Six months after losing his UFC middleweight title in a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 319, Dricus Du Plessis has issued a warning to UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev, promising a different outcome in a rematch.

The original clash at UFC 319 on August 16, 2025, was a masterclass in wrestling by Chimaev. Khamzat secured 12 takedowns and racked up over 21 minutes of control time, earning a unanimous decision with scores of 50–44 across the board. Du Plessis admitted he had “no answer” for Chimaev’s wrestling. Du Plessis believes his primary mistake was allowing Chimaev to dictate the pace. In a rematch, his goal is to force the champion into striking where he believes Chimaev’s gas tank will falter.

“Fighting Khamzat again is what I’m after. Am I expecting any surprises? No. There’s not going to be any surprises. That is the way he’s going to fight, and if he tries anything different, it will be a terrible night, and we all know that. But he did what he had to do to win that belt.We can’t hate him for that. It’s the rules of the game and he did. So saying it’s not fair, it is fair. He did what he had to do. Not how I would win my belt or would like to, but that’s what he did. Now it’s my responsibility to go fix that to stop him from doing it again, and get him to fight my fight,” Du Plessis said