Coach: Dricus Du Plessis Awaiting Contract for Title Defense vs. Khamzat Chimaev

🚨Dricus Du Plessis’s coach confirms he’ll fight Khamzat Chimaev next — just NOT at International Fight Week on June 29th:

"[UFC] plans something else for [International Fight Week]. But we’re fighting Khamzat… It’s a done deal… We are waiting for the contract."

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— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 24, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis coach Morne Visser says they’re waiting on a contract for a title defense against Khamzat Chimaev.

While Chimaev getting the next middleweight title shot has long been expected, the matchup hasn’t been finalized yet. There were rumors of a Du Plessis injury causing a delay in the booking, which were recently dismissed by Visser.

The matchup was originally being considered for UFC 317, which goes down on June 28 during the International Fight Week. However, Visser confirmed that while Chimaev is undoubtedly getting the next gold bid, it won’t be at UFC 317.

Visser hinted that another rumored matchup — involving Ilia Topuria — on one side might have taken the spot at UFC 317. Meanwhile, journalist Alvaro Colmenero recently reported that lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, whom Topuria is targeting, has started training for his next fight. But regardless of the timing, Visser confirms Du Plessis’ matchup Chimaev fight is a “done deal.”

“We haven’t signed a contract. The fight was never confirmed,” Visser told Submission Radio. “We were talking about it. And no injuries man, that’s bulls--t. We’re fighting Khamzat, we’re actually waiting for the contract. It’s gonna be soon. Definitely not gonna be International Fight Week, they’ve got something else planned for that. I’m sure everybody knows what they’ve got planned – also not 100% confirmed. But we’re fighting Khamzat. We’re waiting for the contract, it’s a done deal.”

Du Plessis is undefeated since 2019 and has nine UFC wins to his name. “Stillknocks” won the title against Sean Strickland via split decision last year and has since defended it against Israel Adesanya via submission and then in a rematch against Strickland via unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, Chimaev is undefeated in eight UFC outings with six finishes. Chimaev most recently submitted former champ Robert Whittaker with a teeth-breaking face crank at UFC 308 last October.