Dricus Du Plessis’ Strickland-Imavov read is a pressure thesis, not a bet yet

Dricus Du Plessis has framed a potential Sean Strickland-Nassourdine Imavov rematch around one central mechanism: Strickland’s ability to keep advancing until an opponent has to fight at his pace.

MMA Fighting reported that no title defense has been made official, that Strickland beat Imavov by unanimous decision in a short-notice 205-pound bout in 2023, and that Du Plessis expects the same winner despite Imavov’s subsequent five-fight winning streak, which includes a knockout of Israel Adesanya; the outlet also relayed Du Plessis’ estimate that he took Strickland down seven times across their meetings but found him difficult to hold down.

That is a more useful betting argument than the pick itself. Du Plessis is not merely saying Strickland won before and should win again. He is identifying pressure, defensive responsibility and the energy cost of failed grappling control as the forces that could shape a rematch.

It is still not an actionable position. The fight is unbooked, and the packet contains no verified opponent-level statistics for Strickland or Imavov. Du Plessis’ comments establish a hypothesis. They do not validate it.

Du Plessis has unusually relevant evidence — and a distinct style of his own

Few active middleweights can speak from a deeper competitive sample against Strickland. Du Plessis beat him twice in five-round decisions: a split decision at UFC 297 and a unanimous decision at UFC 312. Those fights sit inside an 11-bout archive in which Du Plessis has gone 10-1 without being finished.

His own numbers also explain why he focuses on the difference between landing a takedown and creating durable control. Du Plessis averages 1.9 takedowns per 15 minutes with 48% accuracy. Across 37 tracked rounds, he has landed 22 takedowns but accumulated 18 minutes of control. Those aggregate totals do not isolate the Strickland fights, so they cannot prove Du Plessis’ specific account of those matchups. They do show that his game regularly forces him to evaluate whether completed entries actually produce sustained positional value.