Du Plessis open to Soldic trilogy after Croatian's winning UFC debut

Former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has opened the door to a third fight with Roberto Soldic, saying a rubber match at middleweight “would be amazing” following the Croatian’s successful Octagon debut at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City on 3 October.

Soldic, competing at welterweight, defeated Kalinn Williams by unanimous decision to begin his UFC career on a winning note. That result renewed talk of a potential trilogy with du Plessis, with whom he shares a 1-1 record from two memorable KSW bouts in 2018.

In their first meeting, du Plessis claimed the KSW welterweight title by stopping Soldic in the second round via technical knockout in April 2018. “Robocop” responded emphatically six months later, knocking out du Plessis in the third round of the rematch to reclaim the belt.

Du Plessis has competed exclusively at middleweight since joining the UFC, meaning Soldic would need to move up a weight class for any future meeting. Speaking to Fight Forecast, the South African said he sees that as a realistic possibility if Soldic continues to build his UFC record.

“It’s great,” du Plessis said of Soldic’s arrival in the promotion. “Soldic, for a long time, has been in many people’s minds the best fighter outside of the UFC. Yeah, he’s at welterweight. It’s 1-1. Being the best outside of the UFC is not being the best in the UFC. We have seen that many times. It’s on a different level. You know, a super fight down the line — if he gets a couple of wins and says, ‘Okay, let’s do a middleweight fight.’ I think that would be amazing. I think that fight would be awesome.”

Soldic had previously competed in One Championship before signing with the UFC earlier this year. With both men now under the same promotional banner and unfinished business between them, a trilogy at middleweight has become one of the more intriguing long-term matchups in the welterweight and middleweight divisions.