Outside Source
While Imavov (17-4) has long been a deserving contender, he is yet to fight for UFC gold. Du Plessis believes “The Sniper” has sealed a title shot for himself with his last win over Caio Borralho. While Du Plessis believes a fight between Imavov and Chimaev will be interesting, he is confident that the champion will successfully defend his title.
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“Imavov’s getting the title shot,” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast. “I think that’s the only thing that makes sense now, is Imavov getting a shot at the belt. I think it’s gonna be an interesting fight. I think Khamzat wins that fight, for sure.”
Du Plessis (23-3) won the middleweight title against Sean Strickland last year and successfully defended it against Israel Adesanya and in a rematch against Strickland. “Stillknocks” lost his title to Chimaev (15-0) this past August via a lopsided decision, marking the end of a nine-fight unbeaten UFC run.
He Did What He Had to Do
Imavov faced Borralho a month later at UFC Paris in a clear title eliminator. While Du Plessis had picked Borralho, Imavov earned a unanimous decision win. However, Du Plessis wasn’t impressed with the fight overall.
“We have Imavov and Caio fighting… Not a great fight in my opinion,” Du Plessis said. “There was moments of brilliance, make no mistake. And I picked Caio Borralho to win that fight. But it’s just that on the night he didn’t show up. Well done to Imavov for winning that fight, he did what he had to do.”
🚨 Dricus Du Plessis talks about the current state of the middleweight division, and says he wants to return in March/April 2026 👀
“Right now, you don’t have anybody who’s consistently winning. That’s the problem. How do you pick a contender… the consistency isn’t there.
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 15, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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