Magomed Ankalaev says somebody is already talking about putting him in a cage with Dricus du Plessis at light heavyweight, and he’s not playing hard to get.
The top 205-pound contender told Bostanov MMA that the South African wants to move up and that a fight between them could get made. The clip was picked up and posted by Championship Rounds on X.
“There’s some talk about Dricus du Plessis. He wants to move up, and it’s possible they’ll arrange a fight between us. That’s the information we have for now,” Ankalaev said. “It’s a good fight for me, and I’m interested in it myself.”
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That’s the whole update. No contract, no date, no card. Ankalaev himself framed it as talk, so treat it that way until the UFC says otherwise.
Where du Plessis actually is
Du Plessis isn’t the middleweight champion right now. He took the belt off Sean Strickland by split decision in Toronto in January 2024, defended it twice, then lost it to Khamzat Chimaev in what MMA Mania described as a one-sided grappling fight. He came back on July 18, 2026 in Oklahoma City and beat Kamaru Usman.
The timing of Ankalaev’s comments is interesting, because du Plessis was asked about his plans in an interview with Sias du Plessis (no relation) that MMA Mania published the same day. His stated order of business was middleweight first.
“Getting my belt back,” he said. “I mean, that’s for me. That’s the biggest thing. I wanna get my belt back, and eventually go up to 205 and go test myself there. And I’m certain that I’ll be a champion.”
He also gave a number that explains why 205 keeps coming up. “In pounds, it’s 45 pounds that I’m cutting,” du Plessis said, adding that it’s sometimes more from his walking-around weight. He said his team has the cut “down to a science” but admitted it isn’t good for him.
He also said he picked up some small injuries in the Usman fight and is ready to go now.
So the two versions don’t match perfectly. Du Plessis says belt first, then 205 eventually. Ankalaev is hearing that eventually might come sooner.
The Ankalaev angle
Ankalaev has never been the guy the UFC was dying to promote. Yahoo Sports noted last week that the promotion gave him a title chance because he simply wouldn’t be denied, and joked that he’d be ideal if the UFC were in the business of selling potatoes. A fight with du Plessis, who talks, sells and brawls, fixes that problem for him in one booking.
For du Plessis, it fits his own pitch. “Take the tough fights that nobody wants, and I’ve been willing to do that,” he said.
My take: I’d buy this fight tomorrow. Du Plessis has never once looked like a man who wants the easy route, and a guy draining 45 pounds to make 185 has been telling us where he belongs for years. The middleweight top end is a traffic jam, and waiting in line behind it while Ankalaev is openly asking for him seems like a worse use of 2027. If the UFC wants a big swing for a numbered card, Ankalaev just told them he’s available and interested.
