Reigning Champ Dricus Du Plessis Pitches on His Choice of Most ‘Dominant’ Champion Ahead of UFC 319

Dricus Du Plessis waxes lyricals over now-undisputed UFC 265-pound champ Tom Aspinall, saying he'll dominantly reign for a very long while.

Reigning Champ Dricus Du Plessis Pitches on His Choice of Most ‘Dominant’ Champion Ahead of UFC 319

Dricus Du Plessis lauds Tom Aspinall as next-gen heavyweight (Source: X)

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Dricus Du Plessis is one of the longest reigning belt holders in active competition, other than Alexandre Pantoja. While he won the undisputed gold at the start of last year, ‘Stillknocks’ has found much success and proved that his title fights are no fluke. Before yet another title defense in about a few weeks’ time, Du Plessis rates Tom Aspinall as yet another dominant name in the sport.

Dricus Du Plessis won gold atop the UFC 297 PPV main event against former champ Sean Strickland. But the unhinged ‘Tarzan’ blamed it on partiality by Canadian leftists and the urban jungle not favoring him. They ran it back, with the South African logging a more sure domination atop the UFC 312 PPV card in Sydney.

The 31-year-old South African also handed a first-ever submission loss to former UFC 185lbs champ Israel Adesanya. 3-0 in title affairs (4 wins against former champs if considering his win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290), DDP has been a reckoning. Du Plessis sees UK native Aspinall as a similar force and bills that he’ll be reigning over the UFC 265-pound weight class ‘for a very long time’.

[Tom]…Tom [is] incredible, it’s pretty easy to, you know, the first time you saw, he also made his debut on my debut card, the first time you saw Tom Aspinall fight, you knew there was something special; …He’s almost the next generation of heavyweights, in my opinion, where he moves like a middleweight, he’s light on his feet, he can also grapple…so I’m really happy for him, [So]I think he’s gonna be a great champion and I think he’s gonna be a champion for a long time.

Dricus Du Plessis in a UFC 319 PPV pre-fight sponsored sitdown for Betway (@BetwaySouthAfrica)

The middleweight champion is an enigma. DDP has the most-awkward, head-first, charged-up swinging pattern, mixed up with his K-1 style kickboxing. He faces much criticism for his seeming lack of cardio, but he has proven otherwise. In his current run, Du Plessis is a tough puzzle to crack, finding success where he shouldn’t, and he finds Tom Aspinall in a similar way.

UFC Record Books (statsleader.ufc.com) has the Brit dominating the leaderboards with the minimum downed position logged. Even with a big frame as a heavyweight, Aspinall touts a welterweight-like pacing and boasts a plethora of round one wins (including a first-round TKO defense of his interim title). 8-1 in the frame, it made him the stiffest test to make for Jon Jones.

On the flip side, on his “Fight Lab” for UFC on TNT Sports, Aspinall has similarly lauded Du Plessis. The 185-pound gold goes up on August 16 in a tough test for UFC 319. Top name Khamzat Chimaev has to go through ‘Stillknocks’ to realize success. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall has his next challenge as well. As for competition champions, DDP waxed up a lyrical over yet another fighter.

Dricus Du Plessis all praises for Ilia Topuria

Tom Aspinall could be the Next-Gen ‘best’ heavyweight, and Du Plessis himself could be a long-reigning wild berserker. Additionally, Merab Dvalishvili and Zhang Weili could be the toughest cookies to crack. Then there’s the dominant new WMMA bantamweight champ, Kayla Harrison, as well as the dominant Pantoja, who missed Best ESPY honors by just an inch.

Dricus Du Plessis sang praises for another champ he has camaraderie with
Dricus Du Plessis sang praises for another champ he has camaraderie with (Source: X)

But no other fighter/champ has realized success at the rate Ilia Topuria has. In the last two years, ‘El Matador’ has shattered dreams with a one-of-one triple KO title campaign over fan favorite fighters. With UFC 317 in the books, he is the 10th two-weight champ and the only one to make it on an undefeated record (17-0).

Much like Dricus Du Plessis was for South Africa, Topuria has been on tap for a Spain PPV event debut. Given all that, DDP can’t help but laud the 155-pound champ. The duo has dapped it up on multiple occasions, including ringside at UFC 300.

We made our debuts on the same fight card, he was in my changing room, we were on the same trajectory winning our titles one month apart. He’s one of those special characters who’s gonna be a Hall of Famer, no doubt …[about it].

Dricus Du Plessis said in yet another segment for Betway (@BetwaySouthAfrica)

Topuria and Du Plessis have represented a class of strikers who are coupled with sufficient anti-wrestling/wrestling. Furthermore, they have had shock turnouts and proved naysayers wrong.

Before opting for a pure standup, the Spaniard even began his career on an 8-0 submission streak. Team Kill Cliff FC helmsman Henri Hooft even considers this duo the best strikers in active competition. As such, sky is the limit for both, and the duo has proved they have what it takes to get there and stay there.

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