Dricus du Plessis floats a Roberto Soldic trilogy after Croatian UFC debut

Dricus du Plessis says he would be willing to continue the rivalry with Roberto Soldic, even after Soldic’s UFC debut at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City. Du Plessis, the former UFC middleweight champion, publicly acknowledged the possibility of a trilogy bout following what he framed as a successful start to Soldic’s UFC career.

The timing matters for both fighters for different reasons. For du Plessis, the question is what a next chapter looks like after a long middleweight resume that includes a championship chapter in the UFC. For Soldic, the debut at UFC 332 is the first major step in translating a prior body of work from another promotion into the UFC’s middleweight ecosystem, where matchups often develop quickly based on how opponents connect stylistically.

Du Plessis and Soldic already have a back-and-forth history that predates their UFC connection. The two are listed as 1-1 against each other, having traded finishes in their pair of bouts under the KSW banner in 2018. That slate gives any “trilogy” conversation a concrete base, because it is not just a desire to run it back, it is also rooted in an established pattern of outcomes.

The UFC angle adds extra pressure to make a second fight make sense. In a division where opportunities can be cyclical, a trilogy only becomes more than a headline if both sides see a credible competitive reason to repeat the matchup. Du Plessis’s willingness to entertain another fight suggests he viewed Soldic’s UFC debut as enough of a data point to revisit the matchup sooner rather than later.

For Soldic, a second meeting would be the chance to turn a UFC debut into a momentum-building storyline. UFC matchmaking tends to reward fighters who can convert early tests into clearer performance claims, and du Plessis’s openness implies the Croatian has left an impression worth pursuing. Even if a trilogy is not guaranteed, the fact that du Plessis is discussing it indicates the rivalry remains active in the minds of the key decision-makers in his camp.

There is also a broader middleweight context behind the scenes. When a former champion indicates interest in a specific matchup, it can shape how the next set of contenders are perceived, particularly when the opponent comes with an existing rivalry trail. Du Plessis’s comments point to a desire to re-emphasize a known competitive matchup rather than pivot immediately into a completely new direction.

What to watch next is whether the UFC turns that openness into concrete planning. The most immediate indicators will be whether du Plessis continues to name Soldic as a target in subsequent media opportunities and whether Soldic’s UFC debut performance positions him for an early return bout. If that happens, the rivalry could move from speculation to scheduling, and the 2018 KSW chapter would become only the second half of a longer UFC-era story.