At UFC 310 last Saturday, it was announced during the live broadcast that Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
The news comes after Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev have been going back and forth online, hinting at a possible fight.
Following Chimaev's victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last October, Du Plessis revealed he wanted to fight 'Borz' next instead of Sean Strickland, despite Dana White previously promising Strickland the next shot.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Eric Nicksick comments on the brewing rivalry between Strickland and Chimaev
Since losing his title to 'Stillknocks' in January, Strickland has fought just once since, picking up a split-decision victory over Paulo Costa.
After the passive performance, fans weren't exactly calling for Strickland to get the next chance, as Chimaev was set to face Whittaker after a win against Kamaru Usman.
Chimaev then submitted 'The Reaper' in emphatic fashion in the first round, leading to fans calling for him to get the next shot.
Despite this, Chimaev recently revealed that he would be in Sydney as early as February 9 as he has seminars booked and fan meet and greets planned.
Following the announcement of the UFC 312 main event, Strickland and Chimaev went head to head online, marking the start of a potential rivalry.
The Chechen previously trained with Strickland at Xtreme Couture under head coach Eric Nicksick, and they seemingly got along.
The world-class coach has commented on the growing rivalry between the two, stating that they are 'probably messaging each other' and building a rivalry.
“Of course, yeah (they're trying to build a rivalry), they're probably sending each other messages saying what they're going to say next, who knows, but it seemed like they were getting along just fine when they were training in the gym,” Nicksick told Submission Radio.
“I loved having Khamzat in the gym, I loved having Darren Till in the gym. They took the game to the next level for us, so it was fun and everyone got along, but I understand it now.
“They're there within striking distance of the fight. You might have to build up bad blood among each other to start fighting, but from what I saw, they were all good when they trained together,” Nicksick continued.
Nicksick tells Strickland not to feel sorry for himself ahead of the rematch
Since losing the title, Strickland has continually claimed that the decision was a 'robbery' and that he won the fight.
However, his head coach, Nicksick, has said he needs to stop feeling sorry for himself ahead of the rematch and put the first fight behind him if he wants revenge.
“The point is, stop feeling sorry for yourself, that the story of 'Oh, we got robbed'… The fights are over, DDP has won the title and has now defended the title, so it's almost like a clean, fresh slate,” Nicksick said.
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