Brendan Allen is calling for a bout with Dricus Du Plessis but he seemed to be waiting for a title shot.
The UFC middleweight division is among the most stacked in the organization. Right now there is a title fight at 185 pounds on the horizon, but the rest of the division is moving around. Champion Alex Pereira will be taking on former champ Israel Adesanya in April in a much-anticipated rematch. Waiting in the wings is rising star Dricus Du Plessis. He was mentioned wanting a crack at the winner, but in the meantime is being called out by another ranked fighter.
Brendan Allen is fresh off his big win over André Muniz in February at the UFC Fight Night that he headlined. Right away he began looking for his next bout and is targeting Du Plessis. Allen called for this matchup and has been following up on social media. Now Allen is stating that Du Plessis is refusing to fight him due to their relative rankings.
I just want you to publicly deny a fight with me and use the number as ur excuse, so everyone else can know you just dont wana take an L because you and i both know thats the truth👀🤷🏼♂️ we both know if ur willing to fight anyone it will be you and i main event @dricusduplessis
— Brendan Allen (@BrendanAllenMMA) March 9, 2023
“I just want you to publicly deny a fight with me and use the number as ur excuse, so everyone else can know you just don’t wanna take an L because you and I both know that’s the truth👀🤷🏼♂️” he wrote. “We both know if ur willing to fight anyone it will be you and I main event
@dricusduplessis.”
Du Plessis is currently ranked number six while Allen is sitting in the number 12 spot.
Dricus Du Plessis would be willing to fight the champion in his next outing
While Allen is calling his name, Du Plessis is calling for a bigger opportunity. He believes he might be next in line for the title. He spoke to Ariel Helwani about his chances of receiving a title shot next.
“It’s gonna be an interesting fight. I’m really looking forward to seeing who wins that fight but I’m more than happy whoever wins the fight to step in there and face them,” he said. “The Alex Pereira fight is something that gets me very, very excited. But obviously fighting a name like Israel is one of the best middleweights to ever do it up until now, would also be great. So, either for me, it makes literally no difference which one wins and which one I get to fight.”
Du Plessis came to the UFC just two and a half years ago and has been burning up the rankings. He has five wins in the UFC and four of them came by stoppage. His last victory was this past weekend over Derek Brunson at UFC 285. He believes that win puts him ahead of the pack in terms of title shot probability.
