The UFC welterweight title queue is pretty crowded right now. Top contenders and former champions like Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland are waiting in line for a potential chance to redeem their place as champion. Meanwhile, Israel Adesanya is coming back this August for a highly anticipated showdown against Dricus Du Plessis.
Dricus Du Plessis recently addressed this issue in his recent interview on SHAK MMA. He talked about who would potentially get the next title shot between Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker. Sean Strickland may have to wait quite a while before getting another shot. According to the champion, the winner of the upcoming bout between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev should be next in line for a title shot, not Strickland.
The winner of Khamzat and Whittaker is gonna get the title shot… 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.
Dricus Du Plessis on SHAK MMA
The South African said it would come down to what the fans wish to see. Du Plessis also previously commented that the Whittaker vs. Strickland fight would be a logical matchup and could even serve as a main event. Ultimately, the UFC middleweight champion wants to put on a fight that the fans want to see.
Dricus du Plessis thinks the winner of Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev will get the next title shot over Sean Strickland
“The winner of Khamzat and Whittaker is gonna get the title shot.
Strickland says he’s gonna wait until he gets a title shot, he’s gonna wait for quite… pic.twitter.com/w9tmoysRW6
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 8, 2024
According to the champion, both fighters are making the case. Although Du Plessis did say that Robert Whittaker was more active. The UFC veteran headlined UFC Saudi Arabia without Khamzat Chimaev, but will now take him on in October in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Strickland said he wants to let Adesanya and Du Plessis fight it out at UFC 305 and then take on the winner.
Dricus Du Plessis addresses title rematch with Sean Strickland
Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in their showdown at UFC 297. The South African secured the UFC middleweight championship by a split decision. The fight judges scored it 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47 in favor of Du Plessis. However, there were people, like UFC CEO Dana White who believed that Sean Strickland had won the fight.
Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis (via X)Dricus Du Plessis recently sat down for an interview with Kevin Iole. During their conversation on Iole’s YouTube channel, the middleweight champion addressed this debate on a potential rematch with Strickland. According to Du Plessis, he had clearly won the fight and did not owe his controversial opponent a rematch.
I don’t owe Sean anything. The rules are pretty clear. It’s scored round by round. The fact that it was a split decision is the biggest shocking factor for me. It was a very clear win for me.
Dricus Du Plessis on Kevin Iole
However, Du Plessis was not against fighting the former champion. He wants the biggest fight and fighting the Adesanya fight was by far the biggest fight that he could do. It would be interesting to see how that fight happens and if Du Plessis even remains champion after fighting Israel Adesanya.
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