Dricus Du Plessis’s inability to capitalize on his six takedowns.
John McCarthy Not Impressed with Dricus Du Plessis
‘They both fought hard. It’s just the way they fought made it to where it was not that fight where you had moments that you were like ‘Oh my god! Look at what’s happening! and things (like) momentum shifts and changes. He continued,
‘The momentum really didn’t shift at all that much. If you were going to look for the biggest shifts of momentum, (it) was really the takedowns that Du Plessis was able to get. But he wasn’t able to do a damn thing with any of them. Strickland always got back to his feet. It was a momentum that Du Plessis had the opportunity to do something but it always slipped by because he wasn’t able to keep Strickland in there. It was almost like a waste of time in the fight that there wasn’t that action going on.’
Too Much Respect?
‘Big John’ claimed that the two fighters also showed too much respect for each other. ‘I also thought that… both guys really ended up with a respect for their opponent and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. That is what happened when you fight somebody that’s good. Dricus Du Plessis thought that he could run through Strickland, I think, and he realized right away, ‘Oh my god! No. He’s a lot faster with his jab. It’s a lot stiffer than I thought. He’s a lot more difficult to reach out and touch and I have to open up and put myself into danger to try to get those things done.
‘In reverse, Sean Strickland had that where he looked at Du Plessis and thought he’s open. I’m just going to keep hitting him with straight shots and it’s going to end up hurting him to the point he breaks down and I take over the fight and he learned if there’s one thing that you’ve got to give DDP. You have got to give him credit. He’s got a chin. He is tough as hell!’
Quotes via middleeasy.com
What Next After UFC 297
Even though Dana White believes that Sean Strickland won the fight, Dricus Du Plessis is the new middleweight champion. So what is next for the middleweight division? Many believe that Sean Strickland should get the immediate rematch. However I believe the next contender is clear. Jared Cannonier has to be the next contender for the middleweight title. He is the only top 5 middleweight that is now on a win streak. However many UFC fans are calling for either the anticipated Israel Adesanya match or a rough fight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Either way, the South African is now the top of the middleweight throne. And now the hunter is now the hunted.
Were you impressed with the performance of Dricus Du Plessis? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
