Sean Strickland has confirmed that he will be rematching middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis sometime next year. ‘Tarzan’, of course, defeated Israel Adesanya in perhaps the biggest upset in recent memory to become the new middleweight champion last year.

But in January this year, Strickland lost his title to the South African via an incredibly close, razor-thin, and controversial split decision at UFC 297. Even Dana White thought the decision should have gone ‘Tarzan’s way, and that is why there have been calls for a rematch between the two ever since.

And while an immediate rematch didn’t happen, with Strickland fighting Paulo Costa and ‘DDP’ resolving his bad blood with Israel Adesanya over the year, the much-awaited Du Plessis-Strickland 2 bout is finally on the card. No details, however, are known as of yet, Stickland confirmed on his Instagram Story.

Du Plessis, of course, has been wanting to defend his title in South Africa, his homeland, since becoming champion. And while many feel Strickland-Du Plessis 2 will be the perfect fight to bring the UFC to Africa, Dana White said recently that they have been having issues with finding an appropriate venue in the country. But there is one thing the UFC will not have trouble finding- the next opponent for the winner of Strickland and Du Plessis’ rematch.

UFC 308 may decide the next middleweight title contender

UFC 308 on October 26, of course, will be headlined by an electrifying matchup between featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and the legendary Max Holloway. And while the co-main event is not a title clash, it will most probably determine who fights for the middleweight title next.

Former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker will take on Khamzat Chimaev in a virtual title eliminator in the second-to-last fight on the card. The duo were originally set to clash on the UFC’s first-ever Saudi Arabia card this June, but that fell through since Chimaev got ‘violently ill.’

And while it has not been confirmed that the winner of Whittaker-Chimaev will fight the winner of Du Plessis-Strickland 2, no one in the division has a better claim to a title shot. Even ‘DDP’ has said that he thinks Whittaker, if he wins at UFC 308, should be the next to fight for the 185-pound title. And it is extremely difficult to argue against that.

Chimaev, on the other hand, sits at #12 in the division at the moment. However, he did win an official number-one title contender bout against Kamaru Usman last year but turned down a UFC 297 clash against then-champion Strickland due to an injury. And now he will have to fight in another contenders bout to get to the promised title shot. When do you think Du Plessis-Strickland 2 will take place? Tell us your best guess in the comments section below.