South Africa's Dricus du Plessis takes on Nigerian-New Zealander Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug. 17. Du Plessis, the current middleweight champion, spoke to ESPN about his gym in Pretoria, his legacy and why he says he's Africa's champ.
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He added:"CIT is going to be expanding within the next year. It's obviously not something you can just do. make sure everything is in order legislation-wise to expand to Cape Town, expand to all these places, and find these talented fighters, of course, and give them the opportunity.""We welcome everyone here," du Plessis said.
"Coaching Cami, it was a big team sponsor so it was more of an obligation," du Plessis said."I think I was 21 years old when we started working together, so that's nine years ago. Cameron Saaiman started training with Dricus du Plessis as a 14-year-old prospect and has developed into someone UFC boss Dana White has called 'the future' of the sport. He added of his protégé:"I saw in his eyes the same look that I could see in my own when I started the sport -- just the love that he had for it and the pure desire to be the best and to get better every single day.
Saaiman told ESPN about Du Plessis' mentorship:"He's been amazing. I've known him since I was 14 years old, so getting to learn from him when we talk about work ethic, which we do a lot, there's one person that always comes to mind and that's Dricus. "I was never not dedicated; I just didn't know what it took. I was young, I was 20 years old. After that loss, I realised what it takes to be the best in the world and that paid off."
"It was demotivating in a sense that it only played with my mind, but I never, ever stopped believing I'd be the world champion. Not once." Du Plessis stands by his words a year later, telling ESPN:"That wasn't a jab. That was facts. I stated facts. "Coach Morné is the godfather here at CIT," du Plessis said."He's been my only coach as a mixed martial artist. Of course, we have our grappling coach, Niel Geyser, who is incredible. He's a third degree black belt jiu-jitsu coach. We have our team manager, Hennie .
"Dricus literally begged me to take the fight, I said no! It's Izzy we are talking about. Fighting him for the UFC Middleweight belt, you'll need all your moving parts to work 100%."Pulling du Plessis out of the fight may not have been a popular decision then, but it ultimately paid off as he went on to beat Strickland for the middleweight title.
"To me, it was a no-brainer. I was champion and unfortunately, I'd have loved to be part of UFC 300, especially being the main event, but this is the fight game. A lot of stuff happens that's out of your control."While du Plessis is now one of the biggest names in MMA and Saaiman is following in his footsteps, there are many people behind the scenes who have maintained a lower profile but been integral to CIT's success.
When asked if she had a passion for MMA before getting involved with CIT, Claudia Botha said:"No, actually not. I've always had a passion for fitness and I've always been an advocate for having a healthy lifestyle.
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