Dricus du Plessis has his sights set on Khamzat Chimaev.
On Saturday, du Plessis efficiently defended his middleweight title for the second time, profitable a dominant unanimous determination over Sean Strickland of their rematch at UFC 312 in Sydney. After the combat, du Plessis minimize a promo directed at gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who was in Strickland’s nook, quoting the movie Troy and shouting “Is there nobody else?”
Later talking with reporters in his post-fight scrum, du Plessis confirmed that could be a combat he desires.
“I’ve the world respect for Alex Pereira,” du Plessis mentioned. “I believe he’s the very best pound-for-pound fighter on the earth. I’ve essentially the most respect for him, what he’s accomplished in a brief time period within the UFC, to come back from one other sport, what he’s accomplished there, however sure, I need to share the octagon with that man. I need to beat a man — I’ve crushed [Israel] Adesanya, who has crushed him. I do know I can beat him, and at 205 [pounds]. 100%.”
Du Plessis vs. Pereira is unlikely to occur quickly as Pereira defends his gentle heavyweight title towards Magomed Ankalaev subsequent month in the principle occasion of UFC 313, however that’s fantastic with du Plessis, who acknowledges he has extra work to do at 185 kilos earlier than shifting as much as problem “Poatan.”
“Khamzat’s first,” du Plessis mentioned. “I mentioned [to Pereira], ‘Please beat Ankalaev.’ No hate towards Ankalaev; I simply need to beat Alex Pereira. It’s nothing private towards Ankalaev, it’s simply Pereira. He’s such a legend on this sport to me already that it might be superb to beat him for my legacy. I need to be the best to ever do that. However Khamzat is subsequent. Khamzat is subsequent. I need to be sure that this belt, the middleweight title, that there’s no query that I’m the GOAT of the middleweight division.
“I do know you’ve got Anderson Silva—in my thoughts, he’s the GOAT of this division—and you’ve got Adesanya, who has accomplished unbelievable issues, however it’s not about what number of occasions you defend. It’s about who you combat, the way you defend it, and the way you’ve accomplished it, what time period you’ve accomplished it, who you’ve fought, and ensuring that there’s no query that I’m the very best middleweight, and then going up. So I’m not speeding that my subsequent combat is Alex Pereira. No, no, no. I need Khamzat subsequent. I believe he deserves a hiding.”
Chimaev is coming off a first-round demolition of Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 that received Submission of the Yr honors in 2024. If du Plessis could be the particular person handy Chimaev the primary lack of his profession, that might be a significant feather in his cap as he pursues GOAT standing. However du Plessis even acknowledges it nonetheless may not be sufficient to earn a crack at Pereira, contemplating the rise of contemporary contenders at 185 kilos like Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho, which implies he could must push that eventual Pereira combat slightly additional down the street.
“When you have a look at the highest 5, how that’s modified will get me as a champion excited,” du Plessis mentioned. “I believed the change to gentle heavyweight was going to be rather a lot faster, however now the entire high 5 has virtually been thrown on its head. When you have a look at a man like Izzy and [Robert Whittaker], who’ve been working that division for what number of years, now they’re 4 and 5 [in the rankings]. You will have me, Strickland, Khamzat … you’ve got Caio, and you’ve got Imavov. What a efficiency by Imavov. I believe you make the Caio and Imavov combat. That [winner is] the subsequent combat for the title after the combat with Khamzat.”
