Following his stunning victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 285, Dricus Du Plessis now has his sights set on a title shot against the victor of the rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.
Dricus is a relatively new name in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but he has already made a reputation for himself as a formidable competitor in the middleweight division. The fighter, who is now 29 years old, had his debut in October 2020 against Markus Perez. Since then, he has gone on to win five consecutive bouts.
Dricus Du Plessis would lose to at least 12 people on this list.
Bro's mid lol pic.twitter.com/qglJrw8rKr
— 𝕽𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖗❂ (@Sa_Gwang) March 5, 2023
Who does Dricus Du Plessis want to fight next?
‘Stillknocks’ (19-2-0) is now having bigger dreams since his KO victory against Derek last Saturday. Recently, while speaking with Ariel Helwani for an interview, the sixth-ranked middleweight in the promotion divulged his aspirations for the foreseeable future.
"I’m the African fighting in the UFC. we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re Africa born, we’re Africa raised, we still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa. That’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be." – @dricusduplessis pic.twitter.com/hTMQHTLsfH
— Ngamla Gouws 🇿🇦 (@RenaldoGouws) March 5, 2023
Plessis does not think that a title fight is too far-fetched for him. The South African fighter expresses that he has been having a great time and thinks everything will work out the way it should. As a result of the most recent victory against Darren Till, he thinks people will give him the attention he deserves, especially contenders at the top who hesitated to share any acknowledgment.
“I think Izzy wins the fight. But you know, with Alex Pereira, with that guy you can just never count him out. We’ve seen that so many times, and it’s gonna be an interesting fight. I’m looking forward to seeing who wins that fight. But I’m more than happy to – whoever wins the fight, step in there and face them.” said Plessis.
Dricus Du Plessis is puzzled by his placement on the prelims 🤔#UFC285 | Full story: https://t.co/aG9yXtKEJa pic.twitter.com/2vnoyl8Dff
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 4, 2023
“An Alex Pereira fight is something that gets me very, very excited. But obviously fighting a name like Izzy who is one of the best middleweights to do it up until now would also be great. For me, it makes literally no difference which one win and which one I get to fight.” Plessis further added.
"Did those belts ever go to Africa?"
Yes, @dricusduplessis. Those belts went to Africa.
And I mean LITERALLY too. pic.twitter.com/iyP6SxifXB
— FROZEN Like Elsa (@CredibleIAM) March 2, 2023
Currently, UFC 287 is scheduled for April 8 at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida, with the middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira as the main event. Promising dual-weight contender Khamzat Chimaev and former champ Robert Whittaker are currently rumored for a contender fight.
Unfortunately for the pride of South Africa, a shot at the scrap is not always gifted to the most deserving fighter. UFC at the end of the day is a business and fighters with the biggest fanbase usually bring in the best revenue.
How many fights do you think Dricus needs to make his statement as the next title challenger?
