WATCH: “Wild to see how things go” – 185-pound Dricus du Plessis sparring with featherweight Alexander Volkanovski has fans mesmerized

A recent footage has resurfaced that shows a young Dricus Du Plessis and Alexander Volkanovski in a practice session at Tiger Muay Thai.

WATCH: “Wild to see how things go” – 185-pound Dricus du Plessis sparring with featherweight Alexander Volkanovski has fans mesmerized

Dricus Du Plessis, who faces Sean Strickland at UFC 297, spars with Alexander Volkanovski (Source: Twitter)

Dricus du Plessis faces middleweight champion Sean Strickland at UFC 297. The January affair marks Strickland’s maiden defense since his win at UFC 293. Before that though, the South African Du Plessis already had his first intense face-off against “Tarzan”. They engaged in a ringside brawl at UFC 296 which induced a security intervention. Additionally, new sparring footage has surfaced, with him facing Alexander Volkanovski, and Israel Adesanya alongside.

Standing at 20-2 Du Plessis is a 185lb phenom who was to face Strickland before. But the fighter had to withdraw from the card due to injury, with Adesanya thus tagging in. Meanwhile, “The Great” last faced Islam Makhachev in a two-division glory titular faceoff. The current video sees the fighters sparring at Tiger Muay Thai gym, with Volkanovski initiating a leg kick and duck-and-jab. This was before they were signed to the UFC. A prime reaction read “Man that’s crazy… wild to see how things can age“.

Du Plessis is a multi-spectrum fighter. He is trained in Judo from 5, wrestling at 12, and even kickboxing at 14. He became South Africa’s first medalist at the WAKO World Championships at just 17. Correspondingly a lot of peers laud the mixed martial artists’ acumen. The brawl with Strickland was however unprecedented. Check out what Volkanovski had to say about a supposed ear bite by Strickland:

FS Video

I would have had a perfect view of the bite if that was actually happening. So if anyone has footage or hasn’t really looked at it, see if you can see maybe he was trying to go for a bite to the ear, Mike Tyson style, because that could have happened, and that would be a pretty funny and extra element to that whole story…

Alexander Volkanovski on Strickland’s possible ear bite

During the UFC Seasonal presser, Du Plessis and Strickland exchanged heated words. Both fighters traded barbs, with Du Plessis bringing up Strickland’s troubled childhood with an abusive father.

Fans react to Dricus Du Plessis sparring with Alexander Volkanovski

South African Dricus Du Plessis dukes it out with Sean Strickland soon for his middleweight gold. The duo have already locked on in severe banter, in the build-up to UFC 297. Recently footage has resurfaced that shows Du Plessis sparring lightheartedly against featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.

Fans react to Dricus Du Plessis training with Alexander Volkanovski, with Israel Adesanya in tow
Fans react to Dricus Du Plessis training with Alexander Volkanovski, with Israel Adesanya in tow (Source: IMAGO/Twitter)

The sparring session also had the presence of Israel Adesanya in tow. Adesanya is conversely Strickland’s rival, whom he won the belt from. Furthermore, Adesanya recently weighed in on the ringside brawl between the two. Check out how fans reacted to the sparring video, in the following tweets.

https://twitter.com/monto9296/status/1737974092546875797?s=20

Most fans have lauded the young fighters for their egoless and formative sparring. A few callbacks have referred to 26-3 Volkanovski’s short height matching up to the rival’s knees. A running gag within the fan community. A few more have even induced divine intervention by having both of Strickland’s past and present rivals together in a sparring session.

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