Caio Borralho has taken his long-running callout of Dricus Du Plessis to a new level, traveling to Johannesburg, South Africa, in search of a showdown with the former middleweight champion.
Borralho, ranked No. 5 at middleweight, has wanted to fight Du Plessis for years and says multiple callouts have gone unanswered. "4 callouts, no answer," Borralho said, before adding, "So I came to Johannesburg myself." In a video message, one voice asks, "Where is Dricus?" and continues, "Do you know where he is? No words from him. I was in Brazil, and now I’m here looking for Dricus … I just cannot find him. No response."
Du Plessis responded online, inviting Borralho to settle things in the gym rather than the Octagon. "Come to @cit_performanceinstitute then we spar we can record it if you want," he wrote. Borralho pushed back, replying, "Stop being a little kid, just sign the contract bro."
Du Plessis answered again: "What contract?" He added, "You actually think you’re in the conversation? Come to the gym I’m like a 30 [minute] drive from you, let’s see if you’re at least man enough to show up, we start at 9AM Friday."
Du Plessis is coming off a one-sided loss to Khamzat Chimaev about eight months earlier and remains unbooked. He was briefly rumored for a bout with Brendan Allen before Allen was matched with Edmen Shahbazyan instead. With Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland set to fight for the middleweight title at UFC 328 next weekend, both Borralho and Du Plessis are pushing to position themselves for a future shot.
