The UFC middleweight title race is heating up with the likes of Caio Borralho joining Khamzat Chimaev in vying for the top spot. Despite champion Dricus du Plessis’ continued insistence on defending against the undefeated Chimaev, reports of an injury, coupled with a lack of concrete news from the UFC, have let speculations run wild.
Du Plessis last defended his title in January this year against Sean Strickland at UFC 312. After dominating the outspoken American over five rounds, du Plessis essentially begged the UFC to give him the boogeyman of the division.
Chechnya-born Chimaev is said to be one of the most avoided fighters in the division. Frequent illnesses since falling sick to COVID in 2020 and inability to get a visa to the USA have also not helped his cause.
However, his jaw-shattering performance against former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last year set him up to be an undeniable choice for DDP’s next title defense. UFC analyst Daniel Cormier agrees!
In a YouTube video, the former double champion spoke about the hullabaloo about the middleweight title fight and said, “The number one contender, who is Khamzat Chimaev…and rightfully deserves a chance to fight for the belt now.”
“It’s been so long that we thought that this guy would be fighting for the belt, if not the champion, that it’s time”, DC continued. He also claimed that du Plessis and Chimaev had enough bad blood between them to carry a major PPV like UFC 317 on their backs.
But as mentioned earlier, reports of du Plessis’ injury are not helping the cause.
Who is Chimaev fighting?
Combat Sports journalist Kevin Iole recently broke the news that the middleweight champion had suffered an injury that would put him out for a while.
This has led to rumors running amok regarding the seriousness of the injury. DDP has been a fighting champion, having defended his title twice against former middleweight champions. He is also a known entertainer and a fan favorite at that.
So, if the injury is not serious, the promotion might deem it unfit to relieve him of his title, which would mean Chimaev’s wait for a title shot might get pushed down the year.
The other option would be to have an interim title fight in Du Plessis’ absence and have Chimaeva and Borralho wreck each other for it.
However, again, if DDP’s injury is not serious, there is no reason for the Dana White-led promotion to take any such steps.
In the midst of all this, Borralho has claimed du Plessis is suffering from a broken shin. He also continues to push the idea of a interm title fight with Chimaev for the middleweight throne.
Khamzat said yes!
The only thing that makes sense is the Interim belt!
This fight is gonna be bigger than him vs Dricus! Marks my words
— Caio Borralho (@BorralhoCaio) April 20, 2025
At this point, it is being assumed that a fight for the middleweight title is nigh on June 29 at UFC 317. At this point, Chimaev is all but a surety for that fight. But if he is willing to go to camp for an interim title, remains to be seen.
