The next middleweight title fight has been made official for UFC 319 in Chicago.
On August 16, Dricus du Plessis will face Khamzat Chimaev in one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year.
Du Plessis has already given his thoughts on the matchup with fans counting down the days until ‘Stillknocks’ makes the third defense of his title.
One of the biggest surprises regarding this announcement is that the highly anticipated clash will take place in the United States, making it the first time that Chimaev has fought outside of Abu Dhabi since UFC 279 in September of 2022.
Should anything happen to either man ahead of fight night, it appears that the UFC has already put a plan B in place.
Nassourdine Imavov will reportedly be the backup fighter for UFC 319
French outlet RMC Sport Combat has reported that Nassourdine Imavov will be the backup fighter for the main event of UFC 319.
He’s currently ranked as the #1-contender in the middleweight division following a four-fight win streak that saw him knock out Israel Adesanya earlier this year.
Imavov was recently linked to a fight with Caio Borralho with the Brazilian claiming that the bout was turned down on the Frenchman’s side.
Though he was linked with several different opponents with the fights never materializing between July 2021-July 2022, Dricus du Plessis hasn’t had any issues ever since, with his last seven outings going ahead as planned.
The same cannot be said for Khamzat Chimaev who has had several issues in his recent fights.
Fans are hoping that with his win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, the undefeated challenger has been able to put his past health issues behind him.
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Nassourdine Imavov vs Caio Borralho would take place on the same night in an ideal world
Nassourdine Imavov vs Caio Borralho feels like such an obvious matchup for the UFC to make right now with both men having a lot of momentum behind them.
It appeared that Imavov was waiting for a bigger opportunity and we don’t know whether he has been told that he will get the next shot after being the backup fighter.
In an ideal world, this fight could be put together for UFC 319 so that we can find out who the next in line is while having two highly ranked middleweights who can step into the main event if they’re needed.
Perhaps Israel Adesanya could take on Borralho if Imavov is still not interested in taking this fight.