Dan Hooker explains why Dricus du Plessis played his cards wrong by taking Robert Whittaker fight
Dan Hooker recently gave his take on the Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis bout scheduled for UFC 290 in July.
UFC president Dana White recently announced that Whittaker and du Plessis will square off at the marquee pay-per-view on July 8th in Las Vegas and that the victor will take on middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya next. Adesanya's teammate, Dan Hooker, believes du Plessis should've avoided this particular matchup.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Hooker claimed that du Plessis could've taken the easier route to a title shot by fighting a more favorable stylistic matchup like Sean Strickland. 'The Hangman' said:
"I don't think Dricus du Plessis had to face Robert Whittaker... I'm just saying it's the toughest fight in the division and he didn't need to take that risk. He didn't need to roll those dice. I just feel like he played that little wrong. Sean Strickland is more of a stylistic matchup for him and it's a much more winnable fight. He could've got a title shot off beating Sean Strickland."
Catch Dan Hooker's comments below:
Currently 5-0 in the UFC with four finishes, Dricus du Plessis has worked his way to the No.6 spot in the middleweight rankings. Considering the obvious animosity between the South African fighter and the champion, Israel Adesanya, a fight between the two African-born 185-pounders is very marketable.
However, if du Plessis loses to Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, a grudge match against Adesanya is unlikely. As such, 'The Last Stylebender' has made it clear that he wants du Plessis to come out on top.
Israel Adesanya pleads for Dricus Du Plessis to pull off a win over Robert Whittaker đź‘€
#UFC290 | Full story: bit.ly/3L9d0jE https://t.co/E5iZw7sAxP
Dricus du Plessis next fight: UFC veteran calls for cancellation of Robert Whittaker bout at UFC 290
There's clearly bad blood between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis. The champion, along with friend and fellow African-born UFC star Kamaru Usman, weren't amused by du Plessis' comments about who truly represents the great continent of Africa.
“I wanna whoop his ass in South Africa or Nigeria” -Izzy on Dricus Du Plessis https://t.co/4NtUjOJdzB
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen, like most fans, wants to see a grudge match between Adesanya and du Plessis. The champion has cleared out the top-end of the middleweight division, having already beaten every fighter ranked above du Plessis, and Sonnen thinks the promotion should just give the South African contender a title shot.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, 'The American Gangster' had this to say about the title eliminator matchup:
"We shouldn't have made du Plessis vs. Whittaker... We should've made du Plessis vs. Adesanya... Izzy says, 'I'm not going to fight anybody till I fight him.' Izzy doesn't care if he doesn't beat Whittaker... Matter of fact, Izzy predicts Whittaker is going to beat du Plessis. Izzy doesn't care if he's coming off a loss... He's going to fight him next."
Catch Chael Sonnen's comments below (7:00):