Robert Whittaker appreciates the heck out of Dricus Du Plessis.
Despite waging a war of words with UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya, the #6-ranked Du Plessis isn’t waiting around for an immediate title shot. Instead, Du Plessis willing to put it on the line and fight again to prove why he should be the next challenger in line.
That mission continues at UFC 290 where Du Plessis meets former champion Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker: Du Plessis Has ‘Honorable Spirit’
Opposite of the relationship he has with Adesanya, Du Plessis has had nothing but respect for Whittaker, with ‘The Reaper’ returning the favor recently.
“From everything I’ve seen with Dricus, he seems like a straight up fella,” Whittaker said on his podcast. “He seems like a warrior. He’s got like a good warrior [spirit] and honorable spirit about him. That really excites me. It excites me to have an opponent like that.
“An opponent that sees the craft for what it is for, sees what we are getting ourselves into, staring across the octagon together in the, in the floor space of the arena. Knowing he’s like that just gave me electric tingles. I love it.”
Whittaker Reacts To DDP’s Not-So-Smart Move
Whittaker also commended Du Plessis based off his latest comments, where the South African fighter agreed with the notion that fighting Whittaker was not a smart move, but he wasn’t here to be ‘smart’… DDP was here to be a ‘warrior’.
“I think I read somewhere that he actually commented on that and saying, I’m not here to do the smart thing, I’m here to fight. And like, that’s why I am so happy with this fight,” Whittaker continued. “Because like I will respect that and give you a fight with everything that I have.
“That is the game for me. That is the craft, that is fulfilling to me in my warrior spirit.”
