It looks like the chaos in the UFC’s middleweight division has finally come to a rest because of the news that Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus Du Plessis will be fighting this year! They are expected to clash this year for the middleweight champion’s title defense. They were initially rumored to headline UFC 317 next month, before recent injury rumors postponed the middleweight matchup to a card later this summer.

Meanwhile, the feud between the duo is simmering, and they have been taking jibes at each other on social media well before getting inside the cage. The Chechen warrior reacted to the perception that du Plessis is preparing for a grappling-heavy battle while speaking to Adam Zubayraev. He said, “Let them prep for war, I’m prepping for murder.” ‘Stillknocks’ was ready with his answer and posted the same on social media in an Instagram comment. “[LAUGHS] Wow, that’s the first time I’ve heard that one! Shakespeare in the house,” du Plessis replied.

On the other hand, the confirmation of the title defense came from the South African champion himself. DDP was seen saying in the interview with Kevin K aka @realkevink, “We have a date but we have a potential of two dates. I already agreed to both. A lot of people saying, is it this year? I said yes. 100% it’s not far away it’s not that far away the announcement will be made soon and me and UFC we have known this all the.”

He also addressed the rumours about his injury and said, “All these rumours that came out of injuries, I don’t know where they came from. It was ridiculous, I was like okay, and I just left it for like a week, and then I was like okay, everybody had their fun, now you look stupid.”

‘Stillknocks’ further said that he had spoken to the UFC and agreed on a date a while ago and was just waiting for the paperwork. Du Plessis also mentioned that a maximum of four months was the timeline for this fight to happen.

The initial reports pointed to the champ suffering a shin injury during training. This likely postponed their plans for the UFC 317 title fight. But now that DDP cleared the speculations, the fight is definitely going to happen, even if nothing is on paper yet. Amid all of this, a rising middleweight star gave his prediction on the winner of this bout.

Renier de Ridder gives his thoughts on DDP vs Chimaev as Dana announces the match

Dana White recently revealed that the two 185lbs phenoms are going to clash soon! “We all know that a fight’s happening. The du Plessis vs. Khamzat fight is happening. It’s just not happening in International Fight Week. That fight’s done.” the bossman said at the UFC Kansas City presser. 

DDP is already in fight camp, and according to his coach, they are preparing for a grappling-heavy match. “We want to fight him on the floor. That’s the only way to prove that you’re a real champion….So yeah, we want to fight Khamzat on the floor. That’s the plan.” Visser spoke to Submission Radio. 

Rising middleweight star Reinier de Ridder has some clarification on how this match up might look in reality. In an interview with MMA Fighting, de Ridder said that he had trained with both the middleweight stars and declared that ‘Borz’ would definitely come out blazing in a five-round clash. However, he did not underestimate the South African and said, “Dricus is not that easy to take down. He moves very well, although it looks a bit funny at times. His footwork is not that bad. He gets out. He circles pretty well.”

Indeed, Chimaev starts very strong and tosses the kitchen sink against his opponents. On the other hand, du Plessis has an unpredictable and explosive style of fighting, and never seems to gas out. So, who do you think is going to win? Will it be DDP or Chimaev? Share your thoughts in the comments below.