Apart from Sean Strickland, nobody shall be happier about his win over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 than former middleweight champion Drycas du Plessis.
The South African fighter gained the 185-pound belt with a win over Strickland and placed on an much more dominant present within the rematch, defeating him once more. Nonetheless, du Plessis’ fortunes modified dramatically when the 2 met in August of this yr, when Chimaev knocked him down a number of instances, costing him his life.
The victory topped Chimaev the champion, however his reign was already over and Strickland was as soon as once more on the prime of the middleweight division. Du Plessis, who has two wins over him, is clearly in an ideal place for a 3rd battle and an opportunity to reclaim UFC gold.
“The battle went precisely how I anticipated it to go,” du Plessis mentioned after the principle occasion of UFC 328. “Nice, nice battle from Strickland. Like I mentioned, it’s extremely arduous to maintain that man on the bottom. He is extremely robust to include. He wore Khamzat out, and that is precisely what I knew. Like I mentioned within the stand-up, (Khamzat) wasn’t going to have the ability to maintain up with him.”
“Congratulations. I feel now you can change into world champion once more.”
There was additionally a video of du Plessis celebrating Strickland’s win, and he was undoubtedly listening and smiling as he applauded the consequence.
Du Plessis feels he’s in a a lot better place now than when Chimaev held the title, however he’ll virtually definitely must battle yet one more time to get a 3rd crack at Strickland.
As well as, Strickland mentioned after the sport that he needed to take a while off after spending the previous six months in back-to-back coaching camps to arrange for Chiamev and Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez. He additionally named Nasuddin Imavov because the more than likely frontrunner to get his first shot on the title now that he’s champion once more.
Nonetheless, du Plessis will not be far behind within the middleweight pecking order. Particularly if he can pull off a powerful win in his subsequent match and spark a possible trilogy with Strickland within the close to future.
