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Dricus Du Plessis sees no controversy in the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland outcome.
Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) pulled off the big upset when he dethroned Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) to become middleweight champion in the UFC 328 main event earlier this month at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Strickland won the fight by split decision, where Round 5 was the deciding factor. The media scores on MMA Decisions were almost split dead even, but Du Plessis is surprised to see one judge award the fight to Chimaev.
"Crazy thing is where people go, 'Oh, it was a robbery,'" Du Plessis said on Fight Forecast. "I can't believe it was a split decision. It was a very clear three rounds for Strickland, two rounds for Khamzat. That was it, and it was a great fight.
"I think Strickland did what most people thought he couldn't do, but I just had the feeling being in there with both of these guys, both of them are phenomenal at what they do. I just think that Strickland was better being able to be all around than Khamzat in that fight."
Chimaev initially eyed a move up to light heavyweight, but changed his tune and called for a rematch against Strickland. Du Plessis, who will look to re-enter the title picture in his next fight, isn't keen on the idea of an immediate rematch for Chimaev.
"I think a lot of aura was lost in that, but I mean, Khamzat's still an incredible, incredible fighter," Du Plessis said. "People don't necessarily enjoy that fighting style, but he's so dominant, he has been. This fight is going to go one of two ways for him. Is this going to break him or is this going to motivate him to say, 'Listen, I can't just rely on my wrestling, I need to fight MMA,' because that is at the end of the day where this sport is heading. The wrestling guys have been so dominant that everybody's starting to catch up.
"For Khamzat, he said he wants to go to 205. The easier route for sure, just to take off the burden of a weight cut, but I don't know. I honestly don't know. You know with Khamzat, he says one thing, then he says another thing. He said he's moving up to 205 to Dana, but now he's calling Strickland for a rematch. I don't think he deserves a rematch. He definitely doesn't because he has no title defenses, zero. So, it doesn't justify a rematch at all, but it's going to be interesting to see what he does next."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dricus Du Plessis: Sean Strickland very clearly beat Khamzat Chimaev
Continue reading...
Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) pulled off the big upset when he dethroned Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) to become middleweight champion in the UFC 328 main event earlier this month at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Strickland won the fight by split decision, where Round 5 was the deciding factor. The media scores on MMA Decisions were almost split dead even, but Du Plessis is surprised to see one judge award the fight to Chimaev.
"Crazy thing is where people go, 'Oh, it was a robbery,'" Du Plessis said on Fight Forecast. "I can't believe it was a split decision. It was a very clear three rounds for Strickland, two rounds for Khamzat. That was it, and it was a great fight.
"I think Strickland did what most people thought he couldn't do, but I just had the feeling being in there with both of these guys, both of them are phenomenal at what they do. I just think that Strickland was better being able to be all around than Khamzat in that fight."
Chimaev initially eyed a move up to light heavyweight, but changed his tune and called for a rematch against Strickland. Du Plessis, who will look to re-enter the title picture in his next fight, isn't keen on the idea of an immediate rematch for Chimaev.
"I think a lot of aura was lost in that, but I mean, Khamzat's still an incredible, incredible fighter," Du Plessis said. "People don't necessarily enjoy that fighting style, but he's so dominant, he has been. This fight is going to go one of two ways for him. Is this going to break him or is this going to motivate him to say, 'Listen, I can't just rely on my wrestling, I need to fight MMA,' because that is at the end of the day where this sport is heading. The wrestling guys have been so dominant that everybody's starting to catch up.
"For Khamzat, he said he wants to go to 205. The easier route for sure, just to take off the burden of a weight cut, but I don't know. I honestly don't know. You know with Khamzat, he says one thing, then he says another thing. He said he's moving up to 205 to Dana, but now he's calling Strickland for a rematch. I don't think he deserves a rematch. He definitely doesn't because he has no title defenses, zero. So, it doesn't justify a rematch at all, but it's going to be interesting to see what he does next."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dricus Du Plessis: Sean Strickland very clearly beat Khamzat Chimaev
Continue reading...
