Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker looks to book himself a third fight with Israel Adesanya when he takes on the surging Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
The Australian has established himself as the clear number one contender but Du Plessis will be hoping to earn himself a maiden world title shot with a victory.
“He’s going to try and turn this into a dogfight. He’s going to come forward, he’s tough, he’s durable,” Whittaker told Sporting News.
“He’s going to go in there and he’s going to try and wear me down, beat me down, break my spirit and you see he has a lot of success with that with his other opponents.
“He just hangs in there, keeps striking, keeps pushing forward and I do believe that’s one of his biggest strengths.”
Going into the bout full of confidence, “The Reaper” even called the round he expects to get the stoppage.
“I see this fight ending in a round two finish.
“I want to really try and put this guy away.
“I want to go out there and wear him down in the first round and try to land some killer shots in the second.”
Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis live fight updates, highlights
Stay tuned for round-by-round updates from 11pm ET/1pm AEST.
What time is Whittaker vs. Du Plessis?
The UFC 290 main card is due to begin at 10pm ET/12pm AEST.
Whittaker and Du Plessis are the third fight on the main card, so we can expect them to step into the cage around 11pm ET/1pm AEST.
UFC 290 fight card and results
Main card
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Yair Rodriguez (ic) for the UFC featherweight title
Brandon Moreno (c) vs. Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight title
Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis; Middleweights
Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker; Lightweights
Bo Nickal def. Val Woodburn via 1st round TKO (punches) (:38)
Prelims
Robbie Lawler def. Niko Price via 1st round KO (punch) (:38)
Tatsuro Taira def. Edgar Cháirez via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27 & 29-27)
Denise Gomes def. Yazmin Jauregui via 1st round TKO (punches) (:20)
Alonzo Menifield def. Jimmy Crute via 2nd round submission (guillotine choke) (1:55)
Early Prelims
Vitor Petrino def. Marcin Prachnio via 3rd round submission (arm triangle) (3:42)
Cameron Saaiman def. Terrence Mitchell via 1st round TKO (punches) (3:10)
Jesus Santos Aguilar def. Shannon Ross via 1st round KO (punch) (:17)
Esteban Ribovics def. Kamuela Kirk via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 & 29-28)
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