Dricus Du Plessis Defends Justin Gaethje After Ilia Topuria Accuses Him of Tampering With Gloves

Ilia Topuria had the MMA world divided when he came out with allegations against the new champion‌ Justin Gaethje. 

Some treated it as a grievance from a badly lost fighter. Meanwhile, some rejected it outright. Dricus Du Plessis comes in the latter bracket. 

Dricus Du Plessis Backs Justin Gaethje 

During his appearance on the Fight Forecast Show, Dricus Du Plessis shared his two cents on the controversy surrounding the champion. 

"I don't know what those weird things on the inside of Gaethje's hands were, I have no idea. I'm not saying he cheated. But to get away with that in the UFC is going to be very, very hard. They are very thorough with making sure that doesn't happen, with the commission being there. I'm definitely not willing to say that Gaethje cheated," Du Plessis said. 

To back his point, the former UFC champion mentioned Gaethje’s previous fights. He has done similar work on the faces of past opponents he defeated. 

"Gaethje has done what Gaethje does. Look at the faces of people he's fought, they always look like that. Ilia came off worse than a lot of Gaethje's opponents just because he's such a warrior. He is such a warrior, and he took those punches, and he wanted to keep fighting," Du Plessis said.

Ilia Topuria’s Injuries After UFC Freedom 250

Ilia Topuria appeared invincible in his nine UFC fights. He defeated elites like Alexander Volkanovski, Charles Oliveira, and Max Holloway. 

However, Justin Gaethje stopped the train. He battered Topuria so badly that his corner had to stop the fight in the fourth round at UFC Freedom 250 in June. 

The Spaniard suffered two major non-displaced fractures on both orbital bones, a broken septum, and multiple facial bruises. 

He was handed an 180-day medical suspension after the fight. Topuria is now cleared and is back to training. The former champion has called for a rematch with Justin Gaethje.

However, the champion is currently leaning towards a fight with Arman Tsarukyan. But as of now, nothing is official.