South African fighter, Dricus Du Plessis, has said that he would like to face Israel Adesanya in his first fight as a UFC middleweight champion.
Du Plessis recently gave an interview to Submission Radio where he discussed the state of the middleweight division.
The 29-year-old was very unfortunate to not fight at UFC 293 against Adesanya after an injury. In his stead, Sean Strickland fought and dethroned Adesanya becoming the new champion.
Now, in the interview, Du Plessis laid out his plans and the UFC’s plans at middleweight in the interview. Du Plessis wants Adesanya as his first title defense after UFC 297. However, he thinks the UFC will give the next title shot to Khamzat Chimaev.
“I would love to fight Adesanya. I would pick him for the first title defense. But the UFC will most likely put Khamzat Chimaev against me. It all comes down to who I beat and how I do it.
“If I go out and absolutely destroy Chimaev, what do I do next? Or if I beat Israel Adesanya. This guy was a nightmare for the entire division. Only two guys cleared out the middleweight division – Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. If I beat them, I’ll simply have nothing to do,” Du Plessis said.
Du Plessis and Adesanya had a face-off at UFC 290 when Du Plessis defeated Whitaker. Their rivalry is due to their shared African heritage even though they are of different races.
Khamzat Chimaev’s last fight happened at UFC 294 when he defeated Kamaru Usman. Originally slated to fight Paulo Costa, Chimaev ultimately fought Kamaru Usman, who came in on 10-days notice after Costa withdrew. Chimaev suffered a ligament injury during the fight he won by majority decision.
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