It's not so much that you wouldn't teach anyone to fight like Dricus du Plessis, it's that you never really could.
The South African has smashed his way to the UFC middleweight title, which he'll defend against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 in Sydney in February, with a style all his own.
He is often gasping for air early in fights, yet he never seems to slow down. His strikes can come in at bizarre angles, but they always seem to land when it counts.
When he looks down and out things just seem to turn around, like he simply decided to make it so. He is good at fighting, but he is better at winning.
Little of what du Plessis does is textbook but in a combat sports world increasingly built on style he is all substance, for better and for worse, although the worse doesn't matter when the better is a UFC title.
"We've developed this style over years because we think it's more effective. It's not pretty — it's entertaining, make no mistake — but it doesn't have to be pretty because it's effective," du Plessis said.
"You see a lot of guys looking slick in there, fighting pretty with their hands down, and they end up on their arse.
"I don't care about looking slick or pretty, I care about beating the s**t out of the guy in front of me and I look pretty with the belt."
People have had their fun with du Plessis. They did right until he became the first Africa-based UFC champion.
UFC president Dana White says he fights like a white guy dances. One analyst has said du Plessis fights like a man being electrocuted, which might not be far from the mark given his coach Morne Visser has been known to use a taser in training in order to iron out bad habits.
But now he has the belt, nobody's laughing any more. Du Plessis' improvement over the past 18 months, where he knocked out Australia's Robert Whittaker, earned a split decision over Strickland for the title before submitting former champ Israel Adesanya in his first defence, has been staggering.
It's a testament to his belief, which, more so than his unorthodox style or prodigious physical strength, is his true superpower.
"My style is different but it comes from years of belief, years of preparation, improving and getting better in every fight. You get that confidence in what you do," said du Plessis.
"Being the champion of the world, defending against one of the best middleweights in the world in Israel Adesanya, that takes away a lot of doubts about my style.
"I haven't had doubt for a long time, it's just reassuring."
The win over Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth was the best performance of du Plessis' career to date as he handed the New Zealander his first career submission defeat courtesy of a fourth round face-crank.
He believes it will put him good stead to earn a second win over Strickland when the two face off in Sydney
"Strickland isn't going to change, he hasn't been able to for many, many years, but I bring different tools every time," du Plessis said.
"We felt each other in there, we each know what the other guy brings. You see his next fight, it looked exactly the same as always.
"You see my fight with Izzy and it was a much better performance than what I had against Strickland."
Du Plessis' first win over Strickland wasn't without it's drama. The narrow nature of the victory, and the controversial American's loud and rabid fanbase made sure of that and the result did little to dispel the bad blood between the two.
But du Plessis believes his ability to evolve from fight to fight will put him over the top in Sydney and close the door on the rivalry.
"Weeks from now we'll be able to settle it and people can stop calling it a robbery — but it's not all people, it's just these Strickland fans," du Plessis said.
"People will say what they say but I don't care, I have the belt and I was able to defend it, which Sean Strickland couldn't do.
"Strickland isn't going to change, he hasn't been able to for many, many years, but I bring different tools every time. I know I'll be a different fighter."
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