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UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis recently defeated former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305.
While his next title defense has yet to be announced, Du Plessis says that former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker should get the next opportunity.
“Robert Whittaker deserves the shot,” Du Plessis said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference (transcript via Danny Segura & Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “I think he’s being done over. Whittaker beat (Paulo) Costa. Sean Strickland’s only saving grace is the fact he went to a decision with me. That’s it. Robert Whittaker beat Costa in the more spectacular fashion, I believe, than Sean Strickland did. Then willing to step up and fight Khamzat (Chimaev), he pulls out, Whittaker fights (Ikram Aliskerov who is) not a nobody in the sense of he’s not ranked. He can only lose to a great fighter. He’s an amazing fighter. He’s really good. Whittaker made him look like he was fighting an amateur. And what does he get for it? Nothing.
“Then he says, ‘OK, I’ll fight Khamzat again.’ So if he beats Khamzat and you’re not giving him a title shot? He’s getting the short end of the stick. But that’s not on me. I’ll fight whoever. Strickland right now is the fight people want, but Whittaker is definitely the one that’s being done over, in my opinion. He’s more deserving, but life’s not fair.”
Whittaker and Du Plessis met once before at UFC 290 in July of 2023, with Du Plessis getting the victory on that night.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland is rumored to be next for Du Plessis and Du Plessis seems up to the challenge.
“I don’t care about silencing the people (who say I lost to Strickland),” Du Plessis said. “Going into that Strickland fight, now I know. I’ve been in there with him. He can’t handle what I have. He can’t handle what I have to offer, so this time I can finish him. Yeah, he beat Izzy, but now we have a comparison. That’s how you finish someone.”
