UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis told ESPN he is expecting to be ready to fight by mid-2024, and reiterated his desire to face Nigeria-born New Zealander Israel Adesanya in South Africa.
‘Stillknocks’ Du Plessis injured both legs in his January UFC 297 fight against Sean Strickland, which he won by split decision to claim the title, a first UFC Championship for a South African fighter.
“I’ll be ready for June (or) July – I guess even (in) May, I’ll be fit and ready to go. I just want to be able to have a proper camp… I would like to fight three times a year. That would be ideal, so June (or) July would be ideal,” Du Plessis told ESPN.
Although he has previously said on fellow UFC fighter Cameron Saaiman’s “MSP Show” that Adesanya cannot dictate his timeline to return to the Octagon, and thus put his title on the line, he still views the Lagos-born fighter as his dream opponent.
“Absolutely,” du Plessis told ESPN when asked if a title fight with Adesanya in Cape Town was his dream faceoff.
“Fighting Izzy on home soil would be the ideal. That would be ticking a lot of boxes. He’s one of the best to ever do it in the middleweight division.
“Of course, bringing the UFC to Africa would be awesome. That would be a victory in itself for MMA and for Africa. Of course, South Africa being my home country, it would be amazing to fight him on home soil.”
Although he praised Adesanya’s skill in the Octagon, du Plessis was less complimentary of his personality outside of it. The two have been feuding since Du Plessis claimed that he and Saaiman were trying to become the UFC’s true African champions, alluding to Adesanya growing up in New Zealand.
“Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, they came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa,” he said at a media day of titles won by Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman and Adesanya.
