One of the biggest potential fights that Dana White has on his hands is the middleweight title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. The Chechnyan-born star had been calling for a title shot for a while now, and after demolishing former champ Robert Whittaker, he left no doubt that he was indeed next in line. “Dana, what’s wrong with the UFC, man? Just give me the belt,” said a hungry Chimaev after UFC 308, who wanted to etch his name in UFC history. Well, the 31-year-old was reportedly going to get his due during International Fight Week at UFC 317, but it seems like that fight’s in jeopardy.
If we take a look at Chimaev’s recent past, he’s often deemed to be a bit ‘unreliable’ because of the many times his fights have gotten canceled or postponed, either due to his health issues or weight cut misses. His last outing is a perfect example of that claim, as ‘Borz’ was initially scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker in the main event in UFC’s first Saudi Arabia show. But that ended up getting postponed to UFC 308. But this time, it’s the other way around because reigning kingpin Dricus Du Plessis appears to be facing an injury crisis.
According to veteran journalist Kevin Iole, he claimed to be “hearing Dricus Du Plessis is injured.” However, Iole mentioned that there’s no confirmation of that speculation, so neither has the UFC commented on it publicly. But Chimaev’s reaction to the rumor on X was self-explanatory, that the South African was indeed nursing an undisclosed injury. “This guy biggest bul—it,” Chimaev tweeted with a facepalm emoji.
But in the meantime, UFC legend Michael Bisping has come out to insinuate that Dana White has already planned a backup fighter for Chimaev, and he’s also undefeated, but only in the UFC. For the unversed, the leader of the ‘Fighting Nerds’, Caio Borralho, had previously revealed to Daniel Cormier that he’s also going to compete during International Fight Week. While it’s not official yet, Bisping claimed that ‘The Natural’ has revealed Nassourdine Imavov as his opponent, which is a pretty big fight, since they’re top-ranked contenders. The winner might go on to challenge for the belt eventually, but ‘The Count’ believes that White might put Borralho in the main event.
“That’s a perfect fight [Chimaev vs Du Plessis] for International Fight Week, and also, Caio Borralho was just talking to Daniel Cormier, and he said that he’s fighting Imavov,” Michael Bisping stated on his YouTube channel. “Now, the beauty of that matchup being on International Fight Week is that if Dricus fights Khamzat and somebody gets injured, then they’ve automatically got a short-notice replacement on the card, ready to go.”
Moreover, the Brazilian juggernaut came forward and called out Chimaev to fight at UFC 317 for the interim 185lbs title. Apart from this, Borralho has proven to be a worthy contender for the title, besides Chimaev, who currently sports an 8-fight winning streak in Dana White’s promotion. So, putting him in the main event against the undefeated Chechen is a great fight for the fans. Borralho would be looking to make full use of this opportunity should White decide to go down this route. Moreover, the Brazilian star has also claimed that Chimaev had no issues with his idea to put gold on the line for the main event fight. Let’s take a look at that front!
Caio Borralho claims Khamzat Chimaev has ‘agreed’ to his idea
Dana White may have to introduce another interim belt for UFC 317 because Khamzat Chimaev seems to like the idea of it, according to Caio Borralho. Since it’s a PPV event, having gold on the line in the headliner will unquestionably raise the stakes, and the fight will mean something more than just being a short-notice replacement fight. “Khamzat said yes! The only thing that makes sense is the Interim belt! This fight is gonna be bigger than him vs Dricus! Marks my words,” Borralho stated on X.
The concept of an interim title in the UFC is quite polarizing. The heavyweight division, for instance, has two champions who haven’t fought each other yet to unify the belts. In fact, Tom Aspinall has even defended his interim belt once while Jon Jones defended his undisputed title against Stipe Miocic. But then again, the show must go on, and given the uncertainty surrounding when Dricus Du Plessis might return, Dana White might just put a belt up for grabs at UFC 317.
Well, what do you think about Caio Borralho as the replacement for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 317? He’s produced some amazing performances, and there’s hardly any doubt about how exciting a fight between him and Khamzat Chimaev can be. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Dana White’s Backup Plan to Save UFC 317 Revealed as Dricus Du Plessis Injury Puts Khamzat Chimaev Fight in Jeopardy appeared first on EssentiallySports.
