Dricus Du
Plessis believes Khamzat
Chimaev has yet to feel the strength of a real 185-pounder, and
he would absolutely love to do the honors.
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“Stillknocks” is slated to challenge Sean
Strickland for the middleweight title in the main event at
UFC
297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The booking came as a surprise to
some who were expecting Khamzat
Chimaev to get the next title shot at middleweight after a
majority decision victory over Kamaru
Usman at UFC 294 last month.
Du Plessis believes Chimaev still remains the UFC’s next preference
for a gold bid at middleweight against the winner of the upcoming
UFC 297 title fight. The South African is also excited about the
potential matchup, as he wants to show Chimaev what true strength
feels like.
“The UFC is probably going to want to do Khamzat,” Du Plessis said
in an interview
with James Lynch. “He’s a big draw, and they said if he won the
fight against Usman he’d get a title shot. That’s a fight I would
gladly accept as champion, take out the boogeyman, it would be a
massive pleasure.
“He’d try to take me down, and he should. I don’t think [Chimaev]
realizes the power difference between 170 and 185. In terms of
style, he tries to outpower everybody he fights, because he wants
to show how strong he is. If he fights me and he fights that way,
he’s going to find out what strength really feels like.”
Chimaev made his move to middleweight against Usman, who was also
making his first 185-pound appearance in the Octagon. While the
matchup was widely believed to be a title eliminator, an
unconvincing majority decision raised questions about Chimaev’s
claim to a middleweight title shot. Strickland’s manager, Lance
Spaude, claimed that “Borz” was not even brought up in discussions
while booking the champ’s UFC 297 clash against Du Plessis.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis is undefeated in six UFC outings — including
five finishes — and is coming off a second-round TKO over former
champ Robert
Whittaker in July.