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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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It’s been a little over two months since Sean Strickland edged Khamzat Chimaev via split decision to win the UFC middleweight championship.
Handing Chimaev the first loss of his pro MMA career was a big feather in Stickland’s cap, but it also is causing a bit of controversy as well.
Despite there being a strong list of worthy contenders for Strickland’s belt — Dricus du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, Joe Pyfer, Brendan Allen — some momentum has been building toward giving Chimaev a chance to avenge his loss.
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Some fight fans would gladly sign up for Strickland-Chimaev II, however, du Plessis, the No. 1-ranked middleweight challenger, doesn’t want to see the UFC run that fight back — and he feels pretty strongly about it.
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“Between Sean and Khamzat, there’s no title defenses,” du Plessis said, via MMA Fighting. “I defended my title twice against Strickland once and against [Israel] Adesanya. The Khamzat rematch is ridiculous, it doesn’t make any sense. If they do it, I mean, it’s ridiculous. It would be crazy. Let them do what they need to do. I’ll just fight my way back. After my performance, let my performance speak.
“That’s the thing, right now I don’t have anything to say. I can’t really say anything because I got beaten in my last fight. You can’t really say too much. … I’ll do my talking then and I’ll prove once again why I’m the best in the world.”
To du Plessis’ point, the last three middleweight title fights — and four of the last five — have featured himself, Chimaev, and Strickland, and fans likely want to see some new names fight for the belt.
It’s also possible the UFC goes in a different direction — du Plessis will face Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Fight Night 281 on Saturday. Both are former champions, and the winner of that bout could be next in line for a title fight against Strickland.
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