After much-needed cage time, Dricus Du Plessis wants Kelvin Gastelum fight rebooked

LAS VEGAS – After two reasonably quick outings in his first two UFC fights, Dricus Du Plessis is glad to have some serious cage time under his belt after UFC 276.

Du Plessis (17-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) went the distance with Brad Tavares (19-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) in their middleweight fight on the preliminary card. Tavares was a bloody mess after the fight, but it was a bout in which Du Plessis had to battle back to win the second and third rounds.

After first-round knockouts over Markus Perez and Trevin Giles in his first two UFC fights in 2020 and 2021, and nearly a year since the latter bout after several cancellations, the South African said he’s fine not getting a finish in this case.

“If a decision had to be like that, I’ll go to a decision every time,” Du Plessis said at his post-fight news conference at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “That is a hard-fought decision. That is a decision that the crowd loves. That is a decision that, it doesn’t matter if the fight was finished or not – people were entertained. I was entertained. I left everything in there.

“I want to find my feet in the octagon because my first fight (in the UFC) was, what, two and a half minutes? Then one round and two minutes. Now I have my octagon time. I assume what people thought after that first or second round: ‘This guy’s going to gas (out).’ I didn’t gas. I can do that. That’s the way I train, and that’s the way I fight. … This fight has to put the rest of the division on notice: If I don’t knock you out, if I don’t submit you, in the deep waters, at the end, I will still be there.”

Du Plessis was supposed to fight Andre Muniz this past December, but had to pull out with an injury. He was rebooked to fight Chris Curtis, but lost him, then lost Anthony Hernandez. When he stepped in to fight Kelvin Gastelum on short notice in early April, he was hoping for a showcase fight.

But Gastelum pulled out of that one, and Du Plessis sat on the shelf until Saturday. Now he’d like to get Gastelum booked again. But if that doesn’t happen, he said he’s prepared to fight anyone who will continue to put his name on the middleweight map.

“I’m not the matchmaker, but I think it makes sense (to fight Gastelum),” he said. “The fight was basically already made. I did him a solid, I did the UFC a solid to take that fight on very short notice. I was the only one that lost there – I gave up my opponent, he pulled out on fight week, and I was left without a fight. That’s in the past. I’ve got a massive performance now, I’ve got my new contract. I’m fighting the big dogs now. If they don’t want to make the Gastelum fight, give me someone else in the top 10. Whoever they want to give, I’m ready. I think tonight proved that.”

Check out Du Plessis’ full interview in the video above.