Dricus du Plessis warns Alex Pereira against returning to middleweight, suggesting he stay at light heavyweight and indicating a willingness to face him there if necessary, while focusing on solidifying his own legacy in the middleweight division.
Dricus du Plessis has a friendly warning for Alex Pereira if he’s seriously considering a return to his old stomping grounds at middleweight.
Just moments after du Plessis tapped out Israel Adesanya with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round of the UFC 305 main event, Pereira took to social media. He shared a photo of himself in front of the post-fight celebration with a caption: “Coming down to 185 one more time.” A famously stoic look on the light heavyweight champ’s face accompanied the post.
Of course, Pereira is a former UFC middleweight champion who ultimately decided to move up to 205 pounds after falling to Adesanya in their rematch in 2023. Since that time, Pereira has gone undefeated. Wins in three title fights with his fourth coming up at UFC 307 when he faces Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event.
If the Brazilian is seriously considering a return to middleweight, du Plessis welcomes the challenge, although he’s quite certain that Pereira wouldn’t like the result. “I honestly don’t think Alex Pereira should drop down to 185,” du Plessis said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference. “If he wants to, great, perfect. But then we’re going to hear the excuses.”
“I saw Izzy stiff that man in the first round. I felt Izzy’s punching power tonight. Izzy has great timing, he’s fast, he’s long and he has great combinations, but I felt the power.” Du Plessis continued, “If Izzy stiffens you like that, you do not want to be in there with me. Especially not when you’ve got to come in there with excuses like, ‘Oh, I cut too much weight.’ That’s going to happen. Everybody’s going to say it.”
Rather than facing a potentially depleted “Poatan” thanks to a rough weight cut, du Plessis prefers taking care of his next title defense and then packing on a few more pounds to challenge for the light heavyweight title instead. “Stay at 205, fight your fight against the No. 8 ranked guy,” du Plessis said referencing Pereira’s fight against Rountree.
“Fight your fight there and enjoy it. If Strickland is the next fight, people want to see that fight — if that’s what people think is next best guy, then it’s what I want too.” Du Plessis added, “So let me handle my business; you handle yours.”
“You don’t have to cut weight so you have some sort of excuse. I’ll come up after the Strickland fight. I’ll come up to 205 and we’ll sort it out there.” To be clear, du Plessis isn’t seeking out a light heavyweight title shot and he’s not trying to become the latest fighter hoping to add “champ-champ” to his résumé.
In fact, the South African fighter prefers vanquishing every possible contender in his current weight class rather than just jumping up to 205 pounds for a fight that doesn’t make much sense right now.
That said, du Plessis has no problem taking on that challenge if that’s what UFC throws at him. “If that’s what the UFC wants, I’ll be ready for it right now,” du Plessis said. “But I’m not chasing that.”
“I believe to be considered the greatest ever in this sport, I need to be considered as the greatest middleweight first.” Du Plessis concluded, “I’m the first guy to beat Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. I’ve beaten three of the top 20 pound-for-pound fighters; can I please get back in the top 10?”
“I beat Strickland, Whittaker, and Adesanya. I haven’t been on social media yet but can’t wait to see what critics say now.”