Eric Nicksick: Dricus Du Plessis would 'have problems' vs. Alex Pereira in battle of UFC champs

Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick thinks Dricus Du Plessis would struggle against Alex Pereira.

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) welcomed Pereira’s challenge after he submitted Israel Adesanya to retain his middleweight title at UFC 305. Light heavyweight champion Pereira proposed they fight at middleweight, but Du Plessis prefers 205 pounds.

If they did fight at light heavyweight, Nicksick thinks Du Plessis’ striking style would finally catch up to him against Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC).

“So comparison-wise think about what Alex Pereira would do to a guy like Jiri Prochazka, and Jiri is very similar in the way of Dricus in the erratic behavior of the way he throws his punches,” Nicksick told Submission Radio. “I think Jiri is more of a feel fighter where he’s not putting pre-disposed combinations in his head off of these types of reads. He’s just kind of throwing. Whereas Dricus is throwing these things, but he’s also leaving his hands behind in certain positions, right? Like if he’s hitting that switch cross or switch overhand, he’s like one hand’s in the pocket, the other hand is in the pocket when he’s throwing that looping overhand.

“That’s where I think Alex Pereira is elite. I think he sees the holes in the defense. So, Dricus kind of hits those a couple times, and Alex catches that timing. That’s where his counter striking is so great. I think that’s where Dricus will have problems. I don’t think you can have that same type of approach as many times as he did against Izzy as he could against Alex Pereira. It’s like that using the same pickup line at the bar with the same girl over and over and over, and finally she’s like, ‘Fine, here. F*cking here’s my number,’ you know? But after a while you’re like, dude, like, this is not going to work. Like you got to – but all of a sudden it works. You’re like, ‘God damn it.'”

Du Plessis has options for his next title defense but thinks Robert Whittaker would be more worthy of a rematch than Sean Strickland if he can get past Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308.

Strickland’s head coach, Nicksick, disagrees.

“I think Robert Whittaker is a guy who always is deserving of a title shot, especially when he’s winning the fashion that he is winning,” Nicksick said. “But when push comes to shove, if you’re just comparing the two, the two common opponents. Dricus finished Robert Whittaker, and he arguably won a very close split decision vs. Sean Strickland. Right? So I think the fans want to see that finished. I think Sean has earned that right.”

Strickland was edged out by Du Plessis in their title fight at UFC 297. He has since rebounded with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 and refuses to fight anyone but Du Plessis for the title next.

Nicksick expects another war if they run things back.

“You would love to say like, ‘Oh, we’re going to go in there and smoke this dude,'” Nicksick said. “But Dricus, he’ll look awful and then then he comes back in and does his thing. So, you’ve got to expect a knockdown, drag-out fight, 2-2 going into Round 5. Hey, we’re down to the last five minutes. You know, we’re going to have to dig deep and figure out a way to get this fight. That’s how we have to train. That’s how we have to expect it. It’s going to be to the death.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.