During his title line, Dricus Du Plessis made it clear that he wants to accept the biggest challenges for him.
His third title defense this weekend at UFC 319 is proof of this, because he accepts a man that many expect to wear UFC Gold for a while.
Du Plessis believes that he can uncover the weaknesses of Khamzat Chimaev to give the undefeated challenger his first loss in the octhoek.
With the amount of hype around Chimaev, this will only help du Plessis' offer to cement himself as the largest middleweight of all time.
Although 'Borz' is a huge threat that the South African champion is not lightly, there is another candidate who could be the dark horse of the middleweight division.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Dricus Du Plessis praises Anthony Hernandez and says that his recent victory inspired him
Last weekend at the UFC Apex, Anthony Hernandez put his name in the title photo with a statement victory.
'Fluffy' dominated Roman Dolidze and submitted him to earn his eighth consecutive victory, which led to Dricus du Plessis giving him props on social media.
What a version of Fluffy!
– Dricus du Plessis (@Dricusduplessis) 10 August 2025
View tweet
In a recent interview with the MMA Guru, Du Plessis spoke about his waste about other hunters and how he only does it when others are critical of him.
To give an example, he spoke about how he was impressed by the newest victory of Hernandez, despite the fact that they could be rejected in the Octagon in the near future.
'Anthony Hernandez for example. He is in my weight. I am willing to kill someone in my weight distribution, I don't mind. But he is a nice guy. I never met him, but he looks like a cool guy. I love his personality.
“His fight was incredible. I got inspiration on that. I looked at it and I went:” I can learn something from that. “There is something there. I think this man has the chance to defeat, and I would put my money on him to defeat someone in the top five.”
Anthony Hernandez will be cagesside for UFC 319 this weekend
After his incredible performance last weekend, Anthony Hernandez made it clear that he wants the next chance of the title of the middleweight.
Although there are several other feasible contenders in the mix, his hope to get his first title fight got a boost immediately after his victory.
'Fluffy' told the media in his press conference after the fight that the UFC would fly to Chicago so that he can be present for UFC 319.
There are no guarantees that he will be in line the next one, but it has brought him in a good position to be in the middle of the conversations about what the next is for the winner of the main event.