The challenger had to answer a few questions on the way to UFC 297 in January last year.
Although people questioned his technical skills, Dricus Du Plessis unmistakably made himself in the middleweight division of the UFC that led him all the way to UFC 312 on 8 February.
The South African competition continued to finish every opponent who was placed for him to make his way to his first title shot.
Apart from his victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Du Plessis did not get the honor he earned for his victories and a large part of it was until his conditioning.
Five rounds go against a pressure hunter such as Sean Strickland would be the ultimate test of that and after the last bell sounded, he was raised his arm to become the new 185 pound champion.
Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty images
Dricus Du Persis says that in his first fight with Sean Strickland he has proven that he can go five rounds
In 24 Pro fights, Dricus Du Plessis only went to the score cards twice when he defeated Sean Strickland and when he achieved his third UFC victory in Brad Tavares.
The expectation on the way to UFC 297 was that he would soon start Strickland with the benefit later in the fight, but 'Stillnocks' expected this and tried to turn it upside down by staying composed for the first few rounds.
In a recent interview with Talksport, Du Plessis spoke about his growing confidence in the third round where he believes that his opponent was starting to realize that he was not going anywhere.
The championship rounds would always be crucial and the challenger eventually won the fourth on all three scorecards, despite all the conversation to him in earlier fights.
“When the fourth round came, this is the first time in my entire career that I go to a fourth round. I felt that I was sitting on a cloud, I felt invincible. I felt fresher than before the fight started. I thought, now we can fight and that fourth round was by far my best round. “
The cardio of Du Plessis was also shown in his first title defense against Israel Adesanya, where again the fourth round turned out to be decisive when he apparently set and submitted his opponent on UFC 305.
The champion is now sure that he can match someone's pace.
“I had to prove the world, for myself, that I can go five rounds and go as fast as possible for five rounds.”
Dricus Du Plessis surprised people at UFC 297
In his first fight with Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis does not completely reinvent his opponent, but he did show some adjustments.
'Still Knocks' was able to use a variety of techniques to land more effective recordings on his opponent without bundling to him with reckless surrender.
Strickland and his team now know that Du Plessis will not empty his gas tank completely alone, but he does throw large and explosive shots from Bell to Bell.
Measuring his output and cardio will again be the key for the champion in the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Saturday evening.
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