The
Ultimate Fighting Championship proposed a four-man light
heavyweight tournament, according to Morne Visser.
Dricus du
Plessis’ coach said the UFC approached the former middleweight
champion about joining a field that included Jiri
Prochazka, Magomed
Ankalaev and Navajo
Stirling. Under the proposed format, the tournament winner
would earn a title shot against light heavyweight champion Carlos
Ulberg, who is sidelined with an injury.
Morne Visser explains why he rejected UFC light heavyweight
tournament with Jiri Prochazka, Magomed Ankalaev and Navajo
Stirling
Visser said he rejected the offer because they want to reclaim the
185-pound championship and defend it once before moving up. The
Team
CIT head coach said a move to light heavyweight remains the
plan, but they want ample time to prepare for the division’s
physical demands.
“They asked me three weeks ago; the UFC asked me for Dricus to move
up to 205, they wanted us to join a pool of four fighters, Jiri
[Prochazka], Dricus, [Magomed] Ankalaev and [Navajo] Stirling,”
Visser told Fight Forecast. “They wanted the four guys to go into a
pool and fight in one night and then the winner of that fight each
other and then the winner of that fight Carlos Ulberg, a bit of a
Grand Prix. But I said no because it’s very easy to go up to 205
pounds, but it took me a year to get Dricus from welterweight to
middleweight… That we will do it gradually because we will go up to
205, that is 100% the plan, but we want our middleweight belt back
and we want to defend it once.”
“Stillknocks” rebounded from his title loss to Khamzat
Chimaev by defeating Kamaru
Usman by unanimous decision in July. The South African also
holds two victories over current middleweight champion Sean
Strickland. Meanwhile, Prochazka and Stirling are scheduled to
headline
UFC Qatar on Nov. 21, while Ankalaev has no announced bout.