UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis recalled his win over former belt holder Sean Strickland.
"Strickland is a very tricky guy. He's hard to hit, he's got a tricky jab - not very powerful, but he hits his target and he's very, very hard to catch. But let me put it this way: it was frustrating to fight him because he said before the fight, "To the death," and he just kept going backwards. So it was a little frustrating.
But he was catching me with that jab for the first two rounds on a consistent basis. Honestly, I was feeling the punches and just thinking, "I've got to survive this." All of a sudden I just couldn't see with my eyes anymore. I realized it was time to start blocking his punches," Du Plessis said in an interview with YouTube channel Hello Sport.
Du Plessis defeated Strickland by split decision in January. The South African will make his first defense of the belt against Israel Adesanya on August 18 at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
