MMA
Alex Pereira vs. Dricus du Plessis: Robert Whittaker breaks down potential fight
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Immediately after watching Dricus du Plessis retain his middleweight world title with a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira expressed the willingness to drop back down in weight and challenge the champion.
Well, former middleweight world champion Robert Whittaker doesn't think the bout is the best for Pereira and detailed why during a recent appearance on Submission Radio.
"I honestly don't think that's a good fight for him," Whittaker said about Pereira taking on du Plessis. "When you move up to light heavyweight, moving back down is tricky."
That could especially ring true considering how Pereira didn't simply move up from middleweight to light heavyweight for one fight. The Brazilian star has made a home there with four fights in the division including two title defenses of the light heavyweight title.
"It would take a lot out of him to get down," Whittaker continued, "and Dricus is so strong there."
But there are other reasons why Whittaker doesn't like the fight for Pereira also.
"Alex gets hit and Dricus likes getting hit," Whittaker tacked on. "It's hard to see someone with the amount of power to stop Dricus from walking forward into you and Dricus hits hard. You saw that in the fight against Adesanya.
"Adesanya has got like a really good chin and Dricus was still hurting him enough to make him uncomfortable."
Whittaker is also speaking from firsthand experience considering he fell victim to a second-round TKO (punches) loss to du Plessis in July 2023.
Then again, three of Pereira's four wins at middleweight came via stoppage, noting his infamous power between the divisions.
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