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UFC 300: Dana White Earns Ex-Title Contender’s Consent to Get Dricus Du Plessis to Defend the MW Title in April- “I Stay Ready”

Published 01/27/2024, 1:20 PM EST

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Dricus Du Plessis has to defend his new shiny belt at some point. Could it be at UFC 300? There is no sure-shot way to tell at the moment. However, UFC CEO Dana White has something big planned for the big pay-per-view and a middleweight title fight would be a big deal. The only problem?
Du Plessis doesn’t really have much of an opponent, so to say. He did call out Israel Adesanya but that sounds like a difficult fight given that ‘Izzy’ is on a break. So who will it be? Here’s a former title contender who’d be happy to fill the role at first notice.

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Will Dana White approve former contender’s wishes?

Dana White and Dricus Du Plessis might have to work together to bring forth a contender. It’s either that, or White could work with his matchmakers and let Jared Cannonier have his shot. The fighter has been out of action for some time due to an MCL injury.

However, he is ready to go now. Not that he’s been cleared by a medical professional yet, but the fighter promised that he will be ready very soon. Now, Cannonier is coming off of two wins, one of which was over Sean Strickland himself, the former champion.

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“. . . My doctor said he’s going to clear me in March,” said Cannonier in an interview with MMA journalist James Lynch. “I think some of the, you know, some of the rumors is that they’re trying to put DDP on 300 right?. . . I stay ready you know okay, to be honest, I’m ready to go right now.”
Cannonier has not been mentioned by White or Du Plessis who even mentioned Alex Pereira, a fighter who no longer graces the division with his in-cage presence. So a title shot for him looks a bit vague in the moment. However, if White is to listen to his wishes, perhaps it could all go down. But will Du Plessis find an opponent as classy as Strickland again?

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Sean Strickland being pure class after his loss

Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis had a fiery rivalry. Shots fired back and forth even involved a cage side brawl. However, once the fight was over, and the results were about to be announced, everything came down to an act of class by Strickland.

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He shook hands with ‘Stillknocks’ and assured him that he had won even before he was announced as the champion. In the end, all of it was professional. Strickland even mentioned in a press conference earlier that it was nothing personal. After all, he dishes out a lot of trash-talk himself, and since he has proven his mettle as a champion, he could certainly take some too. What do you think of Strickland’s wholesome act? And would you like to see Cannonier fight for the title at UFC 300? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Prit Chauhan

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I'm Prit Chauhan, and I'm a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. I've been in the writing business for three years, covering areas like mass media marketing, and even tried my hand at fiction. My experience includes research work at the University of California, Berkeley, which helps me spin fact-based stories about the world of Mixed Martial Arts effortlessly.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen