Acccording to Dricus du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser, the middleweight champion is currently preparing to make the next defense of his title in February of next year, with Sydney, Australia being the expected location.
“I had a conversation actually yesterday with Dricus, and I said to him, ‘There’s only one thing for certain at this stage, only one thing, and that’s that we’ve got to be ready to fight in Sydney in February,’” Visser told Submission Radio.
Current No.1 contender Sean Strickland believes he’s next in line for that title shot, but Visser claims that former champion Robert Whittaker may well overtake him if he wins his next fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 later this month.
“My opinion is Sean’s overselling it,” Visser said. “He’s just had one win after Dricus and that was against Costa. Whittaker had two, and I think he’s going to go for No. 3 now. So I think my honest opinion is that next for us in line will be Whittaker in Sydney in February. I think he’s going to beat Khamzat, and I honestly think that they’re going to give him the shot.”
And even if Whittaker loses, Visser stated his belief that it would then be Khamzat who would get the opportunity instead, though perhaps that would lead to a change in when the fight would take place.
“Even if you think about it, that there’s even a slight possibility that if Khamzat beats Rob, that Dricus has fought and beaten Sean and Rob. So if Khamzat beats Rob, I think they’re going to play their cards a little bit different and we’re going to fight Khamzat later.
“But so far, the only thing that’s confirmed is we will be fighting in February in Sydney.”
