‘Tarzan’ Vs ‘Gorilla’ Rematch Gets Winner Of Izzy-DDP?

Dricus Du Plessis is the new middleweight champion.

He’s probably going to stay that way regardless of how many people whine about optics and head butts, so all we can do now is look at the best path for “Tarzan” to return to the 185-pound title. That includes a rematch against another top middleweight with his own claim to the division strap.

So says former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

“We’ll do Dricus-Israel Adesanya in one of those events but in the meantime, Sean Strickland rematches Jared Cannonier because Jared Cannonier is the only one realistically right now with another claim at the belt,” Bisping said on his official podcast (transcribed by Middle Easy). “So you have Sean, allow him to get a chance to right the wrongs. It gives him an ability to go out there right that wrong, get a win, beat one of the top contenders, eradicate that loss, make some improvements to his style and then fight again the winner of Dricus and Izzy or whoever that is because he’s got history with both.”

Strickland lost to Cannonier by split decision at UFC Vegas 66.

Right now the promotion is focused on booking Du Plessis against Adesanya for either UFC 300 in April or International Fight Week in July. That all depends on the health of both combatants but it would be nice to see Strickland vs. Cannonier 2 scheduled for the same card, if only to keep everyone on the same timeline.

Hopefully we can get some answers in the next few days.