Joe Rogan has questioned whether Dricus Du Plessis can stop one key Khamzat Chimaev trait if the pair finally square-off in the Octagon.
Du Plessis defended his middleweight title in a rematch with Sean Strickland at UFC 312 on Sunday, outpointing the American to secure a comfortable unanimous decision win.
It was the second time Du Plessis had shared the octagon with Strickland, having also beaten him in January last year at UFC 297 to win his belt in what was a more closely contested affair.
The South African is undefeated in Dana White’s promotion and his nine-fight UFC winning run at middleweight is the longest active streak in the division.
‘Stillknocks’ has steamrolled his way thought the 185-pound division, but the next time he puts his belt on the line his opponent will be his toughest yet.
Khamzat Chimaev is undefeated in 14 professional MMA fights, as well as being undefeated in his eight UFC bouts.
UFC commentator and podcaster Rogan believes Chimaev’s wrestling is at the ‘highest level’ in the sport, but failed to make an outright selection for a fight with du Plessis.
“Can Dricus stop that takedown?” Rogan said on JRE Fight Companion during UFC 312.
“…It’s hard to say because we don’t know what would happen with Khamzat.
“Khamzat just shoots from like 15 feet away and gets a hold of your legs so quick.
“You’ve got to think that his endurance is probably going to be better at 185 [lbs] than it was at 170 because of the cut for Khamzat.
“185 is really where he should have been all the way along.”
Rogan was then asked by former UFC fighter Matt Serra if Du Plessis has fought anyone of Chimaev’s calibre.
“No. We haven’t seen Dricus fight anyone of that level,” Rogan responded. “But Khamzat’s the highest level in the sport…
“He’s [Du Plessis] a tough puzzle, a very tough fighter to work out.”
Brendan Schaub, who is also a former UFC fighter, didn’t sit on the fence, as he said he would give du Plessis ‘the advantage’ over ‘Borz’.
Ahead of Du Plessis’ rematch with Strickland, UFC President White seemingly confirmed that Chimaev was next for a middleweight title shot.
“Obviously he’s in line,” White said when asked by a member of the media when asked if Chimaev was officially next.
No confirmation of the title fight has been made by UFC yet, but the pair have gone back and forth in the aftermath of UFC 312.
Before the fight, Chimaev posted an AI generated image of him staring at Du Plessis squaring off with Strickland to hint that he was waiting for his title shot.
During the fight, he said: “Biggest bulls*** is this fight,” with yawning emojis, admitting that he was bored of the main event clash.
Du Plessis responded: “I’ll see you when I see you,” when speaking to Full Send MMA.
“I hope we can make it happen at International Fight Week,” he added at UFC 312’s post-fight press conference, providing a potential timeline for when the fight could happen.
International Fight Week is an annual UFC event that takes place in June or July and includes a UFC Hall of Fame ceremony.
“When his tweets make sense, it’s his agent, and when it’s random English words, it’s him,” Du Plessis added.
“He called it a bulls*** fight; well, try and get to a fight. He couldn’t get the welterweight title and he’s definitely not getting the middleweight title.
“Talk about a waste of potential.”
Chimaev shattered Robert Whittaker’s jaw into pieces with a rear naked choke during his last victory at UFC 308 in October.
This came almost exactly a year after he secured a majority decision win over former UFC champion Kamaru Usman.
Should Du Plessis and Chimaev clash for the UFC middleweight title this summer, only one will come out with their perfect record intact.