‘Biggest fight in the UFC’: Fans react to Dricus du Plessis fighting Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Dricus du Plessis enters his next title defense with massive pressure and massive expectations.

The reigning middleweight champion fights the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC 319 on Aug. 16 in Chicago, UFC CEO Dana White announced Tuesday. This will be du Plessis’ third defense of his title after he won it from Sean Strickland at UFC 297.

Du Plessis has established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, with two wins over Strickland, a defense against middleweight great Israel Adesanya, and stoppages of veterans Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, and Darren Till. He is currently on an 11-fight win streak dating back to 2018.

However, Chimaev could be his toughest test yet. The undefeated Chimaev is 14-0 in his career with wins over former UFC champions Whittaker and Kamaru Usman, and has finished all but two of his opponents. Were it not for inactivity, Chimaev would likely have already challenged for a UFC title. He gets his opportunity this August.

Fans are jazzed to see Chimaev (fingers crossed) finally fight for UFC gold, but if du Plessis stops him, it could greatly boost the South African star’s ranking on the all-time middleweight list.

Check out reactions to the UFC 319 main event announcement below.

MJD1989

Biggest fight in the UFC. Couple years overdue on Khamzat’s shot, but we’ll take it

rdb85

Best fight of the year by far

MrJangle

Officially stoked for this one.

theprettyboy

Ilia-Islam would have been bigger but Islam that one. Jones-Aspinall is bigger if it happens but yeah this is #3 and I can’t wait. If DDP somehow survives the first two rounds he has a really good chance.

Cupcake4400

This is gonna be wild. Really hope ddp wins, not only because hazmat would be a terrible champ, but also because ddp is the man. I’m a fan of anyone who makes Sean cry on camera.

hotdog99

Khamzat finally gets and will win the title shot. Wouldn’t surprise me if he snags a 170 and 205 belt, too, during the journey.

Lobo_Summers

I think DDP should be a heavy favorite for this one. I think past round one chimaev decreases considerably.

LaRusso

Excited to see Khamzat FINALLY get a shot. It seemed inevitable that he’d be here, but it just took forever. Hope he stays healthy and has no issues. Khamzat is one of those rare fighters that seem to make the entire sport have to evolve.

Sentinel1

UFC should book the backup fighter now and let Dricus know, so he can prepare for the guy he’s actually going to fight.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply