Dricus Du Plessis would be happy to step inside the Octagon with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira after taking care of a bit of business at middleweight.
Emanating from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Du Plessis will step into the main event spotlight at UFC 297 determined to cut short the reign of reigning middleweight king Sean Strickland. Hours ahead of their highly anticipated title tilt, Du Plessis and Strickland made an appearance at a pre-fight press event on Thursday. Also in attendance was 205-pound champ Alex Pereira.
With Pereira’s presence looming large at the media scrum, reporters were curious to know if either Strickland or Du Plessis would be interested in challenging ‘Poatan’ should they come out on top on January 20.
Strickland, who already carries a first-round knockout loss to Pereira on his resume, was unusually quiet, but ‘Stillknocks’ happily chimed in.
“100% [I would challenge Pereira],” Du Plessis declared. “100% – after this I have a whole division to take care of before I start thinking of that… Whether it’s him, whether it’s someone else I don’t care. After this division, that’s what I’m after.”
Dricus du Plessis addresses the possibility of fighting Alex Pereira, who's sitting in the front row
#UFC297 pic.twitter.com/jSeT5lyeNq
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 19, 2024
Strickland was quick to retort, “Alex, after I put him away you can put him away next. Don’t worry, we got you Dricus.”
As of this writing, Sean Strickland is listed as a slight favorite to retain his title at UFC 297, sitting at a -115 on DraftKings. Du Plessis is a -105 at the moment with the anticipated line movement expected to make the fight essentially a pick’em by the time they make their walks to the Octagon on Saturday night.