- Robert Whittaker expected Paulo Costa to perform better after their fight at UFC 302
- “The Reaper” predicted Dricus Du Plessis to stop Israel Adesanya at UFC 305
Robert Whittaker said he thought Paulo Costa would be more aggressive after they fought and also shared his early Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya prediction.
It’s hard to tell what happened to Paulo
Speaking to Talksport MMA, “The Reaper” shared his honest thoughts on Costa’s underwhelming performance against Sean Strickland at UFC 302. For Whittaker, it’s hard to conclude that “Borrachinha” failed to perform well against “Tarzan” and he could only tell what happened once he gets the chance to face Strickland, which he believes is likely to happen in the future.
“I expected more to be honest, but I can’t say that it’s not [a good performance from Costa] because Strickland shut him down,” Strickland assessed. “Maybe that’s Strickland’s style, maybe Strickland just shut him down in a way that that’s the version of Costa we saw but I don’t know. I had higher expectations after fighting him.”
“I’ll understand it better once I fight Strickland… we’re both up there at the top of the game, we are sure to cross paths one day,” he added.
Robert backs DDP
As for his take on the apparent UFC 305 main event bout between Adesanya and Du Plessis, Whittaker said he is backing the reigning middleweight champion to put the pressure on Izzy. According to “The Reaper,” he sees Du Plessis making it ugly for Adesanya en route to victory.
“I’m going to lean towards Dricus,” Whittaker said. “Just pressuring him and making a bit of a dog fight and beating Adesanya that way. I can see that happening.”
Following his embarrassing performance and defeat to Strickland, Costa has vowed to bring back the old him, who is capable of finishing opponents. As for Adesanya and Du Plessis, it seems as if they are already booked for UFC 305 and the promotion is about to make it official.
Whittaker is set to take on Khamzat Chimaev’s replacement Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22. He will be looking to complete a back-to-back winning streak and hopefully earn a title shot once again.
Watch Whittaker’s full interview below:
