Dricus du Plessis saw what could have been one of the biggest fights of his career slip from his grasp last weekend.
In the main event of UFC 313, Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira to claim the light heavyweight title and potentially spoil Pereira’s plans to chase champions in other divisions. One of those champions was du Plessis, who previously welcomed Pereira to drop back down to 185 pounds to face him.
Pereira won the UFC middleweight title from Israel Adesanya in 2022 before dropping it back to Adesanya in an immediate rematch and then moving up to light heavyweight. He has frequently spoken about the possibility of trying his hand at heavyweight or going back to middleweight, but du Plessis thinks his loss limits his options and takes their fight off the table.
“Thanks, Ankalaev, for taking the biggest payday of my life,” du Plessis said on a YouTube vlog. “It’s nothing personal. Aura gone.”
Du Plessis’ commentary came immediately after the conclusion of UFC 313 and he was highly critical of Pereira’s performance. The South African star has previously said that he has the formula to not only foil Pereira’s vaunted striking, but that he sees himself knocking out Pereira if they ever fight.
Though Ankalaev didn’t finish Pereira, he did enough to earn a win on the scorecards, and du Plessis thinks Ankalaev utilized the exact strategy needed to defuse “Poatan.”
“Listen, look at what I said in the beginning,” du Plessis said watching the fight live. “If you don’t fight Pereira, he can’t fight. Look at this, he’s waiting for something. He’s going to counter punch him. So people pay money for this b****.”
