Morning Report: Dricus du Plessis on Nassourdine Imavov's Title Shot and the Lack of Consistency in the Middleweight Contenders
Dricus du Plessis is uncertain about his position in the UFC middleweight title picture, and he's not alone. The division is in a state of flux, with top contender Nassourdine Imavov seemingly in the running to challenge current champion Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev, who defeated du Plessis at UFC 319, is yet to announce his first title defense.
Du Plessis believes Imavov deserves the title shot, but he questions the strength of his case in the eyes of fans. He acknowledges that Imavov's recent decision win over Caio Borralho has extended his winning streak to five, but he's not convinced it's a strong enough contender.
"Imavov is getting the title shot," du Plessis said. "I think that’s the only thing that really makes sense now is Imavov getting that shot at the belt. But I think it’s going to be an interesting fight. I think Khamzat wins that fight for sure."
Du Plessis is concerned about the lack of consistency among middleweight contenders. He points out that Imavov and Borralho's fight was a mixed bag, with moments of brilliance and mediocrity. He rates Borralho but acknowledges that he didn't perform well on the night.
"Those two guys stood there and there were moments of brilliance, and I rate Caio Borralho, I picked him to win that fight, but on the night he just didn’t show up. He just didn’t show up. Well done to Imavov for winning that fight, he did what he had to do, but right now you don’t have anybody who’s consistently winning and that’s the problem. How do you pick a contender? You have guys that fight two great fights, one terrible one. The consistency isn’t there, but there’s so many good fighters, it’s just the consistency. Glad it’s not my job to pick the fight."
The middleweight division's lack of consistency is further highlighted by the recent events surrounding Reinier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez. De Ridder suffered an upset loss to Brendan Allen, and Hernandez, who was set to fight in the main event of UFC Vancouver, had to withdraw due to injury. If Hernandez had won in impressive fashion, he could have potentially leapfrogged Imavov in the contender race.
Du Plessis believes that Hernandez's performance against Roman Dolidze, a dominant submission win, was a strong argument for his contender status. However, Hernandez's future in the division is now uncertain as he faces Sean Strickland at UFC Houston in February. Chimaev's next challenger remains to be seen, and du Plessis suggests that the division's lack of consistency makes it difficult to predict.
"Then of course you have Hernandez, the de Ridder fight, which would have been an amazing fight, great fight," du Plessis said. "I heard Strickland say that he’s fighting Hernandez, that will be an amazing fight because Strickland to get down is one thing, to keep him there, he’s really good at that."
In other news, the report touches on various topics, including boxing sagas involving Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, the suspension of PFL champion Movlid Khaybulaev for a positive drug test, grappling victories, and social media highlights from the MMA community.
