UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has stated his desire to fight light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but has also made it clear he has unfinished business to attend to in his own division first in the shape of Khamzat Chimaev.
“I have the world respect for Alex Pereira,” du Plessis told reporters after his win at UFC 312. “I think he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I have the most respect for him, what he’s done in a short period of time in the UFC, to come from another sport, what he’s done there, but yes, I want to share the octagon with that man. I want to beat a guy — I’ve beaten [Israel] Adesanya, who has beaten him. I know I can beat him, and at 205 [pounds]. One hundred percent.”
However, du Plessis intends to go up against the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev next.
“Khamzat’s first,” du Plessis confirmed. “I said [to Pereira], ‘Please beat Ankalaev.’ No hate against Ankalaev; I just want to beat Alex Pereira. It’s nothing personal against Ankalaev, it’s just Pereira. He’s such a legend in this sport to me already that it would be amazing to beat him for my legacy. I want to be the greatest to ever do this.
“But Khamzat is next. Khamzat is next. I want to make sure that this belt, the middleweight title, that there’s no question that I’m the GOAT of the middleweight division.
“I know you have Anderson Silva — in my mind, he is the GOAT of this division—and you have Adesanya, who has done incredible things, but it’s not about how many times you defend. It’s about who you fight, how you defend it, and how you’ve done it, what period of time you’ve done it, who you’ve fought, and making sure that there’s no question that I am the best middleweight, and then going up. So I’m not rushing that my next fight is Alex Pereira. No, no, no. I want Khamzat next. I think he deserves a hiding.”
Du Plessis also praised the current state of the middleweight division, noting that a number of fresh challengers are now pushing into the title picture, and said that gives him more of a reason to stick around at 185lbs.
“If you look at the top 5, how that’s changed gets me as a champion excited,” du Plessis said. “I thought the change to light heavyweight was going to be a lot quicker, but now the whole top 5 has almost been thrown on its head. If you look at a guy like Izzy and [Robert Whittaker], who have been running that division for how many years, now they are four and five [in the rankings]. You have me, Strickland, Khamzat … you have Caio, and you have Imavov. What a performance by Imavov. I think you make the Caio and Imavov fight. That [winner is] the next fight for the title after the fight with Khamzat.”
