205 kilos? Not yet.
It has been three months since former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis dominated former Welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman in the UFC Oklahoma City major occasion.
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Since then, “DDP” has remained comparatively quiet about his next transfer.
Du Plessis called for another title shot following his newest victory, particularly contemplating he already owns two wins over present Middleweight champion Sean Strickland. However, speak of a transfer to Light Heavyweight lately started gaining traction after it was revealed that Du Plessis at the moment cuts roughly 45 kilos to make the Middleweight restrict.
A possible matchup with former Light Heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev was then floated as something UFC wished to e-book.
As it turns out, the promotion had something much larger in thoughts.
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Du Plessis’ head coach, Morne Visser, lately revealed that UFC tried to arrange a four-man Light Heavyweight event to decide champion Carlos Ulberg’s next challenger. The promotion wished “DDP” concerned, but Visser rejected the proposal.
“UFC wanted him to go up to Light Heavyweight, but that’s not going to happen,” Visser informed Fight Forecast. “He’s not a real 205er. They asked me three weeks ago. They asked me for Dricus to move up, and we’d join a pool of four fighters — Jiri, Dricus, Ankalaev and [Stirling].
“They wished the 4 guys to go into a pool, combat on one night time, then the winners combat each other, and then the winner of that fights Ulberg,” Visser continued. “A bit of a Grand Prix.”
Unfortunately, Visser believes Du Plessis needs considerably more time to properly prepare his body for the move.
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“I said no because it’s very simple to go up to 205, but it took me a 12 months to get Dricus from Welterweight to Middleweight,” Visser said. “To put on the weight means completely nothing. Anyone can put on weight — just eat. We need to get the energy up. So, we will do that step by step because we will go up to 205. That’s 100% the plan. But we need our belt back and to defend it once. I made that clear to UFC.”
A Light Heavyweight Grand Prix that includes three former UFC champions?
We actually can’t have anything good.
Nevertheless, with Du Plessis remaining at Middleweight for now, several choices are obtainable.
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He could keep energetic against surging contender Brendan Allen, with whom he already has a lot of dangerous blood. He could sit on the sidelines and wait for another title shot primarily based on his resume. Or, if Strickland follows through on his risk to vacate the championship, “DDP” could find himself competing for an interim belt.
Visser also revealed that Du Plessis is ready to return after his honeymoon and is targeting an early 2027 comeback, most likely in late February or March.
The move to Light Heavyweight is apparently inevitable.
UFC’s intriguing Grand Prix idea simply arrived too soon.
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