UFC champ Dricus du Plessis details ideal plan before desired move up

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is eyeing double champ status but not before he completes his business at 185 kilos.

Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) is currently linked to a title defense against Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC), potentially on Aug. 17 at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.

A pivotal middleweight clash between Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Robert Whittaker takes place within the UFC on ABC 6 headliner June 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If Chimaev emerges victorious, Du Plessis hopes to face him if he’s successful vs. Adesanya.

For Du Plessis, adding wins over Adesanya and Chimaev to his resume makes him worthy of a shot at light heavyweight gold.

“I imagine beating Adesanya – if Khamzat beats Whittaker, beating Khamzat, that earns you a spot at light heavyweight,” Du Plessis said on “The Sias du Plessis Show.” “Because then for those who have a look at the greats, the boogeyman everybody appears to be terrified of in Khamzat, I might love that fight. Fighting Izzy (Adesanya), beating Izzy, among the finest middleweights to ever do it, and beating Robert Whittaker, one in all the opposite best middleweights, that earns you that spot.

“But like I said, I actually have no problems defending my belt a number of times before that. For now, my focus is one hundred pc on that middleweight division and my next fight, which in all likelihood might be Israel Adesanya, and that’s where all my focus is. Obviously that’s within the trajectory for me, but not one of the other plans can come together without this.”

Prior to the UFC, Du Plessis was a former double champion at EFC, capturing each their welterweight and middleweight titles.