In the moments after closing the book on his rivalry with Sean
Strickland for good, Dricus Du
Plessis grabbed the microphone and stared across the
Octagon.
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“Is there no one else?” he yelled. “Is there no one else?”
The message was clear: The reigning middleweight champion hadn’t
forgotten about Alex
Pereira’s callout following his victory over Israel
Adesanya last year. Since Pereira was in Strickland’s corner in
the UFC 312
main event in Sydney on Saturday night, the timing couldn’t have
been better.
Despite that intriguing bit of theater, Du Plessis realizes there’s
a natural order to things, and that means clearing out the
remaining challenges in his own division. That includes a future
showdown with Khamzat
Chimaev, who is the No. 1 contender in waiting following his
brutal submission of Robert
Whittaker this past August. Pereira, meanwhile, has business of
his own to attend to — a UFC 313
title defense against Magomed
Ankalaev.
“I have the world of respect for Alex Pereira. I think he’s the
world’s pound-for-pound best,” Du Plessis said at the UFC 312
post-fight press conference. “I have the most respect for what he’s
done in such a short period of time in the UFC, to come from
another sport and what he’s done there.
“So yes, I want to share the Octagon with that man. I want to beat
that guy. I’ve beaten Adesanya, who’s beaten him. I know I can beat
him at 205 [pounds], 100 percent. But Khamzat is next. Khamzat is
next.”
Chimaev seemed to be unimpressed with Du Plessis’ unanimous
decision triumph over Strickland at UFC 312, though it was a much
more convincing performance than the South African’s first victory
over his rival more than a year ago.
“Biggest bulls—t is this fight,” Chimaev wrote on X.
Biggest bullshit is this fight 🥱🥱🥱
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev)
February 9, 2025
Du Plessis’ current UFC winning streak sits at nine — tied for
third most in middleweight history. Creating a legacy in his own
division matters to “Stillknocks,” but he also wants to pursue
challenges — like Pereira — outside of his weight class.
“Khamzat’s first,” Du Plessis said. “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.”