Dricus du Plessis: ‘Odds don’t win fights, fighters win fights’

South African UFC star Dricus du Plessis insists that he doesn’t have a point to prove in his fight against Robert Whittaker in Las Vegas.

Du Plessis will take on the No 2 ranked middleweight at UFC 290 from the T-Mobile Arena in Sin City in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Dricus du Plessis fighting to prove his backers right

Stillknocks added that he doesn’t fight to prove people wrong but rather he fights to prove those that back and support him right.

“I don’t really care about proving people wrong. For me it is more about proving people right,” Du Plessis told the media earlier this week.

“Odds don’t win fights, fighters win fights, and I am a fighter so all those who have written me off will soon find out if they make it to the top of the pile.”

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The level of disrespect

Whittaker himself has shown a great deal more respect to Du Plessis than most of the MMA media.

ALSO READ: Dricus du Plessis’ key to victory

He feels that writing off the dogged South African would be a massive mistake on his part.

“Let me clarify everything,” Whittaker said on MMArcade podcast. 

ALSO READ: What time is Dricus Du Plessis vs Robert Whittaker at UFC 290

“So every headline out there has put a picture of Israel and myself, UFC 293. Because that’s what makes headlines, especially locally in Australia. But that is such disrespect to the threat level that Dricus brings to the fight. I understand the amount of danger he presents to me in getting the win, in just furthering my career, bettering who I am in the Octagon.”

The champ wants Dricus du Plessis in Sydnety

Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has made it clear who he wants to take on at UFC 293 but he has also made Whittaker the favourite.

“I’d say Rob can probably get him out of there in the second round, or just beat him up for three rounds,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.

“Dricus’ only chance — I don’t like to say there’s no way, because there’s always a way — but he can’t outlast Rob. I think Rob will be faster than him, fitter than him, so he might just have to make it ugly. But Rob can also fight ugly as well, so we’ll see.”