Whittaker vs. Du Plessis, winner advances to Adesanya

UFC President Dana White has announced that the former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker And Dricus du Plessis will meet in a Candidates match on July 8 at UFC 290 in Las Vegas. The winner will receive a fight with the recently returned belt Israel Adesanya.

"The winner of this fight will fight Israel Adesanya later this year and this fight is slated for a tournament in Sydney, Australia," White posted on social media.

Whitatker, 32 (24-6), is returning to the octagon after a solid unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori in September. The Australian has a 12-2 record in the UFC middleweight division and his only losses have come against reigning champion Israel Adesanya.

Du Plessis (19-2) has won seven fights in a row, the last five of which were under the auspices of the UFC. The last performance of the South African held in March, defeating Derek Brunson by technical knockout.