Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis added to UFC 290; Dana White says winner gets Israel Adesanya

UFC president Dana White has announced a No. 1 contender bout in the middleweight division between former champ Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis.

White revealed on Friday that Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) and Du Plessis (19-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) have agreed to clash at UFC 290 on July 8, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The winner will be awarded a championship bout against Israel Adesanya.

“The winner of that fight will fight Adesanya later this year,” White said in a video posted to Twitter. “And that fight is targeted for Sydney, Australia.”

More on this in a moment.

The latest UFC 290 lineup now includes:

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez – for featherweight title
• Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja – for flyweight title
• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Manel Kape
• Dricus Du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker
• Robbie Lawler vs. Niko Price
• Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner
• Tresean Gore vs. Bo Nickal