Dricus Du Plessis eager to “take out the boogeyman” Khamzat Chimaev if he beats Sean Strickland at UFC 297

Dricus Du Plessis believes Khamzat Chimaev will be his first title defense should he beat Sean Strickland at UFC 297.

Du Plessis is set to headline the first pay-per-view of 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as he faces the middleweight champion in Strickland. It’s an intriguing fight and one that the oddsmakers have Strickland as a short favorite in. However, Du Plessis has plenty of confidence that he will get a stoppage win.

Should Dricus Du Plessis get the finish at UFC 297 against Sean Strickland and become the next middleweight champion, he believes his first title defense would be against Khamzat Chimaev. Although Chimaev is undefeated and someone many have dubbed a future champ, Du Plessis says he’d love the chance to hand ‘Borz’ his first loss.

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“I think the UFC is probably going to want to do Khamzat. He’s a big draw and they said if he won the fight against Usman he would get a title shot,” Dricus Du Plessis said to James Lynch. “If that’s the fight, I would gladly as champion take out the boogeyman, it would be a massive pleasure. I think that is probably what they want to be doing and will see if it plays out that way. For now, I have one target and that target is Sean Strickland.”

If Dricus Du Plessis does get the win and gets booked against Khamzat Chimaev, the South African believes his strength and size will be the difference.

“He’s going to try and take me down, as he should. I don’t think he realized the power difference between 170 and 185. In terms of style, he tries to outpower everybody he fights because he wants to show how strong he is. If he fights me and fights that way, he will find out what strength really feels like,” Du Plessis said.

But, before Du Plessis can even fight Chimaev, he will need to beat Strickland on Jan. 20 at UFC 297.