'It was on the table'… Dricus Du Plessis reveals the conversations that led to a rematch against Sean Strickland instead of a Khamzat Chimaev clash
12/11/2024 10:49 AM
At UFC 310 this past Saturday, the promotion controversially announced the UFC 312 main event between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.
Following Dricus Du Plessis‘ successful title defense against Israel Adesanya this past August at UFC 305, UFC CEO Dana White stated that Sean Strickland was likely next to fight for the title, despite only picking up one win since losing to ‘Stillknocks’ in January.
Plans were then halted momentarily when they announced that Khamzat Chimaev would take on Robert Whittaker in the UFC 308 co-main event. After ‘Borz’ decimated Whittaker in round one, Du Plessis called for a fight against him instead.
Dricus Du Plessis reveals the conversations that led to a Sean Strickland rematch
Du Plessis and Chimaev then began to go back and forth with each other on social media, increasing excitement levels amongst the fans that we may actually get that fight.
The UFC then seemingly reverted back to their original plan when they announced that Du Plessis will headline UFC 312 on February 9 in Sydney, in a rematch against Strickland.
However, the South African champion has revealed that he was always keen on the Strickland rematch, up until Chimaev shocked the world with his performance at UFC 308.
“I think most people wanted to see that Khamzat fight, myself included,” Du Plessis began to explain in an interview with Main Event TV.
“I was 100% keen on the Strickland rematch the whole time. Everyone now says they wanted the Khamzat fight but the same fans were the ones that called for the Strickland rematch up until Khamzat had the performance against Rob.
“I honestly felt that the Strickland rematch was warranted, great lets do it, and then after that Khamzat fight that was the fight I wanted and I think 90% of fans wanted. The UFC promised Strickland the fight and this time they delivered on their promise,” he said.
Despite that, the champion stated that the Chimaev fight ‘was on the table’ and has revealed the conversations that led to a switch back to Strickland.
“(A fight against Khamzat) was on the table for sure, but you know, we talked about it. It wasn’t from my side or from his side where the fight didn’t happen, it was, I think there was some issues with the UFC and Khamzat, I’m not sure, and timing, I think timing played a big role, but there were conversations.”
Chimaev recently revealed that he will be in attendance for UFC 312 in Sydney as he already has contract obligations to do fan meet and greets, and he is scheduled to take part in gym seminars.
- RIVALRY BREWING:Sean Strickland's head coach comments on the brewing rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev… 'They're probably messaging each other'
Dricus Du Plessis claims ‘boring’ Strickland has no problem with the crowd ‘booing his fight style’
Despite their first fight being an extremely close one, the the MMA world had Du Plessis winning the fight, which Strickland has continuously questioned and claimed he was ‘robbed’.
Ahead of their rematch, the South African has claimed that ‘boring’ Strickland hasn’t changed and his fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 302 showcased that.
“Nothing’s changed, he looked boring like every other fight, walking forward jabbing and teeping, it wasn’t an exciting fight.
“It wasn’t a bad performance, it was the most normal performance from him ever. In our fight, I remember there was a stage where I was walking forward but he just kept moving away and I thought to myself, ‘I’m gonna stand here, maybe he gets the confidence to walk forwards and we can punch it out’.
“He has no problem with the crowd booing his fight style, unfortunately, I don’t have that in me,” Du Plessis stated.
