If it were up to Eugene Bareman, Dricus Du Plessis needs to fight again before getting a shot at gold.
Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) cemented himself as No. 1 contender when he scored a TKO of former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July. However, the South African was unable to make a quick turnaround for UFC 293 on Sept. 9 in Sydney – the date middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is set to make his next title defense.
That opened the door for Sean Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC), who now will be challenging Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in the UFC 293 main event – and Bareman says Du Plessis may have lost his opportunity at a title shot.
“It is what it is,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “He didn’t want to push through his injury. It doesn’t matter to me. That’s something to do with him and his team, and he has to go back and fight someone else.”
The City Kickboxing head coach knows it’s not ultimately up to him, but explains the importance of timing in the sport.
“I don’t make that call,” Bareman said. “But the problem is, if you don’t step up and take fights, you go into the pool. That’s a fact. Nothing in this sport is solid until there’s something signed on the dotted line. If he’s got nothing signed on the dotted line, then he’s out there in the ether. He had a shot. He had a shot. It’s the same shot that many of my boys have had who have fought for titles or had titles. You never, never (know) – and we’ve fought with horrific injuries, because you don’t take that lightly. And the problem with them is they’ve had an injury. And yeah, it’s been a bad injury. So what? You’ve taken your shot for granted. You think you’re going to get it again.
“But you don’t know what this machine does. You don’t know the UFC. You don’t know what they do. You don’t know how they twist and turn things. Never feel comfortable with where you are. If there’s something in front of you that you’ve been working for your whole life, don’t think for a minute that it can’t just be taken away just like that. And he had it, and he let it slip. So, they can’t be sitting comfortable thinking that they’ve got the next shot (after Strickland), because they don’t – because I know this sport. The fact is, they don’t. But they did. They never took it. And now they should not be sitting comfortable thinking they’ve got the next shot, because in this sport, it’s just not true.”
UFC 293 takes place Sept. 9 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.