The UFC is in serious trouble. The UFC 317 on June 28 – International Fight Week – is one of the most important events of the year for the company, and it is currently hanging by a thread. The plan was to have a fight between Dricus Du Plessis (23-2) and Khamzat Chimaev (14-0) as the main event, with the middleweight title on the line. However, an injury to the South African seems to have thwarted their plans, which has provoked the ire of the Chechen, who was already finalizing his camp in Kislovodsk, Russia, where legends such as Fedor Emelianenko have already triumphed.
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“This guy is the biggest piece of s**t,” Chimaev wrote on his X account, which practically confirms Du Plessis’ injury. Even though the fight was not yet official, it was said that Alexandre Pantoja – flyweight champion – and Kai Kara-France would be the co-main event of the second numbered card in June, while Dricus and Khamzat would put the icing on the cake. This setback forces the UFC to work against the clock, as there are only two months left until the date arrives.
The fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will not happen in the short term, O’Malley and Merab have a fight scheduled for UFC 316, and Islam Makhachev is waiting to see what happens at UFC 315 between Belal Muhammad – welterweight champion – and Jack Della Maddalena. This reduces the chances to a minimum, and there is already talk of the possibility of Alex Pereira coming to the company’s rescue once again to face Magomed Ankalaev in the rematch of last UFC 313 where ‘Poatan’ lost his light heavyweight belt.
Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira?
Although it is a more utopian idea, there is also the possibility that the UFC will move the fight and face Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira, or even use the Islam Makhachev card. The reality is that Topuria is still not in camp, so it would be quite risky to accept a fight with so little preparation time. It is rumored that the lightweight champion could face Justin Gaethje, but UFC 315 will be key to know if the Dagestani will move up in weight or stay at 155 pounds.
Another possibility would be to have an interim belt between Chimaev and another title contender, but Du Plessis already defended the belt in January against Sean Strickland and it would not make much sense. The Chechen will surely not accept any other fight than the title shot, so it is most likely that he will have to wait until the second half of 2025 to try to become the new 185-pound champion
Du Plessis’ injury has been a real blow for Dana White and his team, as the announcement of the UFC 317 card was imminent. Now it’s time to restructure everything and organize a new main fight that lives up to expectations of what should be the big card of the year.
This news was originally published on this post .
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