Robert Whittaker doesn’t see how Dricus Du Plessis or Sean Strickland can cease Khamzat Chimaev’s grappling.
Middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will rematch Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) within the UFC 312 important occasion Feb. 8 at Qudos Financial institution Enviornment in Sydney.
Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who ran via Whittaker for a first-round submission at UFC 308 in October, is anticipated to face the winner.
Whittaker had his tooth crushed by Chimaev’s face crank once they clashed, and the previous champ doesn’t see Du Plessis or Strickland with the ability to cease Chimaev’s first explosive takedown.
“I believe he simply takes them down and does the identical factor, like not essentially to me however how he beat (Kamaru) Usman or how he beat Gilbert Burns,” Whittaker stated on his “MMArcade Podcast.” “I can see these kind of fights.
“I believe he’d have extra success with Strickland than Du Plessis simply because Du Plessis is sort of a massive dude. Stopping that first takedown is so loopy. The way in which he shoots that first shot is loopy. How do you cease that dude? Soar over him?”
Du Plessis edged Strickland by break up resolution of their first assembly at UFC 297. Regardless of it being a detailed contest, Whittaker doesn’t assume Strickland could make the changes to avenge his loss.
“In my view, I don’t see the combat going any completely different,” Whittaker stated. “Du Plessis is such a canine in there. He’s going to come back with the identical aggressiveness and sport plan. What might Sean do otherwise to vary the result than final time?”
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