Dricus du Plessis trainer expects Robert Whittaker to fight next, points out Alex Pereira's 'shortcomings'

Dricus du Plessis defeated his biggest rival at UFC 305 and now has a number of options in front of him.

Last August, the middleweight champion scored a dramatic fourth-round submission over Israel Adesanya to put the feud on hold (for now), and has since been linked to a number of potential title challengers, including the winner of the UFC 308 clash between them both Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, a rematch with Sean Strickland or even a superfight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Du Plessis' coach Morne Visser said Submission Radio They expect a rematch, but in reality it's one against Whittaker, who du Plessis defeated at UFC 290. Strickland has firmly maintained that he deserves another shot at du Plessis after dropping the title to him via a narrow split decision in their first meeting. but Visser believes Strickland is still a win away.

“I actually had a conversation with Dricus yesterday,” Visser said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “I said to him: 'Only one thing is certain at this point, only one thing, and that is that we have to be ready to fight in Sydney in February.' In my opinion Sean is overdoing it. He only had one win after Dricus, that was against [Paulo] Costa. Whittaker had two and I think he will now go for number three.

“So my honest opinion is that Whittaker will be next in line in Sydney in February. I think he will beat Khamzat and I honestly think they will give him the chance.”

Chimaev is undefeated in 13 professional fights, although his goal of becoming middleweight and welterweight champion has been stifled by grueling periods of inactivity. When he steps into the cage to fight Whittaker on October 26, it will be just his fourth fight since 2020.

Although Chimaev is still generating excitement, Visser is not yet convinced that he has the skills to beat the former UFC champion.

“Rob is a quick learner,” Visser said. “He learns from his mistakes. He is completely honest with himself. That is very, very important in this sport. If you screw yourself, you're in big shit. Even with Dricus, I mean you haven't seen the Dricus that I train. The day that Dricus shows up on fight night, people are really, really screwed. The same goes for Rob. I think that Khamzat – I mean, this fight against it [Kamaru] Usman, who is a true welterweight, was way too close for me. His standup is suspect in my opinion, his wrestling, he couldn't do anything with Usman. Rob’s standup is phenomenal. His wrestling and groundwork are great. I honestly think Khamzat is out of his league here. He needs to return to Welter where he might have a chance to achieve something or become a champion.

“At this point I honestly think it’s Rob. Rob beats Khamzat and I don't think it will be for points. It will wear him down. Rob is a tough guy and he’s smart and he has a smart team behind him.”

Another possible matchup Visser discussed was another fight with Adesanya. The loss to du Plessis gave Adesanya the first losing streak of his MMA career and he has now lost three of his last four fights, but Adesanya's performance against du Plessis, the intensity of their rivalry and Adesanya's Nigerian roots could still make for a compelling championship fight.

“I think we’re going to fight Izzy and Dana is talking about it,” Visser said. “I think the rematch will be for Izzy against Dricus, which makes the most sense for the Africans in South Africa. I honestly believe we'll get the rematch with Izzy sometime next year in 2025.

“Also, you saw the Izzy that fought for Dricus and you saw the Izzy that fought Sean. The Izzy that faced Dricus came out to fight Dricus. Sean has no chance against this Izzy. This guy was the best version of Izzy I've ever seen. So if the UFC gives him the rematch that's great, but I don't think Izzy should waste his time on that shit. I think we all saw in that Dricus fight that he is a much superior fighter.”

As for Pereira, Visser claims that a fight with the Brazilian knockout artist was discussed on the night of UFC 305 after du Plessis defeated Adesanya. However, they are more interested in moving up to challenge Pereira for the light heavyweight title than seeing him drop down to 185 pounds to challenge du Plessis.

Pereira recently stated that his current plan is to stay at 205 pounds, so that point is moot for now. If he and du Plessis ever face off, Visser is confident his fighter will emerge victorious – and not necessarily in the way most would expect.

“In wrestling and grappling, just like in stand-up, you can’t solve this in six months or a year,” Visser said. “When you're under pressure, your subconscious mind puts you in what you know, and it knows next to nothing when it comes to wrestling and grappling. And we don't want to fight him there. We want to fight him where he is good.

“Dricus will have no interest in fighting him on the ground. We would love to play him in standup, and there are a lot of flaws in his standup game. I saw him. He hates going backwards. He hates it. He hates it when you punish him. He hates being in control of a fight, and that's how Dricus fights. He doesn't want to fight. That will not be the case, we will be left on the wrong foot and let him have his way. That's the only time he's good. I saw him on the wrong foot, where he's really, really shitty. … Dricus has been working on this game for ages. There is no way to become a wrestler, grappler or stand-up fighter in six months or a year. It doesn't exist. Nothing like that happens.”