UFC 312 mailbag: Where does Dricus du Plessis rank all-time at 185 and where does Zhang Weili go from here?

Dricus du Plessis and Zhang Weili stay on the prime of their divisions.

This previous Saturday, UFC 312 went down in Sydney, and for the second time this yr, each champions retained their titles in clear-cut vogue. Within the co-main occasion, longtime champion Weili cemented herself as the perfect pound-for-pound feminine fighter on the planet (and maybe the best strawweight of all-time) with a one-sided show towards Tatiana Suarez. Then, in the primary occasion, du Plessis silenced the doubters with a dominant choice win over rival Sean Strickland of their rematch.

So, with a lot to speak about, let’s dive into your questions.

Dricus du Plessis

“The place does DDP presently rank amongst UFC middleweight champions, and what do you consider his possibilities towards Khamzat Chimaev?

If du Plessis retired tomorrow, I’d really feel snug calling him the fourth-greatest middleweight champion in UFC historical past. That places him behind (so as) Anderson Silva, Israel Adesanya, and Chris Weidman, and one slot above Rich Franklin/Robert Whittaker. And I’m fairly certain that’s precisely the suitable place for him in the mean time.

Du Plessis’s run by means of the UFC has been fairly rattling spectacular: 9 wins, 0 losses, 6 finishes, 2 Efficiency of the Night time bonuses, 2 Battle of the Nights, and dominant wins over the No. 1, 4, and 5 contenders. That’s elite stuff proper there. In truth, should you needed to make the argument it’s a greater run than Weidman, you may, however I nonetheless favor Weidman knocking out the middleweight GOAT (even when he was previous by then) because the tie-breaker. But when he will get yet one more win, du Plessis for certain overtakes Weidman, and is immediately sizzling on the heels of Adesanya.

In the end although, that’s the perfect du Plessis can fairly hope for. The issue with being a middleweight is Anderson Silva set an unimaginable commonplace to stay as much as. 11 title defenses (I don’t give a shit that Travis Lutter missed weight so it wasn’t technically a title protection, that counts) is a really unfathomable quantity, a lot in order that in his post-fight presser, du Plessis began laying the groundwork for arguing round it, saying he desires to be the GOAT and it’s not all about title defenses. Yeah, as a result of he is aware of he can by no means presumably get to double-digit defenses. He’d need to reign atop the division for an additional 4 years, competing a number of occasions a yr. It’s ludicrous.

That being mentioned, Adesanya is feasible to chase down if du Plessis can maintain this up, and I’m excited to observe him strive.

As for the Chimaev half, see beneath.

DDP vs. Khamzat Chimaev

“DDP vs Khamzat is the actual life model of a toddler taking two motion figures and smashing them collectively head first till one breaks, who breaks who on this struggle?”

Together with his win over Strickland, du Plessis is now set for a collision course with Chimaev someday later this yr. It’s a struggle du Plessis known as for as an alternative of the Strickland matchup, and it’s principally the struggle we’ve all needed for over a yr. Lastly, lastly Chimaev seems like he’s going to struggle for a belt.

However I don’t assume it’s going to go as simple for him as many individuals consider.

Chimaev is a power of nature who at his peak seems to be unstoppable, besides we’ve seen him get very practically stopped a number of occasions already. Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman gave “Borz” the whole lot he may deal with whereas additionally being decently undersized. No matter your ideas on du Plessis, he ain’t undersized.

Persons are lastly coming round to just accept that thought du Plessis just isn’t a technical marvel, he’s large, athletic, highly effective, robust as nails, relentless, and has an distinctive understanding of combating and go about it. That’s just about precisely the specs I’d need if I have been designing an individual to fight Chimaev.

Chimaev is a grappling savant, however he additionally papers over a whole lot of flaws by merely hossing individuals round, and I doubt that’s actually attainable towards du Plessis. On prime of that, the best way Chimaev fights inevitably results in fatigue, and du Plessis has nice cardio (certain he seems drained, however he doesn’t struggle drained, it’s actually unbelievable, he by some means wills himself to not gassing out). Within the easiest phrases, Chimaev fights like a bully, and du Plessis is exceedingly well-equipped to face as much as that bully. I favor him to win come struggle time.

That being mentioned, will I be shocked if Chimaev runs by means of DDP and wins the belt? No. However 2025 has already been a nasty yr for “uncrowned champions” *cough* Umar Nurmagomedov and Tatiana Suarez *cough,* and will look even worse if Magomed Ankalaev comes up quick subsequent month. I wouldn’t be too assured in Chimaev.

Different middleweights

“Nassourdine Imavov subsequent for DPP? I do know we wish to see Khamzat however are you able to justify he’s earned it over Imavov?”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Come on, now. In a strictly merit-based group, Imavov would get the following crack at du Plessis, however as William Munny famously mentioned, “Deserves got nothing to do with it.” Chimaev is getting the shot. But when I’m in Imavov’s camp, I’m campaigning laborious to be the backup fighter for that bout, as a result of relating to a Chimaev struggle, nothing is assured.

Zhang Weili

“Is Zhang Weili at her peak in the mean time? Her wins towards Joanna Jedrzejczyk have been nice however they bookend her Rose Namajunas losses. Since then, she has fought every year to this point and has seemed higher each time. Primarily based on the 35 years and older stat as champion, is there higher but to return?”

I believe that is undeniably the height of Zhang’s powers proper now, and it’s merely a matter of how lengthy will it final? 35 is previous for sports activities, historical for struggle sports activities, and rattling close to prehistoric for decrease weight class struggle sports activities. The clock is ticking on Zhang and it’s merely a matter of how lengthy she will be able to fend it off.

Fortuitously for her (and us as followers), it seems prefer it could possibly be an excellent lengthy whereas! Zhang seemed unbelievable towards Tatiana Suarez, a struggle I believed can be very tough for her. She dominated Suarez within the wrestling and grappling and even hossed her round a bunch too. Suarez, who is a good fighter, had nothing to supply and Zhang seemed like she’s not remotely near falling off. And given how moribund the strawweight division is, even when she does fall off, I don’t know who’s round to make the most of any Zhang decline. If she sticks round at 115, I believe Zhang is holding the title for at the very least a pair extra years.

However that’s the query, isn’t it: Will Zhang stick round?

Even earlier than Saturday Zhang was speaking a few transfer as much as 125 and afterwards, UFC CEO Dana White all however declared that was going to occur. If she sticks round at strawweight, Zhang will most definitely put collectively an unimpeachable run that places her proper alongside the all-time greats, but it surely looks as if the attract of two belts is an excessive amount of.

Flyweight

“Am I fallacious for pondering Valentina Shevchenko would soundly defeat Weili? Weili is a brute, however Valentina was a bodily power even at 135lbs (I believed she beat Nunes within the rematch). She’s received Zhang lined when it comes to physicality and I don’t assume the talent hole is extensive sufficient for Zhang to win 3 of 5 rounds.”

No you aren’t, however I additionally thought Tatiana Suarez would win, so what do I do know?

In my head, Shevchenko beats Zhang in probably the most boring vogue as a result of she’s a lot larger and it doesn’t matter what jiu-jitsu has tried to let you know, dimension does matter. I’m sufficiently old to recollect when Jessica Andrade in all her greatness was an actual check for Shevchenko regardless of being a pure 115er — oh wait, that was arguably Shevchenko’s most dominant win.

Nonetheless, there’s the matter of the place Shevchenko is at in her profession proper now. Whereas the drop off is coming for Zhang ultimately, it’s already come for Shevchenko. Sure, she reclaimed the title from Alexa Grasso, however she’s fairly clearly diminishing when it comes to physicality, pace, and athleticism. I undoubtedly wouldn’t favor Zhang however I wouldn’t rely her out both.

Different fights

“Ideas on the Jimmy Crute vs Rodolfo Bellato draw?”

I’d’ve guess cash not a single individual was going to ask about the remainder of the primary card. I assume I’d have been fallacious.

Uh, it was surprisingly enjoyable? Kody Steele and Rongzhu deserved to win Battle of the Night time honors however this wasn’t a horrible runner up. The problem is it simply didn’t matter, outdoors of to the fighters themselves. Exterior of the primary and co-main occasion, each struggle was both uninspired, meaningless, or each. I’ll promptly neglect about all of them.

Oof

“Was this the worst three fights to ever open up a PPV?”

Certainly not. There have been over 300 pay-per-view occasions. I’m certain if I dug deep I may discover one. However yeah, nothing involves thoughts to tops it. That is the UFC in 2025: you’re going to purchase it anyway, so why ought to we trouble?

Thanks for studying and because of everybody who despatched in tweets (Xs?)! Do you’ve got any burning questions on issues at the very least considerably associated to fight sports activities? You then’re in luck as a result of you’ll be able to ship your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I’ll reply my favourite ones! It doesn’t matter in the event that they’re topical or insane, simply as long as they’re good. Thanks once more, and see y’all subsequent week.