185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis will take on anyone. But that doesn’t mean ‘Stillknocks’ doesn’t have his ideas about his middleweight’s meritocratic system. However, he considers his old rival Robert Whittaker to be deserving than most. Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev meet on October 26 at the UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) event. Whittaker is 2-0 since his loss to Du Plessis and well deserving of a title shot. The only deterrent in his way is Sean Strickland.
Dricus Du Plessis logged his first title defense with a win over Israel Adesanya this past weekend at the UFC 305 pay-per-view (PPV) headliner. After the main event at RAC Arena in Perth, DDP named ‘Reaper’ as the most logical option. However, during the build-up to UFC 305, CEO Dana White promised Sean Strickland as the next title challenger. The Team PMA Super Martial Arts Centre contender had a virtual sitdown with Denis Shkuratov for the ‘Submission Radio’ Show to share his honest assessment of that.
I don’t care, …right, that’s it. I don’t care. I got to…I got to beat Chimaev, right. The fight after Chimaev doesn’t exist to me…I know [if] I beat Chimaev I’m fighting for a title. If it’s before or after, doesn’t matter…I gotta beat Chimaev.
Robert Whittaker via the ‘Submission Radio’ (@SubmissionRadio) Show for SBNation Network
Sean Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC), lost his title to Du Plessis in a close decision at UFC 297 PPV. However, touted as the No. 1 contender, he faces him in a title rematch. Meanwhile, Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev was to be a clear tile eliminator last month at UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov. But Chimaev withdrew from the fight due to health problems, and Whittaker went on to knock out the replacement.
There has been a push to title contention for Khamzat Chimaev, once the hot new cog and boogeyman in the 185-pound weight class. Despite the inactivity, he remains an interesting fighter, to say the least. Hence, Whittaker put his hands up. If he wins, he’d have more than a clear-cut way to title contention. More to it, there’s one more deciding factor.
The deciding factor for the middleweight title shot
Whittaker lost undisputed gold to Izzy in 2019, failing again in their rematch. Many wrote the fighter out of title contention after his loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290. Even Strickland, who believes he won against DDP and snagged gold against Izzy, touts himself better. Whittaker, 33, is not bothered by the competitiveness to contention and is only eagle-eyed for Khamzat Chimaev next.
Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev might closely trail ahead of Sean Strickland (Source: X/es.agfight.com)Moreover, he turned things around with his knockout win at UFC on ABC 6 and reinserted himself in the title talks. Oddsmakers, and mostly fans are equally split between the two. The only person who erases the doubt – is ‘Eraser’.
Strickland’s victory over Paulo ‘Borrachinha’ Costa in June is the only fight since the loss of the belt to Du Plessis in January. He went 3-0 in 2023 and won the belt in September. Then he lost to DDP. Robert Whittaker lost to Izzy and Du Plessis but won back-to-back fights after that and is hence on a better streak. One of those was Paulo Costa.
Subsequently, Whittaker vs. Costa at the UFC 298 pay-per-view (PPV) in Anaheim was a pure striking clinic. Whereas, Strickland won a lopsided game with a lot of one-sided thumping around. Chimaev is already undefeated. Considering the win over Costa, many see the winner of Whittaker vs. Chimaev leapfrogging Sean Strickland due to this. Given Strickland’s brashness and the blowback, there might not be a real conviction behind his title shot promise after all.
