Joe Rogan is truly impressed with the evolution of Dricus du Plessis.
Riding into UFC 319 on a nine-fight unbeaten streak inside the Octagon, ‘DDP’ will put his middleweight title on the line against the division’s designated boogeyman, Khamzat Chimaev, in the evening’s highly anticipated headliner.
Hosting former UFC titleholder Matt Serra on his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, the longtime UFC color commentator offered his take on du Plessis’ journey from an odds-defying scrapper with sus cardio to a world champion.
“There are guys that reach this level of discipline and achieve a level of cardiovascular performance that’s just above everybody else’s, and then they maintain it,” Rogan said. “Like they get that advantage and they keep pushing it and they slowly keep adding on to it… I think Dricus is kind of a similar kind of guy. I think that dude works so hard that he can go out there and fight full blast, which is what’s weird to watch him fight.
“He looks like he’s mouth-breathing, but he just keeps the same… That was a lot of the earlier fights before he got his nose fixed. So he got his nose fixed so he could breathe out of his nose. Makes sense. Changed everything. That’s when he crushed Whittaker. Like the Whittaker one was shocking. Cause we all know how durable Whittaker is.”
Du Plessis can hold his own on the mat
While ‘Stillknocks’ may be best known for his impressive knockout power and willingness to stand and trade with anyone, Serra made it a point to remind everyone that du Plessis is an accomplished grappler — something that could come in handy when he meets one of the best wrestlers in all of MMA come fight night.
“Judo at five years old, wrestling at twelve; it’s not like he’s not a grappler,” Serra added. “Everybody’s just so used to him throwing his bombs and his kicks.”
Chimaev and du Plessis both go into UFC 319 boasting unbeaten records inside the Octagon and a combined 91% finish rate.
