Dricus du Plessis says Whittaker win won't mean title shot

Dricus du Plessis will not be defending his title against Robert Whittaker if he beats Khamzat Chimaev at UFC on ABC 6.

Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) will face Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) on June 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a bout that is expected to be one of the top contenders in the middleweight division.

UFC middleweight champion du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has expressed interest in Chimaev as a title challenger, but after beating Whittaker by TKO less than a year ago, du Plessis isn't looking to see him as his next opponent.

“If Whittaker wins, I would like to fight Khamzat,” du Plessis told Fight Wave. “In my opinion, even if Whittaker beats Khamzat, I don't think he would be eligible for a title fight. To be honest, I would like to see him and Strickland fight as number one contenders.”

Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) is scheduled to make his first title defense against Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia on August 17. The only UFC champion from South Africa said he is ready and doesn't know why the fight has not been announced yet.

“Yes, I'm in, I'm ready,” du Plessis said. “I've agreed to it all, I'm ready and I want to do it. It's the fight I want. I called him out after I won the belt, it's the fight the fans want to see and at the end of the day it's the fight I want to take, it's who I want to fight so from my perspective, let's announce it. I don't know what's the delay. Let's announce it.”

“I don't know. I said yes, 100 percent. I don't know his side of it. I don't know what the story is. I don't know what's causing the delay. Maybe the UFC is waiting on something, I'm not sure. At the end of the day, I agreed to it. If they called me today and I was offered a second fight with Sean Strickland, I would say 'great, let's do it.' If they said 'no, wait, I'm doing the Khamzat fight,' that's great.”

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