Since then, “DDP” has remained relatively quiet about his next move.
As it turns out, the promotion had something much bigger in mind.
Du Plessis head coach, Morne Visserrecently revealed that the UFC was trying to hold a four-man lightweight tournament to decide the champion Carlos Ulberg’s the next challenger. The promotion wanted to include DDP, but Visser rejected the offer.
“The UFC wanted him to move up to light heavyweight, but that’s not happening,” Visser said Fight forecast. “He’s not quite a 205er. They asked me three weeks ago. They asked for Dricus to move up and us to join four fighters — Jiri, Dricus, Ankalaev and (Stirling).
“They wanted four guys to go into the pool, fight one night, then the winners fight each other, and then the winner fights Ulberg,” Visser continued. “A bit of a Grand Prix.”
Unfortunately, Visser believes that Du Plessis needs a lot more time to properly prepare his body for the move.
“I said no because it’s very easy to go up to 205, but it took me a year to get Dricus from welterweight to welterweight,” Visser said. “Putting on weight means absolutely nothing. Anyone can put on weight – just eat. We’ve got to get stronger. So we’re going to do it gradually because we’re going up to 205. That’s 100 percent the plan. But we want to get our belt back and defend it once. I made that clear to the UFC.”
A lightweight grand prix featuring three former UFC champions?
We really can’t have anything nice.
Still, with Du Plessis staying at middleweight for now, there are several options available.
Visser also revealed that Du Plessis is ready to return after his honeymoon and is targeting a return from early 2027, likely in late February or March.
A move to lightweight is probably inevitable.
The UFC’s intriguing Grand Prix idea just arrived too soon.
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