Joe Rogan sees Dricus Du Plessis’ cardio right up there with fellow UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) defends his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 319 main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at United Center in Chicago.
Rogan compared Du Plessis’ continuous growth to Dvalishvili’s, pointing to “The Machine” dominating and submitting Sean O’Malley in their UFC 316 rematch as an example. He told show guest Matt Serra he, in particular, should relate since he’s coached Dvalishvili for years.
“He’s a monster, and you know this because you work with Merab,” Rogan said of Du Plessis in a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “There’s guys that reach this level of discipline, and they achieve a level of cardio vascular performance that’s just above everybody else’s and then they maintain it. They get that advantage and they keep pushing it, and they slowly keep adding onto it.
“Like you’re seeing Merab now, particularly in the second O’Malley fight, you see he’s a totally different beast. He’s super confident, non-stop, and you can’t keep up with that. The amount of hard work is extraordinary to get to that level, and I think Dricus is kind of a similar thing. I think that dude works so hard that he can go out there and fight full blast.”
Guests John Rallo, Serra and Din Thomas all spoke about how Chimaev’s resume mainly consists of welterweights, but Rogan explained how that could serve as an advantage for “Borz.”
“Khamzat’s speed is a big factor with his hand speed,” Rogan said. “People forget what he did to Kevin Holland, the way he could ragdoll guys on the ground. But what he did to Gerald Meerschaert is pretty f*cking spooky. He’s technical and sharp and straight down the middle. He is good standing up, and that’s where it’s going to be weird. That’s where I want to see because Du Plessis makes everyone look stupid. He finds a way to get you.”
