Dricus Du Plessis Tells Alex Pereira to Stay at 205, Aiming for Two-Division Gold
Dricus Du Plessis successfully defended his middleweight title at UFC 305 and was called out by the UFC’s light heavyweight champion just moments later.
The war between Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya was very competitive. Du Plessis struggled to take down ‘The Last Stylebender’ and even took some brutal shots in round three. However, ultimately, the tides of war would change, and Du Plessis wobbled Adesanya in round four on his way to a submission victory.
After the fight, Alex Pereira posted a picture of himself sitting next to his TV that showed a victorious DDP raising his arms, with the middleweight title wrapped around his waist. “Coming down to 185 one more time,” read Pereira’s caption.
Dricus Du Plessis scoffs at Alex Pereira’s callout
“I honestly don’t think Alex Pereira should drop down to 185,” Du Plessis said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference (H/T MMA Fighting). “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.
“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 the excuses, ‘Oh, I cut too much weight.’ That’s going to happen. Everybody’s going to say it.”
“Stay at 205, fight your fight against the No. 8 ranked guy,” Dricus Du Plessis said, speaking on Pereira’s upcoming fight against Rountree. “Fight your fight there and enjoy it. If Strickland is the next fight, the people want to see that fight — if that’s the fight that people want to see and that’s the fight right now people think is the next best guy, then it’s the fight that I want. So let me handle my business, you handle your business.”
