Robert Whittaker sends stark warning to Alex Pereira over coming down to middleweight to fight Dricus Du Plessis
08/26/2024 12:21 PM
Robert Whittaker has explained exactly why he believes Alex Pereira should avoid a potential showdown with Dricus Du Plessis.
Having shared the cage with ‘Stillknocks’, the Aussie knows just how dangerous the reigning 185-pound champion can be.
Robert Whittaker fears for Alex Pereira in potential Dricus Du Plessis fight
On August 17, at UFC 305 inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, Dricus Du Plessis made a massive statement.
In front of the eyes of the world, the gifted competitor overcame the striking prowess of Israel Adesanya en route to overwhelming and ultimately submitting the icon to claim the biggest scalp of his career.
However, within moments of the South African locking in the fight-ending face crank, Alex Pereira took to Instagram to leave an ominous post.
He uploaded a photograph of himself posed with his TV screen paused on Du Plessis having the belt wrapped around his waist.
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He captioned the image: “Coming down to 185 one more time.”
But while a fight between the pair would undeniably capture the imagination of the public, Robert Whittaker is convinced that’s a bad idea for ‘Poatan’ due to the weight and stylistic match-up.
He told Submission Radio: “Honestly, I don’t think that’s a good fight for him.
“When you move up to light heavyweight, moving back down is tricky. It’s not like he moved up for one fight. He’s stayed up there. He’s been fighting up there for a while now, so it would take a lot out of him to get down. And Dricus is so strong there.”
“Alex gets hit, and Dricus likes getting hit. It’s hard to see someone with the amount of power to stop Dricus from walking forward into you.
“Dricus hits hard. You saw that in the fight with Adesanya. Adesanya has like a really good chin. Dricus was still hurting him enough to make him uncomfortable.”
However, while Du Plessis emerged victorious in his bout in Perth, Pereira has a sneaky feeling that an injury to his opponent could’ve played its part.
Alex Pereira thinks Israel Adesanya was injured in fight with Dricus Du Plessis
Du Plessis showcased skills in abundance at UFC 305, but Pereira believes his old rival could have been struggling physically.
Therefore, in his mind, the 205-pound title holder may believe that if he turned up 100% fit, he’d have more than enough to handle the middleweight King.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that a move back down to his old division is proving a salivating prospect for the legend.
During a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained exactly why he thinks Adesanya may have been injured.
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