Dricus du Plessis relishing ‘biggest fight’ of his UFC career

The middleweight bout sets the winner up with a chance to dethrone current champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia later this year.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Du Plessis says he is relishing the opportunity, especially being on the UFC 290 main card.

"This is definitely the biggest fight of my career, but so was the one before this, and the one before that, and the one before that... So, that feels familiar," said an assured Du Plessis.

"My fight week is exactly the same, I'm doing a little bit more talking to folks, but it feels great – the atmosphere, and finally seeing myself not on the undercard – Rob can be very lucky, we almost open up this card.

"But being on the main card of this [event], like just before title fight, and seeing myself on the countdown show, seeing myself on the promotional video, it's something special and I'm taking it in and I'm loving it."

Du Plessis is going to play to his strengths on Sunday night against a sharp opponent, who is also a former middleweight champion.

"Whittaker shot-for-shot is extremely fast and he's very calculated, and when he gets his style going and he's in his comfort zone, he's very, very dangerous," he added.