Improving to 6-0 since his Octagon debut back in 2020, South African contender, Dricus du Plessis has set up his first championship outing under the UFC banner tonight — stopping former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker with a second round TKO on the main card of UFC 290.
Turning in his second stoppage win of the year, Pethora native, du Plessis, who had landed a prior March stoppage win over Derek Brunson, secured the most high-profile win of his professional career win to date, defeating former titleholder, Whittaker with a second round barrage.
Entering tonight’s UFC 290 clash as the number five ranked middleweight contender, du Plessis changed the tide of the fight in the latter stages of the first round, bloodying Whittaker and landing some heavy ground strikes.
And in the second frame, du Plessis managed to drop the former champion with a counter left hand, before following up and dropping Whittaker for the second time, before forcing a TKO stoppage over the latter — setting up a championship battle with Israel Adesanya, conceivably for later this year.