Put another one together last night!!!
@robwhittakermma
@dricusduplessis
#UFC290 pic.twitter.com/bczWzJo4b6— danawhite (@danawhite)
April 21, 2023
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going for
broke with its yearly fight card at the end of International Fight
Week.
The UFC announced
on Friday a trio of matchups that will be taking place at UFC 290
on July 8. The promotion annually stages its International Fight
Week in Las Vegas with fan events and various other competitions,
with the pay-per-view on that Saturday. Thus far, two title fights
are booked on the billing, and the main event is still not
official. The promotion stated that on the card, Robert
Whittaker (24-6) would be taking on Dricus Du
Plessis (19-2) in a middleweight title eliminator, with the
victor expected to face Israel
Adesanya later that year in Sydney, Australia.
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“Bobby Knuckles” has been on an absolutely stellar run since his
move to 185 pounds in 2014. Racking up 12 wins in the weight class,
including an interim belt later upgraded to undisputed, Whittaker
lorded over the division for a few years. The only two defeats
suffered by the New Zealand native came against Adesanya, with the
second encounter at UFC 271 an exceptionally close affair. While
serving as a top contender, Whittaker has knocked off the likes of
Marvin
Vettori, Jared
Cannonier and Kelvin
Gastelum as he hovers in the top five of the weight class.
Du Plessis has been a man possessed since debuting with the
promotion in 2020. The South African blazed through Markus
Perez and Trevin
Giles to establish himself in the weight category, and a
pairing against Brad
Tavares in 2022 led to the first decision of his career, win or
lose. “Stillknocks” climbed further up the ladder by tapping
Darren
Till with an unorthodox face crank in December. Most recently,
Du Plessis forced Derek
Brunson’s corner to throw in the towel right before the end of
Round 2, thereby boosting his stellar finish rate to 95%.
Additionally, the UFC brass broke an additional pair of tilts that
will be placed on the lineup. The first comes at lightweight, as
men right on the edge of the top 10 in Jalin
Turner (13-6) and Dan Hooker
(22-12) battle it out. Both competitors have struggled as of late,
with Turner dropping a decision in March to Mateusz
Gamrot, while Hooker has won once in his last three tries by
dispatching Claudio
Puelles in November 2022. The other fight takes place at 170
pounds, as former divisional kingpin Robbie
Lawler (29-16, 1 NC) throws down with action fighter Niko Price
(15-6, 2 NC). Dating back the last few years, Lawler and Price have
registered exactly one win apiece, but their stoppage rates both
sit above 75% as they remain two of the more exciting competitors
in their weight division.
UFC 290 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 8,
and the headliner is still not officially on the books. The UFC is
placing two championship bouts on the card thus far, with Alexander
Volkanovski attempting to unify his featherweight title against
interim beltholder Yair
Rodriguez, and Brandon
Moreno rematching Alexandre
Pantoja with the flyweight strap on the line. Other fights
announced for the show thus far include a 125-pound banger pitting
Deiveson
Figueiredo against Manel Kape,
and a middleweight showcase when fast-rising Bo Nickal
collides with Tresean
Gore.