“I think UFC 300 will be a milestone event and it would be great to be a part of it,” MMAFighting quoted the South African as saying. “Anniversary tournaments like UFC 100, UFC 200 and now UFC 300 are always big events with big pay-per-view sales, it’s a huge hype and I would love to be a part of it, but not this time. If I’m going to be involved, it means I won’t go into the fight fully healthy, and defending my title is more important to me than being part of this milestone event”
According to Du Plessis, he expects to return to the octagon at the UFC’s first African event, which is rumored to take place before the end of this year in South Africa.
“The real milestone for me will be the debut UFC tournament in Africa, and more importantly, in South Africa. I can’t even explain how long I’ve been waiting for this and how much I want to defend the belt on my home soil. That’s the story. UFC 300 is just a number. It’s not as big as a UFC tournament in Africa.”
As for an opponent, the South African is ready to fight both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
“I prefer to fight Israel Adesanya and I think he will be next, but if the UFC decides it should be Sean Strickland, I won’t mind. I’m not going to pick my easy fights and I’ll come out against anyone the UFC puts up against me.”