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Brett Okamoto
Khamzat Chimaev took what at times has felt like his destined spot atop the UFC middleweight division by defeating three-time defending champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 on Saturday in Chicago. It was a long time coming for the undefeated fighter out of Chechnya, Russia, who burst onto the scene with three UFC wins in 2020 before crawling toward the title shot with three fights in the past three years. Considering his recent pace, will Chimaev stay and defend his championship belt at middleweight, or will the 31-year-old follow in other champions’ recent footsteps and vacate in search of a second title at another weight class?
And what about his opponent, Du Plessis, who was thoroughly handled by Chimaev but is still very much a player in the division. Who will the South African get to kick off his hopeful return campaign to title contention? Another top-five contender could be just the thing Du Plessis needs next, or maybe surging wildcard opponent is more likely.
Lerone Murphy showed he has some flash in his game by producing a highlight-reel knockout of UFC newcomer Aaron Pico in the co-main, and a championship opportunity could cross his desk by the end of the year as a result.
All of these scenarios and more are potentially on the horizon for stars who competed on the UFC 319 main card. Check them out below.
Khamzat Chimaev, middleweight champion
Who should be next: Winner of Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
This will likely be controversial, but so be it. The UFC has a pattern right now of champions such as Ilia Topuria and Makhachev jumping around to different weight classes. It wouldn’t be ideal for Chimaev to follow the trend immediately, without a single middleweight title defense, but I don’t think I need to tell anyone this guy is a special case. It took five years for Chimaev to get the title shot — for reasons that often had nothing to do with fighting — but now he’s here and just completed one of the most dominant five-round fights in UFC history.
Chimaev said he wants to move around weight classes, and if he’s ever going to move down to 170 pounds — where Makhachev and Della Maddalena are rumored to face off for the welterweight title next — the time is now. It won’t get easier when he’s older to cut extra weight, and it would be even harder to cut if he were to move up in weight first.
Chimaev has the kind of potential that doesn’t come around every decade, so let him drop to meet more stars in the welterweight division in 2026.
Wild card: Winner of Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho on Sept. 9
This feels more likely to me. If Chimaev wants to be active, and he has said he does, the UFC can book this sooner rather than later to keep the middleweight division moving. The winner of Imavov vs. Borralho in Paris next month will become the rightful No. 1 contender at middleweight. If Chimaev isn’t going to move up or down to chase multiple belts, this is the obvious first title defense to make.
Dricus Du Plessis, middleweight
Who should be next: Loser of Imavov vs. Borralho
Win, lose or draw, Du Plessis, Imavov and Borralho are all in their early 30s, essentially in the prime of their careers and not going anywhere. These top-10 middleweights are all likely to fight each other at some point, so there is no need to overthink these matchups. If the winner of Imavov-Borralho moves on to a title fight, the loser should fight Du Plessis. It’s what the rankings say, and sometimes, it’s that easy.
Wild card: Reinier de Ridder
RDR is interesting and truly the wild card. From a rankings standpoint, there are worthy contenders ahead of de Ridder at No. 5, in the UFC rankings (No. 7 in the ESPN rankings) but he has arguably the most momentum of any middleweight listed in the “who should be next” section above. He is in the middle of a brilliant 4-0 start to his UFC career that has included a May knockout of then-undefeated prospect Bo Nickal and a split decision win on July over former champion Robert Whittaker. He certainly will come up in matchmaking meetings for Du Plessis, but ultimately I anticipate the UFC going by the numbers when they map out the near future of the division.
Lerone Murphy, featherweight
Who should be next: Alexander Volkanovski
It almost certainly will be Volkanovski. There was talk of Aaron Pico getting a shot at the featherweight champion if he defeated Murphy, so I can’t think of a reason why the same wouldn’t be true of Murphy — especially considering how emphatic his spinning back elbow knockout win was. Murphy will be the underdog against Volkanovski, but he’ll be a live one. He doesn’t have one obvious trump card to play, but that’s OK. He has more than proved he’s well-rounded and has no holes in his game. The biggest knock on him before Saturday was his lack of finishes, but he answered that call in a big way against Pico.
This sport is so unpredictable, both inside the Octagon and in how it hands out opportunities. Murphy wasn’t even supposed to be in this Pico matchup. After six years of relative obscurity in the UFC, he was the forgotten man at 145 pounds. Then he finishes a highly thought of former Bellator MMA star on three weeks’ notice and, bang, he is in the conversation to get a title shot before the end of the year. It’s hard not to feel excited for the guy.
Wild card: Yair Rodriguez
The only opponent the UFC could give Volkanovski instead of Murphy at this point is the other forgotten man of the division, Movsar Evloev. If that were to happen, Rodriguez would be the only matchup for Murphy. But I don’t see any of that happening.
Michael Page and Carlos Prates, welterweight
Who should be next: Each other
My goodness! This is an absolute dream matchup for fans. I can’t think of a non-championship welterweight matchup I’d choose ahead of this one, and that includes Prates’ callout of former champion Leon Edwards. Prates has proven to be a knockout machine. Even in his only UFC loss to Ian Machado Garry, he put Garry on the ropes late in the fight.
Page’s past two fights, including his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier on Saturday, were at middleweight, but he’s clearly a welterweight. Cannonier was ranked inside the top 10, but Page isn’t expected to make an extended run at middleweight. Page wants to fight Edwards in 2026 in England. Prates wants to fight Edwards. Let’s have Prates and Page duke it out in October, and the winner gets his wish. Page’s unorthodox and elusive style versus Prates’ knockout wizardry will be fun to watch.
Baisangur Susurkaev, middleweight
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Baisangur Susurkaev improves to 9-0 after a 2nd round submission
Baysangur Susurkaev locks in the rear-naked chokehold on Eric Nolan to remain undefeated.
Who should be next: Bryan Battle
If the UFC doesn’t cut Battle, this fight makes a lot of sense. Battle was supposed to fight at UFC 319 but missed weight by four pounds. It was an especially egregious mistake, as he had also missed weight for his last fight at welterweight and should have had no issues moving up a weight class. The reason I like this one for Susurkaev is that the UFC will want to continue to build on the momentum of Susurkaev’s wild week. How does it do that? Find a story. In this case, Battle has become a bit of a “villain,” due to his lack of professionalism. Let Susarkaev be the “good guy” here, and let the fan base get behind him. As a bonus, Battle is a fun stylistic matchup for Susurkaev.
Wild card: Nursulton Ruziboev
The justification for this is that Ruziboev was supposed to fight Battle on Saturday. It’d be a nice move for the UFC to give Ruziboev an opponent such as Susurkaev, who has so much hype. There’s value in those fights, and I’m sure some will argue Battle shouldn’t be rewarded with this kind of fight after missing weight. But for the sake of building Susuarkaev, I think Battle is the No. 1 option.
