Khamzat Chimaev holds the opinion that the middleweight belt shouldn’t have changed hands during UFC 297. The event’s main attraction featured Sean Strickland defending his middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis for the first time.
The bout, which had been a close call in the betting world, turned out to be fiercely competitive, just as anticipated.
Ultimately, Dricus Du Plessis emerged as the new middleweight champion, securing a split-decision victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. Despite this outcome, middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev insists that he believes Strickland deserved to win the fight.
I expected the fight to be like that, nothing special. I think 50-50 could go either way. For me, Strickland won the fight, but it was a close fight. But nothing special, nothing that made me think these guys were somebody.
Both have a lot of things (they need to work on). I see I can finish them both; I go to a fight, and I always try to finish somebody. I didn’t see one of them going crazy trying to finish. They were both going for five rounds,” expressed Chimaev in a conversation with ESPN.
Chimaev believes Strickland secured the first two rounds and the fifth to clinch the win. Nevertheless, he acknowledges the fight’s closeness and the fact that it could have swung either way.
Despite Khamzat Chimaev’s belief in Sean Strickland’s victory, his focus now shifts to Dricus Du Plessis, as he is confident he will be the next in line for a title shot.
“All these guys have fought each other, and only me is undefeated, undisputed. They promised me, after the Usman fight, I will for sure fight for the title. I won that fight, so I don’t know what’s going on. I heard Dana White say, ‘I don’t think Khamzat is next for the title.’ That’s bullshit, man. If you promise me something, you have to answer it.”
Chimaev not only asserts that he deserves the next title shot but has already approached the UFC, expressing his desire for the title fight to take place at UFC 300.
“In my mind, it should be me. I asked Hunter (Campbell) to let me fight at UFC 300. We’ll see what they say,” Chimaev added.
While the UFC hasn’t disclosed the future plans for Dricus Du Plessis, Khamzat Chimaev remains steadfast in his belief that he should be the next contender for the middleweight title.
Chimaev currently holds an undefeated record of 13-0 as a professional and recently secured a decision win over Kamaru Usman upon his return to middleweight.
