Dricus Du Plessis has made history after defeating Sean Strickland in UFC 297 to become the UFC Middleweight Champion. With live footage portraying the jubilation of the fans back home, Du Plessis will surely be in a mood to celebrate right now. However, he might reconsider going all out celebrating as his potential opponent has already rung the alarm bell. Khamzat Chimaev has recently taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to issue a challenge to the newly crowned Middleweight champ.
Minutes after Du Plessis dethroned Strickland, Chimaev, in his signature style, mocked the South African while hinting at a possible UFC 300 showdown. He said,
“See you soon biplisi ufc300 ”
https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1748958122129883500?s=20
Khamzat Chimaev had already expressed his desire to fight the winner of the UFC 297 main event. In an earlier interview with Mohammad Hijab, “Borz” stated that he has been promised a title shot at UFC 300.
Although his initial challenge was made to Sean Strickland as he thought “Tarzan” would pick up the win, now that Du Plessis has won, Chimaev won’t mind facing him either. The 29-year-old Chechnya native further went on to say that the winner of the UFC 297 main event should be afraid of him, as he was confident of picking up the win in UFC 300.
However, even though Chimaev looks all prepared to face Du Plessis, an earlier interview of the Protea paints a rather grim picture.
Dricus Du Plessis unwilling to give Khamzat Chimaev a chance
A week prior to the fight against Strickland, Du Plessis got candid with MMA Junkie. Speaking about Chimaev’s warning, he downplayed it right away. Du Plessis stated that “Borz” was still a Welterweight as he did not fight at Middleweight yet. He even mocked his face-off against Kamaru Usman, terming the “Nigerian Nightmare” as a Welterweight.
Du Plessis also reflected on Chimaev’s claim of the UFC promising him a title fight. He wondered in disbelief that how can such a promise be made without anyone else being aware of the same. Concluding his interview, the South African clarified that if he won the Middleweight gold, there was no way Chimaev would be getting a shot at it.
Well, now that Du Plessis is indeed the champion and Chimaev has wasted no time in challenging him, it will be interesting to see how the entire situation pans out in the future.
