Former champ: 'Khamzat Chimaev definitely doesn't deserve a rematch with Sean Strickland
Earlier this month, at UFC 328, the middleweight belt changed hands. Former champion Sean Strickland handed Khamzat Chimaev his first career loss and became a two-time titleholder. The title bout ended in a split decision and most of the time that would lead to an immediate rematch.
Strickland has said that he will not grant Chimaev a rematch and former titleholder Dricus Du Plessis doesn't think the Chechen deserves one. "I couldn't believe it was a split decision. It was a very clear three rounds for Strickland and two rounds for Khamzat," Du Plessis told Fight Forecast .
"I think a lot of aura (for Chimaev) was lost, but Khamzat's still an incredible, incredible fighter. " "With Khamzat, he says one thing, then he says another thing. He said he's moving up to 205 to Dana [White] but now he's calling Strickland for a rematch.
I don't think he deserves a rematch. He definitely doesn't because he has no title defenses, zero. So, it doesn't justify a rematch at all," he said.
Du Plessis believes Chimaev may have to make adjustments to his fighting style moving forward and that "Borz" is at a crossroads. "This fight is going to go one of two ways for him. Is this going to break him, or is it going motivate him to say, 'Listen, I can't just rely on my wrestling.