Following Khamzat Chimaev’s first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker this past Saturday at UFC 308, he has given Dana White a lot to think about regarding the next middleweight title fight.
Khamzat Chimaev has been widely regarded as a guaranteed future champion since his debut in the promotion in 2020, but inactivity has massively delayed him from doing so.
Despite that, at UFC 308 he picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, submitting former champion Robert Whittaker in the very first round of their co-main event, crushing his jaw in the process.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Dricus Du Plessis ‘more excited’ by a fight against Khamzat Chimaev than Sean Strickland
Prior to the huge middleweight co-main event, UFC CEO Dana White admitted that former champion Sean Strickland would likely be next to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the title, despite having only picked up one win since their last fight.
Having said that, on UFC 308 fight week, the UFC boss seemed to slightly go back on his word and stated that he would wait and see the result of Chimaev vs Whittaker before making the decision.
Immediately after ‘Borz’s’ win over ‘The Reaper’, White chased after Chimaev as he was leaving the Octagon to congratulate him for the huge win, leaving fans wondering whether more was said.
Since then, Du Plessis has weighed in on the title talks, admitting that he is ‘more tempted’ by a potential fight against the undefeated Chimaev than he is by a rematch against Strickland.
“As a fan of the sport and the middleweight champion of the world, that’s a fight that gets me more excited, taking someone’s 0, I’ve beaten Strickland before and I know I’ll beat him again,” the champion told Radioraps.
“Getting that Khamzat fight, that gets me excited, I think the whole world, the fans want to see it and the fans ultimately pay to watch the fights so the fight the world thinks is the next best fight is what I want so yeah, the Khamzat fight is 100% what I want and the UFC is gonna do what they’re gonna do,” he continued.
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After losing his title to the South African in January, Strickland went on to pick up a split-decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 and was adamant that he will sit out until he is given another title shot.
Despite Strickland’s adamance, the majority of the fanbase believes that he hasn’t done enough to re-earn a title shot, considering Chimaev’s recent surge.
“Understand one thing… I am next in line… It’s been said, it’s been written… January/February me and Dricus Du Plessis are scrapping. Go back to Chechnya and wait a few months… wait, sorry UAE… You’re not allowed in Chechnya… But hey, Crypto scams while you wait,” Strickland said on X.
The two were previously rumored to rematch on the UFC’s return to Sydney in February, however, following UFC 308, White and the matchmakers will undoubtedly review their plans for the division.
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