Dricus du Plessis was offered the opportunity to compete in a four-man UFC light-heavyweight tournament to determine a new title challenger, according to his coach Morne Visser, who says the proposal was rejected.

The proposed tournament would have featured Du Plessis alongside former light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka, Magomed Ankalaev and Navajo Stirling, with the eventual winner earning a fight against Carlos Ulberg.

“They asked me three weeks ago; the UFC asked me for Dricus to move up to 205, they wanted us to join a pool of four fighters, Jiri [Prochazka], Dricus, [Magomed] Ankalaev and [Navajo] Stirling,” said Visser, speaking to Fight Forecast, as noted by MMAInsight.

“They wanted the four guys to go into a pool and fight in one night and then the winner of that fight each other and then the winner of that fight Carlos Ulberg, a bit of a Grand Prix,” Visser said. “But I said no because it’s very easy to go up to 205 pounds, but it took me a year to get Dricus from welterweight to middleweight… That we will do it gradually because we will go up to 205, that is 100% the plan, but we want our middleweight belt back and we want to defend it once.”

The UFC has not publicly commented on the reported proposal, although Prochazka and Stirling have since been scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 294 in Qatar on November 21, suggesting the promotion may have moved away from the tournament format. Visser, meanwhile, has indicated that Du Plessis is targeting a middleweight return in late February or March following his honeymoon.

Du Plessis, a former UFC middleweight champion, has previously competed at welterweight during his professional career. While a future move to the 205-pound division remains part of his team’s plans, Visser has made clear that regaining the middleweight title and defending it once are the immediate priorities.