Robert Whittaker issues brutal clap back to Sean Strickland's no-takedown challenge to Dricus du Plessis: "Go to boxing dude"
When Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland by split decision at UFC 297 to become the middleweight champion, he was credited with six takedowns, which helped him edge past the American fighter in the closely contested battle.
As the pair head into their rematch scheduled for UFC 312 on Feb. 8, Strickland has insisted that du Plessis should abandon wrestling and 'strike like men'. Predictably, du Plessis refused to make such a commitment, stating that there are no pacts between 'lions and men.'
In a recent episode of the MMArcade podcast, former champion Robert Whittaker offered a brutally honest response to Strickland's proposal:
"Yeah, well, go to boxing, dude! You want to stand and bang, switch sports! If your whole argument is like, 'Oh, I want the small gloves, got to bareknuckle. What are you going to say then? 'I want some gloves!' It's MMA and I think the whole reason, like, the fights are so exciting is because there's multiple paths to victory. You don't know what could happen."
Check out Robert Whittaker's comments here (22:19):
Robert Whittaker predicts the winner of Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2
Sean Strickland is recognized for his distinct striking skills and rarely engages in grappling exchanges with opponents. While many experts predict that will adhere to this style in the rematch, Strickland's 'no-wrestling' pact has solidified this belief.
In the aforementioned episode of the MMArcade podcast, Robert Whittaker echoed this sentiment and leaned toward du Plessis to emerge victorious at UFC 312:
"I don't know how Sean fights differently. Sean fights the way he fights. I don't know how he fights differently than he did in that first fight. I don't see Dricus fighting any differently against Sean. If anything, he's gotten better at wrestling, at his pressure. He's obviously had those five-round fights to adjust and acclimatize to it. I don't see how Sean beats Dricus." [21:25]
Heading into the UFC 312 rematch, du Plessis is the -145 favorite, while Strickland is the +125 underdog.