Title Shot? Strickland ‘Gonna Wait For Quite A While’
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Dricus Du Plessis has a handful of challengers calling for his head.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) saw a change in Middleweight champions to kick off 2024. At UFC 297, South Africa’s Du Plessis made history as his country’s first UFC champion when he dethroned Sean Strickland via split decision (watch highlights) in January 2024. Now, Du Plessis is onto his first title defense opposite bitter rival and former two-time champion, Israel Adesanya, at UFC 305 next weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024).
In the meantime, a big Middleweight contender pairing has been rebooked as another former champion, Robert Whittaker, will battle the undefeated 13-0 Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 on Oct. 26, 2024. Although Strickland has maintained he won’t fight anyone without a title on the line in his next time out, Du Plessis doesn’t see a world where “Tarzan” leapfrogs the other contenders.
“Whittaker does have the two wins,” Du Plessis told Shak MMA. “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. That’s gonna happen. Strickland says he’s gonna wait until he gets a title shot. He’s gonna wait for quite a while, in my opinion.
“If Whittaker beats Khamzat, he’s 100 percent getting the title shot,” he continued. “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.”
Strickland, 33, has had the idea proposed of facing one of his fellow contenders like Whittaker (before the Chimaev fight was rebooked). Unfortunately for Strickland’s hopes, he doesn’t see how a win over “The Reaper” would help prove his worthiness as the top contender.
Having beaten both in his last two fights, Du Plessis can see cases for each. Ultimately, as the champion, “StillKnocks” will do as the fans desire.
“More deserving? Both of them are making a case,” Du Plessis said. “Whittaker, being more active, getting those wins, and Strickland when we fought, it was a close fight. Both of them are making a case, but like I said, for me, 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?”
