Dricus du Plessis believes the Sean Strickland vs. Robert Whittaker fight will happen.
Duplessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) earned a title shot after defeating Whittaker by TKO at UFC 290, then defeated Strickland at UFC 297 in January to become the middleweight champion.
Since then, Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) has scored back-to-back wins over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 and Ikram Aliskerov less than two weeks later at UFC on ABC 6, while Strickland bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Costa at UFC 302.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) plans to wait for a title fight and is not considering Whittaker as his next opponent, but despite Strickland's reluctance, du Plessis believes he will eventually face Whittaker as the number one contender.
“In my opinion, with the way I see this unfolding, there's no way Whittaker vs. Strickland isn't going to happen,” du Plessis told Submission Radio. “I think it's a fight that has to happen. At the press conference, Strickland said Whittaker was just a blitz and it was an easy fight, but now he doesn't want to take that fight.”
“Let me just say this – the Robert Whittaker fight is not an easy fight for anyone. Strickland is a great fighter and this fight makes sense. This fight is a great fight in itself. This fight could be the main event on any card and I really think it will unfold that way.”
Du Plessis will aim to make the first title defense against former champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in the main event of UFC 305 on Aug. 17 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
For more details on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 305 event hub.
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