{"id":477371,"date":"2026-02-13T13:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/477371\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:10:12","slug":"dricus-du-plessis-praises-adesanyas-exciting-feb-28-bout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/477371\/","title":{"rendered":"Dricus Du Plessis Praises Adesanya’s Exciting Feb. 28 Bout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dricus du Plessis<\/a> (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) may not have a fight lined up for later on in 2026 as of this writing, but the top contender at 185 lbs is waiting for Feb. 28 with interest. On the last night of the shortest month of the year, the middleweights take center stage.<\/p>\n

Seattle, WA\u2019s Climate Pledge Arena serves as the setting for UFC Seattle. It\u2019s the second year in a row where Seattle has played host to a UFC Fight Night. In the Feb. 28 headliner<\/a>, one of Dricus du Plessis\u2019 counterparts in the division, No. 6 contender Israel Adesanya<\/a> (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) collides with No. 14 contender Joe Pyfer<\/a> (15-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC.)<\/p>\n

The five-round fight at five minutes per round is Israel Adesanya\u2019s first contest under the UFC promotional banner in more than a year after he was knocked out<\/a> during UFC Riyadh in February of 2025 inside the second round by Nassourdine Imavov (17-4, 1 NC MMA, 9-2, 1 NC UFC.) Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya have a history with one another, having fought in August of 2024, with the former winning by way of submission.<\/p>\n

Dricus du Plessis Approves of Adesanya vs. Pyfer Fight<\/p>\n

Thursday, Dricus du Plessis appeared as a guest on Fight Forecast\u00a0to discuss the upcoming contest in Puget Sound at the end of February. He believes that the fight on Feb. 28 will be a must-see affair for those tuning in on Paramount Plus.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not close in the rankings,\u201d Dricus du Plessis said of Israel Adesanya\u2019s tilt with Joe Pyfer. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting fight for fans. That just shows the quality of warrior that he is, putting his reputation on the line to fight an up-and-coming guy he doesn\u2019t need to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

DDP mentioned that at this stage in Adesanya\u2019s career, he isn\u2019t in the UFC strictly for the purpose of chasing the middleweight championship one more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes out there and said \u2018I want exciting fights,’\u201d he said, \u201cand this is an exciting fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

DDP Thinks Adesanya Won\u2019t Retire Soon<\/p>\n

When discussing the topic of Israel Adesanya, DDP says that, although he\u2019ll retire eventually, it won\u2019t be in the immediate future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, for any fighter, it\u2019s really hard [to retire,] he mentioned. \u201cI think it\u2019s hard. We live for this, and sometimes, you need somebody to tell you \u2018Listen, it\u2019s time.\u2019 For him, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s time. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s time\u00a0yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until Adesanya retires, DDP believes \u201cThe Last Stylebender\u201d is focused on doing what he wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of accomplishing things in the sport, that\u2019s not where his mind\u2019s at,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing for the belt, that\u2019s not where his mind\u2019s at. It\u2019s probably not going to happen. I can almost guarantee it\u2019s not going to happen, because that\u2019s not what his goals are.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Concrete Date for Dricus du Plessis\u2019 Next Opponent, But April Return Looking Probable<\/p>\n

As mentioned previously, Dricus du Plessis does not have a fight lined up for later on this year right now, but he mentioned that he\u2019s targeting a return to competition in early spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be ready for April,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love to be on that April card, the Miami card. There\u2019s no opponent yet, there\u2019s no contract yet. We don\u2019t have any of that. Whoever, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he does fight, it\u2019ll be his first appearance inside the fabled Octagon since a failed defense of the UFC Middleweight Championship versus Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) last August in Chicago. Revenge is the only thing on DDP\u2019s mind going into his anticipated return.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next fight is going to be the most important fight of my life,\u201d he mentioned. \u201cI will win that fight and I will get my belt back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/p>\n

Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, aside from being in the same weight class, have something in common. Both men have been at the peak of the mountain at middleweight and eventually lost their seat at the captain\u2019s table.<\/p>\n

To hear DDP speak highly of Adesanya as the latter continues the twilight of his career is really gratifying. Normally, when you have two fighters in the same weight class talking about one another, it\u2019s to throw verbal jabs at each other.<\/p>\n

Not this time. The respect that du Plessis has for Israel Adesanya is admirable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dricus du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) may not have a fight lined up for later on in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-477371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}