The middleweight division is potentially in the best place that it has been in for some time now with there being several top contenders.
On August 16, Dricus Du Plessis looks to defend his middleweight title for a third time when he takes on Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event in Chicago.
The fight has been over a year in the making as Du Plessis has been asking the UFC to match him up against ‘Borz’ since he won the title, however, Chimaev’s visa issues up until this point caused delays.
And if ‘Stillknocks’ can successfully hand Chimaev his first ever defeat, he plans on pushing Dana White to grant him his plan of finally hosting an event in Africa.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty ImagesDu Plessis gives praise to middleweight he believes he shares similarities withAs well as talking about potentially headlining the UFC’s first ever event in Africa, the South African has also talked about potentially moving up to the light heavyweight division in the not so distant future.
Despite that, the 185lb division is potentially in the best state that it’s been in for a while, with there being several contenders near the top that could be deserving of a title shot with a win in their next fight.
In September, Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov clash in the UFC Paris main event with the winner likely to fight for the title next.
However, another contender who is on a tear right now and is coming off the back of an impressive win over Robert Whittaker, is former ONE Championship fighter Reinier De Ridder.
Since joining the promotion, De Ridder has won all four of his fights and is now ranked number five in the middleweight division.
And with that, the Dutch fighter has captured the attention of Du Plessis, who used to train with him back in the day.
“I like Reinier on a personal level, I’ve trained with him and he was in the organization that I fought in here in South Africa, he’s a good guy and a good fighter, there’s similarities (between us), people think ‘Oh, he’s never going to do this, oh he looks terrible,’ he’s been proving everyone wrong,” Du Plessis told ShakMMA.
“I think he has a way to go still, beating Robert Whittaker right now doesn’t earn you the title shot,” he continued.
Du Plessis not interested in fighting Imavov vs Borralho winnerAlthough the South African champion believes De Ridder still has one more win to get before he is given a title shot, he also went on to claim that he isn’t very interested in fighting the winner of the UFC Paris main event.
“Imavov has put in some work and Caio Borralho I rate him, I think he’s a really good fighter. I do think Borralho beats Imavov… Neither one of those fights really get me excited right now,” the champion said.
