In defeating Sean Strickland to become the new middleweight world champion in January, Dricus Du Plessis also silenced critics who questioned his cardio.
After all, he pulled off a split-decision victory over Strickland after 25 minutes of grueling action.
From it, Du Plessis believes that same criticism of his cardio has undergone a complete 180-degree turn — to the point where his conditioning can be regarded as an asset this weekend when he defends his middleweight title against former two-time champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.
"It's crazy how it completely switched up from having terrible cardio, according to people, to being a cardio machine," Du Plessis said in Episode 3 of UFC 305 Embedded.
"Now people go 'he can just go for the whole fight' and I understand if there was problems but you never saw me stop, even though I got tired," he continued. "My opponents gave up."
That being said, Du Plessis, who is 7-0 in the UFC, believes fatigue won't be a factor for him Saturday night against Adesanya, either.
"There's nobody in the world that works harder than me," he insisted.
Of his seven UFC wins, Du Plessis has tendered two decisions and five stoppages.
Ten of Adesanya's 16 UFC fights have been decided by decision — eight of them for wins.
This weekend's main event marks Adesanya's 12th consecutive UFC title fight. In his last fight, he lost a unanimous decision to Strickland in September.
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