"My life ends on Saturday" - Dricus du Plessis gets candid about potentially fighting Khamzat Chimaev in future
UFC middleweight Dricus du Plessis recently weighed in on a potential fight against undefeated sensation Khamzat Chimaev in the future.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, du Plessis discussed his future plans and the prospect of defending his middleweight title against Chimaev if he wins the upcoming title clash against Sean Strickland.
Strickland will defend his title for the first time against du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297 this weekend.
Dricus du Plessis outlined his ultimate goal of being a two-division champion and speculated who he might have to defend a potential belt against.
"Yeah, I think you know, am I willing to say that I’m definitely defending against Khamzat? No. I saw a lot of reports saying that Izzy is there, we’ll see what he wants to do. To me, it honestly doesn’t really matter. I’m there to be the champion and do what I have to do as a champion, defend my belt. Obviously I want to go up, eventually in my career and go for a second belt."
However, the South African was very vocal about the UFC 297 headliner being his primary focus. He went to great lengths to explain the level of his focus, even reasoning that he had zero plans beyond the title fight.
"But right now, everything ends for me. It’s like I have a date with destiny next week Saturday. Nothing in my life goes past that. I don’t even know what I’m doing the next day, I don’t even think about anything that happens. No plans make any difference. There’s no plans for the rest of my life. My life ends on Saturday night. I’m either gonna be the champion of the world or I’m gonna die trying. And that is a fact.”
Dricus du Plessis discusses brawl with Sean Strickland, reveals if 'Tarzan' bit him
There is a lot of bad blood between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis.
The two brawled each other octagon-side at UFC 296 after tensions boiled over. Strickland launched himself at du Plessis, and only after a brief scuffle were the two separated by security.
'Stillknocks' commented on whether Strickland bit him during the brawl in the interview with Sportskeeda MMA, saying:
"I could feel something like that... I remember thinking, 'Did this guy try to bite me?' Because he was grabbing my head and pulling it down to the side, and I just shoved him to the floor, I guess that was the biting action. But no, I didn't have any marks. I think it was this [left] ear."
Check out Dricus du Plessis' comments below (4:40 & 9:35):