Dricus du Plessis reacts to losing 'biggest payday' of his life at UFC 313
03/18/2025 02:55 PM
UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis suffered a loss when Alex Pereira dropped the light heavyweight belt to Magomed Ankalaev.
Alex Pereira‘s history-making light heavyweight title reign ended abruptly at UFC 313 earlier this month in Las Vegas. He suffered his first light heavyweight loss of his MMA career to Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 main event by unanimous decision.
After Dricus du Plessis called out Pereira following his most recent middleweight title defense at UFC 312, Pereira and du Plessis seemed on a collision course for a potential superfight. But after UFC 313, and ahead of a likely rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev, du Plessis’s callout target is off the shelf.
Du Plessis wasn’t happy with Pereira’s performance at UFC 313, for selfish reasons, as he saw the light heavyweight division change thrones.
Dricus du Plessis’s Alex Pereira callout thwarted after UFC 313
During a recent vlog with musician Jackson O’Doherty, du Plessis reacted to Pereira’s loss at UFC 313.
“And he wants to go down to middleweight?” du Plessis said. “Thanks Ankalaev for taking the biggest payday of my life. Nothing personal…[Pereira’s] aura? Gone.”
After du Plessis defeated Pereira’s two-time UFC rival Israel Adesanya last year, Pereira teased a return to middleweight for a clash with du Plessis. Pereira began his UFC tenure at middleweight, winning the belt over Adesanya and earning a brutal knockout over Sean Strickland.
du Plessis, unbeaten in his UFC tenure, is likely set for a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev for his next title defense. After Pereira’s loss at UFC 313, du Plessis will return his attention to the middleweight division’s top contenders, such as Chimaev and Caio Borralho.
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Alex Pereira accused of cheating in UFC 313 loss to Magomed Ankalaev
To make matters worse for Pereira, Ankalaev’s team accused him of using an ‘ointment’ to make it harder to grapple him at UFC 313. As of this writing, Pereira hasn’t addressed the accusations and is focused on recovering from the loss and preparing for a likely runback with Ankalaev.
Several top-name fighters have been accused of greasing during their careers, including UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre. Ankalaev’s coach pointed the blame at Glover Teixeira, accusing Teixeira of having a history of attempting to gain an unfair advantage.
While Pereira vs. Ankalaev was a close contest, some believe Pereira deserved the nod on the judges’ scorecards. But fighters such as Tom Aspinall believe Ankalaev won the fight fairly convincingly to win the light heavyweight championship.
Despite temporarily losing out on the Pereira fight, du Plessis might have another superfight on his hands if he’s able to get past Chimaev. UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has teased a move up to middleweight to fight the du Plessis vs. Chimaev winner.
In the meantime, du Plessis vs. Pereira will have to wait to potentially come to fruition and both sides are focused on other rivals for their next fights.
