The UFC has a big decision to make following the main event at UFC 297. The promotion kicked off the new year with a middleweight title fight headlining the first PPV event. Defending champion Sean Strickland came up short against Dricus Du Plessis in what was an extremely close fight. Following the event, Dana White stated that an immediate rematch would not take place and that he had other plans for Du Plessis. However, Chael Sonnen explained why that is not what the UFC should be doing on his YouTube channel .
Sonnen shared his thoughts on the main event at UFC 297. He further went on to explain why the UFC should book a rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland. He said,
“Overwhelmingly, 100,000+ of you voted, thought Sean won that fight. Did another poll, Du Plessis vs Adesanya, the fight that the UFC is trying to book. Those phone calls have gone out to Izzy and Du Plessis, that is the one they’re trying to book…”
Sonnen continued,
“The fight you (fans) want is a Strickland Du Plessis rematch. And that is before you get into the fact that the highest ranking judge, Sal D’Amato is the judge that saw it for Strickland, which is the same way Dana saw it. It is the same way that Rogan saw it. That has a lot of the makings for a rematch.”
After a long reign at the helm by Israel Adesanya, the UFC middleweight belt has changed hands thrice in a span of a few months now. Following his title win, Du Plessis said that he would like to face Israel Adesanya at UFC 300. However, even if the UFC decides that is the fight to make, there is very little chance it takes place at UFC 300.
A closer look at a possible fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya
Both Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland exited the octagon at UFC 297 with some serious facial damage. Both men will have to be on the sidelines for a significant amount of time before they can get back to training. This means that UFC 300 is too short a turnaround time for Du Plessis to fight again.
Regarding who is next, fans want to see Strickland again since the fight was extremely close. At this point in time, Adesanya is 1-2 in his last three fights. He was thoroughly dominated in his last fight and does not deserve an immediate title shot. Of the two men, Strickland is more deserving of a title shot than Israel Adesanya as things stand.
