Robert Whittaker urges Alex Pereira to reconsider potential return to middleweight: "It would take a lot out of him"
Robert Whittaker recently urged Alex Pereira against a potential return to middleweight. He compared his fighting style with Dricus du Plessis and explained why he believes it wouldn't be a wise decision.
'Poatan' teased a potential return to 185 pounds after 'Stillknocks' retained his middleweight championship following a fourth-round submission win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. The South African then shared his thoughts on the possibility of fighting the Brazilian and expressed interest in a potential champion vs. champion bout being contested at 205 pounds instead.
During his appearance on Submission Radio, 'Bobby Knuckles' analyzed whether the reigning light heavyweight champion would be successful if he returned to middleweight. Whittaker urged Pereira against the potential return and mentioned that his body had gotten used to competing at 205 pounds and drastic weight-cut at his age could hinder his performance against du Plessis. He said:
"Honestly, I don't think that's a good fight for [Pereira]. But also when you move up to light heavyweight, moving back down is tricky. And it's not like [he] moved up [to light heavyweight] for one fight. He stayed up there, he's been fighting up there for a while now, so it would take a lot out of him to get down. And Dricus [du Plessis] is so strong there."
Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below:
Robert Whittaker weighs in on hypothetical Alex Pereira vs. Dricus du Plessis bout
In addition to explaining the potential physical toll that a weight-cut would have, Robert Whittaker weighed in on a hypothetical Alex Pereira vs. Dricus du Plessis bout.
During the aforementioned clip, the former UFC middleweight champion noted that Pereira does get hit during his bouts. He believes that the Brazilian could be exposed from his weight cut to 185 pounds, which would then favor du Plessis' fighting style. He said:
"Alex [Pereira] gets hit, okay? And Dricus [du Plessis] likes getting hit, so it's hard to see someone with the amount of power to stop Dricus from walking forward into you. And Dricus hits hard, we saw that in the fight against [Israel] Adesanya. Adesanya has a really good chin and Dricus was still hurting him enough to make him uncomfortable."
Check out the full interview with Robert Whittaker below: