Chasing Double Champ Status: Can Alex Pereira Defeat Dricus Du Plessis?
The biggest question on many MMA fans’ minds, is how does Dricus Du Plessis keep winning fights over some of the best in the world? Dricus beat former middleweight Champion Sean Strickland by a very narrow split decision. When Dricus won the UFC middleweight Championship at UFC 297, many fans weren’t ready to give Du Plessis the respect as champion. Seven months after becoming the UFC middleweight Champion, Du Plessis had the chance to silence the doubters and defend his title against arguably the UFC’s middleweight goat “The Style Bender” Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. During the fourth round of the fight, Dricus was able to stun Adesanya with big right hooks, take Adesanya down, and become the only person to submit Israel Adesanya. Right after Dricus retained his title, the Light Heavyweight Champion Alex “Poatan” Pereira posted on X “Coming down to 185 one more time.” The question is can Alex Pereira defeat Dricus Du Plessis?
The South African Dricus Du Plessis joined the UFC in 2020, beating his first opponent Markus Perez by KO. Before joining the UFC, Dricus had a record of 14-2, both of Dricus’ losses came from finishes. Dricus' style is unorthodox, yet not in a way that someone would think, Dricus’ techniques would be frowned upon at most MMA gyms, however, his techniques work. Dricus also seems to get fatigued early in his fights, somehow through the fatigue, Dricus still remains powerful, remains able to get takedowns, and is able to take big shots without getting hurt.
Alex Pereira’s nickname “Poatan” translates to “stone hands,” and Pereira’s signature left hook proves that “Poatan” is the perfect nickname for him. In most cases, if Alex Pereira lands a flush left hook, it’s a fight-ending sequence and he has Sean Strickland, Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Israel Adesanya to prove that. Alex Pereira is the former Two Division Champion in Glory Kickboxing, he had his last kickboxing match in September 2021 and by November 2021 he won his UFC debut by KO. Just a year after making his UFC debut, Alex touched UFC gold with a TKO win over Israel Adesanya. In their rematch, Israel knocked out Pereira, Pereira wasted no time he moved up to the light heavyweight division and defeated the then-champion, Jiri Prochazka. Since becoming the Light Heavyweight Champion, “Poatan” has been on an active tear. Since becoming the Light Heavyweight Champion in November 2023, Pereira has defended his title two times and is scheduled to defend his title again at UFC 307 against Khalil Rountree.
A clash between Alex Pereira and Dricus Du Plessis is on the radar, Alex may think that he could defeat Dricus easily, however, former middleweight Champion Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker thinks differently. Whittaker told Submission Radio “I don’t think that’s a good fight for him. But also like, when you move up to light heavyweight, moving back down is tricky.” Whittaker thinks that Pereira wouldn’t be able to take Du Plessis’ power at middleweight and he also doesn’t feel like Alex’s power at middleweight would be enough to defeat Dricus.
Dricus has also shown interest in going up to the light heavyweight division, to challenge Alex Pereira for his title. This isn’t the first time champ vs. champ super fights have happened, in fact, UFC has four champions that have been able to hold the double champ status starting with UFC’s very first double champ, Conor McGregor. McGregor paved the way for many champions to have that glimmer of hope to become double champ, although out of the five other champions that looked for double champ status, only three were able to do so. That included Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo.
A fight between Alex Pereira and Dricus Du Plessis isn’t likely until next year, even though Dricus’ former opponent Robert Whittaker feels that Dricus would win, there’s always a possibility of a knockout. I successfully picked Dricus to beat Adesanya last month and in a match-up between Pereira and Du Plessis, I feel if the fight was at middleweight I wouldn’t bet against Dricus, however, Dricus moving up to light heavyweight, it’ll be difficult to pick a winner there. Of course, we’ll have to wait until Dricus and Alex defend their titles again. Either way as a fan and a writer, I’m intrigued to see how this possible trilogy will end and if Alex or Dricus can be the next double champ.
