Dricus Du Plessis booked himself a world title shot against Israel Adesanya with a stunning second round stoppage of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
The South African proved his championship credentials by defeating the former champion in impressive fashion.
After a big end to the first round in which Du Plessis unloaded some ground and pound on the Aussie, he closed the show in the second.
MORE: UFC 290 live fight updates, results, highlights from Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez
Du Plessis dropped Whittaker briefly with a right hand before unloading on The Reaper as he backed up against the cage, dropping him again with a body shot and teeing off with his hands to force the stoppage.
After the fight, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya entered the cage and the pair shared an intense face-off before trading some smack talk.
That bout is tipped to headline UFC 293 in Sydney on September 10.
Here's how it played out:
Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis fight updates, highlights
Round 2: Whittaker ends a combination with a signature right kick upstairs but it's well blocked. Du Plessis counters strongly with a right hand. Whittaker again goes up top with a right kick. The Aussie is leading the dance on the feet but Du Plessis' guard remains tight. Du Plessis drops Whittaker with a straight right and swarms him for the finish!
Round 1: Both men open up with kicks as they look to find their range. Whittaker lands a nice right hand and a solid jab shortly after. The Australian lands a takedown and ends up on top but Du Plessis uses the cage to help him get back to his feet. Another right hand over the top lands for Whittaker on the counter. Du Plessis gets Whittaker moving back with a combination. High pace to the fight early on. Du Plessis lands a trip and ends up on top now, landing an elbow and cutting Whittaker. Du Plessis gets into side control and begins hunting a d'arce choke before unloading some ground and pound.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Du Plessis
8:09pm PT/1:09pm AEST: Whittaker and Du Plessis are moments away from throwing down.
Stay tuned for live updated and our unofficial scorecard.
What time is Whittaker vs. Du Plessis?
The UFC 290 main card is due to begin at 10pm ET/12pm AEST.
Whittaker and Du Plessis are the third fight on the main card, so we can expect them to step into the cage around 11pm ET/1pm AEST.
UFC 290 fight card and results
Main card
- Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Yair Rodriguez (ic) for the UFC featherweight title
- Brandon Moreno (c) vs. Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight title
- Dricus du Plessis def. Robert Whittaker via 2nd round TKO (punches) (2:23)
- Dan Hooker def. Jalin Turner via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bo Nickal def. Val Woodburn via 1st round TKO (punches) (:38)
Prelims
- Robbie Lawler def. Niko Price via 1st round KO (punch) (:38)
- Tatsuro Taira def. Edgar Cháirez via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27 & 29-27)
- Denise Gomes def. Yazmin Jauregui via 1st round TKO (punches) (:20)
- Alonzo Menifield def. Jimmy Crute via 2nd round submission (guillotine choke) (1:55)
Early Prelims
- Vitor Petrino def. Marcin Prachnio via 3rd round submission (arm triangle) (3:42)
- Cameron Saaiman def. Terrence Mitchell via 1st round TKO (punches) (3:10)
- Jesus Santos Aguilar def. Shannon Ross via 1st round KO (punch) (:17)
- Esteban Ribovics def. Kamuela Kirk via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 & 29-28)