Dricus du Plessis isn't so sure he'll be fighting at UFC 300.
The new UFC Middleweight Champion is making sure to weigh his options after defeating Sean Strickland by split decision at UFC 297.
When it comes to opponents, there's a few different routes du Plessis can take for his first title defense.
"If the UFC decides they wanna do Strickland 2, I'm completely happy with that," du Plessis told Jacaranda FM. "If the fans say, no, that's the fight they want, let's do it. I honestly think the second fight will be a lot easier than the first one."
"I would like to fight Israel Adesanya next," du Plessis says, if it were up to him. "Preferably on home soil... I think that's probably the next fight."
"Stillknocks" did call for Adesanya in his last post-fight interview, noting that UFC 300 could be where the title fight takes place. The pay-per-view event still needs a headliner for its Apr. 13 date.
The champion, who went through a five-round war with Strickland, tackles the reality of a quick three-month turnaround at UFC 300.
"I have no idea," du Plessis said of when his next fight will be. "We are still busy with some scans and seeing what we can do in terms of after the fight, some injuries.
"'Can we fight soon? Is that a possibility?' and all that. That'll be great but we have to be make sure that the longevity of my career is also taken into consideration. We've had a very active last year and a half. We rushed to get to this belt. We had to take every opportunity given to us. Right now, we need to be smart and defend this belt and when it suits us."
du Plessis doesn't entirely rule out the idea of fighting on UFC 300, but the chances of that happening aren't too great.
"Yeah. 100%," du Plessis said, if it's better to sit UFC 300 out. "I think UFC 300, obviously, gonna be a milestone event. I think it's gonna be great. Every time you have the UFC 100, UFC 200, and now 300, all are massive events in the UFC, always. The pay-per-views are insane. It's a massive hype and I would love to be part of that, but not if it's going to mean that I'm not gonna be fully recovered. Defending my title is much more important to me than being on this milestone event."
UFC 300 is being billed as the biggest card of the year, with two title fights and a slew of former champions fighting on the undercard. Despite its stack of barn-burners, du Plessis says a UFC event would be much more grand.
"Of course, the real milestone event will be UFC in Africa and more importantly South Africa," du Plessis added. "I can't even explain to you how long we are willing to wait to make that happen and defend my belt on home soil. That's history. I mean, UFC 300 is just a number, it's not as massive as UFC Africa."
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