Is Dricus Du Plessis’ title charge over before it could really begin? Eugene Bareman, head coach to reigning middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, certainly seems to think so.
Du Plessis knocked out Robert Whittaker, and when Adesanya stepped into the Octagon to face him, the title shot seemed locked in.
Dricus Du Plessis Took UFC Title Shot For Granted
However, an injury will keep Du Plessis away from “The Last Stylebender” for the moment, with Sean Strickland lined up to take on Adesanya in the main event at UFC 293. “I don’t make that call but the problem is if you don’t step up and take fights, you go into the pool, that’s a fact.
Nothing in this sport is solid until there’s something signed on the dotted line. If he’s got nothing signed on the dotted line then he’s out there in the ether.
He had a shot. It’s the same shot that many of my boys have had who fought for titles or have titles. You never, never, never — and fought with horrific injuries — you don’t take that lightly.
The problem with them is they’ve had an injury and it’s been a bad injury. So what? You’ve taken your shot for granted. You think you’re gonna get it again. But you don’t know what this machine does.
You don’t know the UFC. You don’t know what they do. You don’t know how they twist and turn things. Never feel comfortable with where you are.
If there’s something in front of you that you’ve been working for your whole life, don’t think for a minute that it can’t be taken away just like that.
He had it and he let it slip. So, they can’t be sitting comfortable thinking that they’ve got the next shot. Because they don’t. I know this sport. The fact is they don’t.
They did. They never took it and now they should not be sitting comfortable thinking they got the next shot because in this sport that’s just not true.”
Bareman is now preparing his champion for war against Sean Strickland, who he expects to enter the Octagon with a concrete gameplan.
“He’s coming off a fight camp and a quick turnaround coming off another fight can be an advantage if you use it the right way and his team knows that.
He’s got a smart team, a smart coach and he must have known that potentially this might be on the cards so if he was smart then he would have got into training straight away.
Even if there was a five to 10 percent chance of them having a title shot. On a two percent chance people at this gym have trained and done a full camp.
You just get yourself ready if there’s an inkling or even a small chance then you get yourself ready and you might get the call up.”
