du Plessis outlines how he will beat Adesanya but Nigerian is confident the South African will lose to Whittaker

Ahead of his incoming middleweight title eliminator against former undisputed division champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July, streaking contender, Dricus du Plessis has claimed there is a “clear path” to a win over current champion, Israel Adesanya.

du Plessis, the current #6 ranked middleweight contender, is slated to feature in a main card clash against former undisputed champion, Whittaker at UFC 290 in July during International Fight Week – with the victor set to fight Adesanya later this year.

In the midst of a promotional-perfect run of five consecutive victories, South African contender, du Plessis most recently turned in a second-round corner stoppage TKO win over Derek Brunson at UFC 285 in March.

In December of last year, du Plessis landed a stunning third round win over former welterweight title challenger, Darren Till, submitting the now-promotional alum with a rear-naked choke at UFC 283. 

Previewing his fight with Whittaker this summer, du Plessis claimed that a matchup with Adesanya would likely prove more favorable for him – laying out a path to victory against the City Kickboxing star.

 “It’s not going to be, ‘Oh, if i get him to the floor it’s over,’” Dricus du Plessis told Submission Radio. “Will I scramble? No. He can do everything so I think both of them are really good in their own right. As far as preparation goes with (Israel) Adesanya there’s more of a blueprint to beating Adesanya, I believe. Even though he is so good and so hard to implement that blueprint. In think there is a clear path to victory versus Adesanya. He is just so good at not giving opponents their way.” 

“Where with Whittaker, the path to victory is not that simple,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “You have to catch him, that’s at the end fo the day what it’s going to be, you have to catch Robert Whittaker, or to outwork him is hard, to make him tired is hard, to get him to quit is nearly impossible. So, I think Whittaker [is] is the harder fight, where Adesanya [is] a lot more technical [than Robert Whittaker].” 

But Adesanya is confident Whittaker will beat du Plessis at UFC 290, open to trilogy bout.

“I tried to do Du Plessis in the f****** Death Star [Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas],” Adesanya said. “I tried. Maybe not International Fight Week because it was already booked, but I tried it later on. I was like, ‘F*** it, give him to me. It’s already there. What’s the point? Why wait?’”

Adesanya wants to fight du Plessis for personal reasons. After UFC 287, the middleweight champ said he would “gladly drag his carcass across South Africa” in response to comments from the du Plessis about being “the African fighting in the UFC.” If Adesanya wants to settle that beef, though, he first needs to cheer on du Plessis, because the South African fighter is instead facing Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July, in what has already been declared a No. 1 contender matchup. And Adesanya doesn’t like his chances.

 “I’d say Rob can probably get him out of there in the second round, or just beat him up for three rounds. Dricus’ only chance — I don’t like to say there’s no way, because there’s always a way, but he can’t outlast Rob. I think Rob will be faster than him, fitter than him, so he might just have to make it ugly. But Rob can also fight ugly as well, so we’ll se. Honestly, 70 [percent chance Whittaker wins], but I really want Dricus.”