Dricus Du Plessis has spent more time inside a cage with Sean Strickland than anyone alive. He went 50 minutes with him across two title fights. So when Du Plessis says Strickland beats Nassourdine Imavov again, I’m listening, because this is the guy who has actually felt the pressure he’s describing. And I think he’s right.
Here’s where things stand. Strickland was penciled in to make his first defense of his second middleweight reign against Imavov at UFC 335 on December 12. Then the UFC announced that card’s top two fights, Charles Oliveira defending the BMF title against Diego Lopes and Alex Pereira against Sergei Pavlovich, and Strickland’s name was nowhere on it. When a fan on Instagram asked whether he was holding out for a bigger check, Strickland basically confirmed it with a one-word reply and a laugh. Per Yahoo Sports, the fight now looks more likely for the first quarter of 2027.
Good for him, honestly. The man handed Khamzat Chimaev the first loss of his career at UFC 328 as a significant underdog, and reports say that was already the biggest payday of his life. If you pull that off, you’re allowed to ask for more. Fans can survive a delay into the new year.
What Du Plessis Actually Said
On the Fight Forecast show (the clip went around on X via Red Corner MMA), Du Plessis didn’t hedge. “I honestly believe we’re going to look at the same result as the first one. I think Strickland’s going to go and walk forward,” he said.
The first one, for anyone who blanked on January 2023: UFC Fight Night 217, January 14, Strickland taking the fight on short notice at 205 pounds and winning a unanimous decision, 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. He did that at light heavyweight on short notice, against a guy who’d had a full camp to prepare for somebody else.
Du Plessis then laid out the stylistic case. “Imavov has the style of kind of hitting, running, hitting, and running, and he does a great job at that; he doesn’t get taken into a firefight,” he said. “But Strickland, if he goes forward, that pressure is just going to always be such that you can’t let that guy go forward.”
Then came the comparison that makes the whole argument work. “Imavov’s style is very similar to Adesanya’s style. Strickland has proven that he has the antidote to that style.”
Why I’m Buying It
The Adesanya point is the strongest card in Du Plessis’ hand. At UFC 293, Strickland walked down the most decorated striker in middleweight history and took his belt. Adesanya wanted range and wanted to pick his moments, and Strickland simply didn’t allow it. He kept the Philly shell up, kept the teeps and jabs coming, and made the cage smaller every round.
If Imavov’s game really is hit, move, hit, move, then he’s fighting a guy whose entire identity is built to punish that rhythm. You can’t hit and run against someone who doesn’t stop chasing and doesn’t give you a clean target while he does it. Du Plessis nailed that part too: “So even if he goes forward, he doesn’t get clipped with those shots because he keeps it safe, because he prioritises the defence. So I honestly believe we’re going to hear ‘and still’.”
That’s the detail a lot of people miss about Strickland. Pressure fighters usually pay a toll walking in. Strickland mostly doesn’t, because the shoulder roll and the high guard eat the counters that are supposed to make forward pressure expensive. Ask Chimaev how comfortable that looked from the other side.
And Du Plessis has a track record on this specific subject. Back in March 2026, he said Strickland could give Chimaev serious problems. People laughed. Strickland then beat Chimaev. I’ll take the read of the guy who called that one.
The Case for Imavov (and Why It Falls Short)
I’m not pretending Imavov is the same fighter Strickland beat in 2023. He’s six fights unbeaten since that loss, and the most recent one was a knockout of Caio Borralho at UFC Paris. BJPenn.com pointed out that he’s evolved, which is fair. A rematch at 185 with a full camp is a different animal than a short-notice light heavyweight fight.
But the idea that he simply got better is the argument people make for every challenger in every rematch, and it doesn’t answer the stylistic problem. Imavov’s best weapon is still keeping the fight on his terms at range. Strickland’s best weapon is taking that option off the table for 25 minutes. Those don’t change because one guy added some new wrinkles.
There’s also something funny about the source. Du Plessis beat Strickland in a razor-close decision at UFC 297, then dominated him at UFC 312 about 13 months later. He has zero reason to hype Strickland up. If anything, a Strickland loss clears a lane for Du Plessis to get back to the belt. He picked his old rival anyway, and that’s an honest read from a man who knows exactly what that pressure feels like at minute 20.
My pick matches his: Strickland by decision, with Imavov landing the prettier shots early and losing the fight in the rounds that matter. Now the UFC just has to cut the check so we can see it sometime in early 2027.
