Dricus Du Plessis turned down a title shot with then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya due to the turnaround being too tight, so the UFC went with Sean Strickland instead.  And Strickland capitalized on that opportunity by walking the champion down for five rounds and winning a unanimous decision victory to become the new champion.  Now Du Plessis has his sights set on Strickland and the UFC title.  “Myself and [Strickland] had the biggest upsets of 2023 and I am undoubtedly the No. 1 contender, so let’s settle this like men whenever, wherever,” Du Plessis wrote on Instagram. “After that, I’ll give [Adesanya] his well-deserved hiding on my home soil South Africa.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dricus du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) Du Plessis is the most likely next fight for Strickland, outside of a rematch with Adesanya which no one but Adesanya and UFC president Dana White want.  If it should come to be that Du Plessis and Adesanya fight, he has a word of warning for him.  “[I] don’t want to beat the amateur that fought on Saturday night,” Du Plessis wrote. “I want to beat the best [Adesanya] so take some time and get your s*** together,” he wrote.  Alex Pereira is against Israel Adesanya getting immediate rematch with Sean Strickland  If anyone knows what it’s like to beat Adesanya it’s former middleweight champion Alex Pereira, he’s done it three times before. But when Adesanya was granted an immediate rematch against Pereira, he finally lost.  Perhaps that has something to do with Pereira rooting against an immediate rematch for Strickland.  “Personally, I don’t agree,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel