Dricus Du Plessis: Sean Strickland vs. Robert Whittaker ‘the fight that needs to happen’

July 5, 2024 By

Dricus Du Plessis thinks Sean Strickland vs. Robert Whittaker is the fight to make.

Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) finished Whittaker by TKO at UFC 290 to earn a title shot. He then dethroned Strickland at UFC 297 in January to become middleweight champion.

Since then, Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) picked up back-to-back wins over Paulo Costa at UFC 298, and Ikram Aliskerov less than two weeks ago at UFC on ABC 6. Meanwhile, Strickland rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Costa at UFC 302.

Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) plans on waiting for a title shot and dismissed Whittaker as a potential next opponent. But despite Strickland’s reluctance, Du Plessis thinks he’ll end up fighting Whittaker in a No. 1 contender fight.

“In my opinion, how I see this playing out, you cannot not do the Whittaker vs. Strickland fight,” Du Plessis told Submission Radio. “I think that’s the fight that needs to happen. Now, I know Strickland when we were at the presser said Whittaker is nothing but a blitz and it’s an easy fight and now he doesn’t want to take that fight.

“Let me tell you one thing: Robert Whittaker is no easy fight for anybody. Strickland also (is) an incredible fighter, and that is just a fight that makes so much sense. That’s a fight on its own – you can main event that fight on any card, and I honestly think that’s how it’s going to play out.”

Du Plessis will look to make his first title defense when he takes on former champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in the UFC 305 headliner Aug. 17 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

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Video: Dricus Du Plessis, Israel Adesanya have lengthy first faceoff at UFC 305 press conference

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.