Robert Whittaker has shared his thoughts on the rumored Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya fight.
At UFC 297, Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland to claim the UFC middleweight championship, nearly eight months after the South African sensation’s impressive victory over Whittaker at UFC 290 that earned a shot at Adesanya.
While DDP and the Nigerian-New Zealander’s stars didn’t align at UFC 293, where the two were supposed to fight, Izzy is likely the next in line to fight for the belt.
In a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Whittaker – who has fought both – share his thoughts on the matchup.
“I’m going to say DDP,” Whittaker said. “Just because, like Sean with Dricus, the safe bet is Sean, but Dricus showed what he was willing to do and what he was willing to go through. Can he do that again against Izzy? Who knows? But he’s a tough guy. He’s awkward and he’s going to be pushing forward that entire time. It doesn’t matter if he’s getting hit, he showed that tenacity in that fight. So I’ll go DDP.”
“As someone who has fought Dricus, I understand how awkward he is to fight,” He said. “Everyone who saw the fight can say how awkward he looks. Dude, he was throwing overhands from the first bell to the last bell, and he was throwing combos off of them! [Laughs.] I’ve never seen someone combo a left overhand into a right overhand! The guy is awkward, switching stances the whole fight, pushing forward, tough as nails, taking shots the entire time to land shots. You’ve got to give it to him.”
Do you agree with Robert Whittaker?
