Dricus du Plessis has a two-step plan, and he’s talking about step two before step one is anywhere close to booked. He wants the UFC middleweight title back first. After that, he’s going to light heavyweight, and he isn’t hedging about how that ends.
“I’ll be a champion,” du Plessis said of a future run at 205 pounds, per Sportskeeda. The Times of India also reported that du Plessis is targeting a return to the top of the middleweight division before he makes the move up.
That order matters, because the 185-pound belt isn’t his right now. It belongs to Sean Strickland again, the same guy du Plessis beat by split decision at UFC 297 in Toronto in January 2024 to win the title the first time. That one was razor close, and it set a Canadian gate record for the UFC, according to Cageside Press.
Getting a crack at Strickland is a problem of its own. The champion has spent the past few weeks in a public pay dispute with the promotion and has threatened to sabotage his fights while he pushes for a better contract, Bloody Elbow reported. Dana White isn’t budging.
“There are absolutely no issues with his contract, he just signed his new contract in May,” White said at the UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference.
Strickland’s week in Edmonton didn’t calm anything down. He cornered Melissa Croden on the prelims, gave a speech at an Alberta Independence Rally and got slapped and chased by a homeless man while filming on the street. White’s reaction: “How the hell did you guys even let him in this country, I can’t even believe that.”
Meanwhile, the UFC had been lining up Strickland against Nassourdine Imavov, and that fight keeps sliding. Imavov reportedly tried to confront Strickland at the UFC Performance Institute about why he won’t sign. So the queue at 185 has a frustrated contender in it and a champion who won’t put pen to paper. Du Plessis needs both of those things sorted before his plan gets past step one.
His résumé at middleweight still carries weight. Along with the Strickland win, du Plessis is on the list of men who beat Israel Adesanya during a skid that’s now four fights long. Adesanya next faces Shara Magomedov in a Fight Night headliner in Saudi Arabia, Ariel Helwani confirmed on his show.
The UFC also just announced UFC 336 for Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on January 30, 2027, the promotion’s first trip back to the city since du Plessis took the belt there. No bouts are official. The early rumor, via reporter Alvaro Colmenero, is Islam Makhachev defending the welterweight title against Carlos Prates.
I’ll take a fighter who says flat out he’s going to win two belts over one who says he’s taking it one fight at a time. Du Plessis gets credit for answering straight. But 205 is a long way off when the man holding his old belt is busy giving rally speeches instead of signing for Imavov. Until Strickland signs something, nobody at 185 is fighting for a title, du Plessis included.
