Dricus Du Plessis Eyes 'Poatan' Fight Down the Road, Admits Khamzat Chimaev is 'Next'

In the moments after closing the book on his rivalry with Sean Strickland for good, Dricus Du Plessis grabbed the microphone and stared across the Octagon.

“Is there no one else?” he yelled. “Is there no one else?”

The message was clear: The reigning middleweight champion hadn’t forgotten about Alex Pereira’s callout following his victory over Israel Adesanya last year. Since Pereira was in Strickland’s corner in the UFC 312 main event in Sydney on Saturday night, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Despite that intriguing bit of theater, Du Plessis realizes there’s a natural order to things, and that means clearing out the remaining challenges in his own division. That includes a future showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, who is the No. 1 contender in waiting following his brutal submission of Robert Whittaker this past August. Pereira, meanwhile, has business of his own to attend to — a UFC 313 title defense against Magomed Ankalaev.

“I have the world of respect for Alex Pereira. I think he’s the world’s pound-for-pound best,” Du Plessis said at the UFC 312 post-fight press conference. “I have the most respect for what he’s done in such a short period of time in the UFC, to come from another sport and what he’s done there.

“So yes, I want to share the Octagon with that man. I want to beat that guy. I’ve beaten Adesanya, who’s beaten him. I know I can beat him at 205 [pounds], 100 percent. But Khamzat is next. Khamzat is next.”

Chimaev seemed to be unimpressed with Du Plessis’ unanimous decision triumph over Strickland at UFC 312, though it was a much more convincing performance than the South African’s first victory over his rival more than a year ago.

“Biggest bulls—t is this fight,” Chimaev wrote on X.

Biggest bullshit is this fight 🥱🥱🥱

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) February 9, 2025

Du Plessis’ current UFC winning streak sits at nine — tied for third most in middleweight history. Creating a legacy in his own division matters to “Stillknocks,” but he also wants to pursue challenges — like Pereira — outside of his weight class.

“Khamzat’s first,” Du Plessis said. “I said [to Pereira], ‘Please beat Ankalaev.’ No hate against Ankalaev; I just want to beat Alex Pereira. It’s nothing personal against Ankalaev, it’s just Pereira. He’s such a legend in this sport to me already that it would be amazing to beat him for my legacy. I want to be the greatest to ever do this. But Khamzat is next. Khamzat is next. I want to make sure that this belt, the middleweight title, that there’s no question that I’m the GOAT of the middleweight division.

“I know you have Anderson Silva—in my mind, he is the GOAT of this division—and you have Adesanya, who has done incredible things, but it’s not about how many times you defend. It’s about who you fight, how you defend it, and how you’ve done it, what period of time you’ve done it, who you’ve fought, and making sure that there’s no question that I am the best middleweight, and then going up. So I’m not rushing that my next fight is Alex Pereira. No, no, no. I want Khamzat next. I think he deserves a hiding.”