Dricus Du Plessis gives Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje breakdown and prediction
The UFC Freedom 250 main event title unification bout between champion Ilia Topuria and interim titleholder Justin Gaethje guarantees fireworks will take place on the White House lawn on June 14.
It's a match-up between two of the sport's most exciting fighters. For former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, it's a match-up between two of his favorite fighters.
"I think Ilia Topuria is the biggest star in the sport right now and rightfully so. What he's been able to do is incredible. I'm a massive fan of his fight style because he doesn't just win, he does it spectacularly in ways that those people have never been won before, which is incredible," Du Plessis told Fight Forecast.
"But Justin Gaethje, in my Top 5, Top 3 even, favorite fighters to watch fight. I mean, that guy's never been in a boring fight in his whole life. And he doesn't have the capability of being in one because that's how he fights. He goes and goes out to kill," said Du Plessis.
"This man is a fighter by heart. He's been doing it since he was five years-old, being involved in combat sports. He knows what it's about. He has faced adversity. He has been in the wars. Every fight he's been in is probably a war, but you know, he just has that thing about him that he doesn't care. He's not scared. He's not scared of Ilia Topuria. He's not naive about it. Like, listen, you can't go fight Illia Topuria the way you fight a lot of these other fights where he just goes crazy. Ilia is too calculated and he hits too hard."
For Gaethje to have success against the champion, Du Plessis believes he has to utilize one of his best weapons, leg kicks. He also thinks Gaethje needs to avoid standing in the pocket and trading shots.
"Gaethje is going to have to set that, I believe his key to victory would be those leg kicks. He has devastating leg kicks. He has that head kick. We saw that against Dustin Poirier. Ilia has been dropped with head kicks a couple of times in his career before. So, using his kicks, setting up, but not standing and banging in that pocket. That is not going to be his answer. Setting up that knockout shot, that is going to be it. And just overwhelming him with that pressure that he does," said Du Plessis.
While the former middleweight champion sees ways for Gaethje to have success, he doesn't see Topuria losing. .
"I'm such a big Gaethje fan, but Ilia is going to win this fight," he said.
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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 12:30 AM.