Du Plessis: "Victory over Adesanya will put me in the ranks of the greatest"

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis has spoken out about his bout with former titleholder Israel Adesanya, which takes place Aug. 17 at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.

"For me, Izzy has always been a role model as a fighter. He's been a dominant champion for a long time. And everything he's done over the years should be done by anyone who aspires to be the best in the world. Izzy is definitely one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. And a win over him would put me in the ranks of the greatest MMA fighters ever. Years of hard training and climbing to the top is coming to an end as I will soon be on top," Middle Easy quoted Du Plessis as saying.