Dricus du Plessis has made it clear during his title reign that he wants to take on the biggest challenges that are out there for him.
His third title defense this weekend at UFC 319 is proof of that, as he takes on a man that many have expected to wear UFC gold for some time.
Du Plessis believes that he can expose Khamzat Chimaev’s weaknesses to hand the undefeated challenger his first loss inside the Octagon.
With the amount of hype surrounding Chimaev, this is only going to help du Plessis’ bid to cement himself as the greatest middleweight of all time.
While ‘Borz’ presents a huge threat that the South African champion isn’t taking lightly, there is another contender who could be the dark horse of the middleweight division.
- LATEST NEWS: UFC legend concedes that Dricus du Plessis might overtake him in GOAT rankings by beating Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319
Dricus du Plessis praises Anthony Hernandez and says that his recent win inspired him
This past weekend at the UFC Apex, Anthony Hernandez put his name into the title picture with a statement win.
‘Fluffy’ dominated Roman Dolidze and submitting him to earn his eighth consecutive win, which led to Dricus du Plessis giving him props on social media.
In a recent interview with The MMA Guru, du Plessis spoke about his trash talking of other fighters and how he only does it when others are critical of him.
To give an example, he spoke about how impressed he was by Hernandez’s latest win, despite the fact that they could be facing off inside the Octagon at some point in the near future.
“Anthony Hernandez for example. He’s in my weight. I’m willing to kill anybody in my weight division on sight, I don’t mind. But, he’s a nice guy. I’ve never met him, but he looks like a cool guy. I like his personality.
“His fight was incredible. I took inspiration from that. I looked at that and I went, ‘I can learn something from that’. There’s something there. I think this guy has a chance to beat, and I’d put my money on him to beat anyone in the top five right now.”
- LATEST NEWS: Khamzat Chimaev reveals what he intends to spend his UFC 319 winnings on following his first UFC title fight
Anthony Hernandez is set to be cageside for UFC 319 this weekend
Following his incredible performance this past weekend, Anthony Hernandez made it clear that he wants the next shot at the middleweight title.
While there are several other viable contenders in the mix, his hopes of getting his first title fight received a boost immediately after his win.
‘Fluffy’ told the media in his post-fight press conference that the UFC would be flying him out to Chicago so that he can be in attendance for UFC 319.
There’s no guarantees that he’ll be the next in line as a result of this but it does put him in a good position to be at the center of the talks regarding what is next for the winner of the main event.