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Dricus Du Plessis said he knows he can beat Khamzat Chimaev after their first bout saw Chimaev win the UFC Middleweight Championship in August last year.
Du Plessis captured the Middleweight title from Sean Strickland via Split Decision in January 2024, retaining the title over former champion Israel Adesanya and then beating Strickland via Unanimous Decision in a rematch.
But Chimaev beat him to hand him his first UFC defeat in August last year, extending his own unblemished record to 15-0.
“It was obviously horrible,” he said of the defeat in an interview with Ariel Helwani. “I absolutely hated it. But it’s past me now. It’s what I’m about to do…It obviously stung. It hurt me for quite a while. If it didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be the world champion. And that’s also the reason why I am going to be the world champion again, is because I hate losing.”
Du Plessis dismissed the idea that Chimaev was tougher than he expected, feeling he had won the fight until the ten-second clapper went off towards the end.
“When I went out for that last round, I was 100% certain that, ‘I’m gonna stop this guy, I’m gonna knock him out.’ And when I got that takedown, I got on top, got in the choke, and started landing… Just, too little, too late.”
He continued to say that he felt he had his challenger beat, “I could feel when I got on top of him. I could feel he went, ‘Oh s***’ … I know I can make that man quit.”
Du Plessis is still ranked one below Chimaev in the UFC rankings, and could be in line for a rematch at some stage further down the line. Even if there have been calls for Strickland or Nassourdine Imavov to be his first challenger.
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