Dricus Du Plessis is widely infamous as one of the most unorthodox champions. His awkward style registered a maiden defense at UFC 305 this past weekend. He submitted former two-time champion Israel Adesanya. In a recent episode, former 170-pound and P4P king Kamaru Usman addressed the improvements he made. However, podcast co-host Henry Cejudo hails DDP as the new ‘King of Africa.’
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) returned from a career-long 11-month layoff at UFC 305. While the Adesanya-Du Plessis feud continues to simmer now, it began with them squabbling about their ‘true African’ origins. Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou were the pioneer titleholders out of Africa. Now, Henry Cejudo has clear ideas about who the ‘true African’ crown should go to after UFC 305.
I’m actually gonna go a little further than that, Kamaru. Not only you are gonna have to call [Du Plessis] the middleweight champion of the world, but you’re gonna have to call him the King of Africa now…
Henry Cejudo via the “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman & Henry Cejudo” Podcast
Cejudo was born to Mexican immigrants who settled in California. Now, the former champion is a proud American who has settled in Arizona. However, with the ‘African’ narrative being a hot topic, ‘Triple C’ and Kamaru Usman recently largely disagreed that skin color does not matter in the style of life in America.
While Israel Adesanya and the South African champ enjoyed their post-fight camaraderie, Usman was unimpressed by Cejuo’s statement. He even said it was something “untasteful” how the play-by-play and the original African debate were leading them and stopped it. Hence, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ had a new solution in mind.
Kamaru Usman recollects sparring Dricus Du Plessis and the improvements he made
Along with Aussie friend Alexander Volkanovski, Kamaru Usman and Izzy had massive success in the UFC competition. They even each had a neat 5-0 reign before losing their undisputed gold. Along with Ngannou (a pro boxer now), they are on a combined 2-9 stat in their last few. Nevertheless, there’s no denying they are the African standouts who started it all.
Dricus Du Plessis made major improvements against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 (Source: es.agfight.com/X)With Henry Cejudo claiming Dricus Du Plessis has been dominant enough over African phenom Izzy to be the new ‘King of Africa,’ Usman prescribes another route. No more ‘Three Kings’ of Africa. Du Plessis is now part of the ‘Four Horsemen’ out of Africa. More to it, he lauded the improvements he saw in him this Saturday.
He’s not the sharpest, he’s not the cleanest but there’s just got to be power. It’s been a few years but I sparred him way back in the day. What really did it for me is his all-around savviness in the game because if you see him the times where he gets the takedown he instantly advances to the next dominant position.
Kamaru Usman via the “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman & Henry Cejudo” Podcast
Usman sparred Dricus Du Plessis years back. While Usman knew he was a sniper, his overall MMA acumen impressed him. While known for his power, Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) delivered arguably the night’s most memorable moment, submitting Izzy in the fourth round.
The middleweight’s eight-fight UFC winning streak is the longest active in the division. While a power shooter with 20 of 22 wins by stoppages, ‘Stilknocks’ and his shock submission was something else. Consequently, it has put DDP on a path to become the next great middleweight fighter.
