Skip to main content

UFC's Dricus Du Plessis: 'I'm not going to beg for any title shot'

Dricus Du Plessis knows the fight game isn’t fair.

Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) finished Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July to remain unbeaten in the octagon. Immediately afterward, he faced off with then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the cage, but a broken foot prevented him from a quick turnaround two months later at UFC 293, and the title shot was awarded to Sean Strickland instead.

Strickland dethroned Adesanya to become champion, but it appears Du Plessis isn’t his next fight. Prior to Kamaru Usman stepping in on short notice to face Khamzat Chimaev this past Saturday at UFC 294, Dana White dubbed it as a No. 1 contender fight. Chimaev won the bout, and White reiterated that he’s next.

So where does that leave Du Plessis? The South African fighter won’t let being passed up deter him.

“When you look at this, I have one of two options,” Du Plessis said in an interview with Fox West Texas. “The first thing I can say is a little bit of a jab is Khamzat’s hand is broken, right? So he should be ready to fight in seven weeks or he forfeits his title shot because that’s what happened to me. I wasn’t ready to fight in seven weeks with a broken foot.”

Although he thinks he deserves the title shot, Du Plessis understands the UFC is a business and that its decisions are out of his control.

“It took me maybe a week or so to almost stop feeling sorry for myself like this is unfair,” Du Plessis said. “Life’s not fair, and the fight game is definitely not fair. I just said what I’ll do now is I’ll run over the whole division, I’ll run over the top five of this division, which will only make my move to light heavyweight quicker and easier. … Right now I’m not going to beg for any title shot. I’ve never begged for anything, I’ve fought for it.”

Du Plessis was not impressed with Chimaev’s win over Usman. Although Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) had a strong 10-8 round to start, Du Plessis thinks he lost his aura of invincibility and said he’s definitely not “The Boogeyman.”

“If you want to give Khamzat the title shot, go right ahead,” Du Plessis continued. “Because Khamzat that fought this weekend loses to Sean Strickland every day of the week.”



from MMA Junkie https://ift.tt/DLN7di4
via IFTTT
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

'Salsa Boy': The hilarious story behind UFC heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta's nickname

Waldo Cortes-Acosta ’s “Salsa Boy” nickname was not self-appointed – like every proper nickname should be. His curious fight nickname was earned and given by his teammates after a spicy story behind his cooking, not his dancing. Cortes-Acosta (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who fights in the UFC’s heavyweight division, hosted a party years ago at which he invited his friends and teammates from Ultimate Kombat Training Center in Arizona. “I dance well, yeah – but the nickname actually came from salsa I made for a party,” Cortes-Acosta told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “There were guys from Nicaragua, Mexico, Brazil, Colombians – all over the place.” Training with many Hispanic people, especially those from Central America, Cortes-Acosta knew he had to show out with the salsa given the high standards and high tolerance for spicy food at the party – and he might’ve gotten a bit overboard. “A friend of mine, who we call ‘El Chimmy,’ and he already fought in the UFC, tried the sauce, and before he was ...
Read more

Max Holloway recalls near-nudity 'towelgate incident' with Justin Gaethje: 'I guess that's the whole beef'

One of the most exciting fights on the  UFC 300 lineup is the BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje, and it’s one that doesn’t have any bad blood boiling over. Or has Holloway been holding onto a grudge since 2017? At the UFC 218 official weigh-ins, Gaethje nearly exposed Holloway’s genitals to the world after volunteering to hold the towel for the former champion who needed to strip down to make championship weight for his fight against Jose Aldo. Gaethje raised the towel in front of the scale, making it impossible to see the weight. The commissioner told Gaethje the towel needed to be placed between the scale and Holloway. An executive decision was made by Gaethje to save time. Rather than have Holloway put his clothes back on, move the towel, and get undressed again, Gaethje saw a quicker solution – and one that likely played into his favor as he was weighing in right after Holloway. “He even told me, he was like, ‘Brother, it just looked like you want...
Read more

Paul Felder: The fight itch is strong, thanks to UFC 300 and Jim Miller

LAS VEGAS – Paul Felder gave an inch to the idea of another UFC fight – and the universe is taking a mile. When Felder (17-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) reentered the promotion’s anti-doping test pool , Jim Miller (37-17 MMA, 26-16 UFC) was on his mind. After Miller’s submission win and post-fight callout Saturday at UFC Fight Night 234 , Felder has all but committed to fighting once more, at UFC 300 . “When I saw ‘Korean Zombie’ (Chan Sung Jung) have that walkout and I got inspired to potentially get back into the pool and do all this sort of stuff, anybody who knows me or talked to me, you knew Jim was the name,” Felder told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a news conference Saturday. “I was like, ‘If I’m going to do it, I want it to be against a guy like Jim, somebody around my age, who’s been in the game for a long time.’ I’m not trying to come back and make a run for the belt or anything like that.” Felder did not utter the words “I’m coming back” when he spoke Saturday at the UFC Apex,...
Read more