Dricus Du Plessis said he’s interested in one day fighting for Alex Pereira’s light heavyweight title, and that naturally evoked a response from Pereira.
This past Thursday at the UFC 297 pre-fight press conference, Du Plessis was asked if he had any interest in moving up to light heavyweight after if he were to beat Sean Strickland and win the middleweight belt at Saturday’s UFC 297 in Toronto.
Du Plessis said he was down as Pereira sat front row.
“One hundred percent,” Du Plessis said. “After this, I have a whole division to take care of before I start thinking about him. But I’m taking care of that division and whether it’s him or someone else, after this division, that’s the one I’m after.”
Pereira had his chance to respond, and he said he’s not taking it lightly, but also doesn’t see it as something that’s looming.
“He spoke, so you have to listen,” Pereira told FULL SEND MMA. “But I think that’s far from happening, so it’s just talk for now.”
Pereira is coming off winning the UFC light heavyweight title in November, when he stopped Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He’s a former UFC middleweight champion, and he’ll be in attendance on Saturday in support of the defending champion.
“The relationship I have with him, it’s good,” Pereira said about Strickland. “He’s not a great friend because I don’t speak English. If I spoke English, maybe we’d speak more. We trained together after our fight. He’s a fun, cool guy, and I’m here supporting him for this fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
