Robert Whittaker is preventing for a ticket out of purgatory when he faces Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290
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For those who ask former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker why he is preventing Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 this weekend the reply is fairly easy.
Key factors:
- Rob Whittaker will face Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 this weekend in a middleweight title eliminator
- Former champion Whittaker is a heavy favorite towards the South African
- Whittaker is hell bent on incomes one other shot towards present champ Israel Adesanya
“Who else is there?” Whittaker mentioned.
“Truthfully, that is why. I am working out of opponents.”
Australia’s first UFC champion is not mistaken. A 3rd struggle with present middleweight champ Israel Adesanya is not one thing he desires, it is one thing he says he wants – not for the possibility to say the title once more, however to attempt to erase his two defeats to the Kiwi celebrity.
However that may not come for some time. Adesanya and Whittaker are the 2 greatest middleweights on the planet by a good margin and every of them can be closely favoured towards anyone at that weight apart from one another.
In order it stands, Whittaker is caught in an odd purgatory because the division’s final gatekeeper. He is a championship-calibre fighter, simply with out the gold.
He is been promised a 3rd likelihood at Adesanya if he wins on Sunday, which brings us again to Du Plessis.
The South African is unbeaten in 5 UFC bouts and is among the first of a brand new era of middleweights for whom the likes of Whittaker and Adesanya are elder statesmen.
That is his first shot on the large time and even when the stakes are increased for the Pretoria man than ever earlier than, Whittaker believes it’s going to simply make all of the extra harmful.
“There is no room for error with these guys. Each struggle is so exhausting and the whole struggle is so exhausting and it is exhausting to place folks away at this stage as a result of they do not make foolish errors.
“However you go from being the favorite to being the underdog and that is the place Dricus is true now.
“He has nothing to lose, everybody thinks he will get washed and that makes him harmful – he has nothing to lose.”
Du Plessis is burly, unorthodox and well-rounded and has developed a superb behavior of muddying the waters throughout fights and thriving within the subsequent chaos.
For Whittaker to win, he plans to rise above and reaffirm his standing as top-of-the-line middleweights in UFC historical past.
“My expertise and my decision-making in fight has gotten higher and technically I’ve gotten higher. I’ve elevated my talent by a superb margin and I need to showcase that,” Whittaker mentioned.
“I need to get in there and take the struggle wherever I would like. I need to be in management, quarter-hour of me doing no matter I need to do.
“If I need to field him I am going to field him, if I need to kick him I am going to kick him, if I need to take him down and roll him I am going to try this. I would like absolute management.
“He is hungry. He is a canine. He will get in there and make it a struggle, make it a dogfight, cling in there and be resilient.
“He is additionally very well-rounded, he is received a superb talent set and I can not underestimate that however I am higher. He is not going to come back out with something I am not prepared for.”
Whittaker is considered one of 5 Australians preventing on one of many largest UFC playing cards of the 12 months.
Featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski will defend his title towards Mexico’s Yair Rodriguez whereas rising welterweight Jack Della Maddalena will tackle late substitute Josiah Harrell after his unique opponent Sean Brady withdrew because of harm.
On the undercard, Melbourne light-heavyweight Jimmy Crute will rematch Alonzo Menifield after their draw earlier this 12 months and flyweight Shannon Ross will lock horns with Jesús Santos Aguilar.
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