“He Wants to Move Up”: Magomed Ankalaev Reveals Talks of Dricus Du Plessis Fight at Light Heavyweight

Magomed Ankalaev is eyeing a return to title contention. He lost his light heavyweight title to Alex Pereira in their 2025 rematch, suffering a first-round knockout.

Since then, Ankalaev has bounced back with a finish against Bogdan Guskov. Now, he has expressed interest in facing former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.

Magomed Ankalaev on Dricus Du Plessis Fight

After a dominant win over former champion Kamaru Usman in July, Du Plessis expressed interest in moving up from the 185-pound to 205-pound division for a second weight-class title. 

Ankalaev revealed there have been talks about this match-up in an interview with Bostanov MMA. “There’s some talk about Dricus du Plessis. He wants to move up, and it’s possible they’ll arrange a fight between us. That’s the information we have for now. It’s a good fight for me, and I’m interested in it myself,” Ankalaev said. 

While a potential matchup between Ankalaev and Du Plessis could be intriguing, the former middleweight champion has stated that his priority is to reclaim the middleweight title.

Du Plessis Wants to ‌Reclaim the 205-Pound Title

Dricus Du Plessis lost his middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev in August last year but has since bounced back with a win. Now, he wants to reclaim the belt before moving up to the light heavyweight division.

“I want to get my belt back and eventually go up to 205 and go test myself there. And I'm certain that I'll be a champion. I'm big enough for that division, and I'm certain I can be champion at that division as well,” Du Plessis said in a conversation with Sias du Plessis.

Given Du Plessis’ ambitions in the middleweight division, a fight against Ankalaev appears unlikely for now. However, Du Plessis has yet to respond to Ankalaev’s callout.