HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Robert Whittaker of Australia looks on before his middleweight championship fight against Israel Adesanya of Nigeria during UFC 271 at Toyota Center on February 12, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Image: Carmen Mandato/AFP
Dricus du Plessis: Robert Whittaker makes shock claim
Kiwi MMA star Robert Whittaker is convinced that he will defeat Dricus Du Plessis if they fight again at middleweight.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Robert Whittaker of Australia looks on before his middleweight championship fight against Israel Adesanya of Nigeria during UFC 271 at Toyota Center on February 12, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Image: Carmen Mandato/AFP
Robert Whittaker is convinced that he will defeat Dricus Du Plessis if they fight again.
Whittaker (24-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) was defeated by Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) by second-round TKO at UFC 290 in July 2023. In January, at UFC 297, du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland to win the middleweight championship.
Whittaker believes he has Dricus Du Plessis’ number
With Whittaker braced for a battle against Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in the UFC 298 co-main event on 17 February, “The Reaper” aspires to ultimately earn himself a rematch with Du Plessis.
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Whittaker has held the UFC middleweight championship but his reign was ended by Israel Adesanya in his first defence.
“Dricus is a hungry guy, man,” Whittaker said during the UFC 298 pre-fight press conference in Sydney (h/t MacLife). “You saw in his last fight, and I think I underestimated that hunger. I still believe I beat him nine times out of 10.
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“I still believe I’m a better fighter than he is, that I have a better skill set than he does. But mate: big strong guy that’s hungry and willing to leave it all there? You need to match that. I feel like I didn’t do that in that last fight.”
On the list
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Whittaker believes that he wasn’t dialled in mentally in their last meeting which cost him another shot at a middleweight title.
“He’s definitely on a list that I want to run it back with,” Whittaker said.
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“I just didn’t turn up last time. Like I said, nine times out of 10 I beat him, and I think next time we cross paths, it’s going to be one of those nine times.”
Had Whittaker beaten Du Plessis he would have gone on to face Adesanya at UFC Sydney instead of Sean Strickland who stepped in after an injury to the South African.
