Dricus du Plessis preferred Khamzat Chimaev title fight for UFC 312

Dricus du Plessis has his sights set on Khamzat Chimaev, even if he’s already set to face off with another rival.

This past Saturday, the UFC announced that du Plessis (22-2) is set to defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland (29-6) in the main event of UFC 312, which takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 8. It is the second meeting between the two, after du Plessis won a split decision over Strickland this past February at UFC 297 to claim the belt.

On Tuesday, du Plessis took to social media to explain why he is rematching Strickland as opposed to the undefeated Chimaev (currently No. 2 at 185 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and No. 14 in the Pound-for-Pound Rankings).

“Just for clarification I preferred the Khamzat fight but the [Strickland] rematch is a fight most wanted before Khamzat vs Whittaker,” du Plessis wrote. “I’m not unhappy with the UFC’s decision like I said I’ll fight the man fans think is the next best guy he was promised the fight so Strickland it is.”

Though du Plessis and Strickland fought to a close decision in their first meeting, an immediate rematch was not scheduled. Du Plessis went on to successfully defend his title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, while Strickland held on to his spot in the contender line with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302. Following those wins, UFC CEO Dana White told reporters the promotion was planning to match du Plessis and Strickland again.

Chimaev seemingly threw a wrench in those plans with a stunning first-round submission of former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 in October. The dominant performance had fans and fighters buzzing, with some calling for Chimaev to be granted the next middleweight title shot.

It is not yet known if Chimaev will face the winner of the UFC 312 main event, or if he will look to fight again to cement his No. 1 contender spot.

Du Plessis tweeted about the Strickland rematch shortly after it was announced, declaring, “This time they won’t call it a robbery, they’ll call it attempted murder.”