Israel Adesanya is predicting a stoppage victory at UFC 297 when Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis meet in the main-event.
Strickland makes the first defence of his UFC middleweight title after he dethroned Adesanya of the 185lbs championship last year.
Du Plessis earned his shot at UFC gold, having beaten the likes of Darren Till, Derek Brunson and former UFC champion Robert Whittaker.
Ahead of Saturday's clash, Adesanya, who could be line to face the winner, has given his prediction.
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'The Last Stylebender' hasn't fought since his defeat to Strickland, which scrapped a proposed bout against Du Plessis.
But a fight against the South African fighter could come to fruition as the Nigerian-born Kiwi believes his rival will submit Strickland at UFC 297.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Adesanya said: "I’m going to go with Dricus. Is it going to go the distance? I’m going to say no.
"Not that I don’t respect Sean or his skills, the guy beat me. Of course, I respect his skills. I’ll say [submission]. He’ll submit him."
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He added: “Dricus is going to try to wrestle him. Stand up in the beginning, do his off-beat rhythm, all that stuff. He might get jabbed in the first round by Sean and then have to really switch to the grappling because Sean’s jab is underrated.
"I never underestimated it but it’s underrated and I figured it out. It didn’t take me long to figure it out after the fight. In the fight, I had some other sh*t going on that I wasn’t able to figure it out, I was worried about some other stuff self-consciously to do with me, not to do with him."
Adesanya does not have a fight lined up and is expected to be in attendance at UFC 297.
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A bout against the winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis could be on the cards down the line.
Topics: UFC, Israel Adesanya
Nasir Jabbar