Dricus Du Plessis admits accepting Robert Whittaker fight wasn’t the smart thing to do: “I chose to be a warrior”

By Josh Evanoff - May 22, 2023

UFC middleweight Dricus Du Plessis knows that fighting Robert Whittaker isn’t the best idea.

‘Stillknocks’ has been out of the cage since his clash against Derek Brunson in March. In that outing, Du Plessis survived an early swarm to win by second-round stoppage. The victory was the South African’s seventh victory in a row, previously defeating names such as Darren Till in that stretch.

Following the win, he was called out by Israel Adesanya. Du Plessis responded in kind, signaling that the two might fight next. Suddenly last month, the middleweight contender was booked to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July. The winner of the bout will then receive a title shot against ‘The Last Stylebender’.

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Dricus Du Plessis discussed his return during a recent interview with Submission Radio. There, the South African admitted that fighting ‘The Reaper’ probably isn’t the best decision considering he’s so close to a title shot. However, Du Plessis decided to fight in July, as he didn’t feel like waiting around, and wanted to earn his shot.

Dricus Du Plessis

“A lot of people are saying it’s not a smart move to fight Whittaker. 100% I agree with that,” Dricus Du Plessis stated in the interview. “I agree it’s not the smart move but I’m not here to be smart. Otherwise, I would’ve stayed in school, finished my studies, and went to work at a bank. Wear a suit every day, but that’s not the life I chose. I chose to be a warrior, I chose to be an entertainer.”

He continued, “At the end of the day I’m a fighter. That’s what I do, I fight. I don’t want to get that title shot based on some hype created by, I don’t know what. Some guy who has the title, who’s behaving like a little child and overreacting, and now the fight is happening because of hype. I want to earn my title shot.”

What do you make of these comments? Are you excited about Dricus Du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!

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Dricus du Plessis Robert Whittaker