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Du Plessis lost his middleweight title to Chimaev at UFC 319 this past August via a lopsided unanimous decision. Chimaev controlled “Stillknocks” on the ground for over 21 minutes through five rounds. The South African later said that he just needs to rebound with a big win to get a title shot. However, De Ridder believes that might not suffice for du Plessis if Chimaev is still the champion. “The Dutch Knight” says Du Plessis will have to display the ability to work on the ground before he can fight Chimaev again.
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“If the belt can change hands, then he has a good chance of fighting for it again,” De Ridder told Full Send MMA. “But for the Khamzat fight, he might have to demonstrate somewhat of an option when he gets to his back before he fights Khamzat again. So maybe he needs to let somebody take him down and show that he’s worked on his jiu-jitsu on the bottom. But it wasn’t good this time.”
De Ridder was originally scheduled to headline UFC Vancouver against Anthony Hernandez in a potential title eliminator. However, Brendan Allen (25-7) replaced “Fluffy,” who was forced out with an injury. De Ridder finished his first three Ultimate Fighting Championship opponents before roping in a split decision over former champ Robert Whittaker.
Meanwhile, Allen is coming off a decision win over Marvin Vettori that saw him rebound from back-to-back losses against top contenders Nassordine Imavov and Hernandez.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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