205 pounds? Not yet.
Three months since the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis dominated by the former Welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman in the UFC Oklahoma City main event.
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Since then, “DDP” has remained relatively quiet about his next move.
Du Plessis is gunning for another title following his most recent victory, especially since he already has two wins over the current Middleweight champion. Sean Strickland. However, talk of a move to Light Heavyweight recently started to win his contract after it was revealed that Du Plessis is currently cutting around 45 pounds to make it to Middleweight.
A potential matchup with the former light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev then floated, as other UFC wanted at Cic.
As it turns out, he had a much bigger promotion in mind.
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Du Plessis head coach; Morne Visserrecently revealed that the UFC has attempted to set up a four-man Light Heavyweight tournament for the champion Charles Ulberg’s then the provocateur. The “DDP” promotion wanted to get involved, but Visser rejected the proposal.
“The UFC wanted him to move up to Light Heavyweight, but that’s not going to happen,” Visser said A certain prediction. “It’s not a real 205er. They asked me three weeks ago. They asked me to move Dric up, and join the pool of four fighters — Jiri, Dric, Ankalaev and [Stirling].
“Four guys wanted to go into the pool, fight one night, then the winners fight each other, and then the winner of that fight is Ulberg,” continued Visser. “The Governor of the City.”
Unfortunately, Visser believes Du Plessis needs a bit more time to properly prepare his body for the move.
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“I said nothing because it’s easy to go up to 205, but it took me a year to go from Welterweight to Middleweight,” he said. “To put on weight means nothing at all. Someone can put on weight – just eat. We need to go up in power. So we will do it gradually as we go up to 205. That’s a 100 percent plan. But we want our belt again and defend it once. I made the UFC clear.”
A Light Heavyweight Grand Prix featuring three former UFC champions?
We really can’t have that nice.
However, with Du Plessis remaining at Middleweight for now, there are several options available.
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It could remain active against a fluctuating competitor Brendan Allenwith whom there is already a fierce blood of evil. He could sit on the sidelines and wait for another shot at his second title. Or, if Strickland follows through on threats to deliver the championship, “DDP” could find himself competing for the belt in the interim.
Visser also revealed that Du Plessis is ready to return after his honeymoon and aim for a return in early 2027, around February or March.
A move to Light Heavy seems inevitable.
The idea that the UFC is looking for a Grand Prix has simply arrived too soon.
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