Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is injured and currently in rehab as he works his way back to a full-time training camp. That means any talk of “The Last Stylebender” returning for UFC 300 in April is on hold until doctors give him the green light to continue.
The show must go on.
That’s why former 185-pound titleholder, Michael Bisping, believes undefeated middleweight sensation Khamzat Chimaev is “probably the No. 1 option” for the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis, who go to war for “Tarzan’s” belt in the UFC 297 headliner in Toronto.
“I feel like I talked about this recently: Dricus Du Plessis, if he does become the champion, there’s a lot of options for him right, but No. 1 option is probably Khamzat Chimaev,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “Yes, Israel Adesanya, there is beef there. They’ve squared off in the Octagon, they’ve went back and forth, they’re both claiming to be the real African and all this type of stuff. There’s a lot of hype and promo material for that fight. However, Israel just came out, he’s injured, he’s actually attending rehab as we speak.”
Du Plessis insists Chimaev, a former welterweight, does not deserve a middleweight title fight — despite this promise from UFC CEO Dana White.
“Chimaev is ranked No. 9, okay? And that’s probably another reason why Dricus says that he doesn’t deserve it,” Bisping said. “Okay, fair enough. He’s ranked No. 9, but he’s got a ton of hype. He just beat Kamaru Usman, who yes, was a welterweight, but he was the pound-for-pound No. 1. He was a longtime welterweight champion for many defenses and on top of that Dana said whoever wins, Kamaru or Khamzat, they get to fight for the belt, so there it is there. Khamzat Chimaev is also undefeated, he’s 7-0 in the UFC, and he’s a big star right. Khamzat Chimaev gets numbers.”
Expect a lot of questions to be answered this weekend in Toronto.