"You're being mad" - Alexander Volkanovski shuts down Dricus du Plessis' chances against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290

Current UFC featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski does not see much hope for Dricus du Plessis to emerge victorious in his upcoming encounter against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

'The Great' recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he broke down the upcoming UFC 290 card, which is set to take place during International Fight Week on Jul 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Speaking about the middleweight clash between du Plessis and Whittaker, Volkanovski stated that 'Stillknocks' will have a tough hill to climb in order to beat the Australian. The featherweight champion added that he could not imagine a scenario where 'The Reaper' does not get his hand raised at the end of that fight.

"There'll be a lot of hype if [Dricus du Plessis] was to be able to beat Robert Whittaker," said Volkanovski. "But, beating Robert Whittaker is not going to be easy for him. Again, he could be a great fighter but Robert Whittaker, he's too well-rounded, he's too good everywhere and his skill set is gonna be too much."

'The Great' added:

"You know, you're being mad to think that Dricus can get it done. Obviously, [it's] entertaining for the underdog to get a big win but not against someone like Rob Whittaker... If the next guy's fighting for the title out of that fight, it's gonna have to be Rob. I cannot see Rob lose in that fight."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments from the 4:27 mark below:

Along with Whittaker, Volkanovski will also compete on the UFC 290 card and will headline the event in a title fight against Yair Rodriguez.

---

Apart from Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker, which fighters are competing at UFC 290?

UFC 290 is stacked with thrilling matchups from top to bottom. Apart from the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez main event and the middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Dricus du Plessis, several other exciting fighters are scheduled to compete on the card.

The co-main event will feature another title fight as Brandon Moreno will defend his flyweight throne against Alexandre Pantoja.

A lightweight banger in the form of Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker will also take place on the main card of the event. Bo Nickal will take on Treasean Gore in his second-ever UFC outing on July 8.

In the prelims, Robbie Lawler and Niko Price will lock horns in a welterweight showdown.