Robert Whittaker claims he now knows what it takes to beat Dricus Du Plessis following UFC 305
20/08/2024 15:55
Robert Whittaker is in the process of preparing for his UFC 308 main event against Khamzat Chimaev in October and after watching Dricus Du Plessis retain the middleweight title at UFC 305, he believes he now knows what it takes to beat him.
This past Saturday at UFC 305, Dricus Du Plessis successfully defended his 185lb title in a huge grudge match against former champion, Israel Adesanya.
Robert Whittaker has had the pleasure of sharing the Octagon with both fighters, unfortunately holding losses to both, with his loss to Du Plessis being a big shock at the time.
Robert Whittaker shares his reaction to Dricus Du Plessis retaining the title
With Whittaker preparing for his October 26th fight against Khamzat Chimaev, he is hoping to hand ‘Borz’ the first loss of his career, earning himself another shot at undisputed gold.
However, he will likely have to wait for Sean Strickland to fight for the title first as prior to UFC 305, Dana White confirmed that Strickland is next in line.
‘Stillknocks’ is widely regarded as one of the sloppiest UFC champions because he isn’t the most technical or clean striker. Despite that, the 31-year-old continues to pull off upset wins, silencing doubters.
“I think for starters, Adesanya looked sharp, he looked really good, that was honestly one of the better versions of Adesanya we’ve seen, he was dangerous. Dricus, mate, how do you sum him up, dudes tough as nails, he’s got a ticker and he’s got the right mind space, he’s willing to die on his shield,” Whittaker began to explain on the MMArcade podcast.
“He’s tough as nails, he’s so awkward and cumbersome to watch but he gets it done, he makes it work. He runs at you throwing punches like you stole something from him and it works.
“Technically, nothing changes from when he’s tired to not tired, he’s just a little faster. There’s a method to his madness. He’s a weapon and a true warrior,” Whittaker continued.
Robert Whittaker claims he now knows what it takes to beat Dricus Du Plessis
Having shared the Octagon with him and having seen him fight in two title fights since, ‘The Reaper’ believes he now knows what it takes to beat the South African champion.
“To sum it all up, I think Adesanya looked outstanding, Dricus is just a warrior and I understand what you need to do to beat him (now), you need to be ready to leave it all there, like, you need to be ready to die to beat him,” Whittaker claimed.
Following his win, Du Plessis admitted in the post fight press conference that he believes Whittaker is unfortunate to miss out on the next title shot, as he believes the former champion deserves it more than Strickland.
“I think so too. But let’s be honest, I’ve got to get through Chimaev. Chimaev is the biggest thing in the middleweight division right now so I’ve got to stay locked in and on task and worry about where the cards fall afterwards,” Whittaker stated.
The 33-year-old believes that instead of Strickland being guaranteed the title shot next, he should have to rematch ‘The Last Stylebender’ first to truly earn another shot at the title.
“I think (Adesanya) fighting Strickland makes sense. Honestly, I don’t know (what’s next for Adesanya) and I don’t like thinking about it too much. I wanna see him fight Strickland otherwise wait and see what happens with this (Jared) Cannonier fight with (Caio) Borralho,” the former champ suggested.
