Dricus Du Plessis was adamant he made the necessary adjustments to his game after losing the middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev, and his UFC Fight Night 281 showed some promising signs.
After dropping gold to Chimaev in a fight in which he was controlled for nearly 22 of the 25 minutes at UFC 319 in August 2025, Du Plessis (24-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) wanted to test his growth against another dominant grappler in former welterweight champion Usman (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC), who moved up for the headliner at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
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Du Plessis showed solid grappling defense by being mindful of his range throughout the fight, hurting Usman multiple times with strikes and stopping all seven takedown attempts en route to a unanimous decision victory. Plenty could be said about what it actually means to beat a 39-year-old Usman who has no UFC wins at 185 pounds, but overall, this was a net positive result for the South African.
Given he defended the title twice before crossing paths with Chimaev, Du Plessis could’ve been miffed that he did not get an immediate rematch. It was understandable given the lopsided nature of the contest, but Du Plessis didn’t complain. Now the situation gets much more interesting, because Chimaev is no longer the champion, and the belt belongs to Sean Strickland, whom Du Plessis has beaten twice since January 2024.
If UFC ran a meritocracy, then it would be a no-brainer. Du Plessis has concrete evidence he’s a better fighter than the person currently holding the belt, and it would almost be a courtesy to Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) to allow him a chance to wipe that from his resume. This is not a meritocracy, though, and the fact is, the most recent Du Plessis vs. Strickland fight at UFC 312 in February 2025 was not the Fight of the Night battle the first one was.
That could easily be pushed aside if Du Plessis was alone in the title queue. But he’s not. Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is openly campaigning for a rematch against Strickland after his UFC 328 defeat in May, and “The Wolf” carries star power that might push that into existence, despite his credentials not equalling Du Plessis’.
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Then there’s the case of Nassourdine Imavov, who has never had his chance to fight for the belt and is frankly overdue. Imavov (17-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is unbeaten in six fights dating back to January 2023, and is riding three straight wins over Caio Borralho, Israel Adesanya and Brendan Allen. He deserves his chance, too, but lacks the promotability of both Du Plessis and Chimaev, so he’s far from a shoo-in.
So how does this shake out? It’s anyone’s guess. UFC could realistically pick any of the three candidates to face Strickland, but if the power was on this side, Imavov would get the shot, Chimaev would move up to the light heavyweight division as he initially claimed after UFC 328, and Du Plessis would settle up a longtime beef with the aforementioned Brendan Allen, who posted “DDP sucks” moments after the win and got a dismissive retort.
Allen (27-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC) may not be everyone’s cup of tea from a personality or stylistic standpoint, but the man is a winner. He’s got more victories than anyone on the UFC roster this decade, and has won 10 of his past 12 inside the octagon.
There is a genuine disdain between Du Plessis and Allen that radiates off both sides. Now is the time to make them fight, and there would be zero question or debate about whether the winner should get a title shot.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Dricus Du Plessis after UFC OKC win?
