Khamzat Chimaev should not be in title conversation says Dricus Du Plessis

LockerRoom Team

06 Jul 2024

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis believes it is premature to consider Khamzat Chimaev a contender for the middleweight title.

Chimaev was set to face Robert Whittaker in a No. 1 contender bout at UFC on ABC 6 in Riyadh, but an illness forced him to withdraw. His latest victory was against former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

Du Plessis has always been intrigued by the possibility of handing Chimaev his first career loss but thinks “Borz” still has some work to do before entering the middleweight title picture.

“I would love to fight Khamzat. Nobody’s beaten him, and he was almost like the boogeyman of this division,” Du Plessis told Submission Radio. “But let’s be honest: I was a bit disappointed that fight didn’t happen. (I’m) not that surprised, to be honest. I didn’t expect it, but you kind of have to at this stage – expect something to happen. I’m feeling sorry for the guy. I know what it feels like.

“I’ve been on that side of the area of not being able to fight, and it sucks. Right now, it just doesn’t even make sense to talk about it. He hasn’t fought one single ranked middleweight – not one – and to even put him in that conversation right now seems like we’re wasting time talking about it. He’s not in the run, and up until he proves that he deserves to be in that run, there’s no use in talking about it.”

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Du Plessis will look to make his first title defense in the UFC 305 headliner on August 17 when he takes on former champion Israel Adesanya at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.