UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has shot down a rumor that he’s currently injured, while stating that his next fight should be getting unveiled in the near future.
Veteran MMA reporter Kevin Iole had been the first to write about DDP potentially being injured, which would rule him out of fighting Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 317 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas on June 28th, but according to the fighter himself none of that is actually true.
“[OK], so everyone had their opinions and rumors and stories about a shin break and injuries etc,” du Plessis wrote in a statement in Instagram.
“I found it all very entertaining, unfortunately none of it is true myself and [UFC] already discussed a fight date and opponent, the June fight was never signed I did not pull out of any fight, I am the champion I know when I fight you as a contender just show up when we tell you to. Fight announcement coming soon stay tuned.”
A fight between du Plessis and Khamzat is certainly the fight with the most hype behind it and could be the UFC’s preferred option, but Nassourdine Imavov currently holds the No.1 contender spot, while the 6th ranked Caio Borralho has been pushing hard for a title opportunity after winning all six of his UFC fights so far.
Along with who DDP fights next, it’ll also be interesting to see where it lands, with other rumors swirling around at the moment that the likes of an interim heavyweight title fight between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane or Ilia Topuria fighting for a vacated lightweight title to headlining the International Fight Week show.
If DDP is also still in the picture then the UFC has a number of options to choose from for UFC 317, though some fans will no doubt be disappointed that the two most wished-for fights to lead the show, Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall or Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria, seem less likely to happen as things stand.
That being said, there’s still always the potential for more twists in the tale given that nothing has been officially announced at this stage.
