Dricus Du Plessis Rejects Sean Strickland's Title Shot: Wants Robert Whittaker or Khamzat Chimaev

08/09/2024 08:12 AM

The UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis has rejected Sean Strickland’s demands for a title shot. The South African titleholder had a close match with Strickland in which he captured UFC gold, but he thinks the fight against the US-born fighter will not be worth it.

Dricus Du Plessis On the Middleweight Title Picture

Looking at the middleweight division, Dricus Du Plessis explained that the winner between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 will get a shot at the middleweight crown. Robert Whittaker is a former UFC titleholder with a highly impressive career. ‘Borz’ Chimaev is an unbeaten fighter with tons of hype around his name. On discussing these two, the South African champion, in an interview with Shak MMA, said:

"If Whittaker beats Khamzat, he's 100 percent getting the title shot. The UFC's been wanting to give Khamzat a title shot since his debut. Maybe if it's a draw, Khamzat will still get the title shot. Let's see if he makes it to the fight.

"Whittaker does have the two wins. Strickland shouldn't have been there in the first place, he got it by default and then proved that he deserved to be there. So that's amazing. The winner of Khamzat and Whittaker is gonna get the title shot.” [Ht MMAMania]

Sean Strickland

On a potential showdown against Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis said:

“Strickland says he's gonna wait until he gets a title shot. He's gonna wait for quite a while, in my opinion.”

Strickland, who is best known for his work outside the octagon, was able to capture the title against Israel Adesanya but lost his crown against Dricus Du Plessis. The US-born fighter Sean Strickland earned one win in the middleweight division, a snoozer, against Paulo Costa, and is now demanding a title shot. Du Plessis says no, and adds:

“It's about the fight the fans want to see. Which one's going to be the biggest fight? Which one do the fans think is going to be the best fight?"

But before he can look at his next title defense, Dricus Du Plessis will look to defend his middleweight title against the former champion Israel Adesanya. The two are booked to meet at UFC 305 on August 18.