Thanks to his bone-crushing first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last weekend, undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev has found himself firmly in middleweight title contention.
Whilst the presumption had been that champion Dricus Du Plessis would rematch Sean Strickland next, the brash South African has now claimed that ‘Borz’ is indeed part of his plans for a wild 2025.
Dricus Du Plessis says Khamzat Chimaev ‘deserves’ title shot over Sean Strickland
Dricus Du Plessis has been on his own little media tour for the past few days, with the popular South African champion doubling down on his desire to fight Khamzat Chimaev next instead of Strickland.
“Listen, I completely welcome the Strickland rematch, I would love to get that finish,” Du Plessis told TMZSports, explaining how whilst the temptation to silence Strickland once and for all is there, he’s a man of the people…And the people demand ‘Borz’.
“They’ve hyped up this guy for so long… He’s the first guy to submit Rob and he did it in the first rounds – that warrants him jumping the gun on Sean Strickland.
“If you ask me personally, that’s the fight I would rather want because it’s a fight that the people want, a fight that more people want, and I believe that Khamzat is the next best guy.”
In regard to how the UFC views the title situation at 185lbs, ‘Stillknocks’ noted that whilst he hasn’t heard anything from the promotion, a clash with the undefeated wrestler is surely one that they could market to the moon and back.
“Myself and Khamzat is going to be a big event no matter where it is [or] where it is – that’s going to be a big one… There are so many things going on right now, where you do this and where it makes the most sense.
“I don’t want to sit out for too long – I don’t have anything concrete but whatever it is, I hope that it is Khamzat next,” said Du Plessis before teasing that he’d like to make his return to the octagon shortly after the New Year.
“February or March [2025] would be perfect.”
Dricus Du Plessis reveals his bold plan to become UFC double champion in 2025
Just a few hours later, Du Plessis would sit down with Brett Okamoto, via ESPN MMA, to discuss how Khamzat Chimaev could be just the first stage of a wild 2025 – one that could end with the popular brawler headlining the UFCs first trip to South Africa.
“We are doing everything we can, they are doing everything they can, the UFC wants this to happen,” Du Plessis noted, revealing how negotiations on a UFC: South Africa event have already started behind the scenes.
“Obviously, there’s challenges but the challenges come in one form – we need to put a roof on a stadium, arenas aren’t big enough… The problem with that is that it’s probably going to take a while, these things don’t happen overnight.
“It’s probably going to be late 2025” by the time that the promotion finds a suitable date and venue, with ‘Stillknocks’ predicting that he could be fighting for a second belt by the time that UFC: South Africa gets added to the calendar.
“This is me just spitballing; I beat Robert Whittaker, then I beat Sean Strickland, then I beat Israel Adesanya, then I beat Khamzat Chimaev – that warrants a double title fight, and I think that might just be it.
- EXPLAINED: Chimaev should ‘let the dust settle’ on DDP vs Strickland before pushing for the next title shot
“I have this vision, and I can’t picture anything more perfect than that… There’s a goal that needs to be reached, and that is fighting in my home country and getting that second belt… And to do those on the same night, that would be pretty sweet.”
Not long after that interview was published, Khamzat Chimaev would himself respond to Du Plessis’ champ-champ prediction by posting a series of laughing emojis.