Dricus du Plessis’ team turned down a UFC offer to enter a four-man light heavyweight tournament, according to head coach Morne Visser.
Visser told Fight Forecast the UFC asked about three weeks ago for du Plessis to move up to 205 pounds and join a pool with Jiri Prochazka, Magomed Ankalaev and Navajo Stirling. Per Visser, the four would fight on one night, the winners would meet, and the winner of that fight would get Carlos Ulberg in a Grand Prix-style route to the title.
Visser said no. Moving up is still the plan, he said, but it took a year to get du Plessis from welterweight to middleweight, and the team wants to make the jump to 205 gradually. The 185-pound belt comes first. “We want our middleweight belt back and we want to defend it once,” Visser said.
It fits what du Plessis has already laid out. MMA News reported earlier this week that he plans to reclaim middleweight gold before moving to light heavyweight, where he believes he can win a second UFC title. He lost the 185-pound belt to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in August 2025.
Where the 205-pound picture stands
The UFC has not publicly commented on the offer. Prochazka and Stirling are booked to headline UFC Qatar on November 21 in Doha. Ulberg won the vacant title with a first-round knockout of Prochazka at UFC 327 in April and is recovering from knee surgery.
Visser said du Plessis will return at middleweight in late February or March. He comes back to a division where Sean Strickland’s expected title rematch with Nassourdine Imavov looms over the picture.