Dricus du Plessis, Sean Strickland's Next Best Fights After UFC 312 Results
Dricus du Plessis put any question about his first fight with Sean Strickland to rest at UFC 312. He walked away from their rematch as the champion with a dominant unanimous decision win over Strickland.
Du Plessis' title reign earned another layer of respectability with the win. His title reign now includes two wins over Strickland and a win over Israel Adesanya backed by a 11-fight win streak that extends back to 2018.
There are plenty of challenges on the horizon for Stillknocks, though.
The middleweight division has a few rising contenders and intriguing names for Du Plessis to fight when he's ready to get back in the cage.
This is a devastating loss for Strickland. Two losses to the champion means he has to get to work quickly to get back in the hunt and probably still have to wait for a title change.
Let's take a look at what could be on the horizon for both main eventers.
Du Plessis's Next Best Fights
- Khamzat Chimaev
- Nassourdine Imavov
- Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev winner
Now that Du Plessis has closed the book on his rivalry with Strickland he can turn his focus to a long-awaited opponent: Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC president Dana White acknowledged with the media that Chimaev is "in line" for a title shot. The Dagestani star is 14-0, but has yet to fight for a championship. His first-round win over Robert Whittaker in his last bout makes him a hard contender to ignore.
Du Plessis told reporters that he was "hoping and praying for" Chimaev to be his next opponent before the Strickland fight materialized. Now his prayers could be coming true in a massive middleweight collision.
The only person who could spoil Chimaev's chances of getting his championship date is Nassourdine Imavov. The 29-year-old old stunned the division with a second-round TKO win over Israel Adesanya to kick off February.
If Chimaev has any difficulty staying healthy or is difficult in negotiations then Imavov would be a logical replacement.
The wildcard in all of this would be the off chance that Du Plessis wants to test himself at light heavyweight. Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev are set to fight in March and the winner will be looking for the next big fight to make.
Pereira chose to come and corner Sean Strickland in the main event. There's a potential narrative there that would be an easy sell.
Strickland's Next Best Fights
- Robert Whittaker
- Israel Adesanya
- Nassourdine Imavov
The ideal fight for Strickland would involve staying in the limelight. Losing to Du Plessis in two of his last three fights is going to make it tough for him to get back in the title picture.
If the UFC give him someone with no name recognition and he doesn't win, it would pretty much end any chance of contending again. So targeting a big name or rising star would be the best-case scenario for Strickland as he tries to rebuild his resume.
Robert Whittaker would make a ton of sense. He is coming off a devastating loss himself. Khamzat Chimaev beat him with a face crank in the firs round of their UFC 308 fight. Getting the Aussie back in the cage against Strickland would give both fighters a chance at a bounce-back performance.
The thought process behind including Adesanya on this list is similar. Things are falling apart quickly for the former champion and it started with his loss to Strickland. Since then, he's lost to Du Plessis and Nassourdine Imavov.
The last of those losses was by second-round TKO. Strickland isn't likely to knock out Adesanya and it would give The Last Stylebender a chance to redeem himself and get back on the right track. This might be a good time for the rematch.
At the same time, Imavov would be a good matchup as well. If Chimaev wasn't waiting then Imavov could probably parlay his win over Adesanya into a title shot. Instead, he has to wait. Strickland isn't an easy out, but Tarzan would likely be a considerable underdog.
However, it might be Strickland's best shot at staying relevant and in the mix.