“Who takes that guy seriously?” Newly crowned Dricus du Plessis brushes off Khamzat Chimaev’s callouts after UFC 297

New middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis scoffs at Khamzat Chimaev's call-out for a title shot.

“Who takes that guy seriously?” Newly crowned Dricus du Plessis brushes off Khamzat Chimaev’s callouts after UFC 297

Dricus Du Plessis disregards Khamzat Chimaev worthy of title shot yet again (Source: IMAGO/UFC.go.com/Instagram, @ESPNMMA)

Dricus Du Plessis bagged a split decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 to become the new champion. It was a close fight, and some felt the scorecards should have resulted in a victory for Strickland. Du Plessis remains focused on his immediate future, which does not have Khamzat Chimaev in it.

Speaking at the UFC 297 post-fight presser, the battered and bruised champion talked about plans following the title win. ‘Stillknocks’ reverted to the possibility of a quick turnaround on the historic UFC 300 card. Recently, Chimaev started calling for a title shot. He did the same after Du Plessis won the title. This is how ‘Stillknocks’ responded:

Yeah, I don’t want to put a timeline on it, but UFC 300 sounds amazing...[on Chimaev's challenge] Yeah, but he said that to Jon Jones...Who takes that guy seriously?
Dricus Du Plessis via UFC 297 post-fight press conference
YouTube video

The Chechen’s random callouts have irritated the new champion. His drastic failure to dominate Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 made Du Plessis feel Chimaev was not worthy of the next title shot. Instead, the new middleweight champion wants to hash it out with old rival Israel Adesanya.

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Dricus talked about wanting to return as soon as possible, hinting at UFC 300. However, it might not be wise to return so quickly after a brutal battle. It could possibly become a recipe for a disaster. On the other hand, it remains to be seen if the UFC decides to hand Chimaev the next title shot.

Khamzat Chimaev calls out UFC 297 victor Dricus Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis made history by winning the UFC gold. Going up against Sean Strickland, the fighter performed admirably. Though the duo came to blows equivocally, the South African was awarded a split-decision victory over the opponent. The decision did have some controversy. However, no one can deny the fight was close and could have gone either way.

Dricus Du Plessis gets a callout, after his recent victory (UFC 297) over Sean Strickland
Dricus Du Plessis gets a callout, after his recent victory (UFC 297) over Sean Strickland (Source: Twitter/ESPN.com)

However, fresh off his win, Du Plessis already had his first callout for his maiden title defense in Khamzat Chimaev. The 13-0 welterweight out of Allstars Training Center recently took this X account to present an open challenge. Check out the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1748958122129883500?s=20

If Israel Adesanya decides to return, he will receive a title match. He was a longtime champion and had heated moments with Du Plessis. Hence, from a business standpoint, Du Plessis vs. Adesanya makes sense. If the UFC decides to go that route, Chimaev might have to fight someone again before receiving a title shot.

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