Dricus Du Plessis is not one to shy away from some good old banter. This is a man who made Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya cry ibn public. So when middleweight contender and chronically ill fighter, Khamzat Chimaev made a comment about the champion just being a ‘bad version’ of him, DDP had to clap back.
And he did so very well, poking fun at ‘Borz’s’ weak immune system that has seen him pull out of fights and get hospitalized more than once.
Du Plessis is currently on the search for his next opponent. And although former middleweight champion, Strickland is the current front runner for the next title shot, the champ isn’t really convinced.
For starters, before DDP took on Adesanya, UFC president Dana White has confirmed that if the South African won the fight and took the title back home, the UFC will follow him there with a PPV on the continent, with all the powers of UFC marketing right behind him.
However, Strickland wants to do it in America. Days after DDP defended his title against Izzy, Strickland said ‘here’s the thing guys’ and then asked Dana White to organize the title defense in the US because he didn’t want to go to Africa.
So that there is a good reason for DDP to look past him.
Secondly, he wants to take on the winner of Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker since he believes their individual performances should warrant the opportunity.
So when the Russian fighter tried to talk trash to ‘Stillknocks’ he clapped back by asking him to put his shirt back on.
“Put on a shirt princess before you catch another cold.”
Dricus du Plessis responds to Khamzat Chimaev after he said Dricus was “a bad version of me”:
“Put on a shirt princess before you catch another cold.” #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/r4ggliNbvj
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 18, 2024
Meanwhile, the Russian fighter continues to claim that ‘Stillknocks’ is silent about him because he knows he won’t stand a chance against his wrestling.
Chimaev on dominating DDP
Chimaev believes he can easily dominate the champion on the ground. The middleweight contender understands that Du Plessis is not the best grappler in the division, and intends to take full advantage of it.
In a recent YouTube video with Adam Zubayraev, the Russian fighter spoke about why his style of fighting was superior to Du Plessis,
“For me, [Dricus] is much more convenient than other fighters… we have the technique, wrestling, counter-wrestling to take him down and hold him. And he knows it himself, that’s why he’s silent about me.”
Chimaev is pretty confident he can make quick work of Dricus Du Plessis. But to be fair to DDP, he doesn’t look like a good striker either. He has the look and the movement of a drunk uncle towards the end of thanksgiving, making inappropriate jokes and breaking your mom’s china.
That’s how DDP literally looks when he fights but it works. He gets the job done.
Besides, Chimaev needs to be more active in order to secure a title shot.
If he ends up beating Robert Whittaker in his next fight, he will definitely make a strong case for himself as the next title challenger. However, Whittaker, too is a madman from down under, so it is easier said than done.