Michael Bisping expects ‘ridiculous’ Rematch between Champion Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland on UFC 312

Michael Bisping has claimed that Dricus du Plessis’ Rematch with Sean Strickland at UFC 312 will be “ridiculous”.

You Plessis will squate with Strickland, a year after the former took the middleweight title from the American.

The South African then preserved his title against Israel Adesanya in August, while Strickland jumped back by demanding a decision victory over Paulo Costa in June.

Prior to the match, Bisping du defended Plessis’ unconventional style and insisted that the 31-year-old was a “destroyer”.

“People like to talk about (you Plessis),” Bisping said at TNT Sports’ Kampuge. “They like to criticize they like to say, ‘he isn’t very good. He doesn’t look too technical. He doesn’t look too fluid. He’s not like a ballerina in Octagon’.

“I tell you what he is – the man is a destroy too, and you have a tough problem for someone.

“This match will be ridiculous. Sean Strickland will have to do something else if he will regain that belt.”

When he repeated Bispings du Plessis praise, Nick Peet added: “He’s on a colossal race. Eight matches in UFC. All wins. Six finish. Four performance bonuses. Picking out the belts along the way. As you say, pretty much closes the door on (Israel Adesanya ) In the short term.

“He has been nothing short of phenomenal. And he gets better with every single performance. I think sometimes we overlook the fact that because he has only been in the UFC for a handful of matches that he was a world champion in several weights on more Continents too.

“And yes, when you see his style, you think, ‘oh he is not all that’. But he is winning consistently – to win is a habit and this guy is a junkie. He is addicted to winning. And we is not yet the best of the Dricus you Plessis too.

Consensus among both teachers was that Strickland had to make changes to his gameplan to beat you Plessis.

Peet suggested that UFC lightly heavyweight master Alex Pereira, who has been training with Strickland, could help the American get the edge over his opponent.

“Strickland is the guy who needs to make the changes,” Peet said. “He is the guy who needs something else on top of their last match and what we’ve seen in training camp, in the construction, is that he has worked with Alex Pereira much more. This is the case of him maybe, maybe to be in the corner this weekend in Sean Strickland.

“But in terms of strickland, having someone like Pereira who is pounding for pounds without a doubt the best fighter on the planet right now in your corner, giving you some extra knowledge, the extra little bites. Maybe it will just give x-factor To get over the line.

Peet continued: “Although I thought Dricus was a deserved winner in the first match, it was still a shared decision. The judges were still shared on it, so it wasn’t like Strickland was completely out of the match.

“So it’s the little margins that can get him across the line, but to do it, I don’t think it’s necessarily about being technical or having the better gameplan. Some have been able to do so in the UFC yet.

“People have picked holes in his game, people have won rounds and had moments against him, but no one has broken him mentally why he has been so successful. That’s what Strickland has to do this weekend. Break dricus mentally. Can he do it?

Bisping claimed that “there were a few keys to victory” for Strickland and insisted that he could choose to take down his opponent.

He argued, “Certainly Sean Strickland in this one has to go forward. He can’t afford to be backed up all the time.

“Yes, he uses that jab. It is very accurate and will bust the face up and bloody eyes. But that is the key to the door. He has to use it for.

“When he does that car accident, (Strickland) can’t afford to back up, so he has to have something to meet him his head, whether it’s a knee up in the middle or an elbow in the face.

“I think we might see Sean Strickland actually go after a dismantling. (Strickland coach) Eric Nicksick told me that in gym.

“And I think, because Strickland recently came out and said, ‘Listen, be a man, don’t fight me, don’t take me down. For that but what it can do is send a message to the dricus to say , ‘Once again he just comes out and stands’.

“There are only a few keys to victory for Sean Strickland. Basically he has to go forward and he has to fight. You can’t just trust Jabmen.”