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Horse Racing UFC 290 Whittaker vs Du Plessis Bet Builder Tips: 1.95 Builder Backing 'Bobby Knuckles'
UFC 290 Whittaker vs Du Plessis Bet Builder Tips: Saturday, July 8th
Robert Whittaker will take on Dricus Du Plessis this Saturday night at UFC 290 just before the co-main event. The bookmakers have Whittaker as the heavy favourite to win, but Du Plessis has established himself as a dangerous finisher in the division and we might see an upset.
We have made a bet builder for the Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis fight at 1.95 odds at Bet365! Read the article below to see our selections and analysis
In this article:
- UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis Preview
- UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis UFC Stats
- UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis Bet Builder Tips
UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis Bet Builder Tips
- Robert Whittaker to Win
- Fight to Go the Distance
UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis Preview
Saturday, July 8th. TBD
Robert Whittaker is currently the 2nd-ranked fighter in the Middleweight division, having won 4 of his last 5 bouts. He is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori but has also defeated Darren Till, Kelvin Gastelum and Jared Cannonier during this run.
Although ‘The Reaper’ is one of the coolest nicknames in the UFC and is widely accepted, I will continue referring to him as ‘Bobby Knuckles’ and that’s that. The former champion had a brief reign, losing in his first official title defence against Israel Adesanya via TKO.
He has been on a mission ever since to regain the UFC championship but to no avail, losing to the Stylebender once again, but this time in a much closer 5-round decision. If he manages to win this one, he will have a very strong case for another title shot.
Dricus Du Plessis is 5th in the UFC Middleweight rankings and looking to put his name in the pot for a potential title shot. A win against one of the scariest guys in the division will surely do that but let’s take a look at how good his chances are.
Du Plessis is on a 7-fight winning streak and coming off an impressive victory against Derek Brunson. Out of his 19 career MMA victories, Du Plessis has gotten the finish in all but 1, boasting 8 KO/TKO and 10 submission victories.
He is quite explosive and his finishing potential is at a very high level. His grappling is also dangerous, which we have seen in the Darren Till fight, as well as solid defensive grappling against Brunson. However, Du Plessis is mainly a 1st round fighter and his intensity drops off immensely in the later rounds due to his poor cardio.
UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis UFC Stats
UFC 290 Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis Bet Builder Tips
The 4.00 odds at Bet365 next to Du Plessis’ name look tempting, but I don’t really see him getting the job done. Whittaker is heavily favoured at 1.25 odds, so baking him in the moneyline market doesn’t really bring too much value.
Whittaker is the much better and more technical striker and his career 84% takedown defence, as well as a black belt in BBJ will probably keep Du Plessis from getting a submission. That said, Dru Plessis has fixed his nose, so he won’t start slowing down immediately, but it’s not like he is going to have Dvalishvilli’s cardio.
But as good as Du Plessis is, Whittaker is on another level, especially when we take into consideration the number of high-profile events he has seen in the last few years. We’ll take the experience and technical striking over explosiveness and back Whittaker to get it done by decision.
- Robert Whittaker to Win
- Fight to Go the Distance
Odds as of 2:00 pm on July 6th, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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