When Israel Adesanya was the long-reigning middleweight champion, nobody had a chance. Interestingly, the arrival of Alex Pereira saw the title change hands from Adesanya to Pereira to Adesanya to Sean Strickland to Dricus du Plessis.
No middleweight champion has made a title defense since the Kiwi’s loss to the Brazilian. With Adesanya scheduled to fight du Plessis at UFC 305, several contenders have lined up to face the winner. The champion recently revealed expressed interest in seeing a middleweight fight.
Du Plessis Evaluates Whittaker and Strickland’s Credentials
At UFC 297, the first promotional PPV in Canada, Dricus du Plessis dethroned Sean Strickland to become the middleweight champion, becoming the first from South Africa. With victories over Strickland and Robert Whittaker, the South African will be looking to add Adesanya, another former champion, to his resume at UFC 305.
Speaking to the Hello Sport podcast, ‘Stillknocks’ talked about his upcoming fight against ‘The Last Stylebender’ at Perth. The champion revealed he would expect the best version of the Kiwi, unlike what Adesanya showed against Strickland at UFC 293. Moreover, he revealed a fight he wished would play out in the division.
“Rob [Whittaker] and [Sean] Strickland fight will be massive, and it’s a hard fight. The fact is, I don’t know who’s going to win that fight because they both have some strengths. I think Whittaker is better in some areas, but I think Strickland’s better in others. That’s going to be an interesting fight. And it will be a shame if we don’t see it,” du Plessis said.
The middleweight champion felt Whittaker’s recent victory over the unranked Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Saudi Arabia would not garner him a title shot. Sean Strickland, who defeated Paulo Costa by a split decision at UFC 302, also won’t get it. If the UFC goes in the direction du Plessis hopes, the middleweight division will have a clear number-one contender.
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Also Read: Dricus Du Plessis Hails ‘Absolute Monster’ Alex Pereira as ‘One of the All-Time Greats’
