Robert Whittaker and Dricus du Plessis meet in a title eliminator at UFC 290 in Las Vegas on Saturday. The winner is expected to challenge UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya later this year in Sydney, Australia. A rightful No. 1 contender will be crowned regardless of who wins, but the outcomes yield very different results for what comes next.
The cases of Whittaker and du Plessis are the antithesis of one another: the former is a familiar feel-good story and the latter a fresh, ferocious feud. Your interest level in seeing either man challenge Adesanya will be determined by what compels you as a viewer.
Let's take a closer look at what the build toward UFC 293 could look like for Adesanya and the winner of UFC 290's title eliminator.
The case for du Plessis
Middleweight has historically been a top-heavy division. The likes of Anderson Silva and Adesanya have generally overcome most challengers and left the division starving for fresh meat. That is what makes du Plessis an excellent candidate. Du Plessis is a natural talker with an all-action style and a South African fanbase firmly behind him.
The most lucrative component of an Adesanya vs. du Plessis fight is, unfortunately, the nasty build around it. Du Plessis previously proclaimed himself as "the African fighter" in the UFC. That ignited a heavy response from Adesanya, who perceived du Plessis' comments as insulting towards African-born champions who had since moved to other countries.
Dricus du Plessis: "I'm the African fighter. Me and Cameron. WE breathe African air, WE wake up in Africa every day. " pic.twitter.com/7xWfyfhvem
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 1, 2023
"Who the f--- is this cracker to tell me who the f--- I am, who the f--- Kamaru is, who the f--- Ngannou is. I'm like, 'Are you dumb?' As a product of colonization, you're trying to tell me who the f--- I am," Adesanya said in a video response on his YouTube channel. "You could take the boy out of Africa, but you could never take the Africa out of the boy.
"I never did that to him. I never, ever discredited him as an African. OK, you are. Cool. You want to make a fight? Cool. But the fact that, as a f---ing cracker, to tell me who the f-- I am, that pissed me off. And that's why he's my next fight because I don't want to fight anyone else. This one pisses me off."
Du Plessis insists he never claimed to be more African than any other African-born fighter, simply that he is a born-and-raised South African that still resides on the continent. While that statement is true, du Plessis is steadfast that nothing he said could be taken as invalidating or insulting to fighters that come from the African diaspora.
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"I don't understand why they would feel it takes away from them at all. Because the fact of the matter is that I do live in Africa," du Plessis told CBS Sports. "I don't think they listened to the original interview, to be honest. I think they went and listened to some comments.
"Please show me where I said they are 'fake Africans' or where I said that I'm 'the real African.' I didn't say that. I simply said I am the African fighter that still resides in Africa. That's what I said. I don't see why anybody would be offended by that. It makes no sense because that's the fact of the matter."
Check out the full interview with Dricus du Plessis below.
Du Plessis said this rhetoric is not something he wants as a selling point for the fight yet accused Adesanya of bringing "race into the conversation." It's a messy narrative that ties into a larger conversation about colonization. It's certainly not the most ethical angle for fight promotion and likely not one either man wants to lean into, but neither seems willing to take a firm step back.
Inside the cage, Du Plessis is a ferocious fighter with historic offensive output. His 6.72 strikes landed per minute and 2.99 positive strike differential are the highest in UFC middleweight history. There are reasonable concerns over his energy maintenance, but du Plessis has repeatedly shown an ability to finish fights on the back half of three rounds. A fun fight is a safe bet when du Plessis is on the card.
"Everybody who says, 'work on your cardio' does not know what the hell they are talking about when they are talking to me," du Plessis said. "I am a workhorse. I am the hardest working in a room every single time... It's not a matter of working hard. I know that's not the problem. It's about getting the right people around you with the right knowledge and making sure that the right energy systems fly at the right time.
"When the referee says fight, I fight. I'm not in there to save energy. I'm not in there to look for a gap. I'm there to make a gap. I'm there to create an opportunity to finish. I'm not there to wait for an opportunity to finish."
For all of the non-meritocratic factors at play, a decisive win over Whittaker certainly establishes du Plessis as the legitimate and rightful next challenger.
The case for Whittaker
Combat sports history is riddled with seedy characters and shady business practices. That's why it is so refreshing to see someone like Whittaker -- a family man and video game enthusiast -- reach the MMA pinnacle strictly through hard work, determination and world-class skill. Whittaker has spent more than half of his decade-plus in the UFC fighting at a championship level. He would very likely be considered the second-greatest middleweight of all time if not for Adesanya.
Whittaker has two prior losses to the current champion: one demoralizing knockout in Whittaker's home nation and a second unanimous decision that divided viewers on the outcome. Whittaker told CBS Sports in May 2022 that despite failing to recapture his middleweight title, Whittaker took back something far more important.
"I am just so excited for the future and for the things I can do from here," Whittaker said. "It's like I took part of my spirit back."
Whittaker -- in an era where title rematches are handed out like Halloween candy -- earned his rematch by clearing out the division's other contenders. Whittaker is very much the 1B of the middleweight division and a strong showcase against du Plessis will present fans with the highest-level of middleweight MMA in the form of Adesanya vs. Whittaker 3. It's important matchmaking in an organization that does not always reward the best fighters with the biggest opportunities.
Adesanya's KO victory over Pereira in April will go down as one of the most memorable moments in MMA this year. Adesanya finally overcame his greatest obstacle by defeating Pereira, who held a 3-0 lead in their series across kickboxing and MMA and remains the only person in either sport to KO Adesanya. Now, Whittaker is on the cusp of his own comeback story.
"I had all the inspiration I needed anyway," Whittaker told CBS Sports ahead of UFC 290. "I just need to get the fight. I've been improving every fight to date. Every fight I get better and I showcase new angles of my skill set. So I'm pretty confident in the challenges and adversities making me better."
Check out the full interview with Robert Whittaker below.
A trilogy fight between Adesanya and Whittaker would take place in Sydney. It's a poetic final stand for the fighter dubbed affectionately by fans as "Bobby Knuckles." Whittaker suffered his rare KO loss to Adesanya in Melbourne -- a short flight from Sydney -- in front of Whittaker's friends and family, including his wife. The opportunity to redeem himself in Australia is something that Whittaker welcomes after long struggling with the pressures of fighting at home.
"I've always been hesitant, not hesitant but reluctant-ish to fight at home because all your friends and family and every one of your cousins and uncles and aunties want to come to the fight and be a part of it," Whittaker said. "It adds a layer of pressure, too, that I brought that up to Glover [Teixeira]. A UFC champion, one of the all-time greats.
"He said to me that when you bring your family, it's a risk to lose in front of them. But then the other side of the coin is that they share your victories as well. You share your defeats, you share your victories. It was very profound to me. It sunk quite deeply. That [viral] video kind of encapsulates that. [My wife] shares my defeats, she shares my victories. She gets the spoils and she gets to see me when I'm at my worst as well. It's just part of the journey. It makes the wins better and the losses easier."
What Adesanya vs. Whittaker 3 lacks in the Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night potential of a du Plessis challenge, it balances out with MMA chess at its finest.
