Dricus du Plessis, Khamzat Chimaev's Next Best Fights After UFC 319 Results

The Khamzat Chimaev era in the middleweight division officially kicked off at UFC 319. Borz claimed his first undisputed title with a unanimous decision win over Dricus du Plessis in the main event.

Now what?

Chimaev's potential to win a title has been a topic of conversation since his unique debut in 2020 when he racked up three finishes in a little over two months. Weight cutting issues and illness have been the only thing to keep him from reaching his goal of becoming a champion any earlier.

His undefeated record and relentless style give him the tools to become a superstar now that he's champion. The biggest question is who will get the first crack at taking away his crown.

Here, we'll take a look at the best three options for that fight as well as where the vanquished champion goes from here.

Chimaev's Next Best Opponents

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• Sean Strickland
• Reinier de Ridder
• Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho winner

Let's start with the obvious. Anyone fighting Chimaev in the middleweight division now is going to be a massive underdog. Du Plessis was a qualified champion with wins over some of the biggest names in the division.

Even with the loss to Chimaev, he has a better resume than anyone on the list.

But it's not in Chimaev's best interest to see du Plessis in an immediate rematch. Moving on and giving time for du Plessis to build momentum for that fight is the better play.

There's already a natural rivalry brewing with Sean Strickland. He might not be the most deserving since his last fight was a loss to du Plessis, but the two have already waged a verbal war in the media.

Strickland's cardio and durability would provide an interesting contrast to Chimaev's relentless attack.

If Chimaev is willing to go with a little less name recogntion than Reinier de Ridder and the winner of the September 6 bout between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho are probably the best options.

De Ridder just drew attention with a split-decision victory over Robert Whittaker. Imavov has a recent win over Israel Adesanya under his belt and could get another ranked win over Borralho in September.

Du Plessis' Next Best Opponents

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• Robert Whittaker
• Reinier de Ridder
• Anthony Hernandez

The UFC could decide to go one of two ways with Du Plessis. The South African was a good champion for the organization and probably deserves some say in the direction he wants to go.

The first option would be a rematch against fellow middleweight veteran Robert Whittaker. The Reaper is coming off losses to De Ridder and Chimaev, but a win over Du Plessis would get him right back into the thick of things.

For Du Plessis, it's an opportunity to ease himself back into the spotlight against someone he has already beaten. He earned a second-round TKO victory over Whittaker at UFC 290 in 2023.

The alternate route is to take on one of the up-and-comers head on.

Du Plessis weighed in on De Ridder's decision win going into his title defense by noting that the decision could have gone either way. However, he also went out of his way to highlight how impressive Hernandez was in his recent win over Rome Dolidze.

Picking up a win over either of those fighters would remind fans that he's still one of the best fighters at 185 pounds. Building interest in a rematch should be his primary goal.