The South African defeated Strickland via a contentious split decision victory to win the title at UFC 297 in Toronto earlier this year. He then successfully defended his title against two-time champion and Nigerian-born fighter Israel Adesanya in the fourth via submission at UFC 305 in Perth to cement his status as the king of the middleweight division.

Following Khamzat Chimaev's dominant first-round victory over Robert Whittaker at UF308, du Plessis had expressed a preference to face him instead of Strickland, stating that the fight against Chimaev was the fight that many people wanted to see the most. However, despite his preference of facing Chimaev, UFC boss Dana White has kept his word and handed the former champion his rematch.

--ChannelArica--

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