Whoever wins the Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis fight on July 8 will get a shot at the UFC Middleweight title. Will it be Whittaker who gets to fight for the championship belt again? Or will du Plessis continue his UFC rise? Those are the questions we’ll try to answer in this fight preview.

Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis Odds

*Odds taken from FanDuel on Monday, July 3, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Date: Saturday, July 8, 2023
• Time: 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
• How to Watch: UFC Fight Pass

Robert Whittaker to Show (Once Again) He’s Elite

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 Determined to Prove His Doubters Wrong

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.

Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis Prediction

If Dricus du Plessis somehow managed to win this fight, it would be one of the biggest upsets in the middleweight division in years. Robert Whittaker is way, way better than him in all aspects of fighting, which is why he simply has to be our pick.

Pick: Robert Whittaker to win

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