Dricus du Plessis thinks fellow UFC champion Tom Aspinall is the longer term.
Aspinall formally grew to become the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight titleholder following the retirement of Jon Jones, having held an interim title since 2023. With Jones, the earlier undisputed champion out of the image, du Plessis expects Aspinall to have a prolonged run on the high.
“The primary time you noticed Tom Aspinall battle, you knew there was one thing particular,” du Plessis informed Betway South Africa. “He’s virtually the subsequent era of heavyweight, for my part, the place he strikes like a middleweight. He’s mild on his toes. He can grapple, he can strike, he can wrestle, so I’m actually pleased for him. I believe he’s going to be an awesome champion and I believe he’s going to be a champion for a very long time.
“I don’t suppose there’s lots of heavyweights on his degree proper now.”
Du Plessis and Aspinall each broke onto the UFC scene across the similar time, with du Plessis’ debut going down on a UFC Battle Island card in October 2020, a date that marked Aspinall’s second octagon look. Quick ahead to now and du Plessis is weeks away from his third middleweight title protection in opposition to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, whereas Aspinall defends his title in opposition to Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.
Although Aspinall was unable to safe a unification bout with Jones (who defeated Gane at UFC 285 to say a belt vacated by Francis Ngannou), his heavyweight résumé is undeniably spectacular: Eight wins and only one loss, the latter of which got here resulting from a freak knee harm in 15 seconds in opposition to Curtis Blaydes and that Aspinall avenged in July 2024.
Amazingly, additionally featured on that fateful Battle Island lineup was the debut of future light-weight and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. “El Matador” lately claimed a vacant 155-pound title with a spectacular knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 and du Plessis thinks he’s already completed sufficient to be immortalized within the UFC Corridor of Fame.
“He was actually in my altering room,” du Plessis mentioned of Topuria. “We have been on the identical trajectory, profitable our titles one month aside. I’m tremendous pleased for him. I believe he’s a type of particular characters who’s going to be a Corridor of Famer, little doubt.
“Unbeaten. He’s the primary unbeaten man to have two titles. I’m tremendous pleased for him and I charge him very extremely as an all-around fighter, and clearly his placing, energy, in knocking out three legends. I believe he’s unimaginable and, for my part, the most effective, if not the perfect within the UFC proper now.”
