‘Borz’ remained undefeated in the UFC 319 main event, which saw Chimaev dominated Dricus du Plessis for 25 minutes to secure three 50-44 scorecards in his favor and have the 185-pound gold wrapped around his waist.

Whittaker, who was quickly submitted by Chimaev at UFC 308, went on to lose his second-straight fight to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) last month in the UFC on ABC 9 headliner. De Ridder was able to survive a Round 3 knockdown to outlast Whittaker.

Unlike his two prior title defences, the build-up to Dricus du Plessis’ third title defence, against Khamzat Chimaev, has been strictly focused on the action inside the octagon.

Khamzat Chimaev has looked the part of a pound-for-pound great from the first time he stepped into the Octagon in 2020. In the opening round of his UFC debut, Chimaev landed 118 strikes, the second most by a middleweight in any round in the promotion's history.