The middleweight throne isn’t big enough for both Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. At UFC 308, ‘Borz’ returned to action after a year-long hiatus to take on Robert Whittaker. While they were initially supposed to clash at UFC on ABC 6 in June, Chimaev’s health issues forced the fight to be delayed till October. Meanwhile, Whittaker made short work of his replacement, Ikram Aliskerov.

Before the fight, many prominent voices in the combat sports world had dubbed Whittaker as the toughest test of Chimaev’s career so far. What happened next? In a display of brutal strength, Chimaev locked in a face-crank in the first round, leaving ‘The Reaper’ frantically tapping out as his jaw and teeth suffered major damage from the squeeze!

And in true warrior fashion, Du Plessis isn’t backing down—he’s fired up to test his own strength against ‘Borz’, a man who’s ripped through opponents like a wrecking ball. According to a recent statement by the middleweight champion, “(Khamzat) has a gun and I have a tank, when it comes to the strength… Khamzat you think you’re strong, you think you’re powerful. You have not felt anything.”

The idea of Du Plessis versus Chimaev has lit up social media, with fans chiming in with their thoughts on how the two middleweights stack up against one another when it comes to a test of strength inside the Octagon. Here’s a look at what the fans had to say.

Dricus Du Plessis puts Khamzat Chimaev on alert as fans make their picks for this intriguing matchup

Dricus Du Plessis has cemented himself as the king of getting into his opponent’s heads. At the UFC 305 press conference, he took a jab at Israel Adesanya that left ‘The Last Stylebender’ furious and in tears. Similarly, his remarks against Sean Strickland forced the latter to get emotional too. As such, the fans believe that ‘Borz’ may not be able to handle the mental warfare in the build-up to their clash as ‘Stillknocks’ has proven he can dominate the fight before it even starts with his verbal artillery!

“Will ddp makes borz cry too”

But other fans aren’t too convinced about the South African champion’s takedown defense in this matchup. Their reasoning? The fact that Robert Whittaker could take Du Plessis down in their UFC 290 clash. However, the fight was a TKO victory in the second round for Du Plessis. Do you think Du Plessis can handle Chimaev’s relentless chain-wrestling for 5-rounds of a championship bout?

“If Rob took you down, there is Salamalaykum”

With the run Khamzat Chimaev is on, undefeated and running through the UFC’s elite, some fans couldn’t help but show respect for Dricus Du Plessis for being willing to put his belt on the line. While Sean Strickland has been campaigning for a rematch against the South African, after UFC 308, Du Plessis stated in an interview with Radioraps, “As a fan of the sport and the middleweight champion of the world, that’s a fight that gets me more excited, taking someone’s 0, I’ve beaten Strickland before and I know I’ll beat him again.”

“Respect to DDP for calling out and building a fight with Khamzat. To think people believe he is “ducking” Strickland is hilarious. He is literally calling out the scariest force in the whole division. Strickland slowly plods forward and jabs/teeps his way to decision victories. Khamzat literally tears jaws apart.”

Both Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis have yet to lose a fight in their UFC careers and the fans are leaning towards ‘Stillknocks’ edging out ‘Borz’ when it comes to pure strength. Surprisingly, it’s not just the fandom who thinks so. According to Kamaru Usman, the former welterweight champion who has tested Chimaev’s skills himself, “Will Khamzat take him down? Yes. Could he keep him down? Yes, maybe the whole first round. But can he finish him? I don’t know.”

“Dricus might be the only one stronger than khamzat”

But fans familiar with Du Plessis’ journey know he’s no stranger to high-stakes fights. After all, this is the man who took down Israel Adesanya, one of the UFC’s biggest names, with a ferocity that left fans in awe.

“Idk, I’ll never doubt Dricus after what he did to IZZY, though Khamzat is a beast, this is still MMA.”

To wrap things up, fans are buzzing with excitement as both Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev are forces to be reckoned with. Du Plessis’ strength is legendary, but Chimaev has been tearing through fighters like no one else. Will “The Tank” roll over Chimaev’s gunfire, or will ‘Borz’s ferocity dismantle Du Plessis’s title reign? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!