Dricus Du Plessis: 'Aura Gone' from Potential Fight vs. Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira’s loss at UFC 313 seems to have limited his options in regards to fights at other weight classes.

Prior to facing Magomed Ankalaev on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there were rumblings about “Poatan” moving up to heavyweight for a potential matchup with Jon Jones, or moving down to middleweight for a clash against Dricus Du Plessis.

After the Brazilian relinquished his crown to Ankalaev in a unanimous decision loss, UFC CEO Dana White quickly shut down the possibility of a superfight against Jones. Meanwhile, Du Plessis, the UFC’s reigning 185-pound champion, also seems to have lost interest in a showdown with the Brazilian.

“Thanks Ankalaev, for taking the biggest payday of my life,” Du Plessis said on Jackson O’Doherty’s video blog. “It’s nothing personal.”

The sentiments were quite different following Du Plessis’ victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, when Pereira hinted at an eventual return to the middleweight division in the immediate aftermath. While Du Plessis was skeptical that “Poatan” could return to 185 pounds, he did express interest in a future light heavyweight bout against the former Glory Kickboxing champion.

“You don’t have to cut the weight so you have some sort of excuse,” Du Plessis said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference. “I’ll come up after the [Sean] Strickland fight. I’ll come up to 205 and we’ll sort it out there.”

While Du Plessis did defeat Strickland in their rematch at UFC 312Khamzat Chimaev will be the next obstacle for the South African champion. As for Pereira, he seems to be targeting a rematch with Ankalaev. Even if Pereira is able to even the score against Ankalaev, a fight against the Brazilian won’t have the same appeal for Du Plessis.

“No. Aura gone,” Du Plessis said.