Dricus du Plessis had a front-row emotional stake in UFC 328 and welcomed Sean Strickland’s victory over Khamzat Chimaev to reclaim the middleweight title.
Strickland defeated Chimaev in the main event to regain the UFC middleweight championship, and video captured du Plessis celebrating the result after previously losing the belt to Chimaev in August.
Reacting to the outcome, du Plessis said, "Fight went exactly the way I thought it would," and praised the new champion’s performance. "Great, great fight by Strickland. Like I said, it’s so hard to keep that man on the ground. He is incredibly tough to hold down. He made Khamzat tired and that’s exactly what happened I knew and like I said in the standup [Khamzat] just won’t be able to hang with him."
Du Plessis, a former UFC middleweight champion with two wins over Strickland including a title-winning performance and a more dominant rematch, added, "Congratulations. I guess this makes me world champion again."
Following the fight, Strickland indicated he wants a break after back-to-back training camps for Chimaev and Anthony Hernandez, and he named Nassourdine Imavov as the likely next middleweight title challenger, identifying Imavov as the top contender for the next shot.
