Dricus Du Plessis (left)(image via UFC/YouTube)

By FCF Staff

It remains to be seen if and when Dricus Du Plessis will fight Israel Adesanya. But, if the rivals do fight soon, Robert Whittaker believes the new UFC middleweight champ will be victorious.

Du Plessis secured the middleweight title last weekend at UFC 297, by recording a split decision win over Sean Strickland. Following the bout, Du Plessis called for a fight with Adesanya again, and the former champ sounded interested.

Since then, Whittaker appeared on “The MMA Hour”. While discussing a bout between Adesanya and Du Plessis, the former champ outlined why he thinks the latter will win (quotes via MMA Fighting.com).

“I’m going to say DDP,” Whittaker said. “Just because, like Sean with Dricus, the safe bet is Sean, but Dricus showed what he was willing to do and what he was willing to go through. Can he do that again against Izzy? Who knows? But he’s a tough guy. He’s awkward and he’s going to be pushing forward that entire time. It doesn’t matter if he’s getting hit, he showed that tenacity in that fight. So I’ll go DDP.”

Whittaker faced Du Plessis last July and was stopped in the second round by the South African fighter.

“As someone who has fought Dricus, I understand how awkward he is to fight,” Whittaker said. “Everyone who saw the fight can say how awkward he looks. Dude, he was throwing overhands from the first bell to the last bell, and he was throwing combos off of them! [Laughs.] I’ve never seen someone combo a left overhand into a right overhand! The guy is awkward, switching stances the whole fight, pushing forward, tough as nails, taking shots the entire time to land shots. You’ve got to give it to him.”

The 33-year-old Whittaker (24-7) is scheduled to fight Paulo Costa at UFC 298, on February 17th.