Dricus du Plessis thinks fellow UFC champion Tom Aspinall is the long run.
Aspinall formally turned the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight titleholder following the retirement of Jon Jones, having held an interim title since 2023. With Jones, the earlier undisputed champion out of the image, du Plessis expects Aspinall to have a prolonged run on the prime.
“The primary time you noticed Tom Aspinall struggle, you knew there was one thing particular,” du Plessis informed Betway South Africa. “He’s nearly the following era of heavyweight, for my part, the place he strikes like a middleweight. He’s gentle on his ft. He can grapple, he can strike, he can wrestle, so I’m actually joyful for him. I believe he’s going to be a terrific champion and I believe he’s going to be a champion for a very long time.
“I don’t suppose there’s a number of heavyweights on his stage proper now.”
Du Plessis and Aspinall each broke onto the UFC scene across the similar time, with du Plessis’ debut happening on a UFC Combat Island card in October 2020, a date that marked Aspinall’s second octagon look. Quick ahead to now and du Plessis is weeks away from his third middleweight title protection towards Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, whereas Aspinall defends his title towards Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.
Although Aspinall was unable to safe a unification bout with Jones (who defeated Gane at UFC 285 to say a belt vacated by Francis Ngannou), his heavyweight résumé is undeniably spectacular: Eight wins and only one loss, the latter of which got here attributable to a freak knee harm in 15 seconds towards Curtis Blaydes and that Aspinall avenged in July 2024.
Amazingly, additionally featured on that fateful Combat Island lineup was the debut of future light-weight and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. “El Matador” just lately claimed a vacant 155-pound title with a spectacular knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 and du Plessis thinks he’s already executed sufficient to be immortalized within the UFC Corridor of Fame.
“He was actually in my altering room,” du Plessis mentioned of Topuria. “We had been on the identical trajectory, profitable our titles one month aside. I’m tremendous joyful for him. I believe he’s a kind of particular characters who’s going to be a Corridor of Famer, little question.
“Unbeaten. He’s the primary unbeaten man to have two titles. I’m tremendous joyful for him and I fee him very extremely as an all-around fighter, and clearly his putting, energy, in knocking out three legends. I believe he’s unbelievable and, for my part, among the finest, if not the very best within the UFC proper now.”
