Robert
Whittaker advises Alex
Pereira against moving down to middleweight to fight Dricus Du
Plessis.
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Du Plessis defended his middleweight strap for the first time with
a fourth-round submission win in an absolute war against Israel
Adesanya at UFC 305
in Perth on Aug. 17. Pereira was one of the many elite names who
subsequently called for a clash against Du Plessis. The former
middleweight champ and reigning light heavyweight champ expressed
interest in moving back down to 185 pounds to challenge
“Stillknocks.”
However, Whittaker, another former middleweight champ and top
contender, would advise Pereira against it. Whittaker notes that
Pereira’s potential cut to middleweight would drain him with the
Brazilian now having been a staple at light heavyweight. While
Pereira has been known to starch people on the feet, Whittaker
highlights Du Plessis’ ability to get hit and stay standing.
Whittaker further points out that Du Plessis’ proven knockout power
could find success against Pereira, who also has openings in his
defense.
“Honestly, I don’t think that’s a good fight for [Pereira],”
Whittaker told Submission Radio. “But also, when you move up to light
heavyweight, moving back down is tricky. And it’s not like you move
up for one fight, he’s stayed up there. He’s fighting up there for
a while now. So it would take a lot out of him to get down and
Dricus is so strong there.
“Well, Alex gets hit and Dricus likes getting hit. So it’s hard to
see someone with the amount of power to stop Dricus from walking
forward into you. And Dricus hits hard, we saw that in the fight
against Adesanya. Adesanya’s got a really good chin and Dricus was
still hurting him enough to make him uncomfortable.”
Whittaker has experienced Du Plessis’ power, suffering a
second-round technical knockout loss against the South African at
UFC 290 in July 2023. “The Reaper” will look to make his way back
to title contention when he faces fellow top contender Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC 308
on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser, has expressed interest
in the Pereira matchup but only at light heavyweight.