Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev finally booked for middleweight title fight at UFC 319

Dricus Du Plessis is finally set to defend the UFC middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev.

The two fighters will meet in the main event of UFC 319, which is slated for August 16, according to the promotion’s CEO Dana White.

Dricus Du Plessis will fight Khamzat Chimaev at #UFC319 on August 16th. (per Dana White) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2025 #MainEvent pic.twitter.com/BX2H9PlW1e

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) May 13, 2025

Who wins a Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev UFC middleweight title fight?

South Africa’s Du Plessis has not lost since a stoppage defeat to ONE Championship star Roberto Soldic in 2018. Since then, he has won 11-straight fights, including 9 in the UFC. The highlights of the South African’s early UFC career came against Darren Till, Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker. He won the title with a decision defeat of Sean Strickland early last year. He has since defended his middleweight belt twice, first with a submission win over former champ Israel Adesanya, and later with another decision against Strickland that was for decisive than their first meeting.

Chimaev has been one of the hottest prospects in MMA since he arrived on the UFC roster. He made his Octagon debut in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and quickly rattled off three wins in the span of a few months, jumping between welterweight and middleweight. He’s been very inactive since then — partly due to potentially pandemic-related health issues — but has recently beaten several high-level fighters at welterweight and middleweight. That includes Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, Kamaru Usman, and most recently, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. He submitted Whittaker inside a round, sending the Australian UFC legend to the dentist with the strength of his squeeze.

Time will tell who wins when Du Plessis and Chimaev meet this August. However, it may be the best fight the UFC can make right now. At least, outside of Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall and Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria.