Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis is the UFC Middleweight title eliminator fight. The bout is going to be fought as a part of UFC 290Gloves for MMA and UFC
Whoever wins the Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis fight on July 8 will get a shot at the UFC Middleweight title.
Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis Odds
Moneyline Odds
Robert Whittaker -400
Dricus du Plessis +285
*Odds taken from Sports Odds direct on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker is 25-6 overall with a 13-2 record in his last 15 fights. Both of those losses happened against Israel Adesanya in championship bouts. Whittaker will get to fight “The Last Stylebender” for a third time if he beats Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290.
So, will he? Well, the betting odds are in his favor. It’s mainly because of his amazing fight portfolio, which includes wins over such fantastic fighters as Yoel Romero (twice), Jared Cannonier, and Marvin Vettori.
All three of those are famous for their incredibly powerful strikes, so not getting KO-ed by them is a great achievement. It also means that Whittaker is very unlikely to get put to sleep by his opponent at UFC 290.
It’s also very unlikely that he’s going to lose by submission. After all, his takedown defense is a staggering 84% and his only submission loss happened back in 2011. And can he lose by points to du Plessis? Perhaps, although such a scenario would be much more plausible if this was a 25-minute bout.
But a three-round fight is something Whittaker can handle with ease. After all, in his most recent fight, he beat Vettori by points after 15 minutes of a real war inside the Octagon.
Dricus du Plessis is a former Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) and Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) champion whose overall record is 19-2. Since joining the UFC in 2020, he’s 5-0 with four finishes, which is what earned him the place in the UFC Middleweight title eliminator.
However, not many believe he’s good enough to be considered a possible title challenger. Even though he has beaten all of his UFC opponents so far, some pundits suggest he was lucky in most of those fights. Another thing going against him is that the fighters he defeated are nowhere near his next opponent in terms of quality, as you can see for yourself below:
Markus Perez was 2-3 in the UFC when he beat him by KO in October 2020
Trevin Giles was 4-2 in the UFC when he beat him by KO in July 2021
Brad Tavares was 14-6 in the UFC when he beat him by decision in July 2022
Darren Till was 6-4-1 in the UFC when he beat him by submission in December 2022
Derek Brunson was 14-6 in the UFC when he beat him by TKO (corner stoppage) in March 2023
Knowing that his next opponent is 13-2 in the world’s best MMA promotion, it’s clear that the Whittaker vs. du Plessis fight on Saturday is going to be the biggest challenge the South African fighter has faced in his entire life.
