If it was as much as Dricus Du Plessis, he’d be defending his UFC middleweight title towards Khamzat Chimaev.
As an alternative, Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will run issues again with Sean Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) within the UFC 312 headliner Feb. 8 at Qudos Financial institution Enviornment in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Du Plessis narrowly defeated Strickland by cut up resolution to seize the middleweight title at UFC 297 final January. Within the 12 months since, Strickland has maintained he was robbed by the judges and may’ve saved the belt.
Strickland was declared No. 1 contender after rebounding with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 in June, and Du Plessis obliged – although he disagrees with the matchmaking.
“Only for clarification I most well-liked the Khamzat struggle however the rematch is a struggle most needed earlier than Khamzat vs. Whittaker,” Du Plessis wrote on X. I’m not sad with the UFC’s resolution. Like I mentioned, I’ll struggle the person followers suppose is the subsequent greatest man. He was promised the struggle so Strickland it’s.”
Du Plessis noticed Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) as a extra intriguing problem after the unbeaten contender ran via former champion Robert Whittaker by first-round submission in October.
When a fan on X recommended Chimaev would beat each UFC 312 headliners, Du Plessis was fast to snap again:
“He can’t even beat his personal immune system.”
After dethroning Strickland to begin the 12 months, Du Plessis notched his first title protection with a fourth-round submission of former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August.
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