Dricus du Plessis vanquished his greatest rival at UFC 305 and now has a number of options ahead of him.
This past August, the middleweight champion scored a dramatic fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya to put their feud on ice (for now), and has since been tied to a number of potential title challengers, including the winner of the UFC 308 clash between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, a rematch with Sean Strickland, or even a superfight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser told Submission Radio they are expecting a rematch, but it’s actually one with Whittaker, who du Plessis defeated at UFC 290. Strickland has been resolute in claiming he deserves another crack at du Plessis after dropping the title to him via a narrow split decision in their first meeting, but Visser thinks Strickland is still one win away.
“I had a conversation actually yesterday with Dricus,” Visser said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “I said to him, ‘There’s only one thing for certain at this stage, only one thing, and that’s that we’ve got to be ready to fight in Sydney in February.’ My opinion is Sean’s overselling it. He’s just had one win after Dricus, that was against [Paulo] Costa. Whittaker had two, and I think he’s going to go for number three now.
“So, my honest opinion is that next for us in line will be Whittaker in Sydney in February. I think he’s going to beat Khamzat, and I honestly think that they’re going to give him the shot.”
Chimaev is undefeated in 13 pro bouts, though his goal of becoming a champion at middleweight and welterweight has been stifled by grueling stretches of inactivity. When he steps into the cage to fight Whittaker on Oct. 26, it will be just his fourth fight since 2020.
Despite the buzz still swirling around Chimaev, Visser isn’t convinced he has the skills to beat the former UFC champion just yet.
“Rob’s a fast learner,” Visser said. “He learns out of his mistakes. He’s dead honest to himself. That’s very, very important in this sport. If you bullshit yourself, you’re in big, big shit. Even with Dricus, I mean, you guys haven’t seen the Dricus that I coach. People are really, really in shit the day when that Dricus rocks up in a fight night. The same thing goes for Rob. I think that Khamzat—I mean, that fight against [Kamaru] Usman, who’s a genuine welterweight, was way too close for me. His standup is, in my opinion, suspect, his wrestling, he couldn’t do anything with Usman. Rob’s standup is phenomenal. His wrestling and his ground work’s awesome. I honestly think Khamzat’s out of his league here. He’s got to go back to welter where he maybe stands a chance to become something or become a champion.
“At this stage, I honestly think it’s Rob. Rob beats Khamzat and I don’t think it’s going to be on points. He’s going to grind him. Rob’s a tough dude and he’s smart and he’s got a smart team behind him.”
One other matchup possibility Visser discussed was another fight with Adesanya. The loss to du Plessis put Adesanya on the first losing streak of his MMA career and he’s now lost three of his past four fights, but Adesanya’s performance against du Plessis, the intensity of their rivalry, and Adesanya’s Nigerian roots could still make for a compelling championship bout.
“I think that we will fight Izzy, and Dana is talking about it,” Visser said. “I think that the rematch that will be given to Izzy will be against Dricus, which makes the most sense to Africans in South Africa. I honestly think that we’re going to get the rematch against Izzy sometime next year in 2025.
“Also, you guys saw the Izzy that came out fighting for Dricus, and you saw the Izzy that went to fight Sean. The Izzy that faced Dricus came out to fight Dricus. Sean’s got no chance against that Izzy. That guy, he was the best version of Izzy I’ve ever seen. So if the UFC gives him the rematch, awesome, but I think that Izzy shouldn’t waste his time with shit like that. I think we all saw he’s a lot superior fighter with that Dricus fight.”
As for Pereira, Visser claims a bout with the Brazilian knockout artist was discussed on the evening of UFC 305 after du Plessis defeated Adesanya. However, they’re more interested in moving up to challenge Pereira for the light heavyweight title than seeing him drop back down to 185 pounds to challenge du Plessis.
Pereira recently stated his current plan is to remain at 205 pounds, so the point is moot for now. Should he and du Plessis ever face off, Visser is confident his fighter would come out on top—and not necessarily via the path most would expect.
“With wrestling and grappling, same as standup, it’s not something you can fix within six months or a year,” Visser said. “When you’re under pressure, your subconscious mind puts you back in what you know, and he knows kind of nothing when it comes to the wrestling and the grappling area. And that’s not where we want to fight him. We want to fight him where he’s good at.
“Dricus won’t be interested in fighting him on the floor. We would want to fight him in standup and in his standup game there’s a lot of flaws. I’ve seen him. He hates going backwards. He hates it. He hates it when you give him punishment. He hates it when you’re in control of the fight and that’s the way Dricus fights. He doesn’t want to fight. It’s not going to be we’re going to be on our back foot and give him his way. That’s the only time that he’s good. I’ve seen him on his back foot where he’s really, really shit. … This game, Dricus has been working at it forever. There’s no way you can fix becoming a wrestler or a grappler or a standup fighter within six months or a year. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t happen like that.”
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