Dricus Du Plessis rips Brendan Allen, calls Strickland-Khamzat rematch ridiculous

Former UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis unloaded on multiple contenders ahead of his UFC Oklahoma City main event against Kamaru Usman this weekend, dismissing a potential Sean Strickland-Khamzat Chimaev rematch and mocking Brendan Allen's recent performance.

Du Plessis told Submission Radio that a second Strickland-Chimaev fight makes no sense, even though the South African dropped his title to Chimaev at UFC 319 last summer in Chicago. Du Plessis holds two wins over Strickland but lost decisively to Chimaev in that bout. "The Khamzat rematch is ridiculous, it doesn't make any sense," he said, per MMA Mania. "If they do it, it's ridiculous. It will be crazy, but let them do what they need to do. I'll just fight my way back."

Du Plessis targets Allen after Shahbazyan win

The former champion saved his sharpest criticism for Allen, who recently suggested Du Plessis was avoiding a fight with him. Allen is ranked fifth at middleweight after stopping Edmen Shahbazyan, but Du Plessis called that showing terrible. "Why would I be scared to fight him? Have you seen his last performance? He can go on his knees and be thankful that he wasn't in there with me," Du Plessis said. "That was horrible. I would sleep that man. He's in the Top 5 by a massive fluke."

Du Plessis noted Allen's current three-fight winning streak is the longest of his career and said the contender needs another big win before earning a title shot. The South African fighter enters his bout with Usman at 23-3, while the former welterweight champion stands at 21-4. Du Plessis said his performance against Usman will do his talking after a loss that left him without much room to make demands.

UFC Oklahoma City streams on Paramount Plus this weekend, with Du Plessis and Usman meeting in the main event.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — UFC Oklahoma’s Dricus Du Plessis mocks ‘horrible’ Brendan Allen, slams ‘ridiculous’ Strickland-Khamzat rematch