Dricus Du Plessis seems to be ready to fight in his first title defense in the middleweight category. The champion has chosen former champion Israel Adesanya, among other competitors, as his next potential dance partner. So why is this fight not official yet?

With the ‘real African’ debate, and the pair’s face-off at UFC 290, one would imagine the UFC would jump at this opportunity. But is Du Plessis getting the UFC treatment for recent transgression? It would certainly seem that way from his recent comments. Let’s see what they are.

Dricus Du Plessis urges UFC to give him Israel Adesanya fight

There is the latest news that is going around everywhere that Dricus Du Plessis is ready to fight Israel Adesanya. According to Fight Wave, he is ready to fight against Adesanya and said, “I’m in. I’ve agreed to everything. I’m ready. That’s the fight I want. I called him out after winning the belt, and that’s the fight the fans want to see. Let’s just announce this thing. I don’t know what’s the hold-up. I want it to be announced, I want it to go if that’s it.”

‘Stillknocks’ is an undefeated champ in his first 7 fights in the UFC and wants to get back to action soon. He has a standing rivalry with former champ Israel Adesanya but injuries came as a hurdle to prevent their first touted fight from coming to fruition last year. However, the landscape turned quickly with Sean Strickland beating Adesanya for the title, and Du Plessis edging past the American in January 2024.

So, Du Plessis also declared that he was ready to fight Sean Strickland, and Khamzat Chimaev as well. Du Plessis just wants a great fight no matter who the opponent is among these three stars. He also clarified, “I don’t make the fights. I said I’ll be ready to fight in May. I was ready to fight from then on. I just wasn’t ready for UFC 300.”

Before Du Plessis fights in the octagon, the division is going to sort out the top contenders with the UFC Saudi Arabia fight between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev. The champion gave his verdict and said that he has a lot of respect for Whittaker and as for Chimaev, it was a huge opportunity for him in the middleweight division. The South African had previously rejected the offer for UFC 300 that he got from Dana White. Is that the reason for this delay?

Du Plessis was ready to fight ‘Izzy’ but not at UFC 300

Du Plessis called ‘Izzy’ out and told Jacaranda FM that he would like to fight the former champion. He also said he wants to fight on his home soil since the much-celebrated fighter is the first South African champ in the UFC. He has been pushing for a big fight in Africa however that has not been decided yet.

Du Plessis wanted to fight Adesanya when the promotion would go to Africa instead of fighting on White’s ambitious UFC 300 card.  He said, “I mean, UFC  300 is just a number, it’s not as massive as UFC Africa.” Adesanya had even called him out on this decision after UFC 297 but for ‘DDP,’ the risk was not worth the reward. He had the belt so he called the shots and chose to recover from his five-round slugfest with Strickland.

He is also willing to fight Chimaev and Strickland. He has fought ‘Tarzan’ before and won via split decision in the close fight. He also commented that the second fight with Strickland would be easier than the first time. Plus, Strickland is the official #1 contender and has fought twice since beating Adesanya. He dropped the title to Du Plessis but decisively beat Paulo Costa at UFC 302 earlier this month. He also called his shot in return for being a company man and staying active.

Do you think Du Plessis is going to get a fight against ‘Izzy’ or Sean? Who deserves a shot at the title more?