Dricus Du Plessis has said he is targeting an April return to the Octagon, as he seeks to get back to the UFC middleweight title.
Du Plessis, the only South African champion in UFC history, has not fought since dropping the belt to Khamzat Chimaev in August, when the Russian dominated “DDP” for a decision win.
Chimaev has also not competed since, and, while it would represent an unlikely move by the UFC, Du Plessis is craving an immediate rematch with the incumbent champion.
“Absolutely [hungry to get the title back],” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast on Wednesday. “For me, we needed to fix some things, obviously, and I’ve spent some time now doing that.
“And like I said, I’ll be ready for April. I would love to be on that April card, that Miami card. There’s no opponent yet, there’s no contract yet. We don’t have any of that, [but] whoever, let’s go.
“I’m ready to go again and get back to my belt as soon as possible. It don’t really matter who it is. I’d of course love for it to be Khamzat, and [to] redeem that loss.
“But for me right now, the next fight is the most-important fight of my life, and I will win that fight – and I will get my belt back.”
Du Plessis, 32, was on an extremely-impressive run prior to his fight with Chimaev, 31, so much so that many fans and pundits even favoured him to overcome the unbeaten Russian.
Du Plessis had stopped former champion Robert Whittaker in 2023 to earn a title shot, which came against Sean Strickland in early 2024. DDP outpointed the American to win the belt, submitted ex-champion Israel Adesanya to retain it, then beat Strickland via decision again in early 2025.
Dricus Du Plessis says the next fight is the most important battle of his life
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 12, 2026
“I’ll be ready for April. There’s no opponent yet, there’s no contract yet, but I’m ready to go again and get back to my belt as soon as possible. It doesn’t really matter who it is, but of course I’d… pic.twitter.com/D5oUz3AeR8
Those victories extended his win streak to 11, dating back to 2018, before he succumbed to the relentless wrestling of Chimaev.
Nassourdine Imavov is expected to be Chimaev’s first challenger as champion, while a rematch between the Russian and Du Plessis appears to be some way off at this time.
However, if Chimaev is allowed to move up to light-heavyweight next – as he desires – that could open the door to a vacant middleweight-title fight.
