Dricus du Plessis attended the UFC 328 main event between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev, and he has some thoughts.

Strickland and Chimaev took center stage in Newark on Saturday night. Going into the UFC Middleweight Championship scrap, many questioned if the challenger Strickland could defend takedowns well enough to force Chimaev to stand up throughout the bout. Strickland ultimately did manage to force “Borz” to fight on the feet, and it earned him a split decision victory to capture his second UFC middleweight title.

The UFC social media crew asked du Plessis for his thoughts on the fight once the dust settled, and he had an interesting closing comment.

“Yeah, so the fight went exactly the way I thought it would,” du Plessis said. “Great, great fight by Strickland. Like I said, it’s so hard to keep that man on the ground. He is incredibly tough to hold on, and he made Khamzat tired. That’s exactly what happened. Like I said, in the standup, he just won’t be able to hang with him. So, congratulations. I guess this makes me world champion again.”

While du Plessis lost the 185-pound hardware to Chimaev back in Aug. 2025, he does hold two decision wins over Strickland. It’s hard to envision UFC matchmakers booking a trilogy between Strickland and du Plessis so soon, especially when the newly minted champion is calling to run it back with Nassourdine Imavov.

“Stillknocks” has been called out by top contender Caio Borralho, who even traveled to South Africa in hopes of finding “DDP.” Instead, du Plessis offered a sparring match against Borralho, who isn’t interested in trading leather unless it’s inside the Octagon.

Do you think the door has opened for du Plessis to return to the UFC middleweight title picture? Join in on the conversation in the comments below.