With the dust settling on the high-octane main event of UFC 297, it was Dricus Du Plessis who managed to prevail by a split decision victory. Although Du Plessis is still reeling from the jubilant experience of his victory, speculations regarding what lies ahead of him have already started. However, contrary to popular belief, Du Plessis has made it clear in the post match press conference that he is not at all interested in a match with the Chechnya native, Khamzat Chimaev.
While Chimaev claimed of a “promised” title fight with the winner of the UFC 297 Middleweight bout, Du Plessis downplayed it by stating that Chimaev keeps on issuing such statements to everyone. When asked about Chimaev’s X call out soon after the match ended, the South African said,
“He said that to Jon Jones… who takes that guy seriously, anyway?”
Du Plessis referred to the 29-year-old Welterweight expressing his desire to fight Jon Jones. In a recent podcast on Smile 2 Jannah, Chimaev termed a clash with “Bones” as a “dream fight”. However, much like Du Plessis, Jones too, tweeted a reply asking the Chechnya native to stop making such comments.
Coming back to the path that lies ahead of the Protea, the name of Israel Adesanya came up repeatedly as a possible contender for the Middleweight title.
Dricus Du Plessis aligned towards a fight with Adesanya, fancies double champion status
Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya rivalry goes a long way back. After successfully knocking out Robert Whittaker in UFC 290, ‘Izzy’ and ‘Stillknocks’ were supposed to square off at UFC 293. Unfortunately, the South African suffered an injury that compelled him to pass on the opportunity last September. Ever since then, Du Plessis has been looking for a chance to face ‘Izzy’. Now that he is the champion, the 30-year-old fighter called out Adesanya from the octagon right after the match.
Subsequently, while speaking about his plans for the future, Du Plessis mentioned that he wanted to fight “deserving” contenders. And surely enough, Israel Adesanya was right up there on his list. The South African fighter also reflected on his intentions to become a double champion by making the right moves sometime in the future.
Thus, with a lot happening in the Middleweight division, only time will tell whether Du Plessis will get his favored opponent in Adesanya or it will be Chimaev that he fights next.
