Dricus du Plessis is preparing to launch his comeback tour.
The former UFC middleweight champion is hoping to land a spot in the upcoming UFC 327 lineup on April 11 at Kaseya Center in Miami. It would mark the first appearance for “Stillknocks” since coughing up his crown by way of unanimous blanket at UFC 319 last summer in Chicago.
His first choice would be a five-round rematch against Khamzat Chimaev.
“We need to fix some things, obviously, and I spent time now doing that,” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast. “But like I said, I’ll be ready for April. I would love to be on that April card, the Miami card. There’s no opponent yet, but I’m ready to go again and get my belt back. I’d of course love it to be Khamzat and redeem that loss but for me right now, the next fight is the most important fight of my life.”
Returning in April would both meet and exceed this 16-week deadline.
“Fighting Khamzat again is of course what I’m after, am I expecting any surprises, no,” Du Plessis added. “There’s not going to be any surprises, that’s the way he’s gonna fight and if he tries anything different it will be a terrible night (for him). He did what he had to do to win the belt, and we can’t hate on him for that. Now it’s my responsibility to go and fix that, to stop him from doing that again and getting him to fight my fight.”
Du Plessis will have to hope the promotion doesn’t want Khamzat for UFC White House.
UFC 327 does not yet have a main event, though several bouts have already been announced. That includes the light heavyweight showdown between Dominick Reyes and Johnny Walker, as well as the 205-pound matchup pitting Paulo Costa against Azamat Murzakanov.
With UFC 327 less than two months away, you can expect a decision on this sooner, rather than later.
