When Alex Pereira lost the UFC light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev, the dollar signs in Dricus Du Plessis’ eyes went along with it.
UFC middleweight champion Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and the now former 205-pound champ Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) had been circling each other about the idea of potential clash inside the octagon. They’d made callouts and inserted each other into storylines that was all building toward a potential future fight.
Du Plessis thinks it was all derailed at UFC 313 when Ankalaev took Pereira’s belt by unanimous decision in a relatively lackluster affair.
“Thanks, Ankalaev, for taking the biggest payday of my life,” Du Plessis said on Jackson O’Doherty’s video blog series on YouTube. “It’s nothing personal.”
Du Plessis proposed the idea that all could not be lost for Pereira. It’s expected that “Poatan” will get an immediate rematch with Ankalaev next, and if he recaptures the belt, especially in highlight-reel fashion, it could swing all the momentum back in his favor.
That concept doesn’t intrigue Du Plessis, however. He said the buzz Pereira had behind him won’t be recaptured even if he gets the belt back.
“No (I’m not interested),” Du Plessis said. “Aura gone.”
Du Plessis is expected to next defend his 185-pound belt against undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev, though the matchup has not been announced as finalized with a date and location.
