Officially booked to defend his middleweight crown at UFC 312, Dricus du Plessis will take on former foe, Sean Strickland in a rematch ‘Downunder’ — however, believes a matchup with the unbeaten star, Khamzat Chimaev would have been a much bigger showdown for the promotion to ink.
Announced as the official headiner for UFC 312 over the weekend, Dricus du Plessis will headline the Qudos Bank Arena card in Sydney next February, taking on the above-mentioned former titleholder, Strickland at the two do battle for the second time in just 13 months.
Also slated to feature in the co-headliner; an undisputed strawweight title fight as two-time champion, Zhang Weili books her return in a trip to Australia as she takes on unbeaten finishing star, Tatiana Suarez who takes to a championship setting for the first time in her faltering Octagon tenure.
Dricus du Plessis laments missing out on Khamzat Chimaev fight at UFC 312
Linked with a potential fight with Chechen finishing ace, Chimaev — particularly off the back of the former’s face crank submission win over common-foe and former champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 two months ago, du Plessis has now claimed a pairing with the former would’ve been a bigger fight for the UFC to book rather than a rematch between himself and Strickland.
“Yeah, I think, uh, most people wanted to see that Khamzat (Chimaev) fight, myself included,” Dricus du Plessis told Fox Sports during a recent interview. “Um, you know, I was 100% keen on the (Sean) Strickland rematch the whole time when, when, uh… and I think everybody now goes and says, they wonder what everybody wants the Khamzat fight, but those same fans were the ones that called for the Strickland rematch as well up until Khamzat had the performance against Rob that he did.”
And, uh, I honestly felt that, uh, Strickland’s rematch was warranted,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “Great, let’s do it. And then after that Khamzat fight, now that was the fight that I wanted, and I think, uh, 90% of fans wanted and, uh… do you see? Promised Strickland a fight, so… you know, this time they delivered on the promise and, uh, I’ve… yeah, I mean, I don’t have any problems during the Strickland rematch.”
“Of course, that Khamzat fight would have been a lot bigger, in my opinion, and more exciting. You know, I haven’t done it before. I haven’t seen it before. He’s unbeaten, but you know, this Strickland is an absolute beast in the Octagon, so this fight is gonna be a banger again and I can’t wait.”