These announcers act like it's surprising Du Plessis can grapple for some reason.
His first martial art was judo, his second martial art was wrestling, and he has competed in submission grappling tournaments. Yes, he's most known for his kickboxing, but unlike Adesanya he's not a lifelong striking specialist (Adesanya started in taekwondo, then kickboxing where he was a world champion, and has also had 6 pro boxing matches).
Between this and Strickland fight it looks like Izzy is on a clear downslide now. He looked very sluggish and hittable.
That Carlos Prates guy looks like a future contender. Really nasty striking.
He's had 80 pro kickboxing fights, 32 amateur kickboxing fights, 28 pro MMA fights, and 6 pro boxing matches. That's a hell of a lot of miles on his 35 year old body.
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